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Julian C. Chambliss, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History & Coordinator of the Africa & African American Studies Program
Rollins College
African Americans and the West
York, slave to William Clark, is one of the earliest
example of African Americans in the west (1804-
1806).
Manifest Destinyleads to a brutal
Civil Warthat creates a new context
for the African American
western experience.
• In 1874 Benjamin Singleton and his associates formed the Edgefield Real Estate and Homestead Association in Tennessee. This association sought out the best locations for black settlements. Singleton tried to establish a well-planned and organized movement to Kansas, but by 1879, the unruly, mass Exodus had overwhelmed his efforts.
Aerial view of Nicodemus from the Northeast, 1953
http://www.nps.gov/features/nicodemus/buildings.htm
ALL BLACK TOWNS IN OKLAHOMA
http://guides.tulsalibrary.org/content.php?pid=348131&sid=2847897
Buffalo soldiers of the 25th Infantry, Ft. Keogh, Montana
9th Cavalry Regiment / 10th Cavalry Regiment
24th Infantry Regiment / 25th Infantry Regiment
The Cowboy’ Diverse Reality• MEXICAN
COWBOY
– VAQUERO (from
Spanish for cow)
– Starting in 1500s
these Spanish
landowners
mounted Native
Americans on
horse to manage
cattle.
Black Cowboys
Often omitted from the popular dialogue countless African
American served as cowboys in the west.
AS THE 19TH CENTURY CAME TO A CLOSE,
RAPID URBANIZATION TRIGGERED A
COMPLEX ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FRONTIER.
THE DIVERSITY OF THE REAL FRONTIER WAS
REPLACED BY AN IMAGINARY FRONTIER.
The Real Nat
Love• Former slave
• Worked in the
emerging cattle
industry after Civil
War.
• Worked across the
southwest and
Mexico
• Won cowboy contest
in 1876 that garnered
nickname Deadwood
Dick.
Birth of a Nation
https://archive.org/movies/thumbnails.php?identifier=dw_griffith_birth_of_a_nation
COUNTERPOINT:
Race Films
• Films produced by
African-American
for African
Americans allowed
them to show a
fuller memory of
the western
experience.
IN THE END, THE RE-IMAGINED
WESTERN NARRATIVE SUPPORTED
VIEWS THAT DIMINISHED AFRICAN-
AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
U.S. EXPERIENCE. THE TRUTH
HOWEVER IS THAT AFRICAN-
AMERICANS WERE A PART OF THE
WESTERN EXPERIENCE.
Thank You!!
• Dr. Julian C. Chambliss
• Twitter: @JulianChambliss
• www.julianchambliss.com