Query: Black Oil Tycoon

I was considering an idea for a Reconstruction ATL where the Homestead Act and Freeman's Bureau combine to see mass African-American migration to the West.

That got me thinking, There Will Be Blood style were there any black oil tycoons? If not what would the implications be? Say a former Mississippi slave ends up in Oklahoma on a piece of scrub land he owns and strikes oil? How does late 19th century America take to a potential black millionaire businessman who pulled himself up by his bootstraps in probably the most extreme circumstances you could present.

Would racial politics even allow him to keep such wealth/power?
 
I was considering an idea for a Reconstruction ATL where the Homestead Act and Freeman's Bureau combine to see mass African-American migration to the West.

That got me thinking, There Will Be Blood style were there any black oil tycoons? If not what would the implications be? Say a former Mississippi slave ends up in Oklahoma on a piece of scrub land he owns and strikes oil? How does late 19th century America take to a potential black millionaire businessman who pulled himself up by his bootstraps in probably the most extreme circumstances you could present.

Would racial politics even allow him to keep such wealth/power?


It would be very, very difficult. They wouldn't have any legal grounds for interfering with his oil wealth but...

It would be difficult for him to keep it, I think.
 
I was considering an idea for a Reconstruction ATL where the Homestead Act and Freeman's Bureau combine to see mass African-American migration to the West.

That got me thinking, There Will Be Blood style were there any black oil tycoons? If not what would the implications be? Say a former Mississippi slave ends up in Oklahoma on a piece of scrub land he owns and strikes oil? How does late 19th century America take to a potential black millionaire businessman who pulled himself up by his bootstraps in probably the most extreme circumstances you could present.

Would racial politics even allow him to keep such wealth/power?

TBH, It really depends on which part of the country he ends up settling in.
Northerners and Westerners would definitely find it to be rather peculiar, sure, but prejudices over there usually didn't go too far(many of the elite, on the other hand, probably would feel pretty threatened, I'd imagine).
Unfortunately, though, on the other hand, some people down South might be tempted to start looking for some rope and the nearest tree the minute our entrepreneur decided to set up shop. A lot of people in Dixie couldn't stand the thought of a successful Afro-American even if he were one of those of the conservative pro-establishment type.
 
At best he'd just be another wildcat driller who hit big. Standard Oil is still going to dominate the industry and control everything. And he'd need to ba one hell of a natural business man not to be swindled (just like many whites were screwed over).

However, assuming he is you would have this guy own his wells, and he would both be rich and it would serve as an eventual source of experience and training for other blacks in the oil industry. He might either fund a new black university with an emphasis in engineering and oil, or fund such a department at an existing black university. Depending on how successful you want this person to be, he could become as well known as Booker T Washington and WEB DuBois and a major leader of the black community. But you're essentially inserting a fictional person into history with this.

It won't change history all that much, but whatever area he settles down may see the beginning of black neighborhoods where there was a whole range of black socioeconomic prosperity. That might lead to a situation where blacks found themselves in Chicago or certain other northern cities - still segregated and discriminated again, but still a place some could become quite rich, and eventually have their own elected officials in City Hall, the State Legislature, and Congress - assuming they played ball with the local party machine.

It'd have to be somewhere where the local whites would be willing to accept a successful black wildcat. Too far south, and he'd either be lynched and killed, and/or local government would conspire to steal his land away and give it to someone else. He'd have to find oil at a place where the local officials would follow the law and not screw him over.

However, if this is done as part of a greater emphasis at developing a strong black middle class (implied by your comment on the Homestead Act/Freedman's Bureau), you're greatly improving the status of blacks as a whole and cementing them as a pivotal constituency of the Republican Party in a lot of western states. That will mean a greater commitment to Reconstruction and civil rights. In this case, the black oil tycoon is simply flavor text.
 
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