Collection The Decatur House Slave Quarters
In 1821-1822, Susan Decatur requested the construction of a service wing. The first floor featured a large kitchen, dining room,...
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In the late eighteenth century, the original thirteen colonies dissolved and formed the United States. In 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention gathered in Philadelphia to craft a new federal government for the nation. The new Constitution protected the institution of slavery to fulfill an immediate and important need for a labor force, and preserved the hierarchy that kept white, male landowners at the helm of the leadership of the young country. While the Constitution ensured that slavery would be an integral part of the nation’s economy, political leaders and enslavers worried about the growing free Black population in their respective states. Many feared that free Black people would encourage and aid the enslaved population to rebel. They sought a solution that would remove this threat to the institution of slavery but would not create economic disruption.1
A series of insurrections and rebellions sparked new debates over slavery and emancipation, as well as colonization. The Haitian Revolution and the emergence of an independent Haiti created an atmosphere of fear and terror in the white population of the United States. In August 1791, enslaved and free people of color across the colony of Saint Domingue fomented a revolt and seized control of the colony from the colonial power of France. Declaring independence on January 1, 1804, the new republic of Haiti became the world’s first Black republic and the first independent nation in the Caribbean. The Haitian Revolution is also the only successful attempt where enslaved people liberated themselves from a colonial power in the western hemisphere.2
In 1800, officials in Richmond uncovered plans for an insurrection led by an enslaved person, Gabriel, suggesting that the Haitian Revolution encouraged other enslaved people to rise up against their enslavers.4
This print depicts Toussaint-L'Ouverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution, holding Haiti's Constitution of 1801 before God and his countrymen.
Library of CongressAs word of enslaved-led insurrections around the globe began to spread, enslavers and other leaders attempted to control the free Black population with new restrictions and codes. The restrictions also led many white leaders to consider colonization to rid the U.S. of free Black people. Through colonization, the free Black population would be settled in their own nation, eliminating the group of people deemed an imminent threat to the institution of slavery.6
Originally known as the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United States, the American Colonization Society (ACS) was founded in 1816 by a group of white elites including Reverend Robert Finley, Charles Fenton Mercer, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Bushrod Washington, Elias Caldwell, and Francis Scott Key.8
While the ACS had been founded with primarily proslavery motivations, the origins of the organization also suggest a commitment, albeit loose, to abolitionist beliefs. As a result, the members of ACS were an unusual mix of abolitionists and enslavers—two groups that typically opposed each other. While they had very different primary goals, they agreed that free Black people would never be accepted as equals in the United States. Abolitionist-leaning members believed it was an opportunity for African Americans to escape racism, start their lives anew, and form their own nation where they could enjoy liberation and citizenship. It also removed the challenges integration would place on white people. Pro-slavery supporters considered it a means to remove those who might threaten slavery.10
Image of the American Colonization Society membership certificate of President James Madison. Madison served as the 3rd president of the Society.
Library of CongressAs the ACS grew, the organization sought to create and settle a colony in West Africa to fulfill its mission. In early 1820, the first group of emigrants, numbering around eighty-six people, set sail for West Africa. Because many of the emigrants fell ill with “African fever” and the rainy season impacted travel to the coast, this trip was not as successful as supporters hoped. To avoid a repeat of these issues, the ACS and its agents decided to send future groups during a different time of year.12
From the founding of the organization, many people across the country supported the ACS and the idea of colonization, including many powerful government officials. President Thomas Jefferson was an early supporter of the colonization movement. During his time in the White House, he and Governor James Monroe corresponded about their ideas for moving the free Black population out of Virginia. His treatise, Notes on the State of Virginia, which covered topics including a plan for emancipation and colonization of freed Black people, likely influenced Governor Monroe’s push for emancipation and colonization laws in Virginia after Gabriel’s Rebellion.14
President James Madison was also a strong supporter of the ACS. He was elected the third president of the organization in 1833 and served until his death in 1836.16
Map of Liberia, 1845
Library of CongressWhile President Madison was not an outspoken supporter of the ACS until after his presidency, he provided significant financial support. Upon his death, he willed his enslaved laborers to his wife, Dolley, and left $2,000 to the ACS. The money for the ACS was to come from the selling of his papers, also left to Dolley Madison, which the federal government ended up publishing after debating the government’s affiliation with the ACS.20
Like his immediate predecessors, President James Monroe was a supporter of colonization and the ACS. During his tenure as governor, Monroe played an active role in the movement to punish formerly enslaved Black people who supported or actively participated in enslaved-led uprisings by transporting them outside of Virginia. He later pushed colonization as a solution to deal with the free Black community that terrified the white, landowning, and enslaving population.22
President Monroe was primarily motivated by his desire to preserve the Union by removing any threats to its future, which benefited the ACS. During his presidency, President Monroe became close friends with ACS co-founder Charles Fenton Mercer, a former member of the Virginia General Assembly. Upon Mercer’s transition to Congress, the two worked together to push for colonization on a national level by passing legislation that aided ACS’s efforts. In early 1819, Mercer introduced a bill that would amend the 1807 law banning American participation in the African slave trade. The new provisions called for the United States Navy to patrol the African coast and intercept any slave ships, and required the president to return the Africans on the ship. The Navy would also provide agents on the coast that would assist with the resettlement of these Africans and other freed people. After Congress passed the bill, President Monroe signed it into law in March 1819.23
This ACS pamphlet, meant to encourage emigration to Liberia, answers frequently asked questions about life in Africa.
Library of CongressPresident Monroe could not explicitly endorse the ACS while in office, but he found other ways to support the organization. President Monroe worked to suppress the slave trade and even provided some private financial support to the colony of Liberia. To honor Monroe, the ACS passed a resolution in 1824 that renamed Liberia’s capital after him.25
Even though he is known as a champion for emancipation and freedom for Black people, President Abraham Lincoln also endorsed colonization earlier in his life and even during his presidency. He believed that Black and white people could not coexist after emancipation and supported sending freed Black people to Liberia or Central America.28
In spite of strong support for the ACS and its mission, the organization and its efforts failed because of opposition from the free Black community and its leaders. Much of the free Black community, particularly those in northern states, felt they were American citizens by birth and had no interest in leaving their homeland to live in a place they did not know or feel connected to in any meaningful way.30
Letter from R.R. Gurley, Secretary of the American Colonization Society, to James Madison congratulating him on his unanimous election to president of the American Colonization Society.
Library of CongressThe emigrants also dealt with severe challenges upon their arrival in Liberia and the poor living conditions in the colony deterred other free Black people from settling in the colony.32
In theory, colonization appeared to be an ideal solution to complicated and intertwined problems involving slavery, race relations, and the preservation of the Union. Many members of the American Colonization Society viewed their efforts as benevolent, but they gave little consideration to the opinions of free African Americans or how these measures would impact individuals, families, and communities of color. Colonization became a convenient alternative to emancipation, justifying the removal of a group of people deemed inferior while avoiding a direct confrontation with the institution of slavery and the large-scale manumission of enslaved people.
Instead, colonization exacerbated existing racial tensions, which led to the ACS’s demise. Many enslavers and those who benefited from the labor of enslaved people did not want to give up their labor force and advocates for colonization struggled to convince them to participate in the ACS’s efforts. Enslavers were not interested in emancipation, and few were willing to free the enslaved and provide their transportation to Africa. Those who initially supported the efforts of colonization in the free Black community, like businessman James Forten, eventually turned against the ACS and supported the efforts of abolitionists, like William Lloyd Garrison, who fought against colonization.35
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