In the aftermath of the American civil war the Southern US was ravaged.The racist beliefs left by the plantation slave culture resurfaced in the formation of the Ku Klux Klan and the brutal suppression of the former slaves who were looking for their rights as citizens.Reconstruction rebuilt the South with Black labor in exchange for the vote and civil rights and equality.The reason this worked is because the Union kept troops in the South and dismantled all Southern governments legislatures and made the South federal territory.When Rutherford Hayes won the election of 1876 the South protested on the bases that their representation was miscounted.So many Southern Congressional reps in particularly from South Carolina began to filibuster Congressional procedures.The Southerners agreed if the President withdrew the Union troops form the South.This gave the power back to the racist and they began denying Blacks the rights to vote.In the wake of this the Liberia and Kansas exodus movements were formed.In Charleston SC a group of exodus people met to form the Liberia Exodus society.They raised money,capital and influence.Then in 1879 the Christened the Bark Azor Steamship for the voyage.The demand for passage was so great some tickets were auctioned off.Only 250 passengers were supposed to be aboard but another 50 stowed away.The Liberians were now a better superior people who had built an independent Black Republic that was able to offer land to African American settlers.When the passengers on the Azor left South Carolina they were already skilled in farming,Blacksmithing,shipping,and other skills.They brought with them tools and a work ethic.In one of Black America's most colorful and heroic moments these brave men and women with them sailed up the St Paul River and built many homes and settlements in the river region.Farming was key and these settlers also had fellow African American traders to buy their crops.These people found heaven in their native land.
Will the Tea Party take over of the government lead to another exodus of African Americans?Already people are leaving the country.Not just Blacks but Whites too.Only the Latinos are flooding in here.There clearly is no real future for the Black man in America.The African American needs a new beginning.
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