Heath Ward

History 4000

Michael Gagnon

March 14, 2003

Colonization, Slavery, and Abolitionism’s Place in Antebellum America Society

Liberia, as it was called in nineteenth century America, refers to the area designated in Africa that slaves and African American freed men were sent for colonization. Colonization refers to the antebellum process of redistributing enslaved and freed black men, women, and children to the continent of Africa, where they were to live and work together. The idea in the minds of white Americans who supported and advocated colonization was to remove African Americans in a step-by-step process to rid America of minorities. This idea and the sibling ideas of slavery and servitude rudely affected the social atmosphere of antebellum America and extended down to the areas of Georgia and even into the foothills of Athens.

In the antebellum days of those for and against slavery, abolitionist camps began dividing distinctively. These very different minded groups often clashed in the political and economic arenas, but it was assuredly in the social forum that these factions met head on. Socially, the position of the African American in antebellum America was surely fastened onto the bottom wrung. And perhaps the most frustrating reality was there was no room for progression or upward movement. African Americans were thrust to the bottom of the “food chain” and were fed the scraps of white America. Brought to America from their homes, these men and women were forced into servitude in the form of slavery. They were mistreated, referred to as “colored” and found no solace even in the churches of the era. Slavery was thought to be “a civil institution,” and those who supported it did not look upon opposition with a kind eye (1).

But just as there were those who supported the institution of slavery, there were also those who opposed it. These men and women came to be known as abolitionists because they advocated abolition, or the denigration of slavery. As in all situations where there are two groups in opposition there arose many heated conflicts on the national, local, and underground scenes. A Southern Banner article points to the abolitionist movement as the cause for “driving sane people to mad rioting (2).” Others though, rioted to prevent abolition. These “riots” were usually in the form of lynching and hangings and ended in a gruesome display of social protest.

There was also the groups who looked for a reasonable answer to both sides of the slavery issue. Because of the times and common thought of the time, devices like colonization arose. Although supported by many there were still many critics who made up two more warring sides. Many slave owners did not want to give up their slaves. Slave labor was a major resource used by plantation and farm owners and many men, looked at their slaves as possessions: possessions that they weren’t willing to separate from. Others though, looked toward colonization as favorable mostly because of its “missionary aspects (3).” Archibold Anderson adds that there were “those who held slaves from a feeling of necessity… retaining them in their service not from selfish motives, but from the sincere impression, that to dismiss them, under ordinary circumstances, would do them more harm than good (4).” So, it is obvious that colonization was a far more complex topic than simple abolitionism. It was easy for some to decide whether or not they believed in the institution of slavery, but to decide whether it was better or worse to assimilate an entire race in a foreign land, was a more complex issue to decide.

And so, up and down the east coast, white, black, pro-and-anti abolitionist men met on the colonization battlefield. In the town of Athens the idea was just beginning to sink in. The ever-flambouyant J.J. Flournoy took the realms of this movement. To the Southern Banner he denied owning slaves except for his personal servants. This double standard separated even the African Americans of the time. They were seen as either slave, servant, or freed men. Flournoy to the Southern Banner said he want to send the slaves he inherited to Africa via the colonization society. Flournoy, although the most colorful local character in the colonization movement, was known as the town “crack pot” though and much of what he says must be taken with a grain of salt. He began signing his name “J.J. FLOURNOY, the Deaf (5).”

Flournoy supported extensive tariffs to fund the colonization movement to remove slaves and place them on way back to Africa. He would constantly make unintended remarks though and many of his publications in the medias of the time were simply apologies (6).

The idea of colonization was an interesting one. For slaves, it did bring a chance for new life, a way of governing themselves away from the hurtful slave owners in the United States’ countryside. The book, Slaves No More: Letters from Liberia, 1833-1869, presents actual letters from a Georgian, ex-slave preacher who found himself at the head of an influential group of ministers in Liberia. He described Liberia as a “land of liberty where I can enjoy Equal Rights and worship my god without fear.” He also wrote that “Liberia is the home for a colored man…there is no other place for him (7).” The reverend, Henry B. Stewart’s, comments are understandable, especially since Stewart was allowed to depart Savannah with the entire number of his family. His family, all considered free born consisted of his wife and eight children. And this too is a man considered “truly remarkable-a dedicated and accomplished minister, an admirable husband and father…”.

But, what hardships would these early “colonists” of Liberia experience once they arrive on the African continent? The book, Liberian Dreams: Back to Africa Narratives from the 1850’s, refers to “unhealthfulness of that climate. Every colonist must get the fever.” This is an unhopeful remark regarding the livelihood of venturing colonists. The book goes on to mention the “score of people now in Liberia, and their sores which were horrible to look at (8).”

Liberia itself was a strange place, especially for the families who migrated there from America. Many colonizationists supported the idea without knowing much about the region in and of itself. Located on the Western shore of Africa, Liberia had just as many critiques as it did supporters. In an account taken from Liberian Dreams, Liberia is contrasted with other worlds in terms of its citizens. The natives are indolent and satisfied with neglect and walk around with a simple loin cloth guarding their private areas. There was an apparent preference to nativism in the workplace. Native born citizens held the power to control not only the “political” structure but the economic as well. This, however, isn’t much different from the American way. Once there in Africa, it was difficult for colonists to secure goods. Samuel Williams sheds some light onto the persona that many colonists took on when they were preparing to leave. “So, that, after being aliens and exiles, like Israel in Egypt, for so many long years, we might at least die in the land of our fathers (9).

Colonization met much resistance all throughout the United States but nowhere was it championed, like in the South. Abolitionists refused to accept this as a substitute for African American freedoms. Colonization, they argued, was urged, if not forced as a take-it-or-leave-it deal. It was either be free elsewhere or be enslaved in America. Groups like the ACS, the American Colonization Society, began springing up everywhere. The ACS was a primarily southern effort and was comprised of the South’s political and social bigwigs. The ACS began targeting their efforts toward freedmen, who they believed were the culprits for “slave insurrections.” Also, these same men who supported colonization, abhorred it when it meant losing any of their slaves (10).

Colonization became an excuse to redefine slavery in America. Because it was designed for freed black men, it took away the myth of a better life for African Americans. At the same time, many hardened, Bible thumping religious idealists looked as colonization as a way of mercenary. They were trying to bring some sense of civility to the African continent. These thoughts and motives are why colonization especially in the south was a branch of enslavement. This is different though because by sending Americans away is an enslavement of an ideal rather than of a body. Henry Clay, a noted Southerner, stated, “Of all of the classes of our population, the most vicious is that of the freed colored….they extended their vices all around them…”. This idea of stereotypical misconceptions aligns perfectly with racism. But, Clay is quick to refer these “emigrants” as “missionarys carrying the credentials in the holy cause of civilization, religion, and free institution.” Isn’t it ironic how quickly someone will shift their opinion once they want something to get done? In this case, Clay, like many antebellum Americans, simply wanted to rid themselves of African Americans and would refer to them as missionaries of free institution to see that it happens.

1. Southern Banner, “Methodist Church”, p. 3, Col. 2 (July, 4, 1844).

2. Southern Banner, “Riots in New York”, p. 2, Col. 6 (July 26, 1834).

3. Africa’s Redemption: Preached on Sabbath Morning, Penn. Square, Philadelphia, by William Henry Ruffner, Philadelphia: W.S. Martien,

1852.

4. Archibald Alexander, D.D., A History of Colonization on the Western Coast of Africa, Philadelphia: W.S. Martien, p. 603, 1846.

5. Southern Banner, “To all the World”, p.3, Col. 4 (March 3, 1836).

6. Southern Banner, “To the Sub-Editor of the Whig”, p.3, Col. 5 (September 24,

1836.)

7. Slaves No More: Letters from Liberia 1833-1869, ed. Bell I. Wiley, The University Press of Kentucky, 1980.

8. Liberian Dreams: Back to Africa Narratives from the 1850’s, ed. Wilson Jeremiah Moses, University Park: Penn State University Press, 1998.

9. Liberian Dreams, 140.

10. Amos J. Beyan Ph.D., The American Colonization Society and the Creation of the Liberian State, University Press of America, 1991, 1-4.