The American Colonization Society and Liberia’s Founding
Most people associate colonization with the worst forms of racism and brutality, and for good reason.
Along with slavery and genocide, colonization is ranked pretty high in what the average person would consider to be manmade atrocities in modern history.
So it may come as a surprise that there was a point in time when colonization was earnestly seen as a solution to slavery. This seemingly outlandish idea gave birth to the American Colonization Society and, in turn, the Republic of Liberia. The repercussions extended far beyond what could have been envisioned at the time, and are still evident in today’s culture and politics.
Origins of the Repatriation of Former African American Slaves to Africa
The late 18th Century and early 19th Century saw the rise in global movements for the abolition of slavery. In the UK, sentiments against slavery, primarily of people of African descent, were gaining momentum. After over two hundred years of practising slavery and leading the trans-Atlantic slave trade, economic and social attitudes in England began to turn. Particularly, Quaker groups considered the norm un-Christian and formed anti-slavery movements that challenged the existing policies of the British Empire.
Pressures rose across the pond when the French colony of Saint-Domingue staged a successful revolt for independence. After several bloody years of revolution, they formed the Republic of Haiti in 1804, becoming the first Black republic in the world and the second country to win independence in the Western hemisphere.
Once this small Caribbean nation won the fight against its oppressors, there was a massive shift in the global public conscience. Slavery had been considered an inevitable part of society for thousands of years. For the first time, there was tangible proof that an enslaved population could win its freedom en masse. People of all races had to admit that it was possible. From the UK to the US, the wheels of change began to spin faster—greased by the inspiration of Haiti.
The Global Abolition Movement
During the first rumblings of abolition, most Black and White Americans alike shared the opinion that they could never peacefully live side by side. White people believed that former slaves would retaliate for past wrongs, and Black people believed that White people were incapable of treating them as equals. The question arose: if slavery was abolished, and yet the different races couldn’t coexist, what then?
If the title of this piece was any indication, colonization was tabled as a possible solution to the changing tides. In 1831, at least 55 White people were killed during the Nat Turner Rebellion, a slave revolt in Virginia. This and other cases of unrest across the nation made White people realise that they were no longer safe from the repercussions of slavery. Slave owners were concerned that the free Black population would influence their slaves to revolt, and several pro-abolition groups believed that Black people could only experience true freedom when separate from the White population.
Americans took inspiration from British efforts to repatriate former slaves to the “Province of Freedom”, present-day Sierra Leone. Slavery had already been abolished in England, leaving a population of “Black Poor” in London, made up of former household slaves and African-Americans who served the British Army during the American Revolution. Under pressure from clergy and philanthropists like the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, the British government funded the relocation of thousands of Black people to land purchased in West Africa. Though some of the repatriates went willingly, many were forced, and all were ravaged by disease, unfamiliarity with their new land, and conflict with the neighbouring locals.
The Founding of Liberia
The founding of Liberia followed a similar route. The repatriation was sponsored by the American Colonization Society (ACS), a group formed in 1816 by societal elites, including Robert Finley, a Presbyterian church minister. It was funded by (mostly White) local churches and even backed by the federal government in its initial stages. It was famously supported by President James Madison and later by James Monroe. It also received support from some Black abolitionists who believed that a “return” to Africa would be the only way to ensure their true autonomy. Thus, an unlikely coalition of slave owners and abolitionists was formed.
The first settlement, Monrovia, was named after James Monroe. Land across the West African coast and near major rivers was forcefully purchased from tribal leaders to form the new settlement. The first settlers had a high death rate, which did not deter the ACS from continuing to send shipments of freed and free-born African Americans by the thousands. Eventually, support and funding for the project dried up when its failure became apparent. The majority of African Americans opposed the system as they were separated from Africa by generations of slavery, and considered themselves as American as any other race in the US. Some simply did not trust any repatriation effort that was championed by White people. On the other side of the fence, many White slave owners saw the migration as a drain on the existing Black labour force.
The ACS could not maintain its repatriation efforts for long, but continued to fund education and missionary work in the new colonies until its dissolution in 1964. The remaining settlers went on to colonize and later settle alongside the locals, creating mingled communities that united to declare independence in 1847 as the first independent African republic.
Deportation by Another Name
Despite its humanitarian framing, the actions of the ACS boiled down to this: a creative way to rid America of Black people with as little resistance as possible. Though undoubtedly, several ACS supporters believed in the equal rights and freedoms of all races, its core motivation was the self-preservation of the White race. Even the seemingly progressive and charitable White anti-abolitionists of the time believed in the separation of races and the need for White Americans to protect their manufactured superiority.
One can draw parallels in the present day where certain marginalized groups are framed as “unassimilable” or expendable. Current policies on issues like border policing, exclusion, and forced displacement of migrants are a distant echo of the actions of the ACS. We are in a perilous moment in time when immigrant families are intentionally being separated, socially unifying laws are being overturned, and there have been threats from the current presidential administration to end birthright citizenship. This sentiment mirrors that of the ACS in 1816: the notion that different people must live entirely separately.
How often have we believed that those of another colour, origin, or religion simply cannot coexist with us? How often has history proved us wrong?