Welcome to today's deep dive. We are We are really
thrilled you're here joining us today. Absolutely.
Because today we are opening up a stack of incredibly
rich biographical and historical sources. They
detail the life of a man whose relentless, extraordinary
drive fundamentally altered the landscape of
American history. Yeah. We are looking at Benjamin
Papp Singleton. Right. Benjamin Papp Singleton.
Yeah. And our mission for you today is to unpack
the mechanics of how this one individual constantly
adapted to these. massive, cascading, systemic
failures. He literally engineered the movement
of thousands of people. Exactly. To forge a completely
new economic reality. I mean, it is a masterclass
in strategic pivoting. It really is. And to truly
understand the sheer scale of his logistical
and political maneuvering, we have to look at
the transition period. specifically from the
American Civil War, straight into the deeply
complex realities of the post -Reconstruction
South. Right. Because we tend to look at historical
figures and distill their legacy down into one
defining achievement. Sure. We want the simple
summary. Exactly. But the source material on
Singleton reveals something much more dynamic.
He was a man who, when faced with an impenetrable
legal or economic wall, he didn't retreat. He
iterated. He iterated. Over and over again, he
found the loophole or he just built a new door
entirely. So let's get into the foundational
facts of his early life because they really set
the psychological trajectory for everything that
follows. They absolutely do. I know you listening
are probably familiar with the broader strokes
of the antebellum period, but the specifics of
Singleton's timeline are crucial here. So what
do the sources actually tell us about his beginnings?
Well, he was born enslaved in 1809 in Davidson
County, Tennessee. He was the son of a white
father and an enslaved black mother. Okay. And
during his early years, he was trained as a carpenter.
Which is a highly skilled trade. Right. And the
sources report that he made several unsuccessful
attempts to escape slavery before finally breaking
free in 1846. Wow, 1846. Yeah. He navigated the
Underground Railroad, crocked over into Windsor,
Ontario, and eventually he settled down in Detroit,
Michigan. And this period in Detroit is where
his overarching philosophy really starts to crystallize.
It is. You can think of him during this time
as functioning like... Like an off -the -grid
mutual aid organizer? That's a great way to put
it. He was essentially living as a scavenger,
just scraping by on whatever he could find. But
he was taking those meager resources and using
them to help other escaped slaves find their
way to Canada. Yeah, he was building a localized
network of survival long before the Civil War
even began. Then the Civil War breaks out. And
by 1862, the Union army has occupied Middle Tennessee.
And what's fascinating here is what Singleton
does next. Right. He makes this incredibly bold,
highly calculated decision to return to his home
state. He goes back. He goes back. He genuinely
believed that under the protection of the Union
lines, his freedom would be legally and physically
secure. It makes sense on paper. It does. He
sets up shop in Nashville. working as a cabinetmaker
and a coffin maker, just attempting to build
a stable, integrated economic life. But the realities
of the post -war South quickly shatter that illusion.
The sources detail a rather brutal aha moment
for him regarding the actual state of freedom
for black Americans. Yeah, the historical record
shows that the political promises of equality
for Friedman were entirely failing to materialize.
Completely. Instead, Friedman faced severe economic
suppression and systemic racial violence. Singleton
observes the political leadership utterly failing
to deliver on reconstruction promises. And he
draws a pretty stark conclusion. He concludes,
and rather astutely, that true economic independence
was never going to be permitted in the white
-dominated South. The system was rigged. The
economic system was intentionally engineered
to keep the newly freed population landless and
dependent. Right. So if the existing system refuses
your participation, the only logical next step
is to build a parallel system. So in 1869, he
teams up with a black minister named Columbus
M. Johnson. Together, they start architecting
a framework for black economic independence.
So how did they actually attempt to execute this
locally? By 1874, they officially formed the
Edgefield Real Estate Association. The Edgefield
Real Estate Association. Right. The strategy
was to help African -Americans pool their extremely
limited capital so they could acquire land collectively
in the Nashville area. It's a brilliant collective
bargaining approach to real estate. It is. It
sounds perfect on paper, but the local white
landowners actively block them. They absolutely
do. They refuse to bargain in good faith. And
when they did entertain offers, they demanded
exorbitantly inflated prices. They were intentionally
pricing the association out of the market. Yeah,
it was a localized monopoly designed specifically
to starve out the Freedmen's capital. And faced
with that immovable economic barrier, Singleton
makes his first massive geographic pivot. Okay,
let's unpack this. He realizes that if they cannot
buy land in Tennessee, they have to abandon the
South entirely. They just have to leave. So they
rename their group the Edgefield Real Estate
and Homestead Association. By 1876, Singleton
and Johnson are out west, scouting land in Kansas.
Kansas. Yes. They target Cherokee County in the
southeastern corner of the state. Singleton evaluates
the agricultural potential. He likes what he
sees and he heads back to Nashville to organize
the migration. And he manages to recruit about
73 settlers for this initial venture. Right.
In the summer of 1877, they make the journey
to Cherokee County, fully prepared to negotiate
with the railroad companies to purchase land
for the proposed Singleton colony. But then history
throws them a geological curveball. It completely
wrecks the plan. It does. A massive lead mining
boom takes off right in that specific area. A
lead mining boom. Almost overnight, the land
prices skyrocket due to the mineral rush. The
funds Singleton and his settlers had so carefully
pooled together were instantly rendered useless.
That is just heartbreaking. They had organized
the people, they had made the trek, and they
were priced out all over again. But this time
by an industrial boom rather than coordinated
racial exclusion. Exactly. The Cherokee County
colony fails before it even really begins. Now,
most leaders would lose their coalition at that
point. I mean, I would. But he pivots again.
Yeah. If he can't buy prime real estate from
the railroads, how does he secure land for his
people? He turns his attention to the federal
government. He targets the 1862 Homestead Act
to find available public land. Okay. He locates
attractive marginal land on a former Kaw Indian
Reservation near Dunlap, Kansas. Now, it is certainly
not prime agricultural real estate, but the barrier
to entry is manageable. The sheer administrative
and physical grit... required for this next phase
is just staggering. It really is. By 1878, Singleton
organizes a massive logistical operation. We
are looking at more than 2 ,400 settlers leaving
Middle Tennessee. 2 ,400? Yes. They travel on
steamboats up the Cumberland River, pushing all
the way to the Great Plains. And when they arrive,
they aren't stepping into a pre -built infrastructure.
Not at all. I want you to picture this. For their
first year on the prairie, most of these settlers
lived in dugouts. Wow. They literally carved
their initial shelters straight out of the earth.
Imagine the profound desire for autonomy required
to make that choice. Right. To pack up your family,
travel across the country, and choose the absolute
harshest conditions of the windswept Great Plains
over remaining subjugated in the South. It's
an incredible choice. They officially established
the Dunlap Colony in 1879, and through sheer
operational willpower, they actually made it
a success which brings us to the tipping point
where singleton's localized efforts suddenly
thrust him onto the national stage yeah this
is a huge shift between 1879 and 1880 we see
the explosion of the great exodus roughly 50
000 freedmen flee the poverty and racial violence
of the south 50 ,000 people. Pouring into states
like Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois.
They become known as the Exodusters. And the
influx into Kansas was so massive that a section
of Topeka officially became known as Tennessee
Town. It is a demographic earthquake. Now, the
sources are clear that Singleton did not personally
organize this massive wave of 50 ,000 people.
He didn't lead all of them. No. Most of the Exodusters
arrived entirely independent of his specific
real estate associations. However, his pioneering
work with Dunlap and Cherokee County laid the
conceptual groundwork for Kansas as a viable
sanctuary state. He proved it was possible. Exactly.
But when this tidal wave of desperately poor
migrants started arriving, the local white Kansans
began to loudly object to the strain on their
resources. And Singleton steps into the void.
He does. He becomes the national spokesman and
the fierce public defender of the exodusters'
right to migrate. Before we dive into how he
handled this on a national level, we need to
take a quick pause. The sources we are pulling
from here contain highly polarized political
records from the 1880s. Including those contentious
Senate hearings. Yeah. And the platforms of various
historical political parties, just to be completely
clear for you listening. Our goal today is to
examine the political strategies and historical
hearings exactly as they are presented in the
source material. Right. We are impartially reporting
on these events to understand Singleton's life.
And we're certainly not endorsing any of the
historical party platforms or the polarized views
of the politicians from that era. Exactly. And
if we connect this to the bigger picture. With
that context in mind, we can look at his highly
publicized 1880 United States Senate testimony.
Yes. He is called to Washington, D .C. to testify
about the root causes of the Great Exodus. The
political climate surrounding this migration
was intensely fractured. Very fractured. The
congressional record shows that several Southern
senators actively attempted to discredit the
Exodus movement. during the hearings. They tried
to frame it as an illegitimate movement artificially
agitated by outside forces. Right, they wanted
to spin the narrative. But Singleton held his
ground against the federal lawmakers. He testified
on the undeniable economic success of the independent
black colonies he had helped establish. He didn't
back down. And he laid out the unvarnished truth
about the violence and economic suppression driving
freedmen out of the South. There is a direct
quote from the notes of his testimony that really
captures the profound white of his motivation.
I love this quote. Speaking directly to the senators,
Singleton said, I have been a slave, fled to
Canada when my children were small, and 19 years
after when I returned, they were grown. It is
such a stark reminder of the exact human cost
that fueled his relentless drive. It really is.
He returns to Kansas from those hearings as a
nationally recognized figure, but the situation
on the ground at the Dunlap colony was rapidly
deteriorating. The influx was just too much.
The massive wave of exodusters, many arriving
entirely destitute, placed an unsustainable financial
burden on the settlement. The original infrastructure
simply could not support the sheer volume of
refugees. So by 1880, the settlement is financially
overwhelmed. The Presbyterian Church steps in
to take charitable control of the town, initiating
plans to build a freedman's academy. And once
that happens? Once the colony transitions from
an independent economic engine into a charitable
enterprise, Singleton walks away. He does. He
leaves Dunlap behind to start the next iteration
of his vision. Which brings us to a fascinating
shift in his methodology. Here's where it gets
really interesting. In 1881, at 72 years old,
a time when he is affectionately known as Ol'
Pap, he forms a new organization in Topeka called
the Colored United Links, or the CUL. Because
of agriculture and land acquisition were becoming
too difficult or too crowded with refugees, he
decides to focus entirely on capital and industrial
training. Exactly. The goal of the CUL was to
pool the financial resources of black people
to build black owned businesses, factories and
trade schools. He is attempting to build a self
-sustaining economic ecosystem that isn't entirely
reliant on raw agricultural output. And the CUL
gains significant local traction. They hold conventions
and organize enough of a base that they begin
attracting the attention of political power players.
Because they see the CUL as a highly organized
voting bloc. Right. Republican Party officials
in Kansas start making overtures. Simultaneously,
James B. Weaver, who had been a presidential
candidate for the... Greenback Party. The Greenback
Party was heavily focused on anti -monopoly and
monetary reform, right? Yes. Weaver meets with
the CUL leaders to discuss a potential political
fusion. Again, we are looking at this strictly
through the lens of historical strategy. Both
major political factions recognize the organized
power Singleton had cultivated. They saw his
influence. But despite the initial momentum in
the high -level political meetings, the CUL membership
begins to falter after 1881. The organization
eventually dissolves. It does. And this failure
seems to trigger a profound psychological shift
in Singleton. He becomes convinced that black
Americans are simply never going to be allowed
to succeed within the American geopolitical system.
The evolution of his ideas throughout the 1880s
is incredibly rapid, and it scales far beyond
domestic borders. He goes global. In 1883, he
teams up with a St. Louis businessman and a black
minister to propose a completely unprecedented
idea. The migration of American blacks to the
Mediterranean island of Cyprus. I mean, it sounds
like a massive leap, but when you look at the
geopolitical context of the era, the British
had just acquired administrative control of Cyprus
in 1878. Singleton is actively looking for any
territory outside the jurisdiction of the United
States where his people might start over. The
Cyprus Initiative doesn't gain the necessary
logistical traction, but the sheer ambition of
the pivot... is remarkable. It is. And by 1885,
he moves to Kansas City and leans heavily into
early Pan -Africanism. He founds the United Transatlantic
Society, the UTS. So the objective shifts again.
Yes, to relocating Black Americans to Africa,
specifically exploring Western -influenced areas
like Sierra Leone and Liberia. He wasn't the
only one thinking this way. No, he is certainly
not the only intellectual exploring this avenue
at the time. Figures like Bishop Henry McNeil
Turner were also vocal proponents of African
migration. But the UTS ultimately faces the same
insurmountable logistical and financial hurdles.
So by 1887, the UTS folds. Singleton's health
is beginning to decline, and he largely steps
back from the grueling pace of his public activism.
But he doesn't stop completely. No. Incredibly,
he raises his voice one final time in 1889. He
issues a public call for a portion of the newly
opening Oklahoma Territory to be reserved exclusively
as an all -black state. He never stopped hunting
for that safe haven. You never did. Benjamin
Pabst Singleton died on February 17, 1900, in
Kansas City, Missouri. 1900. Yeah. And for a
long time, his massive contributions were largely
treated as a footnote in broader historical narratives.
But in 2002, the scholar Molefi Kitesande...
officially recognized him as one of the 100 greatest
African Americans. Cementing his legacy as a
foundational architect of Black economic independence.
So what does this all mean? When we evaluate
a legacy of that magnitude, we can look at the
colonies established, the political movements
launched, and the demographic shifts engineered.
Sure. But sometimes the most profound way to
understand a person's impact is to look at the
generations that follow them. The source material
shares an incredible detail about his family
that captures the long -term, multi -generational
echo of his push for freedom. Yes. Singleton's
son, Joshua, eventually moved west and settled
in Ellensworth, California. Which was a historic,
thriving, black agricultural settlement. Exactly.
And Joshua's grandchildren grew up in the Bay
Area, and they experienced a level of global
mobility and cultural influence that Singleton
himself could only have envisioned. Because those
grandchildren formed a singing group known as
the Williams Quartet. The Williams Quartet. By
1933, they were embarking on a highly successful
international tour, performing in major cities
across Shanghai, China, and throughout Japan.
That is just amazing. Furthermore, one of his
great granddaughters, Midge Williams, went on
to become a wildly successful swing jazz soloist
in the 1930s and 40s. She recorded iconic music
under the name Midge Williams and her jazz jesters.
Just look at that multigenerational trajectory.
You have a man born into slavery, making coffins
in war -torn Tennessee, who spends his life violently
forcing doors open, securing land, and fighting
for capital. And two generations later... Two
generations later, his... descendants are traveling
the globe as celebrated international artists.
It perfectly illustrates how his relentless iteration
laid a bedrock foundation that allowed his family
to thrive on a world stage. So synthesizing the
core takeaways from the stack of sources we've
gone through today, Benjamin Singleton's life
is the ultimate testament to the power of continuous
strategic adaptation. Yes. When a racist real
estate market blocked his path in Tennessee,
he navigated the federal bureaucracy to find
homestead land in Kansas. You pivoted. When his
agricultural colony was overwhelmed by refugee
crisis, he pivoted to building industrial business
leagues in Topeka. When the American political
system proved to be a permanent dead end, he
drew up ambitious blueprints for Cyprus and Pan
-African relocation. He simply refused to accept
the parameters that society tried to impose upon
him. He really did. Which brings us to a detail
from the sources that we've intentionally saved
for this exact moment. This raises an important
question. It does. When we discussed his early
life, we noted that he was trained as a carpenter.
But the historical record reveals a crucial underlying
reality about his capabilities. Benjamin Singleton
deeply regretted that he never learned to read
and write. I really want you to let that sink
in for a moment. Benjamin Pap Singleton built
complex real estate associations. He navigated
the dense legalese of the 1862 Homestead Act.
He sat down and debated fiercely with United
States senators on the national stage. He organized
massive multi -state migrations and architected
international pan -African relocation societies.
And he executed every single bit of that while
carrying the profound burden of illiteracy. It
entirely recontextualizes his achievements. His
power didn't come from the resources he possessed
on paper. It came from the strategic vision he
held in his mind. and the absolute conviction
in his voice. It makes you wonder, if Benjamin
Singleton achieved all of this, engineering massive
migrations and reshaping the American demographic
landscape without being able to write a single
letter, how many other unrecognized architects
of history are buried in the archives simply
because they couldn't write their own stories
down? How much of human progress has been forged
by voices we will never get to read? It's a phenomenal
story and a powerful reminder to look beyond
the written record. We want to warmly thank you
for joining us on this deep... dive today. Keep
questioning, keep exploring the hidden corners
of history, and we will catch you next time.