Settlement FAQs

how geology helped define black settlements in the south

by Heloise Wehner Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago

What research is being done about early black settlements?

Over the past 30 years, various research projects related to early black settlements have been completed by independent researchers, college professors and students, IHS, Indiana Humanities, Ball State University, Conner Prairie and Indiana Landmarks.

What role did African Americans play in the early settlement of Georgia?

Whether indentured, enslaved, or free, African Americans played a role in the county’s early settlement, river and farming enterprises. Census records reveal that black farmers, laborers, river workers and household workers lived in both towns and rural settings. However, it most was rural dwellers living with families.

What is the settlement of the ground?

Settlement: When a load is applied on the ground, it increases the vertical effective stress. This stress increases the vertical strain in the soil. This increase in vertical strain causes the ground to move downward. This downward movement of the ground is called settlement.

What is the geology of the black belt?

The geology emphasizes the highly fertile black soil. Historically, the black belt economy was based on cotton plantations – along with some tobacco plantation areas along the Virginia-North Carolina border.

What does the Black Belt mean in the South?

The Black Belt is a fertile plain, generally 25–30 miles (40–50 km) wide and stretching approximately 300 miles (480 km) across central Alabama and northeastern Mississippi. A region of dark, calcareous soils, it was one of the South's most important agricultural areas before the American Civil War.

What was the geography of the Black Belt?

Black Belt is a physical geography term referring to a roughly crescent-shaped geological formation of dark fertile soil in the Southern United States. It is about 300 miles (480 km) long and up to 25 miles (40 km) wide in ca. east-west orientation, mostly in central Alabama and northeast Mississippi.

What conditions did African Americans in the South face?

Hundreds of thousands of African Americans in the South faced new difficulties: finding a way to forge an economically independent life in the face of hostile whites, little or no education, and few other resources, such as money.

Why were all black towns created?

African Americans in Oklahoma and Indian Territories would create their own communities for many reasons. Escape from discrimination and abuse would be a driving factor. All-Black settlements offered the advantage of being able to depend on neighbors for financial assistance and of having open markets for crops.

Why is the Black Belt so fertile?

Over millions of years, plankton that lived in the Gulf left behind exoskeletons rich in calcium carbonate—the accumulation of which resulted in the Black Belt's chalk subsoil. As a result of all the calcium, the soil is very fertile and good for growing crops.

What created the Black Belt?

The unusually fertile Black Belt (or Prairies) soil is produced by the weathering of an exposed limestone base known as the Selma Chalk, the remnant of an ancient ocean floor. Selma Chalk photographs from 1914 US Geological Survey “Cretaceous Deposits of the Eastern Gulf Region,” Selma, Alabama, ca.

Why was it difficult for southern free black people to gain economic independence after the Civil War?

Why was it difficult for southern free blacks to gain economic independence after the Civil War? Southern blacks emerged from slavery with no money to begin their new lives, so they had to rely on the crop-lien and sharecropping systems.

How did Reconstruction affect the South?

Among the other achievements of Reconstruction were the South's first state-funded public school systems, more equitable taxation legislation, laws against racial discrimination in public transport and accommodations and ambitious economic development programs (including aid to railroads and other enterprises).

What social issues faced African Americans in the rural South in the years after the Civil War How did they respond?

What social issues faced African Americans in the rural South in the years after the Civil War? How did they respond? They lived in desperate rural poverty and faced prejudice/segregation from the whites. Most were sharecroppers on rented land or left for jobs in southern towns or western homesteads.

What was the first black town?

America's First Black Town: Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915.

What state has the most all-black towns?

OklahomaOklahoma: Home to More Historically All-Black Towns than Any Other U.S. State.

What is the meaning of black towns?

Definition of blacktown : the predominantly black section of a city.

What type of soil is in the Black Belt?

chalkBlack Belt Prairies This region is comprised of sedimentary soil formed at the edge of what was once the ocean boundary. The chalky material of this area, known as Selma chalk, is very alkaline while other areas covered by deposits of clay, are very acidic.

What states made up the Black Belt?

The Black Belt Region included roughly 623 rural counties from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi to North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Systematically underresourced and underserved, these counties have housed a large African-American population.

Which region includes the Black Belt featuring rich soil?

Alabama's Black BeltAlabama's Black Belt region — named for its rich, fertile soil — is home to watershed sites in the struggle for civil rights, where the great-grandsons and granddaughters of enslaved people risked their lives and changed the course of history.

Where was the Black Belt in Chicago?

African Americans were primarily limited to an area of Chicago known as the “Black Belt,” which was located between 12th and 79th streets and Wentworth and Cottage Grove avenues. Approximately 60,000 blacks had moved from the South to Chicago during 1940-44 in search of jobs.

Why were black towns founded?

Although most towns were founded for the same reasons that white or biracial towns were to exploit natural resources, provide opportunities for settlers, and make money for speculators, Black towns shared certain unique characteristics. Black settlers sought not only to find economic and social freedom but to center on ideals of racial uplift.

Why did the Blacks create their own communities?

Though residential segregation is often considered one of the more harmful effects of racism in the United States, some Blacks in the nineteenth century chose to form their own racially separate communities. Unlike the ghettos and rural enclaves where many Blacks at the time were forced to live, Black towns were established to promote economic independence, self-government, and social equality for Blacks.

What happened to Nicodemus in Oklahoma?

In a fate shared by the majority of Black towns that failed to attract a rail line, Nicodemus soon dwindled and died. Founded in 1904, Boley, OK, escaped the trouble that had doomed Nicodemus. Railroad access and arable land helped Boley, one of at least 20 Black towns in Oklahoma, to thrive.

How many towns were settled in the 50 years after the Civil War?

More than 80 such towns were settled in the 50 years after the Civil War. This article discusses only a few of these towns.

What was the purpose of the Allensworth charter?

Like many Black towns, Allensworth's charter prohibited prostitution, gambling, and the sale of alcohol.

Where did the Blacks leave their homes?

Tens of thousands of Blacks left their homes headed for Singleton's Cherokee County colony or Nicodemus, in Graham County, Kansas. Nicodemus was founded in 1877 by a corporation of seven members, six of whom were Black.

When did the first wave of black migration end?

The first great wave of Black migration came as Reconstruction ended in 1877. After federal troops withdrew from the South, many Blacks feared that the civil and political rights they had recently acquired would disappear as well. Most Blacks in the South also faced limited educational and economic opportunities.

What is the black belt?

Black Belt is a physical geography term referring to a roughly crescent-shaped geological formation of dark fertile soil in the Southern United States.

What was the region of the 1820s?

Before the 19th century, this region was a mosaic of prairies and oak - hickory forest. In the 1820s and 1830s, the region was identified as prime land for upland cotton plantations. Short-staple cotton did well here, and its profitable processing was made possible by invention of the cotton gin.

When did the Cretaceous period occur?

During the Cretaceous period, about 145 to 66 million years ago , most of what are now the central plains and the Southeastern United States were covered by shallow seas. Tiny marine plankton grew in those seas, and their carbonate skeletons accumulated into massive chalk formations.

Is chalk a fertile soil?

That chalk eventually became a fertile soil, highly suitable for growing crops. The Black Belt arc was the shoreline of one of those seas, where large amounts of chalk had collected in the shallow waters.

Where does the limestone in the Badlands come from?

The occasional limestone lenses found in the park come from calcium-rich groundwater flowing through ancient lakes and precipitating out calcium carbonate, otherwise known as limestone. Volcanic ash found in the Badlands comes from eruptions in the Great Basin, a geologic province including states like Utah and Nevada.

What are the badlands in South Dakota?

You may have heard the term “badlands” used before, but not in reference to our park. That’s because in addition to being a geographic term, describing Badlands National Park in South Dakota, this word is also a geologic term! The lowercase version of badlands is used to describe most terrains that look like the formations in our park. They are typically characterized by soft sedimentary rocks that erode easily.#N#There are badlands formations all over country in places like Wyoming, Utah, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska. You can even check out badlands formations in the National Park Service like Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, or opt for ones on National Grasslands like Toadstool Geologic Park in Nebraska. There are also badlands formations found throughout the world in Canada, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, and Argentina.

What is the environment like in the Chadron Formation?

The environment of the Chadron Formation would have been hot and wet, like Everglades National Park is today. It was home to creatures that we associate with these modern environments like ancient alligators, as well as some animals that no longer exist, like the massive Brontothere.

What type of rock is found in the Badlands?

There are a number of rock types that can be found in the Badlands. The formations in our park contain sandstones, siltstones, mudstones, claystones, limestones, volcanic ash, and shale. These rock types come from a number of different sources.

What is the name of the rock that is preserved in the rock record?

Those soils are now preserved as the Yellow Mounds, which are what geologists call a paleosol. Paleosols are ancient fossilized soils preserved in the rock record, and they often appear as brightly colored layers like the Yellow Mounds, which gets its mustardy color from a mineral called Goethite.

When did the Badlands begin eroding?

Erosion is the process of rocks gradually wearing away. The Badlands began eroding about 500,000 years ago as the Cheyenne and White Rivers carved their way through the landscape.

Where are the badlands?

There are badlands formations all over country in places like Wyoming, Utah, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska. You can even check out badlands formations in the National Park Service like Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and Petrified Forest National ...

What is the history of the African American experience?

Despite a rich history, little is known about the African-American experience from the state’s founding to the Civil War era. With the exception of a handful of monographs, graduate papers and journal articles, few publications have been written that focus on this history.

Where did the African Americans migrate to in Indiana?

Popular understanding of Indiana black history focuses on post-Civil War African-American migration to cities in the north, such as Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, Indianapolis and South Bend. This generalized thinking situates Indiana’s African-Americans as part of a national story, but fails to reveal the stories of free blacks ...

Why did the black population increase in Howard County?

There is a significant increase in the black population from the 1860 to 1870 census. The cause of this, as Thornbrough notes, may have been that after the Civil War many of the residents of the black rural settlements in Howard County moved to both Kokomo and Logansport. It is also interesting that the city of Logansport was the only place where blacks settled within the county. A railroad town founded on both the Eel and Wabash Rivers, Logansport had a thriving community, and the employment opportunities that existed there would have been a draw for migrating African American families. The African American community in Logansport established the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church around 1867, and finished building their church in 1870. The church is still standing.

What county is Lewis Cemetery in?

Sullivan County, established in 1816, enumerated over 100 blacks by the 1860 census. An early black rural settlement was located around the present day Lewis Cemetery (also referred to as the Colored Cemetery) in Haddon Township. Many of the names from the cemetery can be found on an 1899 county atlas.

How many black people lived in Indiana in 1850?

In 1850, there were 41 black landowners, whose real estate was collectively valued at $37,850. (Heller) John Lyda’s The Negro In The History of Indiana describes the early black settlements in Vigo County as being some of the best known.

What county in Indiana was populated by African Americans after the Civil War?

1226. Like most of the Indiana counties bordered by the Ohio River, Posey County saw an influx of African Americans after the Civil War. The two known black rural settlements in the county were located in Black and Point townships. The settlement in Point Township was situated around Half Moon Pond.

Why did the black population drop in Bartholomew County?

This drop in the black population could be attributed to harsh racial attitudes (black laws) that hampered the liberty of free persons and also to better opportunities elsewhere, as theorized in the article “Early African American Heritage in Bartholomew County.” No information found during this search would indicate the presence of a community or settlement, as the population of free persons of color decreased every decade.

How many African Americans were in Blackford County in 1870?

In 1870 there are a total of 14 African Americans in Blackford County all residing in Licking Township. Audrey Werle’s 1870 Index of Heads of Households lists the following names: Larenzo Brooks, a 34 year old barber; Green Rodgers, 34; and James E. Frazier, 36, the latter two whom work on the railroad.

What county was Jefferson Hill in?

In 1850 the overall black population in the county dropped to eleven with seven people residing in Licking Township and four people residing in Harrison Township. The Jefferson Hill household was gone from Blackford County. It would appear they relocated east across the county line to neighboring Jay County, Penn Township. By 1850 Jefferson Hill, a Virginia native was a 56-year-old farmer. The rest of the household included Delilah Hill, age 40, born in Ohio, three Hill children born in Indiana (Henderson, age 9; Eliza, age 6; and Lydia, age 3). The other members of the household were Sally Hill, age 24, born in Virginia; James Hill, age 19, born in Ohio; and Sibba Hill, age 83, born in Virginia.

Why were missions not defined under the same category during reconstruction?

During Reconstruction there were many missions in the South that had the same ideas of the Anglo Settlement Movement but were not defined under the same category because of their over involvement with the Christian Churches. He cited Woods’ and Kennedy’s The Settlement Horizon and The Handbook of Settlements, and Du Bois on the contribution of ministries in the origins of the settlement movement and ultimately, he proved missions as precursors to the African American Settlement Movement. Dr. Luker is a well known scholar on the civil rights movement and author of the award winning The Social Gospel in Black and White: American Racial Reform (1991) [15], a limitation of thought is evident by viewing segregation as racist.

What was the purpose of the Handbook of Settlements?

Kennedy published the Handbook of Settlements in 1911 and it was designed to document the beginnings of the Settlement House Movement and all the settlement houses in the United States and a few in other countries. [7] The handbook includes 413 settlements known as of May 1, 1911. It listed the facts, including: founding years, leaders, services offered in the neighborhood, literature about the settlement and any religious affiliation. The handbook stated, “Where such specific religious effort is constructed without willing or conscious invasion of other religious loyalties, it has not been construed as carrying the house in question beyond the distinctive limits of the settlement field.” [8] If a church had too much influence within the settlement house or had a greater goal of converting people to a religion then it was excluded from the handbook. This left out many Catholic settlements as Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn notes in her book Black Neighbors: Race and the Limits of Reform in the American Settlement House Movement, 1890–1945 (1993). She stated, the handbook “only mentioned the existence of about twenty Catholic settlements. Apparently, the 2,500 Catholic settlements cited by others as existing in 1915 did not even come close enough to count in the roll of religious settlements.” [9] This handbook does not account for most of the African American settlement houses in the south, but the handbook does include the more widely known houses in Washington, D. C., Virginia, and Alabama. The one sided origin of the Settlement Movement is evident within this handbook because the impact of the Hampton Institute was not even considered. However, in 1922 Woods and Kennedy wrote another book that gave a glimpse in the importance of the Hampton Institute.

What was the purpose of the settlement house movement?

Settlement houses are, as Jane Addams described, an “experimental effort to aid in the solution of the social and industrial problems which are engendered by the modern conditions of life in a great city.” [1] They create schools, clubs, and provided a forum for activism within their neighborhood to help with living conditions of immigrants poor. The origin of the settlement house movement is richly documented. The Founders of the American Settlement Movement, including Robert A. Woods, Albert J. Kennedy, and Jane Addams, were all inspired by Toynbee Hall in London, England. Opening in 1884, Toynbee Hall was founded by Rev. Samuel A. Barnett and named after his student and fellow activist Arnold Toynbee. Toynbee Hall credit their origins through the Working Men’s College in London in 1854 founded by Frederick Denison Maurice, Cambridge graduates, the Church of England, trade unions, and co-operative societies in a joint effort to improve the social conditions of the poor in London. [2]

Why did the settlement houses shut down?

A parallel settlement house movement was a result of the willingness of the mainstream settlement houses to help African Americans that were moving into their neighborhoods . Commonly, as African Americans moved into to predominately European immigrant neighborhoods the settlement houses either shut down or provided separate help to their new neighbors. However, this help was less supported financially and socially. “Separate but equal” thoughts were usual. Most people thought that African Americans needed to be handled in a different way because of inequality in education and social status. Some thought that the color of their skin made them savage and unworthy of help. Most settlement workers thought African Americans were beyond help because of their limitations. W. E. B. Du Bois was an African American that did not see a limit to his abilities in the color of his skin.

What would happen between 1984 and Jackson's essay?

There is a little or no new information between the years the years that follow Jackson’s essay and 1984 that would suggest further connections between southern ministries and African American settlement houses. One might think that writers were concentrating on fighting prejudges during the Civil Rights Movement and changing their future than focusing on re-shaping their past.

What is the settlement horizon?

The Settlement Horizon published in 1922, one can again see disconnect between southern and rural settlement houses. [10] The book is a study of compiled data and reports of specific experiences of those involved in the settlement movement from origins in England to the time it was written. It accounts for American background and pioneers of the Settlement Movement. A little over two pages is designated to the influences of the Hamilton Institute and the anti-slavery movement through Christian churches but is still incomplete and limited in its scope. [11] However, what these two works brought to the study of the African American Settlement Movement a more concrete, although sometimes inaccurate, information on these houses and the institutions that they are connected including Hampton Institute in Virginia. The authors agreed with the “separate but equal” mentality of the time and this thinking would make way for historians to argue for separate origins.

Why did the NFS exclude African Americans?

In 1911, the National Federation of Settlements (NFS) was founded and made it a matter of policy to exclude African American emigrants because they thought that self-help was a better approach to the problems that they encountered. [3] The exclusion of African Americans was something that was already practiced from the start of the Angelo Settlement Movement and because of this exclusion; one can find cause for separate origins within the African American Settlement Movement. This paper will review the historiography involving the African American Settlement Movement to show a change over time, from a connection between southern ministries to the Hampton Institute, to a direct connection between African American settlement houses and these same southern ministries.

What is the term for the movement of the ground downward?

This increase in vertical strain causes the ground to move downward. This downward movement of the ground is called settlement .

What is downward movement of the ground called?

When downward movement of the ground occurs over a large area due to increase in vertical strain in the soil. Then this movement is sometimes called Subsidence.

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