Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Civil War Slavery And Reconstruction In The West 20240714

Them in here and hopefully they fit. First of all, dianne, thank you for the introduction. That was amazing. I was thinking, i dont know who she is talking about here. Really dont. And i also want to thank a couple i could here all night thanking people. There are a couple of people i want to meng. Most important is kelly burns. Thank you for organizing all of this, bringing me here. [ applause ] getting us through the whole process of organizing the symposium itself as well as having me speak. And where is paul and nancy winsky . Paul is over there. Paul thank you for taking me to the best steak place in kansas city. Okay . Thank you. Paul has been very helpful in other ways as well. Now dianne has mentioned that my passion and i will admit this. I will knit to this. My passion is black past. Org. She said its now a 15thousand page website. Its a work based on volunteers. And you can see some of it. Yeah its being scrolled. Im not touching it you can see the scrolling. It started as kind of a project for our students at the unfortunate of washington. And we forgot to gate it. And as a consequence somebody wrote from new zealand and said, you know, share the information with us and answer questions. And we realized this is going everywhere. And then about, i dont know, six seven weeks later, i got an invitation from someone at the state department saying wed like to send you to siberia. We want your passport number and your bank account. And im thinking, this is a scam. Okay . But as fate would have it as things turned out, the person was from the state department. We really did go to siberia. We toured a number of universities in siberia. They all loved africanAmerican History. The africanAmerican History we had on the faculty website which preceded black past and at that point we decided to come home and create the dedicated website. Its about 11 years old. We continue to add people both as volunteer contributors and there are probably people in the room who contributed to black past. Certainly there are people who are going to contribute to black past. And and we continue to have those numbers grow. And the numbers grow not because of anything ive done. They grow because we have 70 0 volunteers from six continents. People writing about black past all the time. We are doing something. Is leslie moving this around . Leslie, lets type in type in the search war can you type anything . Right here. Yeah, type into the search bar lets try tp you may have to do it here. Go ahead. Okay. Your fingers are more more nimble than mine. Less we misspell ig. The obvious stuff is nicodemus. Type in sweden. Sweden. I told you. Okay. Pull it up. Then scroll down. The wifi is a little slow. Is it. But it did find 551 results. Which is fantastic. Umhum. It looks like we are waiting for something to load. Image results. Images. Web results. Where are they. Somewhere down there. There we go. Just had a big blank space. Sweden hit the first one called sweden. Here. This one. Next one up. This one here . Yes. Lets see if it gives me a link. Where are you going . Where have you gone. Yeah, go back to the very first one and see if it comes up. Nothing there. This is frustrating for me. Okay, folks. This is embarrassing. Were making this work. Sweden. Five hundred. You want that link. Hit that link. I just had to click on it. There we go now scroll down just scroll down. These are all the entries that are related to sweden on this website. Tupac in sarijevo. We connect to what 160 countries around the world. And the reason i bring this up is because i want you to know if you remember anything tonight, understand that africanAmerican History is a global process. We are never far away from that history. It is always close. Its as close as quindaro, also existing in sweden, spain, china. Lets see if we can pull up china quick. Lets see how quickly i can do it this time. China, yeah. And then well stop. First one . Yeah. Got the hang of it now. Okay thats one of the articles thats not all of the articles its one of the articles. The whole point of this i wont dwell on this and this is an article talking about the 700year relationship between east africa and china as a nation as a civilization, both of these areas of civilization. The point here is that this is a global history project. The point here is it that and i want to say this clearly. All of us are connected to africanAmerican History. There is no way you can get away from that fact. And black past is the first attempt to try to pull all of this information together. And we do it again because of volunteers. We do it because there are people who are dedicated to trying to share the information. So i urge all of you thanks leslie. Then well scroll well go back to that. Thank you. See this is why we rely on technical folks here. And give leslie a hand here. Okay [ applause ] because without her i havent wouldnt have been able to do this. This is so africanAmerican History is both the large and the small. Its the large. Its the global, the universal. As reflected in black past. And i hope everybody in here will go home and look at black past. We want to get our numbers up to 5 million visitors the first time in one year. We have already passed the 2 million mark. We have a good chance to reach 5 million. But more important than getting the numbers is to make sure the people understand that this is a global history. And understand all the vast array of information thats available to us. For too long. For too long people like me have said where can i find africanAmerican History . There is no africanAmerican History. Or eachers said we wish we could teach africanAmerican History but we dont know where to find it. There is no execution anymore. There is absolutely no excuse anymore. This is where african history resides and all it takes is a couple of clicks on the on the internet to get to it. But anyway, let me talk about the main topic tonight. And the main topic of course is the let me pull it up, the main topic of course is the africanamerican west and in particular slavery in the west and in particular how kansas relates to all of that. Now, one of the reasons i like coming to kansas city, see sides the jazz and barbecue and yes im processartaking of both lat. But one of the reigns i like come to kansas city is i consider kansas city kind of the the jumping off place or the starting point for western history. Not just africanAmerican History but for western history in general. And there are two places you can see on the skroen. You guy haves a monitor over there. Can everybody over here see this . Okay. You know the places. Independence and west port. The places where the overland trail west would go. And in a sense because of that kansas city has always played a crucial role, a pivot alrole in terms of western history. And no where is that more the case than in terms of the issue of slavery in the west. And were going to talk about that. Kansas is crucial to the coming of the civil war. Thats unfortunate. Thats unfortunate. But the kansas and missouri border are crucial to what we would know as the civil war. And the civil war of course is crucial to the changing of American History. And ill give you something just drama maybe not dramatic but think about this for a minute. I won be standing here before you if the civil war had gone the other way. In other words, there are consequences of of events in history. And those consequences are have repercussion that is extend right to this very day. Lets talk about kansas. And i would argue that the kansas missouri border is the fountain head of africanAmerican History in the west. And its the fountain head of that history because african i dont know of any other state beyond kansas that has so closely aligned. Its history itself as a state is so closely aligned to africanAmerican History. That may not make sense to you now and since we say this in missouri you may not think this is all that cool. But i im going to try to make that argument tonight. No other state, kansas there is another eight beyond kansas whose history is so intertwined with the idea of africanamerican freedom. Africanamerican liberation. Also i would argue i cant think of any other place except maybe lawrence in kansas thats more important to this history than quindaro. Im admitting to you im an expert on that. There are far more people who are more expert. And we will hear from them tomorrow. But i will say this quindaro has a history that extends beyond kansas, beyond missouri and will impact the entire nation, because as i said before it will help to bring about the war that will bring about the liberation of a whole host of black people, 4 million black people. The wyandot indians were the first abolitionists in kansas. But not the only ones and well talk about that in turn as well. But here bear with me as i the sort of digress a minute im sorry i should have brought this up earlier. These are scenes from quindaro. I havent been there. Im going there on saturday. Im looking forward to literally touching the history thats so important to all of us in this room. But i start this lecture not with that place, kansas, missouri. I start with it with a larger tale, a larger story. And thats the story of slavery in the american west. Few historians link slavery to this region. We like to believe were sort of froh of the curse of slavery. Certainly people talk about the curse of slavery. And they say the west was never afflicted with that curse. I argue differently. There were black slaves in every state and territory in the west up until 1860. Let me repeat that. There were black slaves, enslaved black folks in every state and territory in the west up until 1860. Indeed the vast majority of blacks coming to the west were themselves involuntary migrants. By involuntary migrants i mean they were brought as slaves into into this region. There are some areas that are almost obvious in terms of the question of slavery. Texas. Texas in 1860 would have 182,000 enslaved people. I want to put that in perspective, guys. One third of the population of texas was enslaved by the other twothirds. Or put it another way, of the 50 counties in texas there are at least 17 that were predominantly black. And predominantly black means that they were predominantly slaves. I wont say this. Ill let you read the quote from c. A. Gracier and we see how the quotes work. Can everybody read in . Okay then ill have to read it. This is texas judge c. A. Phrasier. Writing in 1860. I have no doubt of the right of a civilized and christian nation to capture the african wherever he may be found and subject him to labor. Meaning slavery. Than i have one of our people to capture a wild horse on the prairies and reduce him to labor. This is a powerful justification for slavery. I want you to see the picture here. This is brownsville, texas. Brunsville, texas as far south as you can go and remain in the United States. So slavery touched every corner of texas before the civil war. But i will also remind you the slavery touched other areas as well. These are former slaves in the indian territory. I wish we had more time to talk about the indiana yn territory. Slaves in utah. I wish we had more time to talk about the Mormon Church and slavery. There were slaves in the oregon territory. As i said, this slavery was a universal institution at least as far as the west was concerned. There was no corner that was free of slavery. There were enslaved miners in california. One third of the blacks who mined gold in california in the 1850s were enslaved people. Let me repeat that. One third of the people who mined gold. We think of gold as a quint essentially male occupation where free people mine and make money. Enslaved people were involved in that as well. Slavery in california. People think of berkeley today and they think of the radical politics. Its hard for us to imagine that in berkeley in 1858 there were enslaved people. Think about that. Berkeley. If there is any place in the west that wouldnt that one would not identify with slavery it would be berkeley yet there were slaves there. Slavery in san francisco. We dont usually think of slavery in san francisco. But this is an ad for a fugitive slave. An ad for a fugitive slave from sacramento. Slavery is the institution. Its an institution that spreads all throughout california. There is a myth or an idea let me put it like. There is an old idea that historians for a long time argued, the idea that slavery couldnt extend beyond the 100th meridian. And they argued it can flourish only in areas with adequate rainfall. There is not adequate rainfall beyond the 100th meridian. But youve seen slaves could be cowboys, gold miners, slaves could work in any occupation that existed in the west. And there were those advocating for that thing. The 100th meridian, is hardly the natural boundary of slavery. This is slavery in texas. You can see the counties, predominantly black counties seen here. There is brazoria counties typical of the slave counties. It was an overwhelmingly black county. And it was overwhelmingly black because it was overwhelmingly enslaved and for the bend and a whole host of others representing them. A picture at the bottom a plantation home reflects on the shave culture in texas. But this is oregon. Yes, we might say, okay texas an extension of the south. Nobody would argue ogren isnt a extension of the south. Look at the statement should i read this as well . Let me set this up. What representative William Allen is a representative in the oregon territorial legislature. He is in the debate in 1857 with an antislavery legislator thomas drier. Here is what he said in 1857. The gentleman he is talking about he is talking about drier. The gentleman says slavery does not exist here meaning in oregon. Well it has been proved upon this floor that slavery does exist in this territory in several counties. There are some in benten and lane and polk and yamhill and i know not how many other counties well sir slavery property is here. It then becomes our duty to protect that property as recognized by the constitution of the United States. How many of you before tonight ever imagined shavery in oregon . Okay three people. Four people. I mean, this is this is what i meanwhile by slavery existing every. And indeed my argument my argument is basic. That essentially the country the nation was divided between north and south. But the north by 1860 being free territory. The south obviously being dedicated to the institution of slavery. And here is where the west comes in. The west is the great prize for that that both the north and south were seeking. They want to determine, both northerners and southerners want to determine the course of history in the west. Will that course be a history of freedom . Or will it be a history of slavery . Thats the great debate thats going on. And in many ways that explains what happens in kansas on the kansas missouri border were talking about later on. But ill tell you one thing. If there were people who were generally involved in the debate over slavery, there is one graup that had already settled that question. And thats africanamericans. Africanamericans in the west were to a person dedicated to the destruction of slavery, whether they were enslaved or whether they werefree. Im spending a little bit of time talking about one of those guys. This is george bush. My george bush as opposed to president george bush. Let me give you a bit of background here. George bush was a black man, a racially mixed background. He was married to a white woman. He had i think six or seven kids. And in 1844 he decided that he was going to take his family he was a farmer. And of all places clay county. He was a farmer in clay county. And he was going to take his family to the west because he understood that being a free black farmer in clay county was a compromise. I wont read well yeah ill read all of this. John mint o remembers george bush. John mint o was a younger person who bee fred friend bush on the trail process. This was what bush said near soda springs. This is mint o wright about this. I struck the road again in advance of my friends near soda springs is in what is now idahoter there was g. W. Bush. Joining him we went to the spring. Bush was a mulatto he had mean and also a white woman for a wife and a family of five children. Not many men of color left a slave state, missouri, obviously so well to do but it was not the nature of things that he should be permitted to forget miss color. As we went along together we riding a mule and i on foot, he led the conversation to this subject. He told me that he should watch when we got to oregon what usage was a water to people of color and if he could not find a freemans rights he would seek the protection of Mexican Government in california or new mexico. He said there were few people on the train that i would say as much to as he had just said to me. I told him i understood. Understand what george bush is saying. He is going to oregon. He understands that there are restrictions on black freedom in oregon and he is willing to go somewhere else. For him,are restrictions on bla freedom in oregon. And he is willing to go somewhere else. So, for him, the oregon trail is not just going to get land. It is going to get freedom. It is going to try to find a place where he can have freedom. So, the bush party does come out to oregon. And, they decide not to stay on the south side, the Willamette Valley side. They decide to move north into what is now washington territory. They are the first nonindians, they create the first non indian settlement in washington territory. Because of that move, others will follow. And eventually, washington territory will be divided, broken away from oregon, to become a separate territory. Upstate. So, even my own state has a history that is tied to the institution of slavery. Slavery of this is to the institution of slavery. Let me talk very quickly about the next example. This is charles mitchell. I know no one in this room has heard of charles mitchell. And rightly so. Charles mitchell was a 13year old boy. Let me go back. 13yearold boy. Enslaved boy. And olympia, washington territory. He was enslaved by a State Government official in olympia, washington territory. Abolitionists helped him to escape. He slipped onto a vessel that would go from olympia north to british columbia. He was originally discovered, he was thrown into the captains cabin, held there. Because the assumption was that once the ship got to victoria, he would be taken into custody, and he would be brought back to olympia. And the attempt to gain his freedom would fail. Heres what actually happens. Abolitionists, and here are some of these abolitionists. This is the victoria pioneer rifle court militia in british columbia. Started to say the other black militia. They are the militia. They are the militia. For british columbia. They almost all abolitionists. They find out about mitchell. They are able to rescue him. They bring him before the chief justice of the colony. And the chief justice of the colony says that in so far as mitchell is in a vessel that is in british waters, insists Great Britain has ended slavery in 1833. Mitchell is a free man. Now, there were comments about that. And i wish you guys could read these comments. Could anybody read these . Somebody read them out loud. Go ahead, miss. Who can read go ahead. We are all in school here. Go ahead. Start with the first one. The one on the left. [ inaudible ]. This is the northwest newspaper import town. Port town, by the way, is a lovely town. But it was obviously a proslavery town in 1860. Can anybody on this side read the other section . Go ahead. Wait, wait, wait. Okay. The microphone. Chief Justice Cameron decided that the law was clear, that no man could be held a slave on british soil. He therefore ordered charles to be forth with set at liberty. The decision was met by considerable of laws. The boy was then welcomed to liberty by his wife and colored friends. It was a righteous decision. Victoria columnist, september 26, 1860. Notice the opposing viewpoints. The americans were angry. The british were actually glad this happened. But, for charles mitchell, this would mean his freedom. My point here, and im going to talk about this. My point here is that there are a lot of ways to challenge slavery. George bush challenges slavery in his own way and helps to create the territory of washington, which becomes a state of washington. Charles mitchell takes matters into his own hands, and with the help of abolitionist, white and black, he becomes a free man. But, these two stories also reflect on the fact that slavery is universal. That it is all over the west. And of course, nowhere is this more of a case that in california. This is an enslaved minor. And here is the reason he is enslaved. Technically, you guys the history. Technically california was a free state. Forget that. It doesnt matter what the law says. The law is not enforced, then freedom doesnt mean anything. And i will read this very quickly. Although the present law makes it impossible to hold a slave longer than the present year, owning slaves is not a risk in california, because no one will put himself to the trouble of investigating the matter. Slavery in california. We dont usually identify slavery with california. But this was a situation that was going on. I will also say this. There are people in california, white and black, who were dedicated to black freedom. There were abolitionists who were going to do everything they could to free as many of these enslaved people as possible. As i said before, if there are slaves in berkeley, then there are abolitionist abolitionists in oakland who are going to get the free, who are going to make sure that they are free people. And the reason this is so poignant and so powerful, is because, in a place like california, in a place like san francisco, slaves and free people are walking the same streets. They are both on the streets of san francisco. They are running to each other every day. And as a result, the free people, the abolitionists, are even more dedicated to bringing about the liberty. These are some of those abolitionists. Going to talk about one of them peter lester. Peter lester was one of those guys who had it all. He was an abolitionist. Both in philadelphia before he came out, and then when he got to california in san francisco. He was a wealthy merchant. He didnt have to get involved in the political struggles, but he did anyway. And one of the things he did was to open up the basement of his house to fugitive slaves. And there, those fugitive slaves met lawyers. And their those lawyers and those fugitive slaves would plan their freedom. In other words, this is an active struggle going on in california, as well. But nowhere is the struggle against slavery more important, more relevant, more powerful than in kansas. Kansas becomes a symbol. It becomes the fountainhead for abolition or liberation. In kansas, white abolitionists and black abolitionists vowed to do all in their power to free enslaved African Americans. And more importantly, to create a political structure, yeah, i know some of you are familiar with this. To create a political structure that would prevent the territory and the state from being dominated by. Kansas, yeah, who doesnt know about john brown . Kansas in the 1850s attracted to dedicated group of abolitionists. And those abolitionists would run the underground railroad, as diana talked about. They would essentially help to shepherd africanamericans out of slavery into freedom. Im going to show you just a few slides. These are women abolitionists. This is Corina Nichols. And this is Sarah Robinson. For those of you who dont know, Sarah Robinson and Corina Nichols kid black slaves. And Sarah Robinson was the wife of a governor. The wife of a governor. This is the dedication to freedom on the part of some in kansas at that particular time. I want you to read this. I want someone else to read the statement. This is Corina Nichols, protective fugitive slave and 18 youre getting quite a workout here. Okay. Any volunteers to read the statement. This is the story of Corina Nichols protecting a fugitive slave named caroline in 1861. My cistern, every brick of it, rebuilt from the chimney of my late home, played its part in the drama of freedom. One beautiful evening late in october 1861, as twilight was fading from the bluff, a hurried message came to me from our neighbor, fielding johnson. You must hide, caroline. 14 slave hunters are camped on the park. Her master among them. Into the cistern caroline was lord with comforters, pillow and chair. A washtub over the trap with the usual appliances of a washroom standing around. Completing the hiding. Yeah. In other words, ordinary people, and not so ordinary people. Prominent people, were engaged in the process of freeing slaves or protecting blacks from the institutions of slavery. I come back to this image again. John brown and all that he represents. And it is not just john brown. John brown and others are going to come to kansas. James montgomery, they are going to become the infamous j hawkers. Kansas. And i want to make this point. I think its crucial for us to understand this. Kansas, as far as i know, is the only state in the country, the only territory in the country at the time, where white men risk their lives to go into a slave territory and free black people. I want you to think about that. The only other time this was happening was when a woman named Harriet Tubman in maryland. Some people dont agree with that. And i suggest that there are probably some reasons as to why they dont agree with the. And im going to try to deal with those reasons. At any rate. This is a situation that is going on. Antislavery men, white men, going to free black men in missouri. Kansas, at least in the beginning, pays, kansas in the beginning, pays tribute to the abolitionists. This is the first of two pictures that i took in the Kansas State Senate chamber. I admit that i was surprised to see both of them. I dont know, can you guys read the names . Can barely read the names. Charles robinson. John brown. Ah reader. These are abolitionists. And their names are inscribed in the state capital. In the state Capital Building in topeka. Other names. James h lane. James montgomery. Other names of abolitionist that are inscribed in the state Capital Building. Kansas then becomes this place of freedom. Now, i am going to say that, yes, there were whites who were dedicated to the free the black people. And i think we have to give them credit here. But ultimately, it was the black people who free themselves. The vast majority of the people who would become free. Look at these figures. In 1860, there were only 627 blacks in all of kansas. In 1865, there were 12,000. And to put that into perspective, these 12,000 represented 9 of the population, which is a larger percentage than there is a black folks in kansas to the state. So, why did that happen . Let me suggest the confluence of geography and politics. Geography, meaning on the side of the line, there were a lot of slaveholding counties. Some of the most intense slaveholding counties were in the missouri valley, and along the border with kansas. And what that meant is, that there were a lot of people who were going to say, we need to leave missouri for freedom in kansas. And that was one town that beckoned them. There was to. There was quintero. But there was also a place called lawrence. Feel like i am preaching to the choir here. You will know the lorenz story. This is one of the two banners that represents lawrence. What the city of lawrence was all about. Created by abolitionists. It was so dedicated to those abolitionistss, that they made names street, they made they named a massachusetts street. Why did they do that . Because massachusetts was a state that was most identified with the destruction of slavery. So, understand whats going on here. They were making a direct challenge to slaveholders who were 30 miles away. They were saying to those slaveholders, look, we are going to be a place of freedom. We are going to stand for freedom. We are going to do everything we can to make sure that people are free. And of course, there was going to be pushed back. You know some of that pushback. Lawrence is sacked by border ruffians in 1856. One person is killed. I feel like im preaching to the choir. You guys know this. There are national repercussions. How many of you heard of the caning of senator sumner . Oh. Okay most of you. How many of you know that that was a direct result of lawrence . Okay. I dont need to talk here. You guys know all of this. This is for lawrence, this is where kansas becomes part of the national struggle. These are the dates. Yes, there is murder in kansas. But that murder in kansas comes to the floor of the senate in the sense of this violence at this particular time. Kansas, excuse me, lawrence doesnt escape. Cointreau. The raid on lawrence kansas in 1863. This is, even now, when we look back, when i look back on this, this is amazing. 190 men and boys killed in lawrence, kansas. They are all of age are almost of age to go into the military. Therefore, they were shot and killed. This was a terror campaign. We sometimes, terror is going on. In the 21st century. Terror was going on in kansas at that particular moment. That is the kind of situation that was going on against the backdrop of the civil war. But, as i said before, we can talk about abolitionists who were freeing blacks. But we need to talk about a much larger number of blacks who free themselves. And they did so with their feet. They did so by making their break to lawrence and making their way to kansas and freedom. Henry clay bruce was one of those folks. Henry clay bruce was the brother of mississippi, future mississippi senator, blanche. Henry clay bruce recounted what he did to gain his freedom. Anybody willing to read this . Anybody . Okay. Whos going to read . I strapped my waist a pair of colt revolvers and plenty of ammunition for the run to the border. We avoided the main road and made the entire trip at night. Without meeting anyone. We crossed the Missouri River on a ferry boat to fort leavenworth, kansas. I then can myself a free man. Stay there. Dont go anywhere. I want you to read somewhat something else. This is even better. This is from the leavenworth daily conservative, july 8, 1862. Thousands of missouri slaves found their way into the union mines. Protected by the gallant Union Soldiers and the free state of kansas. Others still cross the Missouri River in search of liberty on the bridge of ice, which god had built for the special accommodation. These people came among us, wholly destitute of the means of living. Their sufferings were partly relieved by the malevolence and charity of friends here and elsewhere. Those friends, thank you. Thank you very much. Those friends here and elsewhere was the kansas emancipation league. These are abolitionists. These are abolitionists. These are people who were dedicated to the destruction of slavery. And let me have you see the words. Read this because its short. This is richard corley. He was one of those abolitionists. He is talking in 1862. The are not coming. Notice what he says. The are not coming. They are here. And they will stay here. They are to be our neighbors, whatever we may think about it a whatever we may do about it. In other words, this is a number of things. This is something about the determination of the abolitionists to make black folks part of the body politic of kansas. But it also suggests that there is resistance to those black folks coming into kansas at that particular time. There are a whole host of people who would help those white abolitionists who helped. But a Remarkable Group of women i want to talk about for just one minute. The ladies refugee aid society. These are black women. Many of them had not been in kansas more than 234 years. They were, themselves, former slaves. Fugitive slaves. And yet, they banded together and used their resources from bake sales and Everything Else they could do, to raise money to help those thousands who were coming in behind them. Eventually, the ladies refugee aid society evolved into the Kansas Federation of colored womens club. Which i understand is still around today. And that they are, they have a really proud legacy. Because this is how they began. Now. These people are coming into kansas. They are free in kansas. And a lot of the abolitionists, it was assumed, that they would essentially become farmers or farmworkers in kansas. In other words, exchange later, labor for the freedom. A lot of other people had other notions. Including the blacks themselves. Particularly black man. They decided to join the union army. You guys may know that a larger percentage of white soldiers in the union army came from kansas than any other state. You probably know that, do you not . You did know that. You know that now. Well, let me suggest to you that a larger percentage of black soldiers came into the union army from kansas than by far from any other state. Let me answer that. Not only did they come into the army, they were a lot brought in and large thanks to this man, james and wayne. And they formed the first kansas colored regimen and the second kansas colored regiment. And, these were people who literally had been enslaved just a few years earlier. But they understood, perhaps better than most, the meaning of freedom. Therefore, they were willing to put their lives on the line. These are two depictions. This is one, actually in butler, missouri. This is the battle of Honey Springs in oklahoma, which was one of the most famous battles that the first kansas colored participated in. Let me be clear. We all probably remember the movie glory, and we know the history of the 54th infantry regiment. And officially, it is the first lack regiment in the civil war. Unofficially, this is the first black regiment. These people proceeded the glory folks by two years. By two years. [ applause ] these are kansas people. These are kansas people who were fighting for the freedom. Of course, this is one of the officers. Captain william matt hughes. You can see that there are changes that are taking place rapidly in kansas. Oh all of this is going on against the backdrop of just a few years. Remember, 18161865. And i love this. This is the battle flag of the first kansas colored volunteers. These women, i dont know where they are, who they are. But, they still preserve the battle flag. You can almost see in the faces how proud they are of the fact that they held the flag that was waived in battle numerous times in the american civil war. So, what happens here is that africanamericans in kansas become part of the body politic. They demands to become part of the body politic. The kansas state colored convention meets at leavenworth in october 1863. Remember the states. There are 7000 black folks in kansas. Almost all of them have come since 1860. And yet, they commit themselves to a future in the state of kansas. They commit themselves to become part of the body politic. Their goals, universal male suffrage. Access to public education. The right to serve on juries. Ban on discrimination and public transportation. I would argue, you know, some might differ with me on this. I would argue that this is the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in kansas. Not the 1960s. Not the 1950s. This is the beginning of that movement. And you are going to see examples of that in a minute. This is from the leavenworth convention. I will just read this because its short. I read the short stuff. Its easy for me. It does not follow that because so much is being done for us, they were talking about the white abolitionists. Does not follow that because so much is being done for us, that we can do nothing for ourselves. And then, they began to talk about how they can organize the black community to be self sufficient. How they can organize the black community so it controls its destiny. But the second statement is just as important. And i think it applies as much now as it did then. Our misery is not necessary to your happiness. Your rights can never be secure while ours are denied. Remember that. Your rights can never be secure while ours are denied. So, these folks were beginning to assert themselves as part of the kansas political scene. Part of the kansas civil rights struggle. Okay. Why does he show this . You all know about linda brown in the 1954 to be good order of education decision. In fact, you probably know the linda brown just died about a month ago, do you not . Yeah. The Supreme Court was so different than. So very different than. But i would argue, i would argue that different as it was, it still passed down a decision that would fundamentally alter america. Fundamentally alter american society, that would eventually allow for much more diverse Supreme Court today. But this is what you dont know. This is the background. Linda browns father had filed suit in i think 1951. But, the first suit filed in 1879. And it was filed by black men and women who were upset that to. Segregated the schools. They filed the lawsuit, and a succession of lawsuits that eventually led to the brown lawsuit. William eagle seven wrote an editorial in 1878 that sort of inspire that lawsuit. We hear no ira school, no german school, no sweetie schools. No, not one. All the children of the city are limited to attend the school nearest them except the poor child that god chose to create with the black phase. We say to every colored man and woman, to come together and resolve that you will no longer submit to this unjust discrimination on account of your color. This thing has gone on long enough. And now, if it can be stopped, lets stop it. This is 1879. In other words, you think of brown people education. Understand its long roots. Understand that there were people in 1879 who were dedicated to trying to bring about this change. And, why is this . Because, even though the civil war was fought, and even though the north one, there is still a reconstruction process. We think about the reconstruction process in the south. But look at whats going on in kansas. Look at whats going on in kansas. And, essentially what happens, is that there is a new group of black leaders who will emerge, who will fight for rights and justice. The most important of those leaders, there are a lot of them. But the most important of those leaders was Charles Henry langston. As you can see from this photograph, he is overshadowed by his most famous, or his more famous congressman brother, and of course, is grandson, langston hughes. You on a langston hughes. Charles henry langston, who is a remarkable guy. Langston hughes says that much of his politics came from listening to his grandfathers struggle. And his grandfather was dedicated to the idea of justice and freedom for black folks in kansas. Can somebody read this one . Leslie, you should just stay right here. Charles h langston. Abolitionist and civil rights activist, 18171892. We ask that, at your hands, no special privilege. We seek no favors. But, we do demand equality before the law. We seek complete emancipation. Full and perfect enfranchisement. Absolute legal equality. These are the natural inherent and inalienable rights of man. 1861. Wow. Dont go anywhere. Theres another one i want you to read. I love the way she reads. So, what happens is Charles Henry langston and other black men, and some black women, come together and they create a conference. Another conference. Another convention. They meet this time in lawrence, kansas, in 1866. And they talk about the rights. And this is a longer one. So be prepared. This is the statement that comes from that convention in lawrence kansas in 1866. Kansan. Mans demand voting rights. 1866. The right to exercise the elective franchise is the inseparable part of self government. No man, black or white, can just leave bree deprived of this right. It is not merely a conventional privilege, which may be extended to or withheld from any class of citizens. At the will of a majority. But, a right as sacred and inviolable as a right to life, liberty, or property. Before you go on to the next paragraph, you understand whats being said here . No man, white or black, can be justly deprived of this right. It is not merely a conventional privilege that needs to be extended by the white majority. There was this big debate about whether blacks were going to be allowed to vote. And whether women, white or black, would be a lot about. And the man would decide his. This convention is saying no, the men dont have the right to decide this. These are rights that need to be extended to everyone. These are the natural rights of human beings. Go ahead with the second paragraph please. Yes. Since we blacks are going to remain among you, we believe it is unwise to take from us as a class our natural right. Shell our presence induced to the welfare, peace and prosperity of the state because of distention, discord and irritation. We must be constant trouble in this state until it extends to us an equal and exact justice. From the proceedings of the convention of colored citizens. Lawrence, kansas. October 17, 1966. 1966. Is obviously wrong. Thats 1866. Thats my fault, guys. My bad as they say. Sorry. I want you to focus on this one thing. We must be a constant trouble in this state until it extends to us equal and exact justice. That i want you to think about the guy who walked out a little while ago. There is a relationship there. Even though he and i may disagree, understand that he has a vision of rights and justice, that may differ from all of ours. But, it is still predicated on the fact that all are equal. And all should be treated equally. Regardless of their and regardless of the color. Regardless of the clothes they wear. Regardless of the background that they come from. But that is what equality is all about. And that is not something that came from me or him. That is something that came from the founding fathers. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you. So, i got a little bit behind here. So, what happens here is that Charles Langston is going to continue his agitation until he dies. Because, there is not equal and exact justice. There is not complete freedom, as you will see in a minute. And, that struggle continues. Indeed it continues to this very day. I want to suggest to you something. Freedom is not simply just getting the ballot. For africanamericans in the late 19th century, freedom is only land. It is having control over your own destiny. Every, having the right to have your own, if you will. In kansas, that becomes that place where a lot of African Americans hope to do just that. After the civil war, nearly 40,000, 40,000 africanamerican women and men headed to kansas to find that freedom through land ownership. I want you to read the words. I will read this. The topeka colored citizen, 1879. Our advice to the people of the south. Come west. Come to kansas. In order that you may be free from the persecution of the rebels. You know who the rebels are. If blacks come here and starve, oh well. Theres this idea that blacks can survive in kansas, they will, they will start. And the editor says, this is a black editor who says, if the blacks come here and starve, all well. It is better to starve to death in kansas, then to be shot and killed in the south. It is better to be starved to death in kansas than to be shot and killed in the south. So, a lot of black folks did come, and they took advantage of they homestead act. In fact, kansas became a place of particular interest for a lot of africanamericans. And i have three factors. Three reasons for that. And i will work my way through them. First, kansas is the place that is closest to the south, which has a large black population, that has homesteading. That has an allowance for homesteading. And you guys know homesteading. You know that you can come and you can claim 160 acres. And if you stay on the land for five years, it is yours for free as long as you improve it. If you really want to push the process, you can stay on it for six months and you can buy the land for 1. 25 per acre. Where can we buy 1. 25 acre land. You can buy it for a dollar 25 an acre. So, there are a lot of people. Former whites and blacks. But you guys, i know you are descendents of some of these people who own that. You dont even have to look at your faces. I know youre. There were a lot of black folks who participated in that homesteading. Especially in kansas. And they came for the same reasons everybody else. They came because they wanted land and they wanted opportunity. But i would say for blacks, its a little bit more than just wanting the land. For blocks, owning the land meant full and perfect freedom. It meant real citizenship. A real connection to the community. So, they come to homestead. There is factor number 2, and i know something about the Current Republican Party in kansas. But, in the 1880s, kansas Republican Party seem to be a political beacon. It seemed to be a place of hope. Frederick douglass said it best. The Republican Party is the ship. And all else is the sea. The Republican Party as the ship. And all else is the sea. So, if you are in alabama, if you are in louisiana, if youre in mississippi, and the democrats are taking over, and you learn that there is a place dominated by republicans, you might take a chance. You might just say, thats better. And of course, there is a legacy of bleeding kansas. There is john brown again. How many times have we seen john brown . But, the symbol here, and the symbolism is important. Its not just a picture of john brown out there. Kansas was the first state where john brown another abolitionist took direct action to free black people. Kansas was the first state to support the emancipation proclamation. Kansas was the first state to ratify the 13th amendment. Kansas, in the 1870s especially, became a place where people would come to be free. Not just black folks. You guys know about people who came from eastern and Central Europe to central kansas. Russia to central kansas, because it was a place where they hoped to be free. Well, black folks make the same felt the same way. They made it to kansas at the same time. Including the exodus service. The people from mississippi and alabama. The most oppressed of the oppressed who made their way out to a place called kansas. I want to tell you a story. This is a story about one sharecropper. Former sharecropper who thought it epitomizes the this tale. You know there are thousands of accidents who come to kansas. Think the story can be encapsulated in one persons saga. John solomon to lewis. You dont have to remember the name, but remember the story. This guy and his family. Sharecroppers in mississippi, they get way behind in debt. The owner threatens them with violence. And they decide, we got to get away. We got to get out of here. Because if we dont, if we stay, we may be killed. So, John Sullivan sneaks his family out of his sharecropper cabin in the middle of the night. They go down to the swamp, to the swampy area near the mississippi river. And they wait and hope that a steamboat will come and pick them up. They wait for six weeks. They wait for six weeks, hoping that somebody will stop. And that steamboat captain finally comes up, he pulls up, and he allows John Sullivan lewis and his family to get on that steamboat. This is an John Sullivan lewis, but this is the exodus on the mississippi river, bound for kansas. When the steamboat captain says, where do you want to go . John Sullivan Lewis is one word. Kansas. Thats it. Just kansas. And Everybody Knows exactly what that means. That is what i mean by the image of kansas as opposed to the reality. The image of kansas among African Americans was going to be extremely powerful at the time. So, africanamericans will move. These are the centers of the exodus. These are people who were still in pico. Still in ottawa and a host of other small towns. And own some forms throughout kansas to the state. But, these people will move, and they will become part of the body politic of kansas. Of course, the most famous Kansas Settlement is in the west. It is nicodemus. How many of you have heard of nicodemus . Gee, okay. You guys. Maybe i should not even say this and. You know the story of nicodemus. It is named after the legendary black prince. It is found in the farmers to kansas in an area, and i love this quote. The land was so flat that one could see what his neighbor was doing in the next county. This is nicodemus. This is the area around nicodemus. And there was one woman, and i love her statement. She was Willie Anna Hickman. She had come from kentucky where there were a lot of Rolling Hills and a lot of trees. And she pulled her husband. Her husband had already come out. She and the husband came back together. He brought her to nicodemus. And, he pointed to nicodemus and she said, i looked with all the eyes i had. Where is nicodemus . I dont see it. And then he says, that he pointed to the plumes of smoke and he said, the, she said, the familys live in dugouts. We landed and we struck tents. The sceneries was not at all inviting, and i began to cry. I mean, think about that. Think about, if you come from kentucky. If you come from missouri, you end up in kansas. Thats a challenge. The physical landscape. The physical landscape is a challenge. But the important thing is that Willie Anna Hickman state. And she and other state and they helped to make nicodemus, at least for a while, a prosperous community. Anybody want to read this one . Will make it hard on leslie. We will have the people in the back raise their hands. Go ahead. Nicodemus as described by the newspaper the cyclone and 1886. Nicodemus was originally settled by the colored race, and by their patients and untiring energy, have succeeded in gaining a grand, glorious victory over nature and the elements. And what use to be the Great American desert, now looms with waiving grain. You know, this is a pioneer story that is as powerful as any. If we had more time, i would talk about the real little house on the prairie, which is black settlers in kansas and nebraska. But, you get the sense of it. Now im going to get sort of personal. I want to nicodemus in 2010. I took this picture of the market. I dont want anybody to read this. This is too small a pit. How many of you have been to nicodemus . Oh, gee. Okay. Maybe i should stop right now. This is the photograph i took. You guys know that nicodemus has maybe 300 people. But every august, every august 2, august 1 and august 2, thousands of people descend on nicodemus for the annual parade. And that parade is a testimony to that sense of self determination. Here is this guy on a tractor. And there are Buffalo Soldiers and there are all kinds of people. They all reflect on this idea that nicodemus was a driving in prosperous community. But let me suggest something to. Let me let the state, what i would suggest. Nicodemus is not alone. That there were literally thousands of africanamerican farmers. You can see this. Africanamerican farmers till the soil and 81 of 105 counties in kansas by 1920. Blacks comprised 5 of the states farmers by 1920. Blacks owned 1400 farms, which included collectively, 177,000 acres of land in 1920. Nicodemus is not an aberration. Nicodemus indeed reflects the idea of black prosperity, especially on the land. This is from the topeka mail and breeze. Some of the most successful farmers in kansas are colored man who came to the states. This is a white newspaper by the way. Who came to the states without a dollar and have accumulated small fortunes. They own fine farms, live in handsome country houses. Ride to town in good carriages and are respected by the neighbors, and they have all the advantages and comforts enjoyed by the white neighbors. In other words, some black folk, there was success. This is the most successful of those people. This is tunis grove. And his wife, matilda. Judith grove, the former slave, gross. He was a former slave. He comes to kansas in 1879. Not really part of the exodus, but he makes his way out from kentucky. He has, i think yeah, he has like a dollar 50 in his office. He goes to work as you see here are . 75 a day. And 30 years later, 30 years later, judith groves is one of the most prosperous people, notice i didnt say one of the most prosperous black people. One of the most prosperous people in kansas. He is, by this point, the potato king. By that, i mean, he raises more irish potatoes than any other farmer in america. He has several thousand square miles. Im sorry, 40 square miles. Several thousand acres, in seven kansas counties. And by 1907, it said, he is reputed to be the largest grower of irish potatoes and then he went country. It was too early for mcdonalds. But, he still made a great deal of money anyway. This is gross. This is matilda and judith gross. This is their house near evansville. How many of you know where evansville is . Edwardsville. Edwardsville. Im sorry. Have to correct two things on this. Okay you know where, where is edwardsville, then . Where is it . It is where . On the other okay. West, okay. Thats fine. This is his house. His house was the largest in the county. His house was the first to have a telephone. The first to have running water. This is a black man who has excess on the kansas soil. Now, im almost ready to wrap this up. I know we are going long. Im sorry. We know something about the general Civil Rights Movement. And we all know the story of greensboro. The first sit in. Except, that thats not true. The first sit ins were actually, at this drugstore in wichita kansas two years before greensboro. In fact, the people in greensboro learned from the folks in wichita, kansas about the techniques for organizing a city in. And, one of the leaders of that city and was Ronald W Walters who eventually becomes a prominent professor at howard university. And this is what he writes, he is writing years later. But this is what he says. As we sat, we seldom spoke to each other. But many things crossed my mind. How would i react if my white classmates came in . How would they react . Would my career in college be affected . And, would i be able to get another job . What would my family think of what i was doing . Were we doing the right thing at all . This is the first sit in. This is before greensboro. I am sure others were thinking the same thing. But they never wavered. I was proud of our little group. In other words, these are people who are making history. These are people who are establishing a pattern in wichita, that was spread across the south and across the entire country. So, what i am suggesting here is that the struggle for civil rights that began in the 1860s in kansas, would continue. We see it with the brown decision. We also see a with the protest demonstrations. Let me say this. The 60s struggle for civil rights was not a complete victory. Indeed, there are still issues that we deal with today. And when i talk about that, i talk about in kansas, but also in the entire country. Martin luther kings dream has not come about today. Im going to show you something. These are demonstrations in kansas. This is in lawrence, kansas. This is what i want to get to. I dont how many of you are familiar with the death of dominic white. How many of you have heard of this before . This is a black lives matter issue. And i guess the sad thing about this is that you can go and look up the deaths of these unarmed black man all over the country, including in topeka, kansas. Including in topeka, kansas. And i dont know all the circumstances here. People from topeka would be in a better position to talk about this. Yes, sir . You know about it . [ inaudible ] this is the issue. Okay. I got a repeat what you said. He knows about topeka. He lives in topeka. It was the other thing about it as it was yards away from a school. Okay. I think i got a. Here is the point that i want to make, guys. I want to conclude with this. We can revere the Civil Rights Movement, and we can revere those abolitionist, white and black in kansas, who did the right thing in the 1850s. Who did, who at great risk to themselves, brought about Racial Justice. Much Racial Justice as they could provide at that particular moment. But, the battle is not over. The struggle is not over. This nicodemus symposium is not just about nicodemus. It is about how you help to extend forward the legacy of nicodemus, and that most powerful legacy is the legacy of Racial Justice. I urge you guys, you werent around in the 1850s or 1860s. Some of you werent even around in the 1960s. But, we are all here now, and there are still issues to be dealt with. And i urge you to think about becoming the new kansas abolitionists. Becoming the people today who will do what john brown and the others did in the early period to try to bring about Racial Justice. I hope you will do that. I hope you will take up the challenge. And i hope you will know that history is not just entertaining, history is a roadmap to the future and we are the future, folks. We are living it right now. And those challenges are still here. The question is, how will you meet those challenges . Thank you very much. [ applause ] excellent. That was such a great speech. And, the time flew by. So, we only have time for two questions. So, i know you guys have so many more. I know. I get it. But, we gotta get to dinner and we got a cleanup and all that good stuff. So, two questions. Raise your hand if you have a question. Im going to make you choose. Raise your hand if you have a question. Okay. Yes, maam . Hello. My name is stacy evans. On the chair the Western University association. And my question is, so, what made kansas change into such a red state . I can copout. I dont live in kansas. I live in washington. But you know, it is a complex question. And it is predicated on the fact that they really were, i dont want to leave the impression that all of the whites in kansas were dedicated abolitionists, because they were not. Most whites were antislavery. And i make a distinction there between antislavery and abolitionist. Abolitionists were people who wanted to bring about rita meant to some extent, equality. Antislavery people were people who wanted to destroy the institution of slavery because it affected them. And, those folks and ice, after slavery was destroyed, they backed the wave to a larger sensor those questions of racial equality because he had never been committed to them in the first place. And overtime, overtime, kansas republicans became more and more conservative. Just as all the republicans became more and more conservative. I mean, can we see a link between Abraham Lincoln and donald trump . I mean, somebody explained that to me. They are both republicans. But you know, if you can explain that at the national level, we can explain what happened to kansas. Another question. The last question. A lot of pressure. Go ahead. Go ahead. In your research, did you come across anything with mr. Vernon. 0, and also devious valentine statue thats erected outside . Mr. Vernon is covered on a website. He is discussed. He is not the founder of Western University, but he is certainly one of the major figures. So, take a look at the website. Go to black past, and you can read about him. Man . Go ahead. Okay. She can tell us. Im sure he probably already knows this answer. Maybe hes just asking it for the crowd. So, he was the dean at Western University for two terms. And he also went to be the treasurer for the United States of america. During the time that he is the treasurer of course, his name is on the United States currency. Wow. Could i take a point of personal privilege . I hope that somewhere in this audience theres a woman named verging back. Virgie, are you here . Is she here . There she is. Okay. This is my point of personal privilege. Urge he was my High School Librarian back in the day. Now, she looks younger than i do. But, she was my high school energy, stand up, please. Stand up. [ applause ] she now lives in topeka, and i can say, that i am standing here because i used the library. Virgie, thank you for coming. Thank you. And we would like to thank all of you for coming out tonight. Be sure to check our website for more of her upcoming events. Thank you. [ applause ] we are featuring American History tv programs as a preview of what is available every weekend on cspan three. Lectures in history. American artifacts. Real america. The civil war. Oral histories. The presidency. And, special event coverage about our nations history. Enjoy American History tv now and every weekend. On cspan 3. Weeknights this month, we are featuring American History tv programs as a preview of what is available every weekend on cspan 3. Tonight, a look at a recent Conference Held at Purdue University titled, remaking american political history. We will feature programs for the gathering focusing on u. S. Politics and government from the earliest days of the american republic. American history tv airs at 8 pm eastern on cspan 3. Next, historian Henry Louis Gates talks about reconstruction, which lasted from the end of the civil war until 1877. The amendments past during this time to promote equality for africanamericans. And the subsequent jim crow laws and other measures used in Southern States to reestablish white supremacy. The National Constitution Center Hosted this event. Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome upstairs to the National Constitution center. You heard