This is an advertisement for the Real Estate and Homestead Association located in Nashville, Tennessee announcing their departure for Kansas on 15 April, 1878. The ad encourages people to contact Benjamin Singleton for more information "in the pursuit of southwestern lands in the Americas" and the transportation to get to Kansas. This ad not only promotes the selling and buying of land in the American West, but part of a movement to encourage African Americans to move to the trans-Mississippi west after the Civil War.
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Date: March 18, 1878
Is this a primary or secondary source? What can you learn about the American West from studying this advertisement? Why was it published? When was it published? Who published it? Who would be interested in this ad, and why?
Without looking at the detailed image caption, answer the questions on your own by simply observing the image. You can learn a lot by studying the source! Take time to observe, evaluate, and interpret the information provided and write a brief explanation supporting your conclusions.
After you have analyzed it, read the caption to see what Smithsonian researchers know about this object.
