Colonization Societies
Encyclopedia
A number of Colonization Societies which promoted the return of Negro
es to Africa
have existed in the history of the United States
. Thomas Jefferson
was a Founding Father
who promoted the racial separation of American Indians
and the colonization of Negro
es to places far away from Virginia
. Jefferson was the most important early advocate of colonization. The Reverend Samuel Hopkins
of Newport
appears to have originated the idea of colonization in 1770.
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
es to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
have existed in the history of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
was a Founding Father
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
who promoted the racial separation of American Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and the colonization of Negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
es to places far away from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Jefferson was the most important early advocate of colonization. The Reverend Samuel Hopkins
Samuel Hopkins (clergyman)
Samuel Hopkins was an American Congregationalist, theologian of the late colonial era of the United States, and from whom the Hopkinsian theology takes its name.-Early life:...
of Newport
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
appears to have originated the idea of colonization in 1770.
List of Colonization Societies
- Sierra Leone CompanySierra Leone CompanyThe Sierra Leone Company was the corporate body involved in founding the second British colony in Africa in 1792 through the resettlement of black American ex-slaves who had initially been settled in Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War...
- Maryland State Colonization SocietyMaryland State Colonization SocietyThe Maryland State Colonization Society was the Maryland branch of the American Colonization Society, an organization founded in 1816 with the purpose of returning free African Americans to what many Southerners considered greater freedom in Africa. The ACS helped to found the colony of Liberia in...
- African Colonization Society, (1800–1816) Based in the state of Virginia, perhaps at RichmondRichmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
- American Colonization SocietyAmerican Colonization SocietyThe American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...
(1817-onwards) Somehow, it became intermingled with the National Colonization Society. Samuel John MillsSamuel John MillsSamuel John Mills Jr. was born at Torringford, Connecticut.His father was Congregational minister Samuel John Mills and mother was Esther Robbins....
(1783–1818) was the founder, in conjunction with Dr. FinleyRobert FinleyRobert Finley was briefly the president of the University of Georgia. Finley was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated from College of New Jersey at the age of 15.-Early life:Finley was born to James Finley and Ann Angrest, James was born 1737 in Glasgow, Scotland where he... - International Migration Society (1894–1899), founded at the behest of Bishop Henry McNeil Turner. The IMS successfully transported three ships of African American migrants to Liberia.
- Liberia Exodus Joint Stock Steamship Company (1877–1880), sent one ship, the Azor, to Liberia at the behest of Martin DelanyMartin DelanyMartin Robinson Delany was an African-American abolitionist, journalist, physician, and writer, arguably the first proponent of American black nationalism. He was one of the first three blacks admitted to Harvard Medical School. He became the first African-American field officer in the United...
. - The National Colonization Society of America, (Founded at Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, December, 1816-onwards) The most successful group, it became a nationwide organization which involved many well-known Americans. See: American Colonization SocietyAmerican Colonization SocietyThe American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen... - New York Colonization Society ( ? - ? ) A group that was active in LiberiaLiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
in the 1890s. - United Trans-Atlantic Society (1885–1887) formed in Kansas City at the behest of Benjamin "Pap" Singleton.
Publications
- WilsonHenry WilsonHenry Wilson was the 18th Vice President of the United States and a Senator from Massachusetts...
, The History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, Volume 1, (Boston, 1875) - Alexander, A History of Colonization on the Western Coast of Africa (Philadelphia, 1846)
- GarrisonWilliam Lloyd GarrisonWilliam Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
, Thoughts on Colonization, (Boston, 1832) - BirneyJames G. BirneyJames Gillespie Birney was an abolitionist, politician and jurist born in Danville, Kentucky. From 1816 to 1818, he served in the Kentucky House of Representatives...
, Letter on Colonization (New York, 1834) - JayWilliam JayThe Rev. William Jay was an English nonconformist divine who preached for sixty years at Argyle Chapel in Bath...
(son of John JayJohn JayJohn Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
), An Inquiry into the Character and Tendency of the American Colonization and Antislavery Societies (New York, 1834)