BALTIMORE, August 20,
1817.
DEAR SIR: Ever since I received your letter of July 11,
requesting the communication of such ideas as had occurred to me concerning the
proposed plan of colonizing the free blacks in the United States, with their
own consent, and indeed from the time of our short interview at Washington,
when you first mentioned the subject to me, I have kept it constantly in view,
and revolved it much in my mind. Hitherto, however, I have been prevented from
putting my thoughts on paper, or even digesting and reducing them to method, by
various interruptions, arising in part from accident, and in part from
professional engagements, in the midst of which I am obliged at last to write.
This may interfere very much with the order of my ideas, but will not, I trust,
occasion any material omission[.]
Nor do I apprehend much inconvenience from the delay, since
the preparatory measures for the first step in this great enterprise, the
institution of a mission to the southwestern coast of Africa, to explore the
ground, and seek out a suitable situation for the establishment of the colony,
are not yet, I believe, entirely completed.
Although you confine your request to the communication of my
ideas concerning the manner and means of accomplishing this great design, it
will not, I trust, be improper or unseasonable to throw out, by way of preface
and introduction, some hints on its usefulness and practicability, which have
long engaged my attention, and are susceptible I think of very full proof. To
many, and especially to you, this I know is quite unnecessary; but great
numbers of our countrymen, including many persons of good sense, considerable
influence, and the best intentions, may have serious doubts on these two
points, which it is of great importance to remove, in order to gain their
zealous co-operation. Towards the attainment of so desirable an object I wish
to contribute my mite, for which this seems to be a fit occasion.
In reflecting on the utility of a plan for colonizing the
free people of color, with whom our country abounds, it is natural that we
should be first struck by its tendency to confer a benefit on ourselves, by
ridding us of a population for the most part idle and useless, and too often
vicious and mischievous. These persons are condemned to a state of hopeless
inferiority and degradation by their color, which is an indelible mark of their
origin and former condition, and establishes an impassable barrier between them
and the whites. This barrier is closed forever by our habits and our feelings,
which perhaps it would be more correct to call our prejudices, and which,
whether feelings or prejudices, or a mixture of both, make us recoil with
horror from the idea of an intimate union with the free blacks, and preclude
the possibility of such a state of equality, between them and us, as alone
could make us one people. Whatever justice, humanity, and kindness, we may feel
towards them, we cannot help considering them, and treating them, as our
inferiors; nor can they help viewing themselves in the same light, however hard
and unjust they may be inclined to consider such a state of things. We cannot
help associating them in our feelings and conduct, nor can they help
associating themselves, with the slaves, who have the same color, the same
origin, and the same manners, and with whom they or their parents have been
recently in the same condition. Be their industry ever so great, and their
conduct ever so correct, whatever property they may acquire, or whatever
respect we may feel for their characters, we never could consent, and they
never could hope, to see the two races placed on a footing of perfect equality
with each other; to see the free blacks, or their descendants, visit in our houses,
form part of our circle of acquaintance, marry into our families, or
participate in public honors and employments. This is strictly true of every
part of our country, even those parts where slavery has long ceased to exist,
and is held in abhorrence. There is no State in the Union where a negro or
mulatto can ever hope to be a member of Congress, a judge, a militia officer,
or even a justice of the peace; to sit down at the same table with the
respectable whites, or to mix freely in their society. I may safely assert that
Paul Cuffee, respectable, intelligent, and wealthy as he is, has no expectation
or chance of ever being invited to dine with any gentleman in Boston; of
marrying his daughter, whatever may be her fortune or education, to one of their
sons; or of seeing his son obtain a wife among their daughters.
This circumstance, arising from the difference of color and
origin between the slaves and the free class, distinguishes the slavery of
America from that of every other country, ancient or modern. Slavery existed
among almost all the ancient nations; it now exists throughout Asia, Africa,
and America, and in every part of the Russian and Turkish dominions in Europe;
that is, in more than three-fourths of the world. But the great body of the
slaves every where, except in North and South America, are of the same race,
origin, color, and general character, with the free people. So it was among the
ancients. Manumission therefore, by removing the slave from the condition of
slavery, exempted him from its consequences, and opened his way to a full
participation in all the benefits of freedom. He was raised to an equality with
the free class, became incorporated into it with his family, and might, by good
fortune or good conduct, soon wash out the stain, and obliterate the
remembrance, of his former degraded condition.
But in the United States this is impossible. You
may manumit the slave, but you cannot make him a white man; he still
remains a negro or a mulatto. The mark and the recollection of his origin and former
state still adhere to him; the feelings produced by that condition in his own
mind, and in the minds of the whites, still exist; he is associated, by his
color and by these recollections and feelings, with the class of slaves ; and a
barrier is thus raised between him and the whites, that is, between him and the
free class, which he can never hope to transcend. With the hope he gradually
loses the desire. The debasement, which was at first compulsory, has now become
habitual and voluntary. The incitement to good conduct and exertion, which
arises from the hope of raising himself or his family in the world, is a
stranger to his breast. He looks forward to no distinction, aims at no
excellence, and makes no effort beyond the supply of his daily wants; and the
restraints of character being lost to him, he seeks, regardless of the future,
to obtain that supply by the means which cost him the least present trouble.
The authority of the master being removed, and its place not being supplied by
moral restraints or incitements, he lives in idleness, and probably in vice,
and obtains a precarious support by begging or theft. If he should avoid those
extremes, and follow some regular course of industry, still the habits of
thoughtless improvidence, which he contracted while a slave himself, or has
caught from the slaves among whom he is forced to live, who of necessity are
his companions and associates, prevent him from making any permanent provision
for his support by prudent foresight and economy, and, in case of sickness, or
of bodily disability from any other cause, send him to live as a pauper at the
expense of the community.
There are no doubt many honorable, and some very
distinguished, exceptions; but I may safely appeal to the observation of every
man, at all acquainted with the class of people in question, for the
correctness of this picture.
Such a class must evidently be a burden and a nuisance to
the community; and every scheme which affords a prospect of removing so great an
evil must deserve to be most favorably considered.
But it is not in themselves merely that the free people of
color are a nuisance and burden. They contribute greatly to the corruption of
the slaves, and to aggravate the evils of their condition, by rendering them
idle, discontented, and disobedient. This also arises from the necessity, under
which the free blacks are, of remaining incorporated with the slaves, of
associating habitually with them, and forming part of the same class in
society. The slave, seeing his free companion live in idleness, or subsist,
however scantily or precariously, by occasional and desultory employment, is
apt to grow discontented with his own condition, and to regard as tyranny and
injustice the authority which compels him to labor. Hence, he is strongly
incited to elude this authority, by neglecting his work as much as possible, to
withdraw himself from it altogether by flight, and sometimes to attempt direct
resistance. This provokes or impels the master to severity, which would not
otherwise be thought necessary; and that severity, by rendering the slave still
more discontented with his condition, and more hostile towards his master, by
adding the sentiments of resentment and revenge to his original
dissatisfaction, often renders him more idle and more worthless, and thus
induces the real or supposed necessity of still greater harshness on the part
of the master. Such is the tendency of that comparison which the slave cannot
easily avoid making between his own situation and that of the free people of
his own color, who are his companions, and in every thing, except exemption
from the authority of a master, his equals, whose condition, though often much
worse than his own, naturally appears better to him; and, being continually
under his observation, and in close contact with his feelings, is apt to chafe,
goad, and irritate him incessantly. This effect, indeed, is not always
produced; but such is the tendency of this state of things, and it operates
more extensively, and with greater force, than is commonly supposed.
But this effect, injurious as it must be to the character
and conduct of the slaves, and consequently to their comfort and happiness, is
far from being the worst that is produced by the existence of free blacks among
us. A vast majority of the free blacks, as we have seen, are and must be an
idle, worthless, and thievish race. It is with this part of them that the
slaves will neccessarily associate the most frequently and the most intimately.
Free blacks of the better class, who gain a comfortable subsistence by regular
industry, keep as much as possible aloof from the slaves, to whom in general
they regard themselves as in some degree superior. Their association is
confined as much as possible to the better and more respectable class of
slaves; but the idle and disorderly free blacks naturally seek the society of
such slaves as are disposed to be idle and disorderly too, whom they encourage
to be more and more so by their example, their conversation, and the shelter
and means of concealment which they furnish. They encourage the slaves to
theft, because they partake in its fruits; they receive, secrete, and dispose
of the stolen goods, a part, and probably much the largest part, of which they
often receive as a reward for their services; they furnish places of meeting
and hiding places in their houses for the idle and the vicious slaves, whose
idleness and vice are thus increased and rendered more contagious. These hiding
places and places of meeting are so many traps and snares for the young and
thoughtless slaves who have not yet become vicious; so many schools, in which
they are taught, by precept and example, idleness, lying, debauchery,
drunkenness, and theft. The consequence of all this is very easily seen, and I
am sure is severely felt, in all places where free people of color exist in
considerable numbers. That so many resist this contagion, that the free blacks
themselves, as well as the slaves, do not become still more generally
profligate, is a strong and consoling proof that the race possesses a fund of
good dispositions, and is capable, in a proper situation, and under proper
management, of becoming a virtuous and happy people. To place them in such a
situation, to give them the benefit of such management, is the object of your
noble enterprise; and surely no object is more entitled to approbation. .
Great, however, as the benefits are which we may thus
promise ourselves from the colonization of the free people of color, by its
tendency to prevent the discontent and corruption of our slaves, and to secure
to them a better treatment, by rendering them more worthy of it, there is
another advantage, infinitely greater in every point point [sic] of view, to which it may lead the
way. It tends, and may powerfully tend, to rid is, gradually and entirely, in
the United States, of slaves and slavery: a great moral and political evil, of
increasing virulence and extent, from which much mischief is now felt, and very
great calamity in future is justly apprehended. It is in this point of view, I
confess, that your scheme of colonization most strongly recommends itself, in
my opinion, to attention and support. The alarming danger of cherishing in our
bosom a distinct nation, which can never become incorporated with us, while it
rapidly increases in numbers and improves in intelligence; learning from us the
arts of peace and war, the secret of its own strength, and the talent of
combining and directing its force—a nation which must ever be hostile to us,
from feeling and interest, because it can never incorporate with us, nor
participate in the advantages which we enjoy; the danger of such a nation in
our bosom need not be be [sic]
pointed out to any reflecting mind. It speaks not only to our understandings,
but to our very senses; and however it may be derided by some, or overlooked by
others, who have not the ability or the time, or do not give themselves the
trouble to reflect on and estimate properly the force and extent of those great
moral and physical causes which prepare gradually, and at length bring forth,
the most terrible convulsions in civil society, it will not be viewed without
deep and awful apprehension by any who shall bring sound minds and some share
of political knowledge and sagacity to the serious consideration of the
subject. Such persons will give their most serious attention to any proposition
which has for its object the eradication of this terrible mischief lurking in
our vitals. I shall presently have occasion to advert a little to the manner in
which your intended colony will conduce to this great end. It is therefore
necessary to touch on it here. Indeed, it is too obvious to require much
explanation.
But, independently of this view of the case, there is enough
in the proposed measure to command our attention and support on the score of
benefit to ourselves.
No person who has seen the slaveholding States, and those
where slavery does not exist, and has compared ever so slightly their condition
and situation, can have failed to be struck with the vast difference in favor
of the latter. This difference extends to every thing, except only the
character and manners of the most opulent and best educated people. These are
very much the same every where. But in population; in the general diffusion of
wealth and comfort; in public and private improvements; in the education,
manners, and mode of life of the middle and laboring classes; in the face of
the country; in roads, bridges, and inns; in schools and churches; in the
general advancement of improvement and prosperity, there is no comparison. The
change is seen the instant you cross the line which separates the country where
there are slaves from that where there are none. Even in the same State, the
parts where slaves most abound are uniformly the worst cultivated, the poorest,
and the least populous; while wealth and improvement uniformly increase as the
number of slaves in the country diminishes. I might prove and illustrate this
position by many examples drawn from a comparison of different States, as
Maryland and Pennsylvania, and between different counties in the same State, as
Charles county and Frederick, in Maryland; but it is unnecessary, because every
body who has seen the different parts of the country has been struck by this
difference. Whence does it arise? I answer, from this: that in one division of
country the land is cultivated by freemen, for their own benefit, and in the
other almost entirely by slaves, for the benefit of their masters. It is the
obvious interest of the first class of laborers to produce as much and consume
as little as possible, and of the second class to consume as much and produce
as little as possible. What the slave consumes is for himself; what he produces
is for his master. All the time that he can withdraw from labor is gained to
himself; all that he spends in labor is devoted to his master. All that the
free laborer, on the contrary, can produce is for himself; all that he can save
is so much added to his own stock. All the time that he loses from labor is his
own loss.
This, if it were all, would probably be quite sufficient to
account for the whole difference in question. But, unfortunately, it is far
from being all. Another, and a still more injurious effect of slavery, remains
to be considered.
Where the laboring class is composed wholly, or in a very
considerable degree, of slaves, and of slaves distinguished from the free class
by color, features, and origin, the ideas of labor and of slavery soon become
connected in the minds of the free class. This arises from that association of
ideas which forms one of the characteristic features of the human mind, and
with which every reflecting person is well acquainted. They who continually
from their infancy see black slaves employed in labor, and forming by much the
most numerous class of laborers, insensibly associate the ideas of labor and of
slavery, and are almost irresistibly led to consider labor as a badge of
slavery, and consequently as a degradation. To be idle, on the contrary, is in
their view the mark and the privilege of freemen. The effect of this habitual
feeling upon that class of free whites which ought to labor, and consequently
upon their condition, and the general condition of the country, will be readily
perceived by those who reflect on such subjects. It is seen in the vast
difference between the laboring class of whites in the Southern and Middle, and
those of the Northern and Eastern States, Why are the latter incomparably more
industrious, more thriving, more orderly, more comfortably situated, than the
former ? The effect is obvious to all those who have travelled through the
different parts of our country. What is the cause? It is found in the
association between the idea of slavery and the idea of labor, and in the
feeling produced by this association, that labor, the proper occupation of
negro slaves, and especially agricultural labor, is degrading to a free white
man.
Thus we see that, where slavery exists, the slave labors as
little as possible, because all the time that he can withdraw from labor is
saved to his own enjoyments; and consumes as much as possible, because what he
consumes belongs to his master; while the free white man is insensibly but
irresistibly led to regard labor, the occupation of slaves, as a degradation, and
to avoid it as much as he can. The effect of these combined and powerful
causes, steadily and constantly operating in the same direction, may easily be
conceived. It is seen in the striking difference which exists between the
slaveholding sections of our country and those where slavery is not permitted.
It is therefore obvious that a vast benefit would be
conferred on the country, and especially on the slaveholding districts, if all
the slave laborers could be gradually and imperceptibly withdrawn from cultivation,
and their place supplied by free white laborers—I say gradually and
imperceptibly, because, if it were possible to withdraw, suddenly and at once,
so great a portion of the effective labor of the community as is now supplied
by slaves, it would be productive of the most disastrous consequences. It would
create an immense void, which could not be filled; it would impoverish a great
part of the community, unhinge the whole frame of society in a large portion of
the country, and probably end in the most destructive convulsions. But it is
clearly impossible, and therefore we need not enlarge on the evils which it
would produce.
But to accomplish this great and beneficial change gradually
and imperceptibly, to substitute a free white class of cultivators for the
slaves, with the consent of the owners, by a slow but steady and certain
operation, I hold to be as practicable as it would be beneficial; and I regard
this scheme of colonization as the first step in that great enterprise.
The considerations stated in the first part of this letter
have long since produced a thorough conviction in my mind that the existence of
a class of free people of color in this country is highly injurious to the
whites, the slaves, and the free people of color themselves. Consequently, that
all emancipation, to however small an extent, which permits the persons
emancipated to remain in this country, is an evil which must increase with the
increase of the operation, and would become altogether intolerable, if extended
to the whole, or even to a very large part, of the black population. I am
therefore strongly opposed to emancipation, in every shape and degree, unless
accompanied by colonization.
I may perhaps on some future occasion develop a plan, on
which I have long meditated, for colonizing gradually, and with the consent of
their owners, and of themselves, where free, the whole colored population,
slaves and all; but this is not the proper place for such an explanation, for
which indeed I have not time now. But it is an essential part of the plan, and
of every such plan, to prepare the way for its adoption and execution, by
commencing a colony of blacks, in a suitable situation and under proper
management. This is what your society propose to accomplish. Their project therefore,
if rightly formed and well conducted, will open the way for this more extensive
and beneficial plan of removing, gradually and imperceptibly, but certainly,
the whole colored population from the country, and leaving its place to be
imperceptibly supplied, as it would necessarily be, by a class of free white
cultivators. In every part of the country this operation must necessarily be
slow. In the Southern and Southwestern States it will be very long before it
can be accomplished, and a very considerable time must probably elapse before
it can even commence. It will begin first, and be first completed, in the
Middle States, where the evils of slavery are most sensibly felt, the
desire of getting rid of the slaves is already strong, and a greater facility
exists of supplying their place by white cultivators. From thence it will
gradually extend to the South and Southwest, till, by its steady, constant, and
imperceptible operation, the evils of slavery shall be rooted out from every
part of the United States, and the slaves themselves, and their posterity,
shall be converted into a free, civilized, and great nation, in the country
from which their progenitors were dragged, to be wretched themselves and a
curse to the whites.
This great end is to be attained in no other way than by a
plan of universal colonization, founded on the consent of the slaveholders and
of the colonists themselves. For such a plan, that of the present colonization
society opens and prepares the way, by exploring the ground, selecting a proper
situation, and planting a colony, which may serve as a receptacle, a nursery,
and a school, for those that are to follow. It is in this point of view that I
consider its benefits as the most extensive and important, though not the most
immediate.
The advantages of this undertaking, to which I have hitherto
adverted, are confined to ourselves. They consist in ridding us of the free
people of color, and preparing the way for getting rid of the slaves and of
slavery. In these points of view they are undoubtedly very great. But there are
advantages to the free blacks themselves, to the slaves, and to the immense
population of middle and southern Africa, which no less recommend this
undertaking to our cordial and zealous support.
To the free blacks themselves the benefits are the most
obvious, and will be the most immediate. Here they are condemned to a state of
hopeless inferiority, and consequent degradation. As they cannot emerge from
this state, they lose by degrees the hope and at last the desire of emerging.
With this hope and desire they lose the most powerful incitements to industry,
frugality, good conduct, and honorable exertion. For want of this incitement,
this noble and ennobling emulation, they sink for the most part into a state of
sloth, wretchedness, and profligacy. The few honorable exceptions serve merely
to show of what the race is capable in a proper situation. Transplanted to a
colony composed of themselves alone, they would enjoy real equality; in other
words, real freedom. They would become proprietors of land, master mechanics,
shipowners, navigators, and merchants, and by degrees schoolmasters, justices
of the peace, militia officers, ministers of religion, judges, and legislators.
There would be no white population to remind them of and to perpetuate their
original inferiority; but, enjoying all the privileges of freedom, they would
soon enjoy all its advantages and all its dignity. The whites who might visit
them would visit them as equals, for the purposes of a commerce mutually
advantageous. They would soon feel the noble emulation to excel, which is the
fruitful source of excellence in all the various departments of life; and,
under the influence of this generous and powerful sentiment, united with the
desire and hope of improving their condition, the most universal and active
incitements to exertion among men, they would rise rapidly in the scale of
existence, and soon become equal to the people of Europe, or of European
origin, so long their masters and oppressors. Of all this the most intelligent
among them would soon become sensible. The others would learn it from them; and
the prospect and hope of such blessings would have an immediate and most
beneficial effect on their condition and character; for it will be easy to adopt
such regulations as to exclude from this colony all but those who shall deserve
by their conduct to be admitted; thus rendering the hope of admission a
powerful incentive to industry, honesty, and religion.
To the slaves, the advantages, though not so obvious or
immediate, are yet certain and great.
In the first place, they would be greatly benefited by the
removal of the free blacks, who now corrupt them, and render them discontented:
thus exposing them to harsher treatment and greater privations. In the next
place, this measure would open the way to their more frequent and easier
manumission; for many persons, who are now restrained from manumitting their
slaves by the conviction that they generally become a nuisance when manumitted
in the country, would gladly give them freedom, if they were to be sent to a
place where they might enjoy it usefully to themselves and to society. And,
lastly, as this species of manumission, attended by removal to a country where
they might obtain all the advantages of freedom, would be a great blessing, and
would soon be so considered by the slaves, the hope of deserving and obtaining
it would be a great solace to their sufferings, and a powerful incitement to
good conduct. It would thus tend to make them happier and better before it
came, and to fit them better for usefulness and happiness afterwards.
Such a colony, too, would enlarge the range of civilization
and commerce, and thus tend to the benefit of all civilized and commercial
nations. In this benefit our own nation would most largely participate;
because, having founded the colony, and giving it constant supplies of new
members, as well as its first and principal supply of necessaries and comforts,
its first counexions would be formed with us, and would naturally grow with its
growth and our own, till they ripened into fixed habits of intercourse,
friendship, and attachment.
The greatest benefit, however, to be hoped from this
enterprise, that which, in contemplation, most delights the philanthropic mind,
still remains to be unfolded. It is the benefit to Africa herself, from this
return of her sons to her bosom, bearing with them arts, knowledge, and
civilization, to which she has hitherto been a stranger. Cast your eyes, my dear
sir, on this vast continent; pass over the northern and northeastern parts, and
the great desert, where sterility, ferocious ignorance, and fanaticism, seem to
hold exclusive and perpetual sway; fix your attention on Soudan, and the widely
extended regions to the south; you see there innumerable tribes and nations of
blacks, mild and humane in their dispositions, sufficiently intelligent,
robust, active, and vigorous, not averse from labor or wholly ignorant of
agriculture, and possessing some knowledge of the ruder arts, which minister to
the first wants of civilized man; you see a soil generally fertile, a climate
healthy for the natives, and a mighty river, which rolls its waters through
vast regions inhabited by these tribes, and seems destined, by an all wise and
beneficent Providence, one day to connect then with each other, and all of them
with the rest of the world, in the relations of commerce and friendly
intercourse. What a field is here presented for the blessings of civilization
and Christianity, which colonies of civilized blacks afford the best and
probably the only means of introducing. These colonies, composed of blacks
already instructed in the arts of civilized life and the truths of the gospel,
judiciously placed, well conducted, and constantly enlarged, will extend
gradually into the interior, will form commercial and political connexions
with the native tribes in their vicinity, will extend those connexions to tribes
more and more remote, will incorporate many of the natives with the colonies,
and in their turn make establishments and settlements among the natives, and
thus diffuse all around the arts of civilization, and the benefits of literary,
moral, and religious instruction.
That such must be the tendency of colonies of this
description, if well placed; well formed, and well conducted, cannot, I think,
be reasonably doubted. Such a colony has already been established, with
satisfactory success and flattering prospects. But it may be doubted, perhaps,
whether the situation has been fortunately chosen with respect to all the
objects that ought to be kept in view; and it is still more questionable,
whether a sufficient supply of colonists of a proper description, to give it
the extent necessary for rendering it in any considerable degree beneficial,
can be drawn from the sources on which it must rely. It is in the United States
alone that such colonists can be found in any considerable numbers. In the
choice of a good situation, too, on which so much depends, we have far more
assistance from recent discoveries, and the extention of geographical knowledge
in that quarter of the globe, than was possessed by the founders of that
colony. We have the benefit of their experience, of their discoveries, and even
of their errors, which we may be able to correct or avoid. Useful therefore and
meritorious as their establishment certainly is, we may hope to render ours far
more extensively beneficial.
An objection, of some plausibility, is frequently urged
against this scheme of colonizing the free people of color, which it may be
proper in this place to notice. These people, it is said, especially the
industrious and estimable part of them, will not go to the new colony. That many
of them will decline to go at first, and some always, cannot be doubted. It is
even probable, and may be safely admitted, that but few of them now think
favorably of the project; for men, especially ignorant men, venture unwillingly
upon great changes, the extent, nature, and consequences of which they are
little capable of understanding. But it by no means follows that the same
unwillingness or hesitation will continue, after the ground shall have been
broken, the way opened, and the settlement formed. In the first instance, none
will engage but the most industrious, intelligent, and enterprising, who are
capable of discerning the advantages of the undertaking, and have resolution
and energy enough to encounter its first hardships and risks. This is the case
with all colonies, and especially those formed in distant, unknown, or
unsettled countries. Some resolute and adventurous spirits first embark, and
they open and prepare the way for others. It is stated and believed, on
evidence better known to you than to me, that a sufficient number of such
persons stand ready at this time to commence the colony, as soon as the
necessary previous arrangements can be made. I have no doubt of the fact, not
only from information, but from general reasoning on the human character, and
my knowledge of many individuals among the free blacks. When this first step is
taken, (and in most enterprises the greatest difficulty lies in the first
step,) when a settlement of free blacks shall have actually been formed, the
way opened, and the first difficulties surmounted, others will soon be disposed
to follow. If successful and prosperous, as it certainly will be if properly
conducted, its success will quickly become known to the free blacks in every
part of the country.
However distrustful of the whites, they will confide in the
reports made to them by people of their own color and class. The prosperity of
the settlement, and the advantageous condition of the settlers, will soon be
universally understood and believed; and, indeed, will be far more apt to be
exaggerated than undervalued. The most ignorant and stupid of the free people
of color will speedily understand or believe that, in the colony, they may
obtain a state of equality, opulence, and distinction, to which they can never
aspire in this country: hence the desire to join their friends and equals there
may be expected soon to become general among them; nor is it too much to hope
and anticipate that this desire will speedily grow into a passion ; that the
difficulty will be not to find colonists, but to select them; and that the hope
of being received into the favored number, for whom it may be practicable to
provide annually, will ere long become a most powerful and operative incentive
to industry, sobriety, and general good conduct, among the whole class from
which the selection will be annually made.
Having detained you thus long, my dear sir, much too long, I
am afraid, with these preliminary observations on the benefits which may be
expected from this undertaking, I proceed now to the manner of carrying it into
execution. I shall not, however, treat this branch of the subject in its whole
extent, for which this is not the proper place, bit shall confine myself to the
objects more immediately in view at this time the choice of a proper situation
for the first settlement, and the circumstances to which the attention of the
agent, who is to be sent out for the purpose of exploring the ground, ought
chiefly to be directed.
The first of these circumstances is salubrity, with a view
to which the vicinity of low and marshy grounds, of swamps, and of rivers which
are apt to overflow their banks, ought to be carefully avoided. High
situations, open to the sea, or washed by rivers with high and steep banks,
should be sought. Mountains in the vicinity, and in the direction from which
the winds regularly blow, are much to be desired; and great attention should be
paid to the abundance of brooks and springs, and to the quality of their water.
On all these accounts, an elevated and uneven surface ought to be preferred,
though less fertile than the flat low grounds. Too much attention ought not to
be paid, in the first settlements, either to great fertility or the convenience
of navigation. The first establishment should no doubt be within a convenient
distance from a good port, but need not be close to it ; nor ought to be so,
unless the immediate vicinity should be much more healthy than such situations
usually are. The settlement must be entirely agricultural at first, and will
long, perhaps always, continue so, in a very great degree. Commerce there, as
in our own country, must and will soon grow out of agriculture; but the first
settlements ought to be made with a view to the latter, far more than to the
former. Contiguity to a good market for agricultural productions is, indeed, a
very important incitement and aid to agricultural industry, and therefore a
very important circumstance in the location of an agricultural colony; but it
is far from being the most important, and care must be taken to prevent its
being too much regarded.
Nor ought any thing in this respect to be sacrificed to
great fertility, which is most frequently found in low, flat, and unwholesome
situations. A good soil, well adapted to the cultivation of wheat, Indian corn
or maize, and cotton, is all in this respect that ought to be desired; and such
soils are found in places possessing every advantage of good water, with a dry
and pure atmosphere. Wheat and Indian corn are the best articles of food, and
the soils that produce them are fit also for various other grains and
vegetables, useful for food and of easy culture, especially the sweet potato
and various kinds of pulse, which thrive well in hot climates. As an object of
tillage, with a view to exportation, cotton is by far the best, because it
thrives well in high and healthy situations, of a light soil, may he cultivated
10 advantage on small farms, and requires little labor which cannot be
performed by women and children.
Attention should also be paid to suitable streams for the
erection of grist mills, saw mills, and other water works, which will be almost
indispensable to the colony in its infant state, and of great utility at a more
advanced period. Fortunately, such streams abound most in the countries best
adapted in other respects to agricultural settlements.
The character, condition, and disposition of the natives,
will also require very particular attention; it being of the greatest
importance to gain and preserve their good will, so as to cultivate and cement
a free and friendly intercourse with them, obtain from them assistance and
supplies, and gradually communicate to them the knowledge and habits of
civilized life. For this essential purpose, we should not only avoid the
neighborhood of fierce and warlike tribes, but that of very large and powerful
ones, who will be much more unmanageable and dangerous than small ones in many
points of view.
It would also be best to select a situation as distant as
possible from Sierra Leone. There would no doubt be some advantages at first in
a close neighborhood, but they would probably be soon overbalanced by the
jealousies and collisions which could hardly fail to take place between two
colonies established under different Governments, and with different views and
interests in many important points. This is an objection to Sherbro river,
probably not insurmountable, but sufficient to turn the scale in favor of a
more distant position, possessing in other respects equal or nearly equal
advantages.
If, indeed, an arrangement could be made with the British
Government for an union and incorporation of the two colonies, or rather for
the reception of our colonists into their settlement, it might deserve serious
consideration. There would no doubt be many advantages at first in sending them
to a settlement already formed, where the first difficulties have been
surmounted, and a regular government exists. But this is matter for future
deliberation. We ought now to search out a fit place for ourselves; for it is
doubtful whether an incorporation would be agreed to by the British Government,
and far from being certain that the best place has been chosen for their
establishment. When these points shall have been ascertained, and we know what
prospect there is of obtaining a suitable situation elsewhere, a negotiation
may be opened, if then thought advisable, for uniting the two colonies.
There will always be one strong objection to the
incorporation. The British colony will be for a long time retained in the
colonial state, subject to a foreign and distant Government, and, when ripe for
independence, will probably be compelled to seek it by force of arms. The
nature and habitual policy of that Government will almost necessarily lead to
this result. Our colony, on the contrary, ought to be republican from the
beginning, and formed and fashioned with a view to self-government and
independence, with the consent of the mother country, at the earliest
practicable period. It is thus only that it can be most useful to the
colonists, to Africa, to its, and to the general cause of humanity.
It would, however, be premature at present to decide on the
question of incorporation; and therefore, with a view to this interesting part
of the case, the agent should be instructed to investigate most carefully the
progress and present state of the Sierra Leone settlement, and to ascertain, as
exactly as possible, all the circumstances of its locality, as relates to
health; fertility; objects of culture suitable to its soil and climate; navigation;
the nature of the country in its vicinity; the character, situation, and
strength of the neighboring tribes; and the facilities of communication with
the remote and interior parts of the continent.
One very important circumstance in the selection of a suitable
place for our settlements, to which the attention of the agent ought to be
particularly directed, still remains to be brought into view. I mean the
facility of communication with the Niger, that mighty river, which seems
destined to supply the link of connexion between the interior of Africa and the
civilized world.
I take the question relative to the lower course and
termination of the Niger to be now satisfactorily settled. The discoveries of
Park, in his last journey, compared and connected with the information derived
from Mr. Maxwell and others, concerning the river Zayr, improperly called the
Congo, from the name of a little district at its mouth, to say nothing of Sidi
Hamet's narrative, as given to us by Captain Riley, which deserves great
attention, authorize us, I think, to conclude that these two rivers are the
same; in other words, that the Niger, after having traversed the interior of
Africa four thousand miles, falls, under the name of Zayr, into the Atlantic,
south of the equator : thus laying open that vast continent to its in. most
recesses, and bringing its immense population into contact with the rest of the
world. There is some doubt and much contrariety of opinion on this point, and this
is not the place for entering at large into the discussion. Fortunately, a
decision of the question, which cannot be absolutely decided till the course of
the Niger shall be pursued to its termination, is not necessary for our present
purpose; for, whether this great body of waters, collected in a course of two
thousand miles, be lost, according to the opinion of some, in the sands,
marshes, and lakes, supposed to exist in the centre of Africa; or, as others
have imagined, be discharged into the Mediterranean through the Nile, a river
of a more elevated bed, and hardly a tenth part as large; or, being arrested in
its progress eastward toward the Indian ocean, by the elevated country in which
the Nile has its sources, is driven through the feebler barrier of the
mountains on the south, and thrown off to the Southern Atlantic; it is still
the only avenue into the interior of Africa—and a noble avenue it is. At
Bammakoo, where Park struck it in his last voyage, he stales it to be a mile
wide. From thence to Houssa, a distance of between six and seven hundred miles,
its course has been satisfactorily ascertained. Throughout this great extent,
in which it receives many large streams, and flows through a fertile country,
its current, though strong, is smooth and even, uninterrupted by cataracts or
shoals. As it advances eastward, it recedes more and more from the coast, and
thus becomes more and more difficult of access. Settlements therefore on the
Atlantic, formed with a view to commercial intercourse with the vast countries
on the Niger, and those more distant to which it leads, must be placed as
near as possible to its upper waters, where they first begin to be navigable
for boats.
These waters probably approach much nearer the Atlantic than
has hitherto been believed. We have seen that, at Bammakoo, the highest point
to which it has yet been traced, it is a mile wide-as large as the Susquehanna
at its entrance into the Chesapeake bay. It must therefore be a very
considerable stream much higher up; that is, much further to the south west,
and consequently much nearer to the Atlantic. It has its source in the western
part of a chain of mountains, which runs from west to east, nearly parallel
with that part of the coast of Africa which extends from Sierra Leone to the
bight of Benin. These mountains separate it from the rivers which, rising on
their southern side, fall into the Atlantic, in the neighborhood of Sierra
Leone. Their sources no doubt approach very near to those of the Niger;
probably no great distance divides its navigable waters from theirs. Such a
river, with a good port at or near its mouth, and a fertile country on its
banks, would present the proper situation for a colony, planted with a view to
the civilization of Africa, by the commerce of the Niger.
The course of such a commerce would be to ascend the
Atlantic river, as far as possible, in boats, with the commodities wanted for
the interior consumption, and to establish at that point a place of deposite,
from whence the merchandise would be sent over land to the Niger, and down it
to the various markets below. The returns would go up the Niger to its highest
navigable point, where a town would soon arise; from thence, they would pass by
land to the place of deposite on the other side of the mountain, and there be
put into boats, for transportation down the river to the shipping port. If the
Niger should be ascertained to continue its course to the ocean, an intercourse
would gradually be extended down to its mouth, where a great commercial city,
would arise; and to this mart the return cargoes purchased above would
gradually find their way down the stream. Thus an immense circle of commerce
would imperceptibly be formed, embracing the whole course of the Niger, and the
vast countries which it waters and lays open, and connecting them all with each
other, and with the whole commercial world. For a very considerable time this
commerce would be confined to the countries far up the river, near to its
source, where settlements would first be formed, and civilization would
commerce. As the communication between these first settlements and those on the
Atlantic became more and more safe, easy, and expeditious, by means of
intermediate settlements, good roads, and improved inland navigation, colonies
and trade would extend further and further down the river. Other settlements
would soon be commenced at its mouth. At last, these two branches would meet
and unite in a commerce vast as the stream on which it would be borne, and as
the continent which it would civilize, enlighten, and adorn.
Ages, indeed, may be required for the full attainment of
these objects; untoward events or unforeseen difficulties may retard or defeat
them; but the prospect, however remote or uncertain, is still animating, and
the hope of success seems sufficient to stimulate us to the utmost exertion.
How vast and sublime a career does this undertaking open to a generous
ambition, aspiring to deathless fame by great and useful actions! Who can count
the millions that in future times shall know and bless the names of those by
whom this magnificent scheme of beneficence and philanthropy has been
conceived, and shall be carried into execution! Throughout the widely extended
regions of middle and southern Africa, then filled with populous and polished
nations, their memories shall be cherished and their praises sung, when other
States, and even the flourishing and vigorous nation to which they belong, now
in its flower of youth, shall have run their round of rise, grandeur, and
decay, and, like the founders of Palmyra, Tyre, Babylon, Memphis, and Thebes,
shall no longer be known, except by vague reports of their former greatness, or
by some fragments of those works of art, the monuments of their taste, their
power, or their pride, which they may leave behind.
It is in connexion, my dear sir, with this great operation
that I consider your proposed colony of free blacks as most interesting and
important. It ought to be the first step in this splendid career, and ought to
be located with that view. In choosing a situation for it, therefore, the
greatest regard ought to be had to its future connexion with the Niger. To this
end, the agent ought to be instructed to make the most careful inquiries
concerning the sources of that river, and its highest or most southwestern
point; he should also make every effort to obtain the most full and accurate
information concerning the rivers that rise in the mountains opposite to its
sources, and take their course southwestwardly to the ocean; their size, the
nature of the country through which they flow, the height to which they are
navigable for ships and for boats, and the harbors al or near their mouths,
should all be ascertained with the utmost care and accuracy. That river which
combines in the greatest degree the advantages of salubrity, soil, navigation,
and good neighborhood, and at the same time brings us nearest to the navigable
waters of the Niger, by a good pass over the intervening mountains, is, I
apprehend, the proper place, in itself, for the establishment of our colony.
I say in itself: because a place combining all those
advantages may still be very unfit for our purpose, if it lie within the claims
of any European Power, or too near any of their settlements. It should
therefore be a particular object of the agent's attention to ascertain the
situation and extent of those claims, and the distance between any European
settlements and such place as may appear suited to our views. Inquiries
concerning the territorial claims of European Powers can best be made in London;
but it is in Africa alone that such information, when obtained, can be applied
to the object of the intended mission.
There is a river, called in some maps the Mesurada, which,
as there laid down, extends its branches further northeast than any other, and
enters the ocean about one hundred or one hundred and fifty miles southeast of
the Sherbro. It deserves, I think, the particular attention of the agent, who
should be instructed to make inquiries about it, with a view to all the
circumstances which may render it proper for a settlement, and to visit it,
should the result of this investigation offer encouragement.
The river Nunez, or Noones, also merits particular regard.
It empties itself into the Atlantic in latitude 10° 1’ north, about one hundred
and fifty miles northwest from Sierra Leone. It has a very good harbor at its
mouth, and carries from six to eight fathoms of water about twenty miles up, to
a bar, over which there is however three fathoms, or eighteen feet. After passing
the bar, the water continues from five to eight fathoms deep, to a point about
fifty miles up from the mouth. From thence to the falls, about fifty miles
higher up, it is said to admit vessels of one hundred and twenty tops. The
country around and above the falls is represented as elevated, fertile, and
healthy; abounding in game; well supplied with excellent timber, and watered by
numerous streams large enough for mills; Indian corn, and all sorts of pulse
and garden vegetables, are said to grow luxuriantly; cattle abound so much that
an ox is sold for a dollar. The country below yields rice, Indian corn, and all
the usual tropical productions. The natives are represented as peaceable and
friendly, and the principal chief, who resides about ninety miles up the river,
a little below the falls, and whose authority extends down to the mouth, and
far into the interior, is said to be a man of sense and abilities, of a mild
and humane character, and favorably disposed towards the whites, and especially
the Americans. He speaks English perfectly well. This place would seem
therefore to deserve the particular attention of the agent and the society. In
addition to its other advantages, its upper waters approach near to those of
the river Grande—a very important and interesting feature of African geography,
as respects commercial intercourse with the interior, and the extension of
civilization by means of colonies of civilized blacks.
These, my dear sir, are the hints that I thought I might
venture to suggest to you on this most interesting subject. I make no apology
for the length of my letter. It might no doubt be curtailed with advantage; but
it might also, and with more ease, if not to a better purpose, be very much
enlarged : (or I have touched briefly on less important topics, and altogether
omitted some which belong properly to the subject, but did not seem to require
immediate attention. Such as it is, I submit it to your consideration, with the
hope that it may be of some use in the preparatory arrangements which you are
engaged in making.
With the best wishes,
I am, dear sir, your
most obedient servant,
ROBERT G. HARPER.
Elias B. CALDWELL, Esq.,
Secretary of the Colonization Society of the U. S.
SOURCE: United States
Congressional Serial Set, Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives
of the United States, 27th Congress, 3rd Session, Vol. 2, p. 193-208
