<I>The Exodus: An Appeal to the Philanthropic People of the North for Aid and Sympathy</I>

An essay written and released by member of the Office of the Emigrant Aid Society of Washington, D.C., on November 15, 1879, titled "The Exodus: An Appeal to the Philanthropic People of the North for Aid and Sympathy." It is printed on a single sheet folded in half vertically to form four pages with black printed text hand underlined in black ink, and an additional section handwritten in pencil by John Wesley Cromwell after the printed text on the third page. The title is printed near the top of the front page. The essay concerns issues facing freed people living in the South in the years after the American Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The writers note that efforts in the South, mainly by politicians of the Democratic Party, seek to or have already limited the rights of freed people guaranteed under these new amendments. The society notes that as a result of these circumstances many people are moving westward. The society seeks donations to assist migrants. Names of society members are printed at the end of the essay. Cromwell, a member of the society, wrote in pencil on the third page regarding the civil rights of African Americans. The fourth page is blank.