In 1904, the American Colonization Society completed its mission to send shipments of freed slaves to Liberia, with the last voyage of the operation that led to the founding of that country in 1847.
Despite appearances, the goal was not purely humanitarian. The era of slavery ended and thousands gained freedom, and a number of white American figures saw that it was time to get rid of the burden of these people, so the freed slaves were deported to the western coast of the African continent to establish “Liberia”, and there February 6, 1820 was sent The first batch of 86 freed black Americans.
The story begins in 1816, when a group of white Americans founded the American Colonial Society to solve the “problem” of the growing number of free blacks in the United States by resettling them in Africa. After completing the mission, Liberia became the second black republic after Haiti in the world.
The details state that a group of fifty from the elite of white American society met on December 21, 1816, at a hotel in Washington, D.C., to discuss the future of freed black Americans.
The idea for the American Colonization Society came from a New Jersey clergyman named Robert Finley, while several influential figures in the country, including Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Francis Scott Key, in addition to US slave-owning presidents Thomas Jefferson, took the initiative to support and support this association Both James Monroe and James Madison.
The interest of American slave owners in this project was due to the fact that they saw the resettlement of slaves in Africa as a way to get rid of freed blacks. They also feared that the new freedmen would cause havoc by helping their slaves escape or rebel.
Henry Clay, one of the founders of the association, considered its mission very noble, pointing out that it consists in ridding the country of a part of the population, which he called useless and dangerous.
The number of freed black Americans increased after the American Revolution from 60,000 in 1790 to 300,000 by 1830, and the American Colonization Society became the vehicle for bringing blacks to the colonies in Africa.
History professor Eric Buren of the University of North Dakota says: “The creation of the American Colonization Society was a watershed in American history… You have a strong white organization that represents America as a white country, and African Americans have responded with a resounding refusal that this is also their country. “.
Moreover, many white Americans also believe that African Americans are inferior to them and should be relocated to a place where they can live peacefully away from the shackles of slavery.
Abraham Lincoln also held this belief, which led him to support a plan to transport 5,000 black Americans to the Caribbean in the 1860s.
On top of all this, says historian Mark Lipson, the American Colonization Society had a religious mission to Christianize Africa in order to “prepare” the continent.
Liberia was declared in 1847 an independent country on the west coast of the African continent and it was the first colony on the brown continent to gain independence and the capital was renamed Monrovia in honor of James Monroe, one of the most enthusiastic of the American colonial society.
As for the initial reaction of the African American community to this question, it is manifested in the rejection by some of the idea of leaving the United States and settling outside it, considering the United States of America as their homeland.
On the other hand, others have seen that mass immigration of African Americans is the only solution, because they believe that whites, including the abolitionists, will never accept equality with blacks!
In this context, wrote Martin Delaney, who was expelled from Harvard Medical School after white students petitioned against the admission of black students, stating “We are a nation within a nation”, emphasizing the need to move away from “our oppressors”. “
Source: RT
