The Black Republic
Paul Cuffee, a mixed race New England ship owner, looked up from his desk as his butler announced the arrival of his guests, Charles Mercer and Richard Lee. Standing he held out his hand to shake the hands of both men. “Sit, please sit. Tell me how was your trip? Mr. Lee when you met with Mr. Clay and Mr. Randolph, how did they respond to our idea of repatriation to Western Africa of freed blacks? Mr. Mercer how did the President respond? Should we have his backing then I will use my own ships to provide the transportation.”
Laughing at his own excitement Paul sat back behind his desk. The nasty war with England was over. He and the group now calling it’s self, The Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America, shorten to the American Colonization Society (ACS), were hopping to have the backing of the Congress and the President to begin the settling of freed blacks in Africa. Britain had a small colony named Sierra Leone in Western Africa. Most of the coast line of Western Africa was Mangrove forests except at river mouths. Just south of Sierra Leone was unclaimed area that inland from the coast became a plateau of grassland about 50 miles across before becoming a more typical rain forest.
Quakers and some slave holders saw repatriation as a way to remove free blacks and hopefully help avoid any slave rebellions. James Monroe had helped Paul start the ACS, because as he felt freed blacks would compete with whites for jobs. Better to help them return to Africa then have them taking white man jobs.
The ACS saw as it mission to help educate the freed blacks, train them to farm, build housing, set up textile mills and other trade and simple manufacturing business. Paul Cuffee saw also that the indigenous tribes of the region would become a problem and had planed to include them when a local government was set up. Unfortunately Paul died before he could insure native inclusion into Liberia’s government. Freed blacks numbering almost 13,000 had been repatriated by 1847, setting up their own government and with the blessing of the American government declared it’s self an independent country, The Republic of Liberia. The native tribes were excluded from citizenship, leading to many problems. The ACS with some American government help, set up a small militia armed with cast off weapons some dating back to the war of 1812.
The freed blacks brought with them notions of American racial supremacy as well as the idea of a political system of republicanism. Emigration by repatriated freed blacks from the United States as well as those taken off slave ships by the anti-slave patrols had by the start of the American Civil War brought the population of Americo-Liberians to around 50,000. During the American Civil War 180,000 black soldiers fought and served and another 19,000 served in the Federal Navy. Following the abolition of slavery and the passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments many whites in both the North and South saw that almost four million blacks would be looking for work under cutting white’s wages. The ACS working with Congress helped pass a new repatriation act that would help in transporting any black that wished to move to Liberia. Soldiers mustered out of the Union Army were given a bonus if they would move to Liberia and as an added gift to the Republic of Liberia it would receive a massive amount of trained Union soldiers as well as new arms to include artillery. The same offer was made to the 19,000 black seamen and a gift of four new ironclads armed with the latest heavy guns for Liberia. Coastal defense artillery for use in forts around Monrovia the capital would also be given. Of the four million black population two million were transported to Liberia by 1876.
Liberia had a trained Army of almost 70,000, a Navy with four ironclad gunboats. Indigenous native tribes were forced out of lands claimed by Liberia. British attempts to force Liberia to except new borders for Sierra Leone, in territory claimed by Liberia were rebuffed by the government in Monrovia. French claims of lands to the North for Guinea and South by the Ivory Coast were also rebuffed by Liberia. Each time the Liberian government had the backing of the United States.
Land was being cleared in the rain forest and crops sown. Military outposts were established at river mouths and near settlements inland. Telegraph lines were strung between towns and the military posts. Except for the treatment of the native tribes Liberia looked just like America and with the treatment of the natives they were like America. A strong central republican type of government based on the United States with English as the language and Christianity as the religion.
The ACS and the American people in general were happy with the way Liberia was progressing. By 1890 another one million blacks from the United States as well as some from British islands in the Caribbean and Canada had immigrated to Liberia.
The closeness of the two governments and the willingness of the United States to help Liberia maintain a strong self defense force kept Liberia from losing territory to either France or England. To the rest of Africa, Liberia was a promise of what Freedom could or should be like.
But what if the ACS and Congress had not passed the post Civil War Repatriation Act? With out the immigration of the black civil war veterans and the gift of war ships as well as weapons then surly Liberia would have lost all territory disagreements with both France and England. It would be like the rest of Western Africa a small poor country.
Paul Cuffee, a mixed race New England ship owner, looked up from his desk as his butler announced the arrival of his guests, Charles Mercer and Richard Lee. Standing he held out his hand to shake the hands of both men. “Sit, please sit. Tell me how was your trip? Mr. Lee when you met with Mr. Clay and Mr. Randolph, how did they respond to our idea of repatriation to Western Africa of freed blacks? Mr. Mercer how did the President respond? Should we have his backing then I will use my own ships to provide the transportation.”
Laughing at his own excitement Paul sat back behind his desk. The nasty war with England was over. He and the group now calling it’s self, The Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America, shorten to the American Colonization Society (ACS), were hopping to have the backing of the Congress and the President to begin the settling of freed blacks in Africa. Britain had a small colony named Sierra Leone in Western Africa. Most of the coast line of Western Africa was Mangrove forests except at river mouths. Just south of Sierra Leone was unclaimed area that inland from the coast became a plateau of grassland about 50 miles across before becoming a more typical rain forest.
Quakers and some slave holders saw repatriation as a way to remove free blacks and hopefully help avoid any slave rebellions. James Monroe had helped Paul start the ACS, because as he felt freed blacks would compete with whites for jobs. Better to help them return to Africa then have them taking white man jobs.
The ACS saw as it mission to help educate the freed blacks, train them to farm, build housing, set up textile mills and other trade and simple manufacturing business. Paul Cuffee saw also that the indigenous tribes of the region would become a problem and had planed to include them when a local government was set up. Unfortunately Paul died before he could insure native inclusion into Liberia’s government. Freed blacks numbering almost 13,000 had been repatriated by 1847, setting up their own government and with the blessing of the American government declared it’s self an independent country, The Republic of Liberia. The native tribes were excluded from citizenship, leading to many problems. The ACS with some American government help, set up a small militia armed with cast off weapons some dating back to the war of 1812.
The freed blacks brought with them notions of American racial supremacy as well as the idea of a political system of republicanism. Emigration by repatriated freed blacks from the United States as well as those taken off slave ships by the anti-slave patrols had by the start of the American Civil War brought the population of Americo-Liberians to around 50,000. During the American Civil War 180,000 black soldiers fought and served and another 19,000 served in the Federal Navy. Following the abolition of slavery and the passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments many whites in both the North and South saw that almost four million blacks would be looking for work under cutting white’s wages. The ACS working with Congress helped pass a new repatriation act that would help in transporting any black that wished to move to Liberia. Soldiers mustered out of the Union Army were given a bonus if they would move to Liberia and as an added gift to the Republic of Liberia it would receive a massive amount of trained Union soldiers as well as new arms to include artillery. The same offer was made to the 19,000 black seamen and a gift of four new ironclads armed with the latest heavy guns for Liberia. Coastal defense artillery for use in forts around Monrovia the capital would also be given. Of the four million black population two million were transported to Liberia by 1876.
Liberia had a trained Army of almost 70,000, a Navy with four ironclad gunboats. Indigenous native tribes were forced out of lands claimed by Liberia. British attempts to force Liberia to except new borders for Sierra Leone, in territory claimed by Liberia were rebuffed by the government in Monrovia. French claims of lands to the North for Guinea and South by the Ivory Coast were also rebuffed by Liberia. Each time the Liberian government had the backing of the United States.
Land was being cleared in the rain forest and crops sown. Military outposts were established at river mouths and near settlements inland. Telegraph lines were strung between towns and the military posts. Except for the treatment of the native tribes Liberia looked just like America and with the treatment of the natives they were like America. A strong central republican type of government based on the United States with English as the language and Christianity as the religion.
The ACS and the American people in general were happy with the way Liberia was progressing. By 1890 another one million blacks from the United States as well as some from British islands in the Caribbean and Canada had immigrated to Liberia.
The closeness of the two governments and the willingness of the United States to help Liberia maintain a strong self defense force kept Liberia from losing territory to either France or England. To the rest of Africa, Liberia was a promise of what Freedom could or should be like.
But what if the ACS and Congress had not passed the post Civil War Repatriation Act? With out the immigration of the black civil war veterans and the gift of war ships as well as weapons then surly Liberia would have lost all territory disagreements with both France and England. It would be like the rest of Western Africa a small poor country.