The Rise of Segregation - Madison

             In 1870, Benjamin Singleton was a former slave that had become convinced that African Americans would never have a chance to get ahead and receive the respect they deserve in the South.  He helped move African Americans to the West, around Kansas, so that they could form their own independent communities and prosper together.  Nine years later, the African American communities in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana were swept with religious enthusiasm, and in about two months, 6,000 of them left their homes and moved to Kansas. 

                Some of the African Americans left the South, and the another portion of them stayed to join with the poor, Caucasian farmers who had created the Farmers Alliance.  By 1886, African Americans took advantage of this to form the Colored Farmers National Alliance, which totaled 1.2 million members in 1890.  The 15^th amendment was passed to prohibit the states from denying people the right to vote based on color.  During the late 1890’s, Southern states had made it difficult or impossible for African Americans to vote, and Mississippi was known for requiring the citizens who had registered to vote to pay a poll tax.