IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 ^^4:<. 
 
 ^ J' 
 
 ^ 
 
 /- 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 LA 12.8 
 
 2.2 
 
 111 
 
 14.0 
 
 
 Hiotographic 
 
 SciSices 
 Corporalion 
 
 ?3 WfST Mi4IN STREiT 
 
 WEb:Ji 7t,N.Y. 145M 
 
 (716) •72-4503 
 
 •1>^ 
 
 \ 
 
 iV 
 
 <^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^^V 
 
 
 o\ 
 
? 
 
 ** 
 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHIVl/ICIVIH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical IVIicroreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notas/Notoa tachniquas at bibliographiquas 
 
 Tha Inatltuta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat 
 original copy avallabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia 
 copy which may ba bibliographlcally unlqua, 
 which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha 
 raproduction, or which may aignlficantly changa 
 tha uauai mathod of filming, ara chackad balow. 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Colourad covara/ 
 Couvartura d9 coulaur 
 
 I I Covara damagad/ 
 
 Couvartura endommagta 
 
 □ Covara raatorad and/or laminatad/ 
 Couvartura raataurAa at/ou palliculAa 
 
 □ Covar title miaaing/ 
 La titra da couvartura manqua 
 
 □ Coloured mapa/ 
 Cartea gAographiquas en couieur 
 
 Coloured inic (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couieur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 I I Coloured piatea and/or illuatrationa/ 
 
 Planchaa at/ou illuatrationa en couieur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 RftiiA avac d'autrea documanta 
 
 Tight bii iding may cauae ahadowa or diatortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La re liure serrie peut cauaar de I'ombre ou de la 
 diatortion la long de la marge int^rieure 
 
 Blank iaavaa added during reatoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever poaaibla, theae 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 II ae peut que certainaa pagea bianchea ajoutiaa 
 lore d'une reatauration apparaiaaent dana la texte, 
 maia, loraque cela ttait poaaibla, cea pagea n'ont 
 paa 4t6 filmtea. 
 
 Additional commanta:/ 
 Commantairea auppiimantairea: 
 
 L'Inatitut a microfilm* le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a AtA poaaibla da ae procurer. Lea dAtalla 
 de cet exemplaire qui aont pout-Atre uniquea du 
 point de vue bibllographique, qui peuvent modifier 
 une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dana la m6thode normale de filmage 
 aont indiquAa ci-deaaoua. 
 
 I I Coloured pagea/ 
 
 D 
 
 Pagea de couieur 
 
 Pagea damaged/ 
 Pagea andommegtea 
 
 Pagea reatored and/oi 
 
 Pagea reatauriea et/ou pellicultea 
 
 Pagea diacolourad, stained or foxet 
 Pagea dAcoioriaa, tachettes ou piquiaa 
 
 Pagea detached/ 
 Pagea ditachtes 
 
 Showthroughy 
 Tranaparence 
 
 Quality of prir 
 
 Quality in^gala de rimpreasion 
 
 Includea supplementary materii 
 Comprend du material auppKmentaire 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Mition diaponible 
 
 r^ Pagea damaged/ 
 
 I — I Pagea reatored and/or laminated/ 
 
 rri Pagea discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 
 [~~| Pagea detached/ 
 
 rri Showthrough/ 
 
 r~n Quality of print variaa/ 
 
 I I Includea supplementary material/ 
 
 I — I Only edition available/ 
 
 Pagea wholly or partially obacured by errata 
 slips, ti:^suea, etc., have been refilmed to 
 enaure the beat possible image/ 
 Lea pages totalement ou partiellement 
 obacurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, 
 etc., ont M filmtea d nouveau de fapon A 
 obtenir l« meilleure image poaaibla. 
 
 1 
 a 
 
 1 
 
 V 
 
 d 
 a 
 
 fa 
 r 
 
 r 
 
 Thia item la filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document eat film* au taux de rMuction indiquA ci-desaoua 
 
 10X 14X 18X 22X 
 
 
 
 
 26X 
 
 
 
 
 30X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 
 
 
 16X 
 
 
 
 
 20X 
 
 
 
 
 a4x 
 
 
 
 
 28X 
 
 
 
 
 32X 
 
 
The copy filmad h«r« hat bMn rtproduetd thanks 
 to th« gonorotity of: 
 
 Library of the Public 
 Archives of Canada 
 
 L'exemplaire fllmA fut reproduit grAce A la 
 gAnArosit* de: 
 
 La bibiiothAque des Archives 
 publfques du Canada 
 
 The images appearing here are the best quality 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in Iceeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copies are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, and ending on the last page with a printed 
 or illustrated impression. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol — »• (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Lea images suivantes ont 4tA reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et 
 de la nettet* de l'exemplaire film*, et en 
 conformity avec les conditions du contrat de 
 filmage. 
 
 Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en 
 papier est ImprimAe sont filmfo en commen^ant 
 par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la 
 dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second 
 plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires 
 originaux sont filmte en commengant par la 
 premlAre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par 
 la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 Un des symboles sulvants apparaftra sur la 
 dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le 
 cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le 
 symbols Y signifie "FIN". 
 
 IVIaps. plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames as 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 method: 
 
 Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre 
 filmte A des taux de reduction diff Arents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre 
 reproHuit en un seul ciichd, 11 est film* A partir 
 de Tangle supArieur geuche, de gauche A droite, 
 et de haut en has, en prenant le nombre 
 d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes sulvants 
 illustrent la mAthode. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
■■1 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 N AYAL COMMITTEE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 August, 1850, 
 
 IN FAVOR OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A LINE OF 
 
 MAIL STEAMSHIPS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE WESTERN COAST OP AFRICA, 
 
 AXD THENCE VIA THE 
 
 MEDITERRANEAN TO LONDON; 
 
 DESIGNED 
 
 TO PROMOTE THE EMIGRATION OF FREE PERSONS OF COLOR 
 FROM THE UNITED STATES TO LIBERIA: 
 
 ALSO 
 
 TO INCREASE THE STEAM NAVY, 
 
 AND 
 
 TO EXTEND THE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN ArrENDlX 
 
 ADDED BY THE 
 
 AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 = 
 
 WASHINGTON : 
 
 PRINTED BY GIDEON AND CO. 
 
 1850. 
 
The memorial of Judge Bryan was referred 
 to the Committee on Naval Affairs, composed 
 of Representatives from the following States : 
 
 Fred. P. Stanton, Tenn. 
 Thos. S. Bocock, Va. 
 Rohert C Schenck, Ohio, 
 Emile La Sere, La. 
 Hugh White, N. Y. 
 Elbridge Gerry, Me. 
 E. Carrington Cabell, Fla. 
 John McQueen, S. C. 
 Lewis C. Levin, Pa. 
 
 
 I 
 
The Committee on \aval Aflairs, to whom was 
 referred the memorial of Joseph Bryan, of Ala- 
 bama, for himself and his associates, George 
 Nicholas Sanders and others, praying the estab- 
 lishment of a line of steamers from the United 
 States to the coast of Africa, designed to promote 
 the colonization of free persons of color, to sup- 
 press the African slave trade, to carry the mails, 
 and to rxteiid the commerce of the United States, 
 beg leave to submit the following Report : 
 
 The proposition of the memorial involves an ex- 
 tension of thai system, recently commenced by 
 Congress, which has for its object the creation of a 
 powerful steam navy, to be used in time of peace 
 in carrying the mails, and in effecting great public 
 objects, not to be attained by private enterprise 
 without the aid of Congress. How far it may be 
 desirable to extend this system will depend upon 
 the double consideration of the present condition of 
 our naval force, and the importance and feasibility 
 of the ends to be accomplished by the measure. 
 As to the first of these, the committee will present 
 a brief statement of the facts material to a correct 
 understanding of the comparative extent of our pre- 
 sent steam navy. 
 
In the report of Mr. Secretary Bancroft, made 
 to the Senate on the 2d March, 1846, the total 
 effective steam navy of Great Britain was stated, at 
 that time, to consist of one hundred and ninety-nine 
 vessels, of all classes ; that of France numbered 
 fifty-four ; that of Russia, without the Caspian fleet, 
 thirty-two ; while the steam navy of the United 
 States could boast of but six small vessels, and one 
 in process of building ; and of these one was for 
 harbor defence, and another a steam-tug. 
 
 Since that time, however. Congress has provided 
 for the building of A ur war steamers, and for the 
 establishment of several lines of steamships engaged 
 in carrying the mails, consisting of seventeen large 
 vessels, suitable for war purposes, and at all times 
 liable to be taken for the pubhc service. Of these 
 latter, nine will run between New York and Euro- 
 pean ports ; five between New York and Chagres ; 
 and three between Panama and San Francisco. 
 
 Notwithstanding this increase in our force, it has 
 by no means kept pace with that of other great 
 commercial nations. The American Almanac for 
 the present year estimates the steam navy of France 
 at sixty-four steam vessels of war, besides a reserved 
 force of ten steam frigates now ready, and six cor- 
 vettes and six small vessels nearly ready. The 
 French Government has also resolved to follow the 
 example of England in establishing lines of steam- 
 ers, built so as to be easily converted into ships of 
 war, to be employed in commerce and for carrying 
 
 
 I 
 
mails, but being at all times subject to the requisi- 
 tion of the Government. 
 
 England, also, has added largely to her steam 
 navy, and has increased her lines of mail steamers, 
 giving evidence that she, at least, considers this the 
 best and cheapest mode of providing in time of 
 peace for the exigences of war. On this subject 
 the committee refer to the following facts, for which 
 they are indebted to the remarks of the Hon. T. 
 Butler King, of Georgia, made in the House of 
 Representatives, February 19, 1848. 
 
 By act of Parliament, 7 William IV, chap. 3, all 
 previous contracts entered into for the conveyance 
 of the mails by sea were transferred to the Admi- 
 ralty. In the year 1839, the idea was conceived 
 that the vast expenditures required in naval arma- 
 ments might be made subservient to the purposes of 
 commerce in time of peace. Accordingly, a con- 
 tract was entered into with Mr. Cunard and his as- 
 sociates, for the conveyance of the mails from Liv- 
 erpool, via Halifax, to Boston, in live steamers of 
 the first class, for ^£85,000, or about $425,000 per 
 annum. It was stipulated that they should be built 
 under the supervision of the Admiralty, should be 
 inspected on being received into the service, and 
 certified to be capable in all respects of being con- 
 verted into ships of war, and of carrying ordnance 
 of the heaviest description. Various stipulations 
 were entered into in this and other contracts of a 
 similar character, which placed these ships under 
 
• 
 
 i' 
 
 the control of the Government ; thus, in fact, mak- 
 ing them, to all intents and purposes, at the same 
 time a part of the mercantile and miUtary marine of 
 the country. 
 
 In 1846, the Government enlarged the contract 
 with Mr. Cunard and his a-?sociates, by adding four 
 ships to run from Liverpool to New York, and in- 
 creased the compensation to .£145,000, or about 
 jJ725,000 per annum. 
 
 In the year 1840, a contract was made by the 
 Admiralty with the Royal Mail Steamship Com- 
 pany, at i:240,000 sterling, or $I,200,OuO per an- 
 num, for fourteen steamers to carry the mails from 
 Southampton to the West Indies., the ports of Mex- 
 ico on the Gulf, and to New Orleans, Mobile, Sa- 
 vannah, and Charleston. These ships are of the 
 first class, and are to conform in all respects, 
 concerning size and adaptation to the purposes of 
 war, to the conditions prescribed in the Cunard 
 contracts. They are to make twenty-four voyages 
 a year, leaving and returning to Southampton semi- 
 monthly. Another contract has lately been entered 
 into for two ships to run between Bermuda and 
 New York. These lines employ twenty-five steam- 
 ers of the largest and most eflicient description. 
 
 In addition to the above, a contract was made, 
 1st January, 1845, with the Peninsular and Orien- 
 tal Steam N.avigation Company for a line of similar 
 steamers, seven in number, from England to the 
 East Indies and China, at X 1 60,000 sterling, or 
 
1 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 jj(SOO,000 prr nnnurn. Tins line passes from South- 
 ampton, via Gibraltar and Malta, to Alexandria, in 
 Egypt ; thence the route continues overland to 
 Suez, at the head of the Red Sea, trom whence the 
 steamers again start, touching at Aden, Bombay, 
 and at Point do Galle, in the island of Ceylon, from 
 whence they proceed to Singapore and Hong Kong. 
 There is a branch line connecting with this, from 
 Point de Galle to Calcutta, touching at Madras. 
 
 A contract was made, 1st July, 181(5, for a Pa- 
 cific line of British steamers, four in number, run 
 ning from Valparaiso to Panama, touching at inter- 
 mediate ports. This line connects overland, from 
 Panama to Chagres, with the West India line. 
 
 Besides these, there were, in 1848, twelve more 
 lines of Government steamers running between 
 Great Britain and the continent of Europe; making a 
 grand aggregate of one hundred and fifteen ocean 
 steamships fitted for war purposes. Very recently 
 the British Parliament has resolved to extend the 
 mail steamship system to Australia. 
 
 The committee do not propose that our Govern- 
 ment shall attempt to emulate this vast network of 
 steam navigation, with which England has already 
 encompassed the globe. But it is believed that the 
 recent increase of our territory, on the Pacific and 
 in the Gulf of Mexico, forms an additional reason 
 for a considerable augmentation of our steam navy, 
 whether by a direct addition to the navy proper, or 
 
!i 
 
 IP 
 
 8 
 
 by the encouragomeiU of lines of stenm packets, to 
 be established by private enterprise under the aus- 
 pices of Governriient. If the hitter system should 
 be adopted, as ah-eady commenced, tlie ships will 
 ue built under the inspection of a Government of- 
 ficer, at the expense of private individuals; they will 
 be conmianded by oHicors in the navy, and will be 
 at all times available for the public service. It will 
 be the interest of the contractors to ado[)t, from 
 time to time, all the improvements which may be 
 made in machinery and in the means of propulsion, 
 and the ships will be kept in good repair. Besides 
 being commanded by a naval officer, each ship will 
 carry a sufficient number of midshipmen for watch 
 officers, and thus f.i very considerable portion of the 
 personnel of the service will be kept actively em- 
 ployed, with the opportunity of acquiring the know 
 ledge and skill requisite to the proper management 
 of a stenm nnvy. A corps of trained engineers and 
 firemen will be attached to each ship, and no doubt 
 these would generally remain with her when the 
 ship should be called into the public service. 
 
 The committee are of opinion that it is highly de- 
 sirable to have ready for the public service some 
 very large steamships of the description proposed 
 by the memorialist. They would have great advan- 
 tages over small ships, in their capacity to carry 
 fuel sufficient for long voyages, and to transport 
 large bodies of trrops, and place them rapidly, in a 
 
fresh nrid vij^orous condition, at any point where 
 tliey nii<^ht be required. 
 
 But it is chietly for the great and beneficent ob- 
 jects of removing the free persons of color from this 
 country to the coast of Africa, and of suppressing 
 the slave trade, that the connnittee arc dis|)os('d to 
 recommend the adoption of the proposed measure. 
 The latter of these has been the subject of treaties 
 by our Government with other nations, with whom 
 we have engaged to maintain a hirge naval force on 
 the coast of Africa to assist in suppressing the in- 
 human tralKc; while the emigration of the free 
 blacks has h ng been an object of great interest in 
 all parts of the country, and especially in the slave- 
 holding States, where they are looked upon by the 
 whites with aversion and distrust. The policy of 
 all or most of these States has been to discourage 
 manumission, except on condition of the removal of 
 the liberated slave. In no part of the Union do the 
 free blacks enjoy an equality of political and social 
 privileges ; and in all the States their presence is 
 neither agreeable to the whites, nor is their condi- 
 tipn advantageous to themselves. In some of the 
 slave States stringent prchibitions have been adopt- 
 ed, and unpleasant controversies with free States 
 have been thereby engendered. The emigration of 
 this entire population beyond the limits of our coun- 
 try is the only effectual mode of curing these evils, 
 and of removing one cause of dangerous irritation 
 between the different sections of the Union. 
 
i 'i 
 
 
 m 
 
 The committee beliave it is expedient to aid pri- 
 vate enterprize in the colonization of the western 
 coast of Africa, because it is the most effectual, if 
 not the only mode, of extirpating the slave trade. 
 The success of th s measure will doubtless render 
 the African squadron wholly unnecessary, thus re- 
 imbursing a large portion of the expense ai tending 
 it, and at the same time better accom[)lishing the 
 object for wliich that squadron is maintain(?d. It 
 may be expedient for some one of the great naval 
 powers to keep a small force on the coast of Africa 
 to protect Liberia, for a limited time, against the 
 slave traders. Jiut the attempt to suppress this un- 
 lawful traliic by blockading the coast has so signally 
 failed that it will probably soon be abandoned by 
 the great European powers. While the influence 
 of the Republic of Liberia has been shown in the 
 complete suppression of the trade along a coast of 
 several hundred miles in length, the combined squad- 
 rons of Europe and America have not been so suc- 
 cessful on other portions of that unhappy shore. In 
 1847 no less than 84,356 slaves were exported from 
 Africa to Cuba and Brazil. In the opinion of the 
 committee, it is 'lighly important to prevent the 
 further Africanizing of the American continents. 
 An opposite movement, so far as the free blacks arc 
 concerned, is far more in accordance with the spirit 
 of the age, and with the best interests of a]< Ameri- 
 can Governments. The piiople of the United States 
 
11 
 
 ri- 
 rn 
 if 
 ie. 
 er 
 •e- 
 
 have shown their strong aversion to the slave trade 
 by the provision in their Constitution against it, and 
 by their unremitting and vigorous efforts to suppress 
 it. The success which has aheady crowned the 
 infancy of Liberia, indicates the true mode of mak- 
 ing those exertions effectual, while it opens up the 
 way for restoring the free blacks to the native land 
 of their fathers. 
 
 The committee beg leave here to present some 
 interesting facts which satisfy them that the terri- 
 tory of Liberia is eminently adapted to colored 
 emigrants from tlie United States ; that the estab- 
 lishment of this line of steamships by the Govern- 
 ment will be a powerful stimulus to the cause of 
 colonization, and will be the means of securing the 
 emigration of great numbers of free blacks ; that the 
 slave trade will be substituted by a peaceful, le5?iti- 
 mate, and valuable commerce, opening new souroes 
 of enterprize and wealth to our people ; and that 
 the civilization and christianization of the whole 
 continent of Africa may be expected eventually to 
 follow. The facts presented are collected chiefly 
 from the publications of the Colonization Society. 
 
 That portion of the western coast of Africa, called 
 Liberia, embraces a tract of country included be- 
 tween the parallels of 4° 21' and 7° north latitude, 
 extending about 400 miles along the coast. I'he 
 first settlement was made by free negroes from the 
 United States, under the auspices of the American 
 
m 
 
 Colonization Society, in the year 1820. The objects 
 of that society were — 
 
 "1st. To rescue the free colored people of the 
 United States from their political and social disad- 
 vantages." 
 
 "*2d. To place them in a country where they may 
 enjoy the benefits of free government, with all the 
 blessings which it brings in its train. 
 
 "3d. To spread civilization, Gound morals, and 
 true religion throughout the continent of Africa. 
 
 "4th. To arrest and destroy the slave trade. 
 
 "5th. To afford slave owners, who wish, or are 
 willing, to liberate their slaves, an asylum for their 
 reception." 
 
 The funds of this society have seldom exceeded 
 ^50,000 per year, but they have purchased territory, 
 enabled nearly 7,000 free people of color to emigrate 
 to Liberia, and have made provision, for such of them 
 as required it, for 6 months after their arrival. In 
 July, 1 847, an independent Government was formed, 
 which has been recognised by France, England, 
 and Prussia. Upwards of 80,000 of the natives have 
 become civilized, and enrolled themselves as citi- 
 zens of the Republic. The Liberians have a flour- 
 ishing commerce. They have not only succeeded 
 in suppressing the slave trade along their own coast, 
 but have also made treaties with several tribes, 
 numbering over 200,000 souls, for the discontinu- 
 ance of the traffic. They have purchased their 
 
It 
 
 ;ts 
 
 i 
 
 territory from time to time of the natives, and are 
 gradually extending themselves iip to the British 
 settlement of Sierra Leone and down to the Gold 
 Coast. 
 
 The interior settlements of the purchased tracts 
 usually extend from about 10 to 30 miles from the 
 coast, and can easily be enlarged by purchase in 
 that direction at a moderate amount. In no instance 
 have the nr;tives from whom the land was purchased 
 been required to remove their residences. The 
 land in the immediate vicinitv of the ocean in Libe- 
 ria IS generally low, and in some places marshy ; 
 but there are some elevated spots. The land gen- 
 erally becomes more elevated towards the interior^ 
 and in some places, within 50 miles of the coast, it 
 is quite mountainous. It is desirable for the colony 
 to become possessed of this back country as it is 
 much healthier than the coast, and when the emi- 
 gration from the United States becomes extensive, 
 the mountain region will soon be occupied. The 
 natives are a fine, healthy, athletic race ; and even 
 the emigrants to the lands on the coast have enjoyed 
 better health than the emigrants to some of our 
 western States in the first few years of settlement. 
 
 Liberia is on the "grain coast," and is protected 
 from the scorching winds of the north and east by 
 ranges of mountains. The soil is fertile, and pro- 
 duces an abundance of Indian corn, yams, plantains^ 
 coffee, arrow-root, indigo, dyewoods, &,c. 
 
14 
 
 Every emigrant is welcomed to the colony, and 
 receives a grant of 5 acres of land, besides which 
 he can purchase as much more as he pleases al 1 
 dollar per acre. 
 
 The climate is not suited to the whites. The 
 president and all the officials are colored men. 
 There are flourishing towns, churches, schools, and 
 printing presses. According to the statement of 
 the Rev. R. R. Gurley, who has recently visited the 
 colony, the people are highly moral, well conducted, 
 and prosperous, and the value of the exports of the 
 Republic is at present 509,000 dollars per annum, 
 and is increasing at the rate of 50 per cent, an- 
 nually. 
 
 Not only will the slave trade be abolished by the 
 establishment of colonies of free colored people on 
 the coast of Africa, but, as already intimated, these 
 colonies will be the means, at no distant period, of 
 disseminating civilization and (Christianity through- 
 out the whole of that continent. Already, a great 
 many of the natives have placed themselves under 
 the protection of the Liberians, whose knowledge of 
 agriculture and the arts inspires confidence and 
 respect. 
 
 As a missionary enterprise, therefore, the coloni- 
 zation of Africa by the descendants of Africans on 
 this continent, deserves, and no doubt will receive, 
 the countenance and support of the whole Christian 
 world. 
 
15 
 
 Two points are now regarded, both in Europe 
 and in this country, as settled truths, viz: 1st. That 
 the planting and building up of Christian colonies 
 on the coast of Africa, is the only practical remedy 
 for the slave trade. 2d. That colored men only 
 can with safety settle upon the African coast. 
 
 That the free negroes of the U. S. will be in- 
 duced to go in large numbers to Liberia, if a quick 
 and pleasant passage by steam vessels be provided, 
 and suitable preparation be made for them on their 
 arrival, by the Colonization Society, cannot admit 
 of any doubt. 
 
 The funds of that society, augmented probably 
 twenty fold, will then be available, almost exclu- 
 sively, for the comfortable establishment of the emi- 
 grants in their new homes — the expense of trans- 
 portation chargeable to the society being merely 
 nominal. 
 
 It is estimated that there are no less than 500,000 
 free colored people in the several States, and that 
 the annual increase therein of the black race is 
 70,000 per annum. With respect to slaves, v/!io 
 may hereafter be manumitted, no doubt such manu- 
 mission will, almost in «very instance, be upon the 
 condition that the parties shall avail themselves of 
 the opportunity of emigrating to Liberia. 
 
 The committee do not propose that the emigrants 
 should be landed in Liberia and then left to their 
 own resources. Liberia is at present incapable of 
 
receiving and providing shelter, subsistence, and 
 employment for any great number of emigrants who 
 may h\nd there in a state of destitution. It has been 
 the practice, heretofore, for the Colonization Socie- 
 ty to provide for the colonists, whom they have sent 
 out, for 6 months after their arrival, and the cost of 
 such provision has averaged ^30 per head, in addi- 
 tion to the cost of transportation. 
 
 A large amount of money will be required to set- 
 tle the colonists in the first instance comfortably in 
 their new homes. But there is no doubt, that if the 
 Government establish the proposed line of steam 
 ships, the people of the different Statej^ ^ and the 
 State Legislatures, will at once turn their attention 
 to the subject of colonization, and that large appro- 
 priations will be voted, and liberal collections made, 
 in aid of that object. The State of Maryland has 
 already appropriated and laid out ^200,000 in this 
 work, and the Legislature of Virginia has lately ap- 
 propriated $40,000 per year for the same purpose. 
 But these sums are insignificant in comparison to 
 what may be expected, if the Government shall give 
 its high sanction to the colonization of Africa, and 
 provide the means of transportation by a line of steam 
 ships. In that event, the whole mass of the people, 
 north and south, who for the most part do not ap- 
 preciate the rapid progress, and the high capabili- 
 ties of Liberia, will quickly discover the vast impor- 
 tance of colonization, and will urge their represen- 
 
i 
 
 tatives to adopt measures adequate to the exigency 
 of the case and the magnitude of the enterprise. 
 
 There is good reas .n to anticipate, that important 
 assistance will be rendered to the emigrants, not 
 only by the missionary societies of Europe, but also 
 by those governments which have taken an interest 
 in the suppression of the slave trade, and which are 
 desirous of opening channels for their commerce, 
 and marts for their manufactures, on the western 
 coast of Africa. 
 
 It is estimated, that by the time when the first 
 two ships are to be finished and ready for sea, there 
 will be a large body of emigrants ready to take 
 passage in them, and tr.at for the next two years 
 each ship will take from 1000 to 1500 passen- 
 gers on each voyage, or from 8,000 to 1*2,000 in each 
 of those years. To furnish each family, intending 
 to devote themselves to agricultural pursuits, with a 
 dwelling-house suitably furnished, and a piece of 
 land of suflicient extent cleared and planted, togeth- 
 er with the necessary agricultural implements and 
 a stock of provisions, will, it is calculated, cost the 
 society a sum equal to $30 or $40 per head for each 
 emigrant, allowing each family to consist of five per- 
 sons. The cost of establishing families intending 
 to follow trading and mechanical pursuits, will be 
 somewhat less than the above estimate for agricul- 
 tural families; but the average cost for the whole of 
 
 the emigrants may be estimated at $50 per head, 
 2 
 
 i 
 
18 
 
 including all the expenses of transportation, making 
 a total of from $400,000 to $600,000 per annum, 
 Jor the first two years. 
 
 As the colony increases in population, and the 
 interior of the country hecomes settled, any number 
 of emigrants that may be sent out will be rer.dily 
 absorbed, as there will be a demand for all kinds of 
 laborers, mechanics, and domestic servants, and it 
 will be unnecessary to make that provision for them 
 which is now indispensable. 
 
 The Colonization Society will, as lieretofore, so 
 regulate the emigration as to send out only suitable 
 persons, and keep up a due proportion between the 
 two sexes. 
 
 By the compact between the Colonization Socie- 
 ty and the Republic, made when the society ceded 
 its territory to the Republic, ample power is reserv- 
 ed by the society for the protection of emigrants 
 who may be sent out by them. Moreover, the au- 
 thorities invite emigration.^ and each emigrant re- 
 ceives a donation of a tract of Land. 
 
 The establishment of prosperous colonies on the 
 western coast of Africa will, doubtless, tend greatly, 
 in the course of time, to the augmentation of the 
 commerce of this country. It appears that British 
 commerce with Africa amounts to no less than 5 
 millions sterling, or about $25,000,000 per annum. 
 The belief is now confidently entertained in Great 
 Britain, that an immense commerce may be opened 
 
19 
 
 up with that continent, by putting an end to the slave 
 trade, and stimulating the natives to the arts of 
 peace. 
 
 The commerce of Africa is certainly capable of 
 great extension, and it is worthy of observation, thai 
 the proposed steamers will open entirely new sources 
 of trade. 
 
 On this subject, the committee beg leave to sub- 
 mit the following particulars, from which the future 
 resources of this vast undeveloped region may be, 
 to some extent, anticipated. 
 
 Palm oil is produced by the nut of the Palm tree, 
 which grows in the greatest abundance throughout 
 Western Africa. The demand for it, both in Eu- 
 rope and America, is daily increasing. The aver- 
 age import into Liverpool of palm oil for some 
 years past has been at least 15,000 tons, valued at 
 ^400,000 sterling. 
 
 Gold is found at various points of the coast. It 
 is obtained by the natives by washing the sand 
 which is brought down by the rivers from the moun- 
 tains. An exploration of the mountains will proba- 
 bly result in the discovery of large quantities of the 
 metal. It is calculated that England has received, 
 altogether, $200,000,000 of gold from Africa. I.i 
 beria is adjacent to the " Gold Coast " 
 
 Ivory is procurable at all points, and constitutes 
 an important staple of commerce. 
 
 Coffee, of a quality superior to the best Java or 
 
20 
 
 Mocha, is raised in Liberia, and can be cultivated 
 with great ease to any extent. The cotTee tree 
 bears fruit from thirty to forty years, and yields an 
 verage often pounds to the shrub yearly. 
 
 Cam wood and other dye woods are found in 
 great quantities in many parts of the country. About 
 thirty miles east of Bassa Cove is the commence- 
 ment of a region of unknown extent, where scarcely 
 any tree is seen except the cam wood. 
 
 Gums of different kinds enter largely into com- 
 mercial transactions. 
 
 Dyes of all shades and hues are abundant, and 
 they ha\e been proved to resist both acids and light. 
 
 Pepper, ginger, arrow root, indigo, tamarinds, or- 
 anges, lemons, limes, and many other articles which 
 are brought from tropical countries to this, may be 
 added to the list. Indeed, there is nothing in the 
 fertile countries of the East or West Indies which 
 may not be produced in equal excellence in West- 
 ern Africa. 
 
 The soil is amazingly fertile. Two crops of corn, 
 sweet potatoes, and several other vegetables, can be 
 raised in a year. It yields a larger crop than the 
 best soil in the United States. One acre of rich 
 land well tilled, says Governor Ashman, will pro- 
 duce three hundred dollars' worth of indigo. Half 
 an acre may be made to grow half a ton of arrow- 
 root. 
 
 " An immense market may be opened for the ex- 
 
21 
 
 change and sale of the innumerable products of the 
 nkill and manufactures of our people. Africa is es- 
 timated to contain one hundred and sixty milhons 
 of inhabitants. Liberia enjoys a favorable geograph- 
 ical position. She is protected by the great Powers 
 of Europe. The Liberians have constitutions adapt- 
 ed to the climate, and a similarity of color with the 
 natives. They will penetrate the interior with safety, 
 and prosecute their trade in the bays and rivers of 
 the coast, without suffering from the diseases which 
 are so fatal to the white man. Liberia is the door 
 of Africa, and is destined to develope the agricultu- 
 ral and commercial resources of that continent, be- 
 sides being the means of regenerating her benight- 
 ed millions." 
 
 The foregoing remarks have related entirely to 
 the advantages of the proposed measure. It is pos- 
 sible some scruples may be entertained in regard 
 to its constitutionality. 'J'his, the committee think, 
 cannot be reasonably doubted. The Government has 
 already adopted this mode of providing a powerful 
 steam navy, at the same time giving incidental but 
 important encouragement to great commercial inter- 
 ests. In this instance, the effectual suppression of 
 the slave trade and the withdrawal of the African 
 squadron by the substitution of a number of mighty 
 steamers regularly plying to that coast, afford a mo- 
 tive and a justification which do not exist in regard 
 to any one of the lines already established. 
 
 It was the opinion of Mr. Jefferson that the 
 
22 
 
 United States had power to establish colonies tor 
 the free blacks on the coast of Africa, and he de- 
 sired its exercise. Chief Justice Marshall and Mr 
 Madison concurred in this opinion. And it is to be 
 observed that the first purchase in the colony of Li- 
 beria was made by the Government of the United 
 States. The opinions of the leading jurists of our 
 day do not appear to differ from those of the great 
 founders of the Constitution, who believed not only 
 that indirect aid to the cause of colonization may be 
 given in accordance with that instrument, but that 
 the Government has power to establish the colonies 
 themselves. 'J'he proposition of the committee does 
 not, by any means, go to this extent. It goes no 
 further than recently adopted and still existing ope- 
 rations of the Government, while it is believed to 
 rest upon far higher and better grounds of support. 
 Nor does it involve any merely sectional consid- 
 erations. The committee have, therefore, refrained 
 from expressing any views which might be consid- 
 ered favorable to the peculiar interests either of the 
 North or of the South. The question of slavery, 
 now the cause of so deep an excitement, is not, to 
 any extent, either directly or indirectly involved. 
 The Government of the United States, it is admit- 
 ted on all hands, has no power to interfere with that 
 subject within the several States. Neither does the 
 proposition at all interfere with the question of eman- 
 cipation. This is wholly beyond the jurisdiction of 
 he Federal Government, and belongs exclusively 
 
23 
 
 to tho people of the several Stutos, and the individ- 
 ual slaveholders themselves. I'lit the removal of 
 the free hiacks to the coast of Africa i » a mea- 
 sure in which all sections, and all interests, arc be- 
 lieved to bo equally concerned. 
 
 From the foregoing considerations, the commit- 
 tee believe ir to be wise and politic to accept tho 
 proposition of the memorialists, with some modifi- 
 cations which meet with their approval. 
 
 Instead of four ships, it is proposed to make the 
 line consist of three, which shall make monthly 
 trips to Liberia, touching on their return at certain 
 points in Spain, Portugal, France, and England, 
 thus: one ship will leave New York every three 
 months, touching at Savannah for freight and mails; 
 one will leave Baltimore every three months, touch- 
 ing at Norfolk and Charleston for passengers, 
 freight, and mails; and one will leave New Orleans 
 every three months, with liberty to touch at any of 
 the West India islands. They will proceed directly 
 to Liberia, with liberty to touch at any of the 
 islands or ports of the coast of Africa; thence to 
 Gibraltar, carrying the Mediterranean mails; thence 
 to Cadiz, or some other port of Spain, to be desig- 
 nated by the Government ; thence to Lisbon ; 
 thence to Brest, or some other port of France, to 
 be designated as above ; and thence to London — 
 bringing mails from all those points to the United 
 States. 
 
24 
 
 hi 
 
 The measure proposed by the committee con- 
 tains the following stipulations and provisions, to 
 wit: 
 
 Each ship to be of not less than 4,000 tons burden, 
 and the cost of each not to exceed $900,000. The 
 Government to advance two thi'dsofthecost of con- 
 struction, from time to time, as the building pro- 
 gresses — the advance to be made in five per cent, 
 stocks payable at the end of 30 years — such ad- 
 vances to be repaid by the contractors in equal an- 
 nual instalments, b( ginning and ending with the 
 service. The said ships to be built in accordance 
 with plans to be submitted to and approved by the 
 Secretary of the Navy, and under the superintend- 
 ence of an oHicer to be appointed by the Secretary 
 of the Navy, and to be so constructed as to be con- 
 vertible, at the least possible expense, into war 
 steamers of the first class. The ships to be kept 
 up by alterations, repairs, or additions, to be ap- 
 proved by the Secretay of the Navy, so as tc be at 
 all times fully equal to the exigencies of the service, 
 and the faithful performance of the contract. 
 
 Each ship to be commanded by an officer of the 
 Navy, who, with four passed midshipmen to serve as 
 watch officers, shall be accommodated in a i.ianne 
 suitable to their rank, without charge to the Gov- 
 ernment. The Secretary of the Navy at all times 
 to have the right to place on board of each ship two 
 guns of heavy calibre, and the men necessary to 
 
25 
 
 serve them, to be nccommodated and provided for 
 by the contractors. 
 
 The Secretary of the Navy to exercise at all 
 times such control over said ships as may not be 
 inconsistent with these terms, and to have the right 
 to take them, or either of them, in case of war, for 
 the exclusive use and service of thr United States, 
 on paying the value thereof; such value, not ex- 
 ceeding the cost, to be ascertained by appraisers 
 mutually chosen by the Secretary and the contrac- 
 tors. The Secretary also to have power to direct, 
 at the expense of the Government, such changes in 
 the machinery and the internal arrangements of the 
 said ships, or any of them, as he, at any time, may 
 deem advisable. 
 
 'I'he contractors are further required to stipulate 
 to carry, on each and every voyage they may make, 
 so many emigrants, being free persons of color, and 
 not exceeding 2,500 for each voyage, as the Ameri- 
 can Colonization Society may send ; the said so- 
 ciety paying in advance ^10 for each emigrant over 
 twelve years of age, and $5 for each one under that 
 age; these sums to include the transportation of 
 baggage, and the daily supply of sailors' rations. 
 
 The contractors also to convey, free from cost, 
 such necessary agents as the Government or the 
 Colonization Society may require, upon each one 
 of said ships. 
 
 Two of said ships to be finished and ready for 
 
2C 
 
 Him williiii two and a half years, and the other within 
 thrcM', ^(jarH, after the execution of the contract. 
 
 The (aovernment to pay forty thousand dollars 
 for each and every trip; and to exact ample securi- 
 ty for the faithful p^:i formance of the contract, be- 
 widen taking a lien on the ships for the repayment 
 ofth*^ sums advanced. The contract to continue 
 15 years from the completion of all the ships. 
 
 To assist in formin<j; a correct judgment as to the 
 fairness of this compensation, the committee pre- 
 sent an estinmto of the probable cost of running the 
 said ships. 
 
 The cost of the ships at ^900,000 will be $2,700,- 
 000. Upon this amount, interest should be calcu- 
 lattul at () per cent.; for, although the contractors 
 will j>ay the (Jovernment but live per cent, on the 
 portion advanced, the balance supplied by the con- 
 tractors, must bo estinuited at the rates in New 
 York ami New Orleans, which are above six per 
 cent. Six per cent, will be a fair average for the 
 whole. 
 
 The depreciation of this kind of property is esti- 
 mated variously, sometimes as high as ten percent, 
 per annum on the total cost; but as these ships 
 will be subsumtially built tor war purposes, it may be 
 estimated at a lower rate. 
 
 Besides this, an allowance must be made tor re- 
 pairs. New boilers will be required every six years, 
 and the substitution of these tor the old ones not 
 
n 
 
 only causes loss of time, but also injury to the ships^ 
 involving much expense. 
 
 The rate of insurance for this ppecies of proper- 
 ty is high. The committee are informed, that the 
 steamships Ohio and Georgia pay 8} per cent. 
 
 Add the expense of running the ships, viz., fuel, 
 wages of the crew, provisions, stores, dock charges, 
 harbor dues, agents, pilotage, light-house dues, &c., 
 which cannot be estimated at less than ^50,000 per 
 voyage, considering that the distance to Liberii;, 
 and theiice home, via Madeira, Gibraltar, Cadiz, 
 Lisbon, Brest, and London, is about 12,000 miles; 
 and that each voyage, with the necessary delays in 
 the various ports, will occupy about three months. 
 
 Statement of expenses. 
 
 Interest on $2,700,000, at 6 per cent. - 
 Depreciation and repairs, 10 per cent. - 
 Insurance 7 per cent. - 
 Cost of running the ships, $50,000 per 
 voyage, 12 voyages per annum, 
 
 $162,000 
 270,000 
 189,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 Total annual expense — $1,221,000 
 
 Profits. 
 
 Estimating 1500 passengers for 
 each voyage, and 12 voyages 
 per annum, we have 18,000 
 passengers. These, $10 for 
 adults and $5 for children, 
 
28 
 
 may average a profit of ^3 
 e.ach, making - - j§54,000 
 
 Government pay - - 480,000 
 
 534,000 
 
 Balance of expense over Government pay 
 
 and profit of emigrants - - jjS687,000 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the contractors will 
 have, of their probable expenses, more than two- 
 thirds of a million, or ^57,250 each voyage, to be 
 made by commerce and passengers, independent of 
 the Government pay and the profit from the Colo- 
 nization Society. It is quite evident that any further 
 profit, beyond the ordinary rate of interest at 6 per 
 cent., will be contingent upon the success of the 
 enterprise in stimulating commerce with the United 
 States at the points regularly touched by these 
 steamers. The contractors have confidence in 
 this, and the committee do not doubt that their con- 
 fidence will be rewarded to a reasonable extent. 
 
 It will be observed, that as the Colonizcition So- 
 ciety now pay for the transportation of emigrants 
 to Liberia, in sailing vessels, no less than $30 per 
 head, the proposed arrangement will make the actu- 
 al cost eventually less than this, even adding the 
 amount to be paid by the United States for this ser- 
 vice, to the amount to be paid by the said society, 
 without estimating the receipt from mails, which 
 will probably be large. 
 
29 
 
 At the commencement of operations, when it is 
 estimated that the first two ships will carry out 1000 
 or 1500 emigrants for each voyage, the cost will be 
 little more than it is at present, while the passage 
 will be quicker, pleasanter, and healthier, offering 
 great inducements to emigrants, and placv ^^^ them 
 upon the shores of Liberia in a sound and efficient 
 condition. 
 
 As the capacity of the colony to receive a large 
 number of emigrants increases, the ratio of expense 
 will be diminished; and it cannot be doubted, that 
 eventually, as the number of emigrants will increase, 
 the cost of transportation will relatively diminish. 
 
 The committee do not recommend the accep- 
 tance of the proposition of the memorialists, that 
 they shall be permitted to import the produce of 
 Liberia into this country free of duty; on the con- 
 trary, it is believed to be better, for obvious reasons, 
 to enter into no such stipulations, but to confine the 
 remuneration, whatever it may be, to a direct pay- 
 ment of money. 
 
 In the above estimates, the committee have en- 
 deavored, as far as possible, to arrive at just con- 
 clusions; while at the same time, in view of the 
 great public objects to be attained by the establish- 
 ment of the proposed line of steamships, they have 
 not deemed it inconsistent with the just liberality of 
 the Government, that those who have had the sa- 
 gacity to conceive, and who have the ability faith- 
 
30 
 
 fully to carry out this noble project, should have at 
 least a contingent opportunity of deriving a hand 
 some profit from their enterprise. Considering the 
 hazards involved in it, the committee believe their 
 estimates to be fair and just to both parties. 
 
 The committee report a bill accordingly, to which 
 they ask the favorable consideration of the House. 
 
 Reported from the Committee by 
 
 FRED. P. STANTON, 
 
 Chairman. 
 Washington, Aug. 1, 1850. 
 
 m, 
 
at 
 id 
 \ie 
 5ir 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 ). 
 
 ADDED BY THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 From the Executive Committee of the American Colonizniion So- 
 
 cietyy to the friends of Colonization throughout the U. States. 
 
 The foregoing Report, emanating from the Committee on Naval 
 Affairs of the House of Representatives, U. S., we commend to 
 your earnest attention. 
 
 The subjects embraced therein are worthy the most zealous co- 
 operation of all who value the institutions of our country, and 
 who are willing to establish on the coast of Africa the only means 
 which, under the blessing of God, may bring light out of gloom, 
 order out of disorder, mind out of instinct, civilization out of bar- 
 barism, and heaven-born truth out of Pagan superstition and 
 cruelty. 
 
 This able and comprehensive Report has been read by us with 
 much pleasure, and we cani.ot doubt will be highly instrumental 
 in calling out the assistance of legislators, both National and State. 
 
 The cautious and wise manner in which our Society is to de- 
 rive the most unexpected and ample assistance, fills us with 
 admiration, and inspires us with hopes in its entire success. 
 
 Without arrogating to ourselves the pretension of adding to 
 said Report, we only avail ourselves of the occasion of its circu- 
 lation, to give a few extracts fr<im the opinions and sentiments of 
 some of our wisest statesmen and purest patriots. 
 
 M. ST. CLAIR CLARKE, 
 from Ex. Com. Cul. Society. 
 
 Washington City, August, 1S50. 
 
32 
 
 Letter from Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, one of the Vice Presidents 
 of the American Colonization Society. 
 
 Treasurv Department, 
 Comptroller's Office^ July 20/A, 1850. 
 
 Matthew St. Clair Clarke, Esq., 
 
 Member of the Ex. Com. Col. Society, Washington. 
 
 Mr DEAR sir: Judge Joseph Bryan and his associates have 
 petitioned Congre»is for some aid and assistance to establish and 
 maintain a line of steamers to the western coast of Africa, and 
 you express " a desire to have a few remarks from me on the 
 probable benefit resulting therefrom to our great and good Society, 
 for which we have so long labored." 
 
 You very properly restricted nie to a few remarks, and those 
 to the subject of Colonization. 
 
 The Committee on Naval AfRurs, to whom the memorial was 
 referred in the House of Representatives, will, without doubt, 
 establish in their report the importance of the measure, as con- 
 nected with the increase of our steam navy, so essential to our 
 defence in time of war, and to our commerce; with Africa. This 
 commerce will be great, beyond the most extravagant calculation 
 that has been made. 
 
 My attention was first drawn to the subject of African coloni- 
 zation at the annual meeting of the Society in 1823, when listen- 
 ing to the remarks of the Hon. Robert Goodloe Harper, and 
 others. From that time to the present, my belief has been, and 
 now is, that an " all-wise Providence" will accomplish, through 
 the institution of slavery in this country, the civilization and 
 Christianization of Africa, by the agency of this Society and its 
 kindred associations. The Republic of Liberia invites those who 
 wish to give freedom to the human beings they hold in bondage 
 to do so, without any excitement, commotion, or opposition. An 
 acceptance of the invitation violates no right, alarms no fear, 
 wounds no feeling, awakens no jealousy. One party is relieved 
 from a heavy respon^ibility, and the other enjoys, in the land of 
 
 .< 
 
33 
 
 their fathers, civil and religious freedom. Every intelligent emi- 
 grant from this country is a missionary to, and an instructor of, 
 his brethren. Africa will be Christianized wh» n parts of Asia 
 will be in heathen darkness. 
 
 The plan ranks with the most importp^'t of those of the inter- 
 esting age in which we live; and, if patro. izod by Congress, will 
 richly bless two continents. There has been no colony so pros- 
 perous, or that has achieved so much within the same space of 
 time, as the colony of Liberia; and it is a remarkable fact, that 
 during a period of thirty years, since the first expedition was fit- 
 ted out to Africa, not a life has been lost by shipwreck. 
 
 If this Congress shall co-operate in this great national interest, 
 it will stand immortalized on the page of history. 
 
 Most sincerely yours, 
 
 ELISHA WHITTLESEY. 
 
 Letter from the Hon. R. J. Walker, orie of the Vice Presidents of 
 the Jlmerican Colonization Society. 
 
 Washington Citv, July 23, 1850. 
 
 Dpar Sir: I have received your letter of last week, on behalf 
 of the Executive Committee of the American Colonization So- 
 ciety, addressed to me as a Vice President of that Society, 
 requesting my views as to Mr. Bryan's memorial for the trans- 
 portation, by steam vessels, of our free bhuks to Liberia. 
 
 I have had no time to examine the details of the plan, but as- 
 regards the main question, I most fully concur in the policy of a 
 removal of our free blacks to Liberia, through the instrumen- 
 tality of steamships, and with the aid of the Government of the 
 United States. The plan presented seems to me free from all 
 constitutional objections. It seems, also, to be perfectly practi- 
 cable, and its successful execution would confer incalculable 
 blessings upon our country. Indeed, I have ever regarded colo- 
 nization and abolition as antagonist niea^ures, and that the suc- 
 3 
 
34 
 
 cess of the first would overthrow the latter, and thus rescue our 
 beloved country from the danger of disunion. 
 
 Very truly your friend, 
 
 R. J. WALKER. 
 M. St. Clair Clarke, 
 
 Ch. Ex. Com. ofJJm. Col. Sac. 
 
 Extract of a letter from Gov. Wright, of Indiana. 
 
 Indianapolis, Indiana, July 3t/, 18.50. 
 
 To the Executive Committee of the Col, Society — 
 
 Gentlemen: Your circular, containing a copy of Mr. Bryan's 
 memorial, came to hand a few days ago, and 1 have no hesitation 
 in saying that Mr. B's plan, or any other good plan, of forming 
 a line, or lines, of transport to draw off our free people of color, 
 will meet with general favor in our State. 
 
 And some movement of the kind is much needed; for the youth 
 of the free States are growing up ignorant of the merits of colo- 
 nization, and very sceptical as to its final success. This has been 
 produced by the labors of men in the North who have never in- 
 vestigated the subject, and who have poured contempt on all 
 your attempts to colonize — they have been too successful in indoc- 
 trinating the youth of the North. A want of faith in the enter- 
 prise, or confidence in its final success, will ^oon paralyze all your 
 efforts in the North; for in a few years the unbelief of our young 
 men will become confirmed, and when they grasp the re'ns of 
 government, which they will do in the course of time, African 
 colonization will be discarded by the North. 
 
 The best remedy that can be devised for the above ignorance 
 and scepticism, among Northern men, will be a bold and decided 
 movement on the part of the General Government, which will 
 look directly toward the separation of the colored race from the 
 white race, and the erection of the colored people into an inde- 
 pendent commonwealth. 
 
35 
 
 
 This movement will confound the opponents of colonization in 
 the North; it will send a thrill of confidence through the hearts 
 of all our friends; it will compel the people to think and talk on 
 the subject of a national colonization enterprise, and it will com- 
 pel each newspaper in the lanu to Mpeak out on the t-ubject. Dis- 
 cussion i« all we want, for then we can make thousands uf friends; 
 in short, we can indoctrinate the nation with our opinions, '< and 
 opinion rules the world." 
 
 As to Mr. B's plan, we are willing that he and his friends shall 
 have the monopoly of the African trade for a lime; but that mo- 
 nopoly should be so guarded as to make it a source of wealth to 
 Liberia, and not a drain on the wealth of that Republic, or be 
 calculated to retard her progress. The East India Comp!»ny has 
 been a stupendous leech on British India, from which it has 
 drawn untold millions, and under whose management India must 
 become impoverished, and made dependent on England. 
 
 The interest of colonization requires that we foster Liberia, and 
 not impoverish her. If Mr. B. is to be remunerated for his trou- 
 ble, and doubtless he should be paid, and well paid, let the 
 American people pay him, and not Africa. So plan the scheme 
 that it will be the interest of the free man of color to go to Africa, 
 and this can be best accomplished by making Liberia a wealthy 
 commercial nation. 
 
 It would be well to blend the Colonization Society and Mr. B's 
 company into one association, if possible, and procure liberal pro- 
 visions from the General Government, granting large powers for 
 forming settlements and trading statio'is on the coast of Africa; 
 but having no power to hold real estate in Africa, except a few 
 acres at proper points on the coast for factories, around which 
 colonies might be established, which, growing into states, would 
 in due time take their place among the states of the Liberian con- 
 federacy. 
 
 I know of no enterprise of this age that we, as Americans, 
 
86 
 
 ■hould hfl no willing to tnkc hold of an one man, with nerve and 
 tnergy, as that of the HoUUMiiont of Lib(>iia. 
 
 Ah uiw. cili/cn of this nation, I woidd be willing to make all 
 my contrihutionH, and duvott* the last dollar of my meanH, to the 
 colonization of the black man ol this country to Liberia. 
 
 1 have the honor to be. 
 
 Yours, most reHpectfully, 
 
 JOS. A. WRIGHT. 
 Rev. William McLain, 
 
 Sec. Jim. Col. <S'tic., Washington City. 
 
 Opinions of Jefferson^ Mndisony Monroe^ and Chief Justice Mar- 
 shall ^ and others, on the colonization of^Jrica. 
 
 The following extracts from an Address to the Legi^'lator8 and 
 People of Virginia, publi.hed in the thirty-third Annual Report 
 of the American Colonization Society, Jan. 15, 1850, shows the 
 progress of the question in Virginia: 
 
 The Governor of the Commonwealth having in his late mes- 
 sage recommended the American Colonization Society to the par- 
 ticular attention of the Legislature, and the subject having been 
 referred to a select committee, whose report is daily anticipated, 
 it seems a fitting time to remind the Legislators and citizens of 
 Virginia of some facts touching the origin and history of an insti- 
 tution which is attracting the regards and challenging the admi- 
 ration of the civilized world. It must endear thLs institution to 
 Virginians, and strengthen their confidence in its wisdom, to be 
 reminded that it comes commended to the present generation by 
 the authority of our most patriotic and sagacious statesmen, and 
 the deliberate successive acts of our Legislature. 
 
 It claims for its authors Thos. Jetlerson, author of the Decla- 
 ration of independence, Edmund Pendleton and George Wythe, 
 high in the first rank of their country's orators and jurists — the 
 Manstield and the Hale of Virginia — George Mason, perhaps the 
 
37 
 
 winest statesman to whom Virginia hofl given birth, and Thomaa 
 Ludwell Lee, who was deemed by the Legislature of 177G their 
 fit associate. Thetie gentlemen were appoiiitiMJ, by the first Legis- 
 lature after tl'e Declaration of Independence, to revise the lawi 
 of this State. This committee proposed a comprehensive plan of 
 colonization. The emancipation feature in this plan was proba- 
 bly the reason of its failure. The seed of the Colonization So- 
 ciety had nevertheless be^n sown, which springing up after the 
 lapse of a few years, and pruned of its excrescences, began to 
 grow and bear fruit. Its first fruit was the plan of Dr. Thornton, 
 (a Virginian,) in 1787, to colonize the free colored people upon 
 the coad of Jlfrica. This being the suggestion of a private indi- 
 vidual had no visible results. A few years afterward the Colony 
 of Sierra Loone, consisting of slaves who had taken refuge in the 
 British army during the RevolutiotiJry war, was established. 
 
 On the 31st December, 1800, the House of Delegates of Vir- 
 ginia passed almost unanimously the following resolution: 
 
 ^^Resolvedf That the Governor be requested to correspond 
 with the President of the United States on the subject of pur- 
 chasing lands without the limits of tliis State, whither persons 
 obnoxious to the laws, or dangerous to the peace ol Society, may 
 be removed." 
 
 In compliance with this resolution, Mr. Monroe addressed 
 a letter to Mr. Jeffeiaon, dated Richmond, 15th June, 1801, in 
 whirh he says: " We perceive an existing evil which commenced 
 under our colonial system, with which we are not properly 
 chargeable, and we acknowledge the extreme ditficulty of reme- 
 dying it. At this point the mind rests with suspense, and surveys 
 with anxiety obstacles which become more serious as we approach 
 them. To lead to a sound decision, and make the result a happy 
 one, it is necessary that the field of practicable expedients be 
 opened on the widest possible scale; under this view of the sub- 
 ject, I shall beg leave to be advised whether a tract of land in 
 the western territory of the United States can be procured for 
 
38 
 
 this purpose, in what quarter, and on what terms? You perceive 
 that I invite your attention to a subject of great importance, one 
 "Sshich in a peculiar degree involves the future peace and tran- 
 quility and happiness of the good people of this commonwealth." 
 
 On the 8th of November, 1801, Mr. Jefferson replied in a 
 long letter, in the course of which he goes on to discuss the prac- 
 ticability and expediency of procuring territory (>n our western 
 or southern frontier, and concludes with ashing, would we be wil- 
 ling to have such a colony in contact with us? It is impossible, 
 he adds, not to look forward to distant times, when our rapid mul- 
 tiplication will expand beyond [hoti limits, and cover the whole 
 northern if not the whole southern continent with a people speak- 
 ing the same language and governed with the same laws. Nor 
 can we contemplate with satisfaction either blot or mixture on 
 that surface. 
 
 He the. gives the preference to the West Indies, and among 
 these islands to St. Domingo, in consideration of their being 
 already inhabited by a people of their own race and color, and 
 having a climate congenial with their constitution, and being 
 insulated from other descriptions of men. Africa, he concludes, 
 would offer a last and undoubted resort, if all others more desira- 
 ble should fail us. 
 
 On the 16th June, 1802, the House of Delegates of Virginia 
 passed the following resolutions, which were agreed to by the 
 Senate on the 23d: 
 
 ^^Rcsolved, That the Governor be requested to correspond 
 with the President of the United States for the purpose of ob- 
 taining a place without the limits of the same, to which free 
 negroes or mulattocs, and such negroes or mulattoes as may be 
 emancipated, may be sent or choose to remove as a place of asy- 
 lum, and ihat it is not the wish of the Legislature to ob'ain the 
 sovereignty of such pl5>ce.'* 
 
 In December, 1804, Mr. Jefferson addressed a letter to Gov- 
 
39 
 
 ernor Page of Virginia, in which he says, the island of St. Do- 
 mingo, our nearest and most convenient resource, is too unset- 
 tled to be looked \ foi any permanent arrangements. He then 
 suggests whether the inhabitants of our late purchase beyond 
 the Mississippi, and the National Legislature, would consent that 
 a portion of that country should be set apart for the persons 
 contemplated. And not yet seeming to despair of Africa, he 
 adds, my last information as to Sierra Leone is that the company 
 was proposing to deliver up their colony to the Government. 
 Should this take place it might furnish an opportunity for -wi 
 incorporation of ours into H. This led to the following resolution 
 of the House of Delegates on the 3d of December, 1804: 
 
 ^^Resolvedy That th senators of this State in the Congress 
 of the United States be instructed, and the Representatives be 
 requested, to ex3rt their beet eftbrts for the purpose of obtaining 
 from the General Government a competent portion of territory 
 in the country of Louii^'ana, to be appropriated to the residence 
 c^ such people of color as have been or may be emancipated in 
 Virginia, or may hereafter become dangerous to the pul/lic safety. 
 Provided^ That no contract or arrangement respecting such terri- 
 tory shall be obligatory on this Commonwealth, until ratified by 
 the Legislature." 
 
 This resolution was sent bv Governor Page to the Represen- 
 tatives of Virginia. 
 
 Our difficulties with France and England now supervened, 
 and arrested at this point these interesting proceedings. But 
 there was at least one eminent politician whose mind was not 
 diverted from the contemplation of this subject by the approach- 
 ing v...r with England. In January, 1811, Mr. Jefferson said, '<I 
 have lon^ ago made up my mind upon this subject, and have no 
 hesitation in saying I have ever thought it the most desirable 
 measure for gradually drawing off thia part of our population. 
 Going from a country possessing all the useful arts, they might 
 be the means of transporting them among the inhabitants of 
 
40 
 
 Africa, and would thus carry back to the country of their origin 
 the seed of civilization, which might render their sojot.rning here 
 a blessing in the end to that country. Nothing is more to be 
 
 WISHED THAN THAT THK UniTED StaTES WOULD THEMSELVES UN- 
 1)URTAKE TO MAKE SUCH AN ESTABLISHMENT OV THE COAST OF 
 
 Atj-b-ca. Exclusive of motives of humanity, the commercial 
 advantages to be derived from it might delray all its expenses." 
 
 A treaty of peacf^ having been concluded with Great Britain in 
 1S15, the public mind reverted with increased interest to the 
 scheme of colonization. 
 
 In the mean time Dr. Finley, Bishop Meade, Frani- Key, &c., 
 had been anxiously pondering the subjt^ct of Afii»an colonization. 
 T' "se, with other per.^ons of like minds, assembled ir. the city of 
 Washington on the 2lHt of December of the same year, and re- 
 commended the formation of the American C< ionizatic.n Socit^ty. 
 
 Mr. Clay w > chairman of the meeting, and stirring addre ses 
 were made by him, and by Messrs. Caldwell and Randolph, of 
 Ro'Hioko. A committee was appointed to pre.-ent a memorial to 
 Congress, asking their co-operation; John Randolph wa>* on that 
 committee. The society held its first meeiing on the 17th of 
 January, 1817, and elected its officers. Hon. Bushkoi* Washing- 
 ton was made president, and among the thirteen vice-presidents 
 were Clay, Crawford, Jackson, and John Taylor, of Virginia. 
 The committee of the society prepared a memorial to Congress, 
 which was referred to a committee of the House of Representa- 
 tives, who made an able report, concluding with resolutions re- 
 commending negotiations with the great states of Europe for the 
 abolition of the slave trade, and an application to Great Britain to 
 receive into the colony of Sierra Leone such of the free people of 
 color of the United States as should be carried thither. And should 
 this proposition not be accepted, then to obtain from Great Britain 
 a stipulation, guaranteeing a permanent neutrality to any colony 
 established under the auspices of the United States upon the coast 
 of Africa. 
 
41 
 
 On the 3d of March, 1819, Congress passed an act, author- 
 izing the President of the United States to make such arrano^e- 
 menls as he might deem expedient, for the safe keeping and re- 
 moval out of the United States of such persons of color as might 
 be brought into any of the States under the act abolishing the slave 
 trade, and to ai>poin^ agents upon the coast of Africa for receiving 
 such persons. Agents were accordingly appointed by the Gov- 
 ernmei.t, who, acting in co-oper.vtion with the agents of the so- 
 ciety, purchased territory, and established the colony. This pur- 
 chase was made in 1822, by an agent of the society, and Captain 
 Stockton, of the navy, on the part of the Government of the United 
 States. From that moment the course of the colony has been 
 steadily onward, 'through evil and through good report," until it 
 has taken its place among the independent nations of the earth, 
 under the denonination of the "Republic of Liberia." 
 
 To return from this digression to Virginia. An auxiliary 
 society wa^ formed in Richmond in November, 1823, at the head 
 of which was placed the Hon. John Marshall, (clarum et venera- 
 bile nomen,) who continued to preside over its deliberations, and 
 to guide it by his wise counsels, to the day of his lamented death. 
 He was succeeded by the Hon. John Tvler, late President of the 
 United States. The Richmond society, by its able reports, its 
 energetic agencies, and its stirring appeals, was instrumental m 
 r'ifusifji; information and procuring contributions, which rendered 
 v< >7; /a'uabie aid in a time of neea to the Parent Society at 
 WasLh gton. It also obtained from the Legislature, in 1825 and 
 1828, donations in clothing nvd implements of agriculture, which 
 supplied very opportunely pressing wants tf the infant colony in 
 Africa. The Colonization Society, at this period, had a task of 
 great celicacy to perform. The questions growing out of the ad- 
 mission of Missouri into the Union had fearfully agitated the 
 I'l'hole country, and threatened to overwhelm this benevolent en- 
 t prise in ruin; but by following the chart of her original princi- 
 ples with the strictest fidelity, and steering between the rock of 
 indifferentism on the one hand, and the whirlpool of abolitionism 
 
4% 
 
 on tlic otli(!r, Hhe was enabled, with the blessing ol Heaven, to 
 weather the .stornri. At thin critical jiinctuie were heard above the 
 rowing of the tempest of fanaticism the voices of her gallant 
 commandorH, Madison and Marshall, cheering her onward in her 
 noble mission. 
 
 Mr. Madison, in a letter dated Jan. 16, 1832, said, ** the So- 
 ciety had always my t)est wishes, although with hopes of success 
 less sanguine than those entertained by others found to be better 
 judges, and I feel the greatest pleasure at the progress already 
 made by the Socit'ty, and the encour^qjement to encounter remain- 
 ing dilliculties afforded by the greater ■ i lier difficulties already 
 overcome. I cherish the hope that the e will come when the 
 dr(*adfid calamity which has so long afflicted our country, and 
 filled so many with despair, will be gradually removed, and by 
 means consistent with justice, peace, and the general satisfaction; 
 thus giving to our country the full enjoyment of the blessings of 
 liberty, and to the world the full benefit of its great example." 
 
 Judge Marshall, in the same year, said, the removal of our 
 colored population is a common object, by no means confined to 
 the ^lave States, although they are more immediately interested in 
 it. The whole Union, he adds, would be strengthened by it, and 
 relieved from a danger whose extent can be scarcely estimated. 
 Here we have the authority of the "father of the Constitution," 
 anil its greatest expouiuler, both of whom thought the object con- 
 templatt'd by the Colonization Society so important that it de- 
 manileil the inttrposilion of ihe General Government, and both 
 regariie(f the public iamis as a proper resource oj effecting it. 
 
 (General Brodnax, in the session of 1832 and 1833, reported a 
 bill devising ways and means for deporting free negroes, and such 
 as nuiy become free in Virginia, to Liberia. The bill proposed 
 an appropriation of $3r>,000 for the present year, and $90,000 
 for the next, to be applied to this purpose. It passed the House 
 of Delegates, but was lost in the Senate. Notwithstanding this 
 
 't^ 
 
43 
 
 discouragement, the subject was again moved, and on the 4th 
 of March, 1833, an act passed the Legislature, appropriating 
 f>18,000, and constituting the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 
 and 1st and 2d Auditors, a board of commissioners for carrying 
 its provisions into effect. This act, as was predicted at the time, 
 was rendered utterly inefficient by the restrictions with which it 
 was encumbered. 
 
 In 1837, the Board of Managers of the Virginia Society, 
 seconded by petitions from several auxiliary societies, presented 
 a memorial to the Legislature, asking for an act of incorporation, 
 and an amendment of the act of 1833, so as to make its provi- 
 sions available; and on the 13th of February, of the same year, 
 the report of the select committee, declaring these petitions rea- 
 sonable, was agreed to by the House of Delegates, and a bill 
 ordered. For want of time, or some other cause not known, this 
 bill did not become a law. And now, in 18.50, Mr. Dorman has 
 reported a bill to the same end, founded upon the recommenda- 
 tion in the message of Governor Floyd. 
 
 Such is believed to be a just account of the history of the idea 
 of colonizing our people of color , from its first conception until its 
 full development in the American Colonization Society. It is not 
 within the scope of this address to write the history of that 
 Society — its unparalleled success is not now questioned by any 
 unprejudiced man. Mi. Gurley, who was commissioned by the 
 General Government to visit Liberia and investigate its condition, 
 is just returned, and is now preparing an elaborate report, illus- 
 trating the commercial and other interests of that young Republic; 
 his testimony to its present prosperi'j and the greatness of its 
 future prospects is most decisive and encouraging. Neither is it 
 a part of my plan to cite the authority or acts of the several 
 State Legislatures, fourteen of which have given the Society their 
 approbation; and one, Maryland, has made it a part of her per- 
 manent policy, by establishing and cherishing with annual appro- 
 priations the colony of Maryland in Liberia. Nor will I now 
 
44 
 
 insift upon the ben«fits, social, political, and moral, that are con- 
 ferred by this Society upon the white race in America, and upon 
 the black race upon both continents. Let it huffice to say that 
 we have in our mid^t, in the persons of our free colored people, 
 an evil of enormous magnitude. That this evil has increased, is 
 increasing, and ought to be diminished, evcry body admits. When 
 Mr. Jefferson proposed his plan of colonization, there were only 
 about 10,000 free negroes in Virginia — now the number is esti- 
 mated at 60,000, and is increasing." 
 
 JOINT RESOLUTION for abolishing the traffic in slaves, and for the coloniza. 
 tion of the free people of color of the United States — Proposed February II, 
 1817, by a committee of the Hi'use of Representatives. 
 
 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of j9 met ica in Cong/ ess as.sembhd. That the President be, and 
 he is hereby, authorized to consult and negot-'afe with all the Gov- 
 ernments where ministers of the United Slates aiv or shall be ac- 
 credited, on the means of effecting an enire and immediate abo- 
 i* iOn of the traflic in slave-. And, also, to enter into a conven- 
 tion with th"? Government of Great Britain for receivii)g into the 
 colony of Sierra Leone such of the free people of color of ihe 
 United States as, with their own consent, shall be carried thither; 
 r-lipulating such terms as shall be most beneficial to the colonists, 
 while it promotes the peaceful interests of Great Britain and the 
 United States. And should this proposition not be accepted, then 
 to obtain from Great Britam and the other maritime powers a stip- 
 ulation, or a formal declaration to the same effect, guarantying a 
 permanent neutrality for any colony of free people of color which, 
 at the expense and under the auspices of the United States, shall 
 be established on the African coast. 
 
 Resolved, That adequate provision shall hereafter be made to 
 defray any necessary expenses which may be incurred in carry- 
 ing the preceding resolution into effect. 
 
 Note. — No proceeding took place in the House on these reso- 
 lutions at this session. 
 
 { 
 
M 
 
 45 
 
 The committee consisted of Mr. Pickering, Mr. Comstock, Mr. 
 Condict, Mr. Tucker, Mr. Taggart, Mr. CilUy, and Mr. Hooks, 
 on colonizing the free people of color of the United States. 
 
 Nineteenth Congress, first Session, 
 
 Februury 18, 1825. 
 
 The following resolution was submitted io the Senate of the 
 
 United States, by Mr. Rufuh King, of New York: 
 
 Resohetf, That, as soon as the portion of ihe existing funded 
 debt of the United States, for the payment of which the public 
 land of the United States is pledged, >-hall have been paid off, 
 then, and thenceforth, the whole of the public land of the United 
 States, with the nett proceeds of all future ^ales thereof, shall con- 
 stitute or form a fund, which is hereby appropriated; and the faith 
 of the United States is pledged that the said fund shall be invio- 
 lably applied to aid the emancipation of such slaves, within any 
 of the United States, and aid the removal of such slaves, and the 
 removal of such free people of color, in any of the said States, 
 aSf by the laws of ihe States, respectively, may be allowed to be 
 emancipated or removed, to any territory or country without the 
 limits of the United States of America. 
 
 Extract of a letter from the Hon. James Madison to the secretary of 
 the society, ihe Rev. R. R. Gurley. 
 
 MoNTPELiER, December 29, 1831. 
 
 Dear sir: I received in due time your letter of the 21fet ultimo, 
 and with due sensibility to the subject of it. Such, however, has 
 been the effect of a painful rheumatism on my general condition, 
 as well as in disqualifying my fingers for the use cf the pen, that 
 I could not do justice *'to the principles and mfasures of the 
 Colonization b ociety, in all the great and various relations they 
 sustain to our own country and to Africa," if my views of them 
 could have the value which your partiality suppos^es. I may ob^ 
 serve, in brief, that the society had always my good wishes, 
 
46 
 
 though with hopes of its success less sanguine than were enter- 
 tained by others, ''lund to have been the better judges; and that 
 I feel the greatest pleasure at the progress already made by the 
 society, and the encouragement to encounter remaining difficul- 
 ties afforded by the earlier and greater ones already overcome. 
 Many circumstances at the present moment seem to concur in 
 brightening the prospects of the society, and cherishing the hope 
 that the time will come when the dreadful calamity which has so 
 long afflicted our country, and filled so many with despair, will be 
 gradually removed, and by means consistent with ju.-'tice, peace, 
 and the general satisfaction; thus giving to our country the full 
 enjoyment of the blessings c*" liberty, and to the world the full 
 benefit of its great example. I never considered the main diffi- 
 culty of the great work as lying in the deficiency of emancipation, 
 but in an inadequacy of asylums for such a growing mass of pop- 
 ulation, and in the great expense of removing it to its new home. 
 The spirit of private manumissions, as the laws may permit and 
 the exiles may consent, is increasing, and will increase; and there 
 are sufficient indications that the public authorities in slavehold- 
 ing States are looking forward to interpositions in different forms, 
 that must have a poweiful effect. With respect to the new abode 
 for the emigrants, all agree that the choice made by the society is 
 rendered peculiarly appropriate by considerations which need not 
 be repeated; and, if other situations should not be found eligible 
 receptacles for a portion of them, the prospects in Africa seem to 
 be expanding in a highly encouraging degree. 
 
 In contemplating the pecuniary resources needed for the re- 
 moval of such a number to so great a distance, my thoughts and 
 hopes ha"e been long turned to the rich fund presented in the 
 western lands of our nation, which will soon entirely cease to be 
 under a pledge for another object. The great one in question is 
 truly of a national character, and it is known that distinguished 
 patriots, not dwelling in slaveholding States, have viewed the ob- 
 ject in that light, and would be willing to let the national domain 
 be a resource in effecting it. 
 
 Should it be remarked that the States, though all may be in- 
 
47 
 
 ierested in relieving our country from the colored population, are 
 not all equally so, it is but fair to recollect that the sections most 
 to be benefitted are those whose cessions created the fund to be 
 disposed of. 
 
 Extract of a letter from the Hon. John Marsha/ly Chief Justice of 
 the United iitafes, to the Rev. R. R. Gut fey, dated 
 
 Richmond, December 14, 1831. 
 
 The great object of the society, I presume, is to obtain pe- 
 cuniary aids. Application will undoubtedly be made, I hope 
 successfully, to the several State legi-latures, by the societies 
 formed within tliem, respectively. It is extremely desirable that 
 they should pass permanent laws on the subject; and the excite- 
 ment produced by the late insurreciion makes this a favorable 
 moment for the friends of the colony to press for such acts. It 
 would be also desirable, if such a direction could be given to Slate 
 legislation, as might have some tendency to incline the people of 
 color to migrate. This, however, is a subject of much delicacy. 
 Whatever may be the success of our endeavors to obtain acts for 
 permanent aids, I have no doubt that our applications for imme- 
 diate contributions will receive attention. It is possible, though 
 not probable, that more people of color may be dispo-ed to migrate, 
 than can be provided for with the funds the society may be ena- 
 bled to command. Under this impression I suggested, some years 
 past, to one or two of the board of managers, to allow a small ad- 
 ditional bounty in lands to tho?e who would pay their own pas- 
 sage, in whole or in part. The suggestion, however, was not 
 approved. 
 
 It is undoubtedly of great importance to retain the countenance 
 and protection of the General Government. Some of our cruisers 
 stationed on the coast of Africa would, at the same time, interrupt 
 the slave trade — a horrid traffic, detested by all good men — and 
 would protect the vessels and commerce of the colony from pirates 
 
48 
 
 who infoMt tlioflo seas. The power of the fJovcrnment to aflbrd 
 this aid la not, I b(;lieve, coiitehted. I regret that its pov^er to 
 grant pe( uniary aid is not etjually free from question. On this 
 Huhject I have always fhoiij^ht, and still think, that the proposi- 
 tion made by Mr. Kinj?, in the Senate, is the most unexception- 
 able, and the most efTective, that can be devised. 
 
 The fund would probably operate as rapidly as would be desira- 
 ble, when we take into view the other resources which might 
 come in aid of it; and its application would be, perhaps, less ex- 
 posed to those constitutional objections which are made in the 
 South, than the application of money drawn from the trcar-ury 
 and raised by taxed. The lands are the property of the United 
 States, and have heretofore been disposed of by the Government, 
 under the idea of absolute ownerbhip. 
 
 JIcls and Resolutions of State Legislatures in relation to 
 
 Colonization. 
 
 STATE OF VERMONT. 
 
 Vermont Legislature^ Mov. 1*, 1827. 
 
 On the petition of the Vermont Colonization Society, the com- 
 mittee reported a resolution, instructing their Senators and Mem- 
 bers in Congress to use thf ir exertions in procuring the pai>sage 
 of a law in aid of the objects of the society; which was read and 
 adopted. 
 
 STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Resolutions, 1831. 
 
 1. Resolved, That the Legislature of Massachusetts view with 
 great interest the efforts made by the American Colonizs»tion So- 
 ciety, in establishing an asylum on the coast of Africa for the free 
 people of color of the United States; and that, in the opinion of 
 this Legislature, it is a subject eminet fly deserving the attention 
 and aid of Congress, so far as khall be coni-istent with the powers 
 
49 
 
 of Congress, the rights of the several States of the Union, and the 
 rights of the individuals who are the objects of tiiose etiorts. 
 
 2. Resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress 
 be, and they are hereby, requested, in the name of the State of 
 Massachusetts, to solicit the assistance of the (Jeneral (lovern- 
 ment to aid the laudable designs of that society, in such manner 
 as Congress, in its wisdom, may deem expedient, and is consist- 
 ent with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Resolutions of the Senate, Jlpril 13, 1832. 
 
 Mr. Tallmadge, from the select committee to which was re- 
 ferred the memorials of the State Colonization Society, and of 
 William A. Duer and others, of the city of New York, reported 
 the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate applaud the motives, and api)rove 
 the objects, of the American Colonization Society, and have full 
 confidence in the fidelity, discretion, and ability, of its executive 
 officers . 
 
 Resolved, That, as the said society proposes to remove or miti- 
 gate existing evils, and prevent or diminish apprehended dangers, 
 it deserves the confidence and encouragement of the American 
 people. 
 
 Resolved, That the Senate commend the said society to the con- 
 sideration and patronage of the citizens of this State. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be transmitted to the honora- 
 ble the Assembly, for their consideration. 
 
 The resolutions passed the House of Assembly with hardly a 
 dissenting voice. 
 
50 
 
 STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Resolution, 1829. 
 
 Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representniives of the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Jhsemhly met, That, in 
 the opinion of this (icncral AsHembly, the American Colonization 
 Society eminently deserves the support of the National CJovern- 
 ment; and that our Senators be directed, and that the Represent- 
 atives in Congress be requested, to aid the same by all proper and 
 constitutional means. 
 
 STATE OF DELAWARE. 
 
 Resolutions. 
 
 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State 
 of Delaware in General ^Issembly met. That it is requisite for our 
 prosperity, and, what is of more important concern, essential to 
 our safety, that measures should be taken for the removal from 
 this country of the free negroes and free mulatloes. 
 
 Resolved, That this General Assembly approve the objects of 
 the American Colonization Society, and consider that these objects 
 deserve public support, and that they ought to be fostered and 
 encouraged by the National Government, and with the national 
 funds. 
 
 Resolved, That the Senators of this State in Congress, with the 
 Representative from this State, be requested to approve and pro- 
 mote, in the councils of the nation, measures for removing from 
 this country to Africa the free colored population who maybe 
 willing to emigrate. 
 
 Resolved, That the Speakers of the two Houses be requested 
 officially to sign these resolutions, and forward a copy to each of 
 our Senators, and a copy to our Representative in Congress. 
 
&1 
 
 STATE OF MARYLAND. 
 
 Resolution of the Home of Delegates^ 1818. 
 
 Bir THE House of Delegates, Jan. 26, 1818. 
 ResolveJy unnnimously^ That the Governor be requested to com- 
 municate to the President of the United States, and to our Sena- 
 tors and Representatives in Congress, the opinion of this General 
 Assembly, that a wise and provident policy suggests the expe- 
 diency, on the part of our National Government, of procuring, 
 through negotiation, by cession or purchase, a tract of country, 
 on the western coast of Africa, for the cc'onization of the free 
 people of color of the United States. 
 
 STATE OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 Preamble and resolution, 1816. 
 
 Whereas the General Assembly of Virginia have repeatedly 
 sought to obtain an asylum, beyond the limits of the United States, 
 for such persons of color as had been, or might be, emancipated 
 under the laws of this Commonwealth, but have hitherto found 
 all their efforts for the accomplishment of this desirable purpose 
 frustrated, cither by the disturbed state of other nations, or do- 
 mestic causes equally unpropitious in its success, they do now 
 avail themselves of a period when peace has healed the wounds 
 of humanity, and the principal nations of Europe have concurred 
 with the Government of the United States in abolishing the Afri- 
 can slave trade, (a traffic which this Commonwealth, both before 
 and since the Revolution, zealously sought to terminate,) to renew 
 this effort; and do, therefore. 
 
 Resolve, That the Executive be requested to correspond with 
 the President of the United States, for the purpose of obtainino* a 
 territory on the coast of Africa, or at some other place not withia 
 any of the States or Territorial Governments of the United States, 
 to serve as an asylum for such persons of color as are now free, 
 and may desire the same, and for those who may hereafter be 
 
52 
 
 emancipated within this Commonwealth; and that the Senators 
 and Representatives of this State in the Congress of the United 
 States, be requested to exert their best efforts to aid the Piesident 
 oi the United States in the attainment of the above olyect: Pro- 
 videdy That no contract or arrangement respecting such territory 
 shall be, obligatory on this Commonwealth until ratified by the 
 legislature. 
 
 Passed by the House of Delegates, December 15th; by the 
 Senate, with an amendment, December 20th; concurred in by 
 the House of Delegates, December 21, 1816. 
 
 STATE OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 1834. 
 A resolution, recently presented to this body, proposing the ap- 
 pointment of a joint committee to take into consideration the ex- 
 pediency of promoting the emigration of free people of color from 
 that State to Liberia, was adopted by a vote of twenty -two against 
 eleven. 
 
 STATE OP TENNESSEE. 
 
 Report and resolution, 1818. 
 
 Your committee are of opinion that such parts of said memorials 
 and petitions as ask this General Assembly to aid the Federal 
 Government in devising and executing a plan for colonizing-, in 
 some distant country, the free people of color in the United States, 
 are reasonable: and, for the purpose of effecting the object which 
 they have in view, the committee have draughted a resolution, 
 which accompanies this report, the adoption of which they would 
 recommend. 
 
 L'\ Willis, from the same committee, submitted the following 
 resolution, which was read and adopted: 
 
 Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee-. That 
 the Senators in Congress from this State be, and they a»e hereby, 
 instructed, and that the Represe">tatives be, and they are hereby, 
 requested, to give to the Governnent of the United States any 
 
53 
 
 aid in their power in devising and carrying into effect a plan which 
 may have for its object the colonizing, in some distant country, 
 the free people of color who are within the limits of the United 
 States, or within the limits of any of their Territories. 
 
 STATE OF KENTUCKY. 
 
 Report and resolutions, 1827. 
 The committee to whom was referred the memorial of the Amer- 
 ican Colonization Society, have had that subject under conside- 
 ration, and now report: 
 
 That, upon due consideration of the said memorial, and from 
 all other information which your committee has obtained touching 
 that subject, they are fully satisfied that no jealousies ought to 
 exist, on the part of this or any other slaveholding State, respect- 
 ing the objects of this society, or the effects of its laboi. 
 
 Your committee are further well assured that the benevolent 
 and humane purposes of the society, and the political effects of 
 those purposes, are worthy the highest consideration of all philan- 
 thropists and statesmen in the Union, whether they be citizens of 
 slaveholding or non-slaveholding States. It is believed by your 
 committee that the memorial itself is well calculated to present 
 the subject in a proper point of view, and to interest the public 
 mind in the laudaule objects of that society. They, therefore, 
 refer to the same as a part of this report. Your committee recom- 
 mend the adoption of the following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Ken- 
 tucky, That they view, with deep and friendly interest, the exer- 
 tions of the American Colonization Society ia establishing an 
 asylum on the coast of Africa for the free ^>eolp\e of color of the 
 United States; and that the Senators and Representatives in Con- 
 gress from this State be, and they are hereby, requested .o use 
 their efforts to facilitate the removal of such free persons of color 
 as may desire to emigrate from the United States to the colony in 
 Africa, and to ensure to them the protection and patronage of the 
 
54 
 
 General Government, so far as shall be deemed consistent with 
 the safety and interest of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be requested to transmit a copy of 
 the foregoing resolution to each of our Senators and Representa- 
 tives in Congress. 
 
 Joint resolutions. 
 
 During the yijar 1828 the following joint resolutions passed the 
 Senate of Kentucky, with only three dissenting voices: 
 
 Resolved, Sfc, That our Senators and Representatives in Con- 
 gress be requested to use their best endeavors to procure an ap- 
 propriation of ffioney of Congress to aid, so far as is consistent 
 wiih the [Constitution of the] United States, in colonizing the free 
 people of color of the United States in Africa, under the direction 
 of the President of the United States. 
 
 2. That the Governor of this State be requested to transmit a 
 copy of the foregoing resolution to each of our Senators and Rep- 
 resentatives in Congress, and to the Governors of the several 
 States. 
 
 ST/.TE OF INDIANA. 
 
 Preamble and Joint resolutions, 1829. 
 
 Whereas the members of the present General Assembly of the 
 State of Indiana view with unqualified approbation the continued 
 exertions of ihe American Colonization Society to ameliorate the 
 condition of the colored population of our country, and believing 
 that the cause of humanity and the true interest of the United 
 States require the removal of this people from amongst us more 
 speedily than the ability of the Colonization Society will permit: 
 
 Be it resolved by the General Assembly of ihe State of Indiana, 
 That our Senators and Representatives in Congress be, and they 
 are hereby, requested, in the name of the State of Indiana, to 
 solicit the assistance of the General Government to aid the 
 laudable designs of the Colonization Society, in such manner as 
 Congress in its wisdom may deem expedient. 
 

 55 
 
 Reaofved, That the Governor be, and ae is heieby, requested 
 to forward a copy of the foregoing resolution to our Senators and 
 Representatives in Congress. 
 
 STATE OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 Joint resolutions of the Illinois Legislature to transport the free 
 
 persons of color from the United States to Africa; j^assed session 
 
 o/1847-'8. 
 
 Whereas efforts have been made to create the impression that 
 the citizens of the free States desire to interfere with the institu- 
 tion of slavery in the States where it exists by law; and whereas 
 such efforts are likely to create discord and jealousy among the 
 several States, and weaken the bonds of our glorious Union; and 
 whereas we desire most earnestly to undeceive our brethren of 
 the Southern States on the subject, and manifest our fraternal 
 regard for them, and to contribute all in our power to assist in 
 relieving them of the burden of slavery, in the manner best suited 
 to their feelings and interests; therefore, 
 
 Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concur- 
 ring herein, That our Senators in Congrr be instructed, and our 
 Representatives requested, to employ all constitutional means in 
 their power to procure ample resources by thi; Federal Govern- 
 ment to remove all such free persons of color as can be induced 
 to emigrate to Liberia, or elsewhere in Africa, and to provide for 
 their necessary wants. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor be requested to transmit a opy 
 of the above preamble and resolution to each of our Senators and 
 Representatives, with a request that the subject be brought before 
 Congress. 
 
 JVb/c— New Jersey, Connecticut, and several other States 
 have adopted re?olutions similar to the above; and in most of 
 them the resolutions have been repeated from time to time, down 
 to a recent date. 
 
56 
 
 Extracts from the report of the Committee of the House of Repre- 
 .^entatives on Commerce on the subject of African Colonization. 
 Feb. 28, 1843. 
 
 The necessity of making some provision for the colonization 
 and settlement of the free colored population of this country be- 
 gan, at an early period, to attract the attention of the public. 
 During the administration of Mr. Jefferson, the State of Virginia 
 made an application to the General Government for aid in this 
 purpose. That Stale desired to originate some measure which 
 should provide an asylum for this population, either on the coast of 
 Africa, or in some other appropriate region beyond the limits of 
 the Union. Resolutions were more than once adopted by its 
 Legislature, eiKpressive of the interest which the St5».te felt in the 
 subject, and of the importance attached to it; and at length the 
 Gk)vernor was directed, in 1816, when Dr. Finley was employed 
 at Washington in his memorable enterprise of establishing the 
 American Colonization Society, to correspond with the President 
 for the promotion of that design. The assistance of the Senators 
 and Representatives of the State was invoked to the same end. 
 
 The Society was founded in December, 1816. It comprised 
 many eminent individuals from the several Sates; was character- 
 ized by its freedom from sectional distinctions; enlisted the aid of 
 men from every quarter of the Union; and was generally received 
 and applauded as a beneficent and highly national undertaking. 
 
 Its design, as set forth in an article of its constitution, was 
 to act "in co-operation with the General Government and such 
 of the States as might adopt regulations on the subject." Vir- 
 ginia, Maryland, Tennessee, and Georgia were the first to respona 
 to the invitation invoking their assistance. They passed resolu- 
 tions recommending the subject to the country, and generally 
 announced their accordance in the opinion, expre.'-sed by Mr. 
 Jefferson, that it was desirable the United States should undertake 
 the colonization of the free people of color on the coast of Africa. 
 
 About half the States of the Union have expressed their de- 
 
57 
 
 cided approbation of the scheme of African colonization, and the 
 citizens and Legisialuie of Maryland have proceeded to plant a 
 flourishing colony at Cape Palmas. Through the efforts and under 
 the influence of the American Colonization Society, nearly 
 twenty eligible tracts of country have been purchased between 
 Cape Mount and Cape Palmas, and on many of them promising 
 settlements established. The enterprise is demonstrated to be 
 practicable, and capable of indefinite extension. Though the 
 colonies embrace but a few thousand emigrants, their salutary 
 influence is widely felt, and many thousands of the native popu- 
 lation have sought their protection, submitted to their laws, and 
 enjoy the advantages of their instruction. Able and disinterested 
 citizens of the United States have, from time to time, devoted 
 themselves to their interests, and, under the authority of the 
 colonization societies, have assisted them to frame their social 
 institutions, their government and laws. They exhibit to the 
 eyes of a barbarous people the model of a free, temperate, in- 
 dustrious, civilized, and Christian society. They have legislative 
 assemblies, courts of justice, schools, and churches. Though 
 having enjoyed in this country but very imperfect means of im- 
 provement, and left it with small means, they have done much 
 for themselves, and much for civilization and Christianity — have 
 enacted laws for the extirpation of the slave trade, and, wherever 
 their rightful authority exists, executed them with vigor; they 
 have successfully engaged in agriculture and in lawful commerce; 
 they have opened the way for many Christian missionaries, of 
 different communions, to the heathen tribes, and afforded them 
 protection and facilities in their work. In fine, Liberia and the 
 Maryland settlement at Cape Palmas present themselves to this 
 country and the world, not only as eligible asylums for our free 
 colored population, and for such as may become free, but as 
 lepublican and Christian States, informed by the elements of 
 indefinite growth and improvement, capable, duly countenanced, 
 and guarded against the interference of unfriendly powers, of 
 rising to honor and greatness, and of diffusing the influence of its 
 laws and example over wide districts of Africa. 
 
58 
 
 The annual imports from western Africa into this country pro- 
 bably exceed a million of dollars, and into Great Britain are about 
 four millions. The palm oil trade, now becoming of great value, 
 had hardly an existence twelve years ago, is rapidly increasing, 
 and may be increased to an almost indefinite extent. Hitherto, 
 the slave trade has been at war with all improvement and every 
 kind of innocent commerce. Its cessation will be succeeded by 
 the cultivation of the soil, and the growth of trade in all the va- 
 ried and valuable productions of the African climate. It is of 
 infinite importance that the natives of Africa should be con- 
 vinced that agricultural labor, and the substitution of lawful trade 
 for the infamous commerce in human beings, will be for their ad- 
 vantage; and that, in their intercourse with them, our own mer- 
 chants should possess every privilege granted to those of Eng- 
 land, or any other nation. 
 
 The establishment of a commercial agency, (as recommended 
 by Dr. Hall,) to reside in Liberia, and occasionally to visit, in a 
 Government vessel, various points on the coast, to ascertain the 
 best sites for mercantile establishments, to form conventions and 
 treaties of commerce, and for the suppression of the slave trade 
 with the principal chiefs, to take charge of the stores and other 
 property sent out for our ships of war, to guard the rights and 
 interests of our seamen, and secure for American vessels a free 
 and unrestrained right of trade at all important stations, the com- 
 mittee would recommend as an object urgently demanded by 
 interest and humanity. 
 
 The time has arrived, in the opinion of the committee, when 
 this subject of African colonization has become sufficiently im- 
 portant to attract the attention of the people, in its connexion 
 with the question of the political relations which these colonies 
 are to hold with our Government. 
 
 Speech of the Hon. Henry Clay, 
 ^t the Z\st Anniversary of the American Colonization Society, 
 held at Washington, January 18, 1848, the Hon. Henry Clay, 
 in the course of his speech, made the following remarks : 
 
59 
 
 It is now nearly thirty years since Mr. Finley, Mi. -/aldwell^ 
 and some other gentlemen, met by agreement with a view to forra 
 a Colonization Society. I was one of that number. We did not 
 intend to do more or less than establish on the shores of Africa a 
 colony, to which free colored persons with their own voluntary 
 consent might go. There was to be no constraint, no coercion, 
 no compulsory process to which those who went must submit : all 
 ■was to be perfectly voluntary and unconstrained in any manner or 
 degree. Far, very far, was it from our purpose to interfere with 
 the slaves, or to shake or affect the title by which they are held 
 in the least degree whatever. We saw and were fully aware of 
 the fact that the free white race and the colored race never could 
 live together on terms of equality. We did not stop to ask whether 
 this was right or wrong : we looked at the fact, and on that fact 
 we founded our operations. I know, indeed, that there are men, 
 many of them of high respectability, who hold that all this is pre- 
 judice ; that it should be expelled from our mind:s, and that we 
 ought to recognise in men, though of different color from our- 
 selves, members of our common race, entitled in all respects to 
 equal privileges with ourselves. This may be so according to 
 their view of the matter ; but we went on the broad and incon- 
 testible fact, that the two races could not, on equal terms, live in 
 the same community harmoniously together. And we thought 
 that the people of color should be voluntarily removed, if practi- 
 cable, to their native country, or to the country at least of their 
 ancestors : there they might enjoy all those blessings of freedom 
 and equality of condition which to them were impossible here. 
 Our object, let me repeat it, was limited to the free ; we never 
 thought of touching in any manner the title to slave property. 
 We hoped to be able to demonstrate the practicability of coloniz- 
 ing them ; and when that should have been demonstrated, those 
 who owned slaves might avail themselves of it or not— might 
 send liberated slaves to Africa or not, precisely as they pleased. 
 All our purpose was to establish, if we could, a colony of free 
 
60 
 
 colored meii) and thus to demonstrate to the world that coloniza- 
 tion was practic.ibic. 
 
 It has been truly stated, that from the day of its formation to 
 the present hour, the Society has been surrounded with ditiicul- 
 ties. It has had to stand the fire of batteries both in front and 
 rear, and upon both flanks. Extremes of opinion and of actiot., 
 which could unite in nothing else, united in as^iauiting ua. Those 
 who cared for the safety of the institution of slavery assailed us 
 on one hand, while the Abolitionists assaulted us on the other. 
 But on what ground should either oppose such an enterprise ? 
 Our ground in regard to both was total non interference. We 
 meant to deal only with colored persons already free. This did 
 not interfere with the projects of the Abolitionists. For myself, 
 I believe those projects to be impracticable ; and I am persuaded 
 that if the same energy and effort which have been expended in 
 getting up abolition movements, had been directed to the woik of 
 colonization, a vast amount of bt;nefit would have resulted to the 
 cause of humanity and to the colored race. Why should they 
 attack us ? We do not interfere with them. Their project is to 
 emancipate at one blow the whole colored race. Well, if they 
 can do that, then our object begins. The office of colonization 
 commences only where theirs would end. The colored race be- 
 ing here in the midst of us, and not being capable of enjoying a 
 state of equality with the whites around them, our object is to 
 carry them to a place where they may enjoy, without molestation, 
 all the benefits of freemen. Here is no incompatibility ; and in 
 point of fact wj have thus far gone on our way without disturbing 
 any body, either on the right or on the left. 
 
 But it is said that our Society is incapable of effecting any great 
 object. That our aims can never be accomplished without aid 
 from the State governments, or unless the General Government 
 shall send out of the country all the free blacks. It is our pur- 
 pose to show the power of colonization, in competent hands, fully 
 to carry out the benevolent ends we have in view, to work all the 
 
 
C)l 
 
 great resuits for which this Society was fonnod. Our |)urpo.st' is 
 to demonstate to the American peopK>, that //" t/itij choose to take 
 hold of this great project in their Strife Leiri.sfdtures, or otherwise^ 
 the end sought is practicable, and the principle of colonization ix 
 competent to carry abroad all the colored population who shall be 
 emancipated. That demonstration has been made. 
 
 The separation of free colored people from the white race is a 
 measure recommended not only by the mutual and the separate 
 good of both, but by the prospect that Africa, which has so long 
 lain in barbarism, worshipping unknown and forbidden gods, may 
 thus be brought to the light and blessings of Christianity. Those 
 who met to form this Society saw not only that great good would 
 accrue from their design to the colored race, by elevating their 
 character, and restoring them to the possession of rights they 
 neve/ can enjoy here, but that it would be a probable means, in 
 the end, of carrying to Africa all the blessing of our holy religion, 
 and all the benefits of our civilization and freedom. What Chris- 
 tian is there who does not feel a deep interest in sending forth 
 missionaries to convert the dark heathen, and bring them within 
 the pale of Christianity ? But what missionaries can be so potent 
 as those it is our purpose to transport tc the shores of Africa ? 
 Africans themselves by birth, or sharing at least African blood, 
 will not all their feelings, all their best aflfections, induce them to 
 seek the good of their countrymen ? At this moment there are 
 between four and five thousand colonists who have been sent to 
 Africa under the care of this Society; and I will venture to say 
 that they will accomplish as missionaries of the Christian religion 
 more to disseminate its blessings than all the rest ofth". missionaries 
 throughout the globe. Why, gentlemen, what have we heard ? 
 In the colony of Liberia there are now twenty-five places of pub- 
 lic worship dedicated to the service of Almighty God, and to the 
 glory of the Saviour of men; while thousands of the neighboring 
 heathens are flocking into the colony to obtain a knowledge of the 
 arts, and who may ultimately receive the better knowledge which 
 Christianity alone can bestow. 
 
62 
 
 These are the great purposes we had in view when a few of us 
 met to form this Society. As soon as a purchase of territory had 
 been elfected by the agent we dispatched to Africa for that pur- 
 pose, the first colonists, about twenty-five years since, left the 
 American shores, and were safely transplanted to the land of their 
 dtncestors. 
 
 I know it was then urged, as it has been sine, that other places 
 might have been selected with equal advantage. I do not con- 
 cur in that opinion. Look at the expense alone. It has been 
 jstated in your report that the sum of fifty dollars is sutficient to 
 cover the expense of transporting one emigrant to Liberia, and of 
 maintaining him there for six months after his arrival. To what 
 •other position in the known world coi Id he be sent at so cheap a 
 rate ? Not to the Pacific; not to Oregon; not to Mexico. Then 
 consider the advantages of this position in point of navigation: 
 remember the shortness of the voyage. When these things are 
 duly considered, it must be evident that to no other spot on the 
 face of the globe could the free colored people be sent with no much 
 propriety as to the coast of Jlfrica. Besides, in any other plaice 
 that might be selected, you would deprive yourselves of accom- 
 plishmg those high moral and religious objects which, in Africa, 
 may be so confidently hoped for. 
 
 But, again, it has been said that the object of carrying all the 
 free colored race from this country to Africa is one which the 
 Government itself, with all its means, could not effect. Now, on 
 that point, let me state a fact by way of reply. If I am not mis- 
 taken, the im.'pigration from abroad into the port of iNew York 
 alone, in the course of the last year, was fully equal to the annual 
 increase of the free colored population of the Union, and yet all 
 that was done voluntarily, and in most cases without any, or with 
 very little aid. The fact rests on the great motive which, to a 
 greater or less extent, governs all human action. Why is it that 
 the Germans and the Irish have thus flocked to our shores in num- 
 bers to meet the annual increase of our free colored people not 
 only, but, as I believe, that of the slave population also ? 'J hey 
 
mm 
 
 (J3 
 
 come in obedience to one of the great laws of our nature; they 
 have come under that eflicient motive which propeKs men to all 
 enterprises — the desire to better their condition. A like motive 
 will sway the free blacks when enlif,'htcned as to the real facts of 
 the cane. If they reach the shores of Africa, whetluM- by their 
 own means, or by the aid and agency of others, their position will 
 be physically, morally, and pt)litically heUer than by any possi- 
 bility it ever can be here. It is not our oHice to attempt imprac- 
 ticabilities; to amalgamate two races which Cod iiimsrlf, by a 
 did'erence of color, besides other inherent distinctions, has declared 
 must be separate, and remain separate, from each other. And if 
 such be of necessity their condition here, to send them to Africa, 
 not by coercion, but with their own free consent, is surely the 
 best practicable mode of doing them good. And here I would say 
 to those in both extremes of opinion and of feeling on the subject 
 of slavery — I would say to all men — why should the free people 
 of color of these United Slates not have the option of removing 
 to Africa, or remaining where they are, just as they themselves 
 shall choose? That is all we attempt. We wish to describe to 
 him the country, to facilitate his emigration to it, and then leave 
 hi in to his free choice. And if after this he chooses to go, why 
 interpose any obstacle in his way? In reply, it is said to be an 
 act of cruelty to tsend him there. The climate is represented as 
 inhospitable; he will be exposed to inevitable sickness, and will 
 probably soon find a grave on that distant shore. To send a col- 
 ored man out of the United States to a country like that is held 
 up as an act of the greatest inhumanity. But, happily, our records 
 bear the most grateful testimony to the reverse of all this. Let 
 us for a moment compare the mortality of Liberia with that of the 
 colonies planted on our own shores. Within the first seventeen 
 years from the settlement of Jamestown, in Virginia, nine thousand 
 colonists arrived, £150,000 sterling were expended in transporting 
 them from England, yet at the end of that period but about 
 two thousand of them remained alive. All the rest had fallen 
 
C4 
 
 victims pither to the climate, or to the tomahawk o( the savage, 
 or had perished from other causes. Then look at Plymouth. 
 History records that in less than six months after the arrival of 
 the Mayflower, full half of all who landed had been destroyed by 
 disease, want, and suffering. Now, compare with these efforts at 
 British colonization the results of our settlement at Liberia. In 
 twenty-five years, since the first emigrants landed from the United 
 States, the deaths amounted to but twenty per cent, of the entire 
 number, being far less than died at Plymouth in six months; far 
 less than at Jamestown in seventeen years. The deaths at James- 
 town were in seventeen years more than four times as numerous^ 
 in proportion, as at Liberia in twenty-five years. There is then 
 nothing in the climate to discourage us, nothing in the alleged 
 dreadful mortality of the colony to frighten us. 
 
 But it is said we have done very little. All the great enter- 
 prises of man have had small beginnings. The founders of Rome, 
 if we may believe the tale of tradition, were suckled by a wolf. 
 Jamestown and Plymouth both languished for years after the 
 period to which I have already referred. Yet now, what land is 
 there on the broad surface of the habitable globe, what sea spreads 
 out it« waste of waters, that has not been penetrated and traversed 
 by the enterprise, the skill, and the courage of our New Kngland 
 brethren? And on what battle-field, in what council chamber, can 
 a single spot in our vast country be found where the Virginian 
 character has not disphyed itself in its gallantry or its deliberative 
 wisdom? I repeat it; all the greatest enterprises of man have had 
 small beginnings. Our colony is but twenty-five years old; it 
 has received already between four and five thousand colored emi- 
 grants, besides hundreds more of recaptured Africans; all of which 
 have been sent there by order of this Government. Immense 
 numbers of the natives are crowding into the colony to obtain the 
 benefits of education, of civilization, and of Christianity. In addi- 
 tion to all these, there are many thousands more in the United States 
 now seeking the advantages of colonization through the means 
 
1 
 
 65 
 
 held out by this Society. As far then as wo have gone, good is 
 
 DONE. 
 
 Isitnot bettor that those four or five thousand emigrants should 
 be there, than that they should have remained here? Is it not 
 better for themselves, in it not better for us? Every year the 
 progress of our colony becomes more and more cheerio;;; and, 
 with every free African sent over to if, those prospects brighten, 
 and so much more of good is done. True, we have done all we 
 desire to do. Glad should we bo should every free colored 
 man throuj^hout all the States go there, and become free indeed. 
 But it requires time to accom|i!l>Ii great national affairs. The 
 creation of a nation is not the work ol a day or of a century. For 
 two or three centuries the embiyo nation ol' the Israelites remained 
 captives in Kgypt. But when this Gt.vernment, or the Slate /gov- 
 ernments, shiill lend the ent rprise their powerful aid, its progress 
 "will not be so slow. And when the colony shall have made fur- 
 ther advances, it will bo self-sustained and increased by its own 
 commerce and marine. I speak not, of course, of any unconsti- 
 tutional aid. Incidental aid, at least, ?.< y be qiven it in strict 
 accordance with the Constitution. On this subject the legislature 
 of Maryland has set us a noble example. She cherishes her in- 
 fant colony with the utmost solicitude and care. When other 
 States of the Union shall do the same, the cause of colonization 
 will experience a vast acceleration. 
 
 During, now, a period of twenty-five years, without power, 
 without reven' e, without aid, save the voluntary contribution ! of 
 the charitable and humane, has this Society continued its labors. 
 During that peiiod it has carried on a defensive war. It Las 
 made treaties. It has purcht.: ed territory, and that to a large ex- 
 tent; owning, now, some three hundred and twenty miles along 
 the western coast of Africa, throughout the whole of which extent 
 (with one dark exception) the slave trade has been suppressed. 
 And in this connexion I may be permitted to remark, that if the 
 Governments of Kurope and of the United States, who have united 
 
 their efforts for the suppression of the slave trade, would consent to 
 5 
 
 \ 
 
66 
 
 If nd but a small portion of the navies they now, at so great a cost, 
 maintain off the African coast in furtherance of that design, to the 
 great object of colonization, they would prove mucJi more success- 
 ful than they have hitherto found themselves in putting an end to 
 that detested traffic. I believe thai no other means will ever prove 
 so operative and effectual to that end as the covering the entire 
 coast of that quarter of the globe with colonies of free colored men. 
 Then would all be united, by sympathy for their outraged country- 
 men) in heartily advancing a design which commends itself to 
 every feeling of the black man's heart. 
 
 And now, in conclusion, I should fail of expressing the feelings 
 which are rising in my bosom, did I not congratulate you, gentle- 
 men of the Society, on the eminent success which has already 
 crowned your benevolent labors. A new republic has sprung into 
 exi><tence under your auspices. Yes; a free, representative, con- 
 stitutional republic, formed on the model of our own beloved in- 
 stitutions. A republic, founded by black men, reared by black 
 men, put into operation by the blacks, and which holds out to our 
 hope the brightest prospects. Whether we look at what has al- 
 ready been done, or lift our eyes to the lUture and cast them down 
 the long vista of coming time — when we may anticipate, as we are 
 ■wa^'ranted to do, the dissemination over a large part, if not the 
 whole, of Africa, of our own free government, our love of liberty, 
 our knowledge of Christianity, our arts, and civilization, and do- 
 mestic happiness — when we behold those blessings realized on that 
 continent, which I trust in God we are long, long destined to en- 
 joy on this, and think how the hearts of posterity will be gladden- 
 ed by such a spectacle — how ought our own to exult in hope and 
 to swell with gratitude? 
 
 Co on, then, gentlemen; go on in your noble cause. For my- 
 self, I shall soon leave you and this stage of human action forever. 
 I may never occupy this chair again; but I trust tnat the spirit 
 which r iginated and which has sustained this Society will long 
 survive me, and that you may long continue, now that our Afri- 
 can republic is at length bom, to discharge the offices of guardian- 
 
 V 4 
 

 . 
 
 \ i 
 
 67 
 
 ■hip, and aiJ, and co-operation, and ever give to the interests of 
 African freed >m, civ ili/ation and social happiness, your best ener- 
 gies and most fervent prayers. From this auspicious hour, even 
 to the end of time, or until ihe great object of the amicable sepa- 
 ration of the two races shall have been fully effected, may others 
 spring up to take your places, and to tread in your steps. And, 
 finally, invoking on this great and good cause the blessing of that 
 God without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, and vhose 
 smiles, I believe, have hitherto been extended to it, I bid you a 
 cordial farewell." 
 
 Resolutions deVvered and proposed by Hon. R. W. Thompson^ Hon. 
 
 R. J. Walker, Hon. Joseph R. Jngersoll, Hon. R. M. McLanCy 
 
 Hugh Maxwell, esq. , and others. 
 ' At the 32d annual meeting of the American Colonization So- 
 ciety, held at ;Vashington, January 16, 1849, the Hon. R. W. 
 Thompson, of Indiana, offered the following resolution, which was 
 adopted : 
 
 iiResolvedy That the history of the past year, as developed in 
 the report which has just been read, has strengthened our confi- 
 dence in the great principles of the Colonization Society, and that 
 in their purity and strength we see satisfactory evidence of their 
 ultimate triumph. * '' 
 
 The Hon. Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury, with 
 some appro{)riate remarks, introduced the following resolution: 
 
 ^'Resolved, That in founding a new republican empire on the 
 shores of Africa, introducing there civilization and Christianity^ 
 in bani^hing the slave trade from a large portion of its western 
 coast, and accelerating its expulsion from that whole continent; 
 in opening commerce and intercourse with the savage tribes of 
 the interior, soon to be foUowe.l by a rapid advancement in their 
 condition; in laying the foundation of a system destined to facili- 
 tate the ultimate separation of the two races of Ham and Japhet 
 
68 
 
 i 
 
 in this Confederacy, by universal consent, for the advantage of 
 both, and the gradual and peaceful re.storation of the former to the 
 land of their forefathers, regenerated by the light of Christianity, 
 and trained in the piinciples of our free institutions: and especially 
 in fixing a basis upon which the friends of religion and humanity, 
 of freedom, ol the Constitution, and oJ the Uiiiin, can every where, 
 in every State, north and south, east and west, unite their efforts 
 for the advancemf-nt of the happiness of both races, and at the 
 same time accomplish the glorious purpose of preserving the 
 harmony and perpetuating the union of the States; the American 
 Colonization Society, embracing the whol*' country and all its 
 parts, has established a claim upon the efficient aid and zealous 
 co-operation of every lover of his country and of mank'-nd.' '* 
 
 The Hon. J. R. Ikgkrsoll, of Pennsylvania, seconded the 
 resolution, and addressed the meeting thereupon, after which it 
 was adopted. 
 
 The Hon. Robert M. McLane, of Maryland, offered the 
 foliuvsing preamhle and resilutii ns, which were adopted: 
 
 "Whereas the in-titution of domestic slavery in the United 
 States exi.-ts as the creature of local municipal Uw, so recognised 
 and respected in the Federal Constitution: Therefore — 
 
 ^^Resolv'd, That in all action affecting this institution in its so- 
 cial or political aspect, the Amt rican citizen and .-tatesman who 
 reveres the Federal Union, has imposed upon him the most solemn 
 obligations to respect in spirit and letter the authority of such local 
 and municipal sovereignties, and to resist all aggressive influences 
 which tend to disturb the peace and tranquility of the States, that 
 may have created or sanctioned tliis institution. 
 
 '•^Resolved, further^ That the efforts of the American Coloniza- 
 tion Society to facilitate the ultimate emancipation and restoration 
 of the black race to social and national independence are highly 
 honorable and judicious, and consistent with a strict respect for 
 the rights and privileges of the citizens of the several States where- 
 in the institution of slavery is sanctioned by municipal law.* '* 
 
 Si 
 
1 
 
 ]i 
 
 Hugh Maxwell, esq., of New York, was called upon, and 
 having made an address, ofTered the following resolution, which 
 was adopted: 
 
 ^^ Resolved, Thsit the influence which the scheme of African colo- 
 nization exerts to suppress the slave trade, to spread the English 
 language and the principles of republican govejnmenl, and to open 
 new markets for American products, and extend American 
 commerce, should co : mend it to tfie favorable con^deration of 
 the respective State Legislatures and of the General Government. ' " 
 
 Opinion of the Hon. Daniel Webster on coloniz'ition at the expense 
 of I e General Government. 
 
 The Hon. Daniel Webster, in hi^ great speech in the United 
 States Senate, 7th of March, ISoO, spoke as follows : 
 
 " 1 have one other remark to make. In my obseivations upon 
 slavery as it has existed in the country, and as it now exists, I 
 have expressed no opinion of the mode of its extinguishment or 
 melioration. I will say, however, though I have nothing to pro- 
 pose on that subject, because I do not deem my>elf so competent 
 as other gentlemen to consider it, that if any gentleman from the 
 South shall propose a scheme of culmization to be carried on by 
 this Government upon a large scale, for the transportation of free 
 colored people to any colony or any place in the worh', I should 
 be quite disposed to incur almost any degree of expense to accom- 
 plish that object. Nay, sir, following an example set here more 
 than twenty years ago by a great man, then a Senator from New 
 York, I would return to Virginia, and through her for the benefit 
 of the whole South, the money received from lands and territories 
 ceded by her to this Government, for any such purpo^e as to re- 
 lieve, in whole or in part, or in any way to dimii ish or deal bene- 
 ficially with, the free colored population of the Southern States. 
 I have said that I honor Virginia for her cession of this territory. 
 There have been received into the Treasury of the United States 
 eighty millions ofdoUars, the proceeds ofthe sales of the publiclands 
 
r 
 
 70 
 
 ceded by her. If the residue should be sold at the same rate, the 
 whole aofgregate will exceed two hundred millions of dollars. If 
 Vir^'nia and the South see fit to adopt any proposition to relieve 
 themselves from the free people of color among them, they have 
 my free consent that the Government shall pay them any sum of 
 money out of its proceeds, which may be adequate to the pur- 
 pose." 
 
 Extracts from a letter from Commodore Stockton to Hon. Daniel 
 Webster, dated March '25th, 1850. 
 
 **Yonder is Africa, with her one hundred and fifty millions of 
 miserable, degraded, ignorant, lawless, superstitioifs idolaters. 
 Whoever has stood upon her sands, has stood upon a continent 
 that has geographical and physical peculiarities which belong to 
 no other of the great divisions of the globe. The latter appear, 
 upon the face of them, to have been adapted to draw out the en- 
 ergies of the natives in their inequalities of temperature, soil, and 
 surface, inviting the ingenuity and enterprise of man to overcome 
 (hem, and in the varieties of their products temptjjig the inter- 
 changes of commerce; thus affording ample encouragement to the 
 progress of civil and social improvement. But Africa is still, as 
 of old, a land of silence and of mystery. Like the interminable 
 dreariness of her own deserts, her moral wastes of mind lie wait- 
 ing for the approach of influences from abroad. No savage peo- 
 ple have ever advanced to a civilized state without intercommu- 
 nication with others. All the continents of the world have, in 
 their turn, been occupied and civilized by means of colonies; but 
 in no one of them did it appear so inevitably necessary, from a 
 previous examination of circumstances, as in that of Africa. It is 
 plain to the very eye, that Africa is a Imd to which civilization 
 miist be brought. The attempt has been made over and over 
 again by devoted missionaries and others to penetrate that land, 
 and seek to impart the blessings of civilization and Christianity to 
 her savage hordes. But the labor has been spent in vain. The 
 white man cannot live in Africa. The annals of the Moravians, 
 
71 
 
 of Cape Colony, of Sierra Leone, of Liberia, contain the records 
 of the sacrifice of some of the best men that have lived to grace 
 the pages of any people's history, in the vain attempt to accom- 
 plish something for her redemption through the instrumentality of 
 white men. WhOf then, is to do this work'f 
 
 Let now any calm, reflecting spectator of the present state of 
 the world be asked to look at Africa, and then, from among the 
 nations, point out the people best calculated to do this work— and 
 when his eye falls upon the descendants of the sons of that conti- 
 nent now in America, will he not say, These are the peoj)le appointed 
 
 for that work! 
 
 Let us not be impatient or presumptuous. These African peo- 
 ple are passing to their destiny along the same path which has 
 been trod by other nations, through a mixture of hardship, of en- 
 durance; but in a land of light, and amid a civilized society. 
 They are preparing to accomplish a work for their native conti- 
 nent, which no other people in the world can accomplish. Their 
 plain mission is, ultimately to carry the gifts of society, of religion, 
 of government, to the last remaining continent of the earth, where 
 these blessings are totally unknown. Their work is a great one, 
 as it would seem to be connected essentially with the final and 
 universal triumph of civilization and Christianity in the world.»> 
 
 Extract from a letter from the Hon. Edward Everett to the 
 Hun. Simon Greenlenf President of the Society^ dated Cam- 
 bridge, 2Sth May, 1849. 
 
 " I have for many years felt an interest in the subject of Afri- 
 can colonization. In the winter of 1831, the Legislature of Mas- 
 sachusetts passed a resolution, requesting the Senators and Rep- 
 resentatives of the Commonwealth in Congress to lend their 
 efforts in support of the American Colonization Society. I was 
 led at that time to investigate the subject with some care, and I 
 came to the conclusion that the work which the Society had un- 
 dertaken was of the highest interest and importance, second to 
 no one of the enterprises undertaken by the philanthropy of the 
 
72 
 
 . ( 
 
 age. The views entertained by me at that time are set forth in 
 a fpeecli before the Society, in the Hall of the Hout^e of Repre- 
 sentatives at Washington, made on the IGth of Januaiy, 1832. 
 
 " These impressions were renewed and strengthened a few years 
 since, when it became my duty, in another capacity, to maintain 
 the rights and interests of the colony of Liberia, in my official 
 correspondence with the Biitish Government at London. 
 
 " Since that time, the recognition of the political independence 
 of Liberia, by the leading European powers, is an event well cal- 
 culated to lead thoughtful persons to contemplate, with new 
 interest, what seems to me one of the most important occurrences 
 of the age — the appearance of a new Republic on the shores of 
 Afiica, composed of citizens who by birth are (the greatei part 
 of them) our own countrymen; but who will carry to the home 
 of their ancestors means and facilities for promoting the civiliza- 
 tion and Christianization of that continent, which Providence has 
 confided to them, and to them a^one. 
 
 "It is unfortunate, for the cause of colonization, that it has 
 been considered mainly in direct connexion with the condition of 
 the descendants of Africa in this country. But great as this 
 object is, it seems to me subordinate to a direct operation upon 
 Africa itself; the regeneration of which, I cannot but think, is 
 the path appointed by Providence for the elevation of the de- 
 scendants of Africa throughout the world. I am led to the opin- 
 ion, from all the inquiry I have been able to make, that the difficulty 
 of effecting the regeneration of Africa is exaggerated; that a large 
 part of her population is susceptible of the highest forms of civi- 
 lization; that the arts of life, as we understand them, already 
 exist in many parts of the continent to a much greater extent 
 than is commonly supposed; that the interior slave trade is the 
 great obstacle which prevents its speedily taking a high place in 
 the family of nations; and that nothing would so effectually 
 remove this cause of demoralization and barbarity as the intro- 
 duction of Christianity, and with it the languages, improved arts, 
 and commerce of Europe and America. 
 
73 
 
 ** These effects have immediately begun to show themselves, 
 wherever the Afiican coast has Ixhmi loloiii/eii from coimtiiea 
 disposed in good faith to abolish the slave trade; and I confess I 
 see no other mode for fleeting the object." 
 
 Monrovia, (Liberia,) J\fny 17, 1850. 
 
 Dear Sir: I have just returned from the windward coast, and 
 find here the U. S. bridf Bainbridge, on the eve of sailing for the 
 United States, via Poito Praya. Capt. Slaughter has been kind 
 enough to allow me an hour to send a letter or two by him. I 
 therefore avail myself of the opportunity to send you a hasty note, 
 to say that we have at length succeeded in securing the famed 
 territory of Gallinas to this Government, including all the leriito- 
 ries between Cape Mount and Shebar, excepting a small slip of 
 about five miles of coast in the Kellou country, which will also 
 soon fall into our hands. 
 
 For these tracts we have incurred a large debt, and we confi- 
 dently look to you to aid us in meeting th *s(; liabilities at matui ity. 
 Had I not deemed it absolutely important to se« uie Ifie (Jallinas, 
 to prevent the revival of the slave trade therr, I would not have 
 paid the price demanded. The purchase of Gallinas and the 
 neighboring tracts vvill cost us about $9,. 500. 
 
 The chiefs were aware of the object of the purchase, and urged 
 strenuously the sacrifice, as thev consider it, they niu>t make in 
 abandoning forever the slave trade, and demand«'d a large sum as 
 an equivalent. In addition to the amount stated above, we have 
 oblio'ated ourselves to appoint .commissioners immediately to set- 
 tle the wars in the country, and open the trade in camwood, ivory, 
 and palm oil with the interior tribes; and also settle among them, 
 as soon as convenient, persons capable of instructing them in 
 the arts of husbandry. This will also cost us a considerable sum, 
 which will no doubt be returned in the end by the advantages the 
 trade will give. Still the present outlay will be, I fear, more than 
 €qual to our ability. 
 
74 
 
 The schoonPF "David C. Foster" has arrived safely, and the 
 emigrants, as far as I have learned, were landed in good health. 
 We have no further news worth communicating. 
 
 Yours, in haste, 
 
 J. J. ROBERTS. 
 Rev. W. McLain, Washington. 
 
 Note. — This purchase makes the coast of Liberia 700 miles in 
 length, along the whole course of which the Slave trade was for- 
 merly carried on to a great extent. 
 
 Extracts from the lending nrticle in the African Repository and 
 Colonial Journal for May^ 1850, (the official organ of the Colo- 
 nization Society f) on the establishment of the proposed line of 
 Steamers. 
 
 The Colonization Society undertook to found a colony, to 
 which the colored people might find it advantageous to emig»-ate. 
 This has already been done. The work has been slow in its pro- 
 gress, as it were piling one stone upon other, till now the founda- 
 tion is laid deep and wide. The Republic is sufficiently well 
 established to receive a large number of emigrants yearly : there 
 is room enough for them, and every thi:,g i,,\i>ti^ .jirm there, and 
 these four steamers afford the facilities lor their leaching there. 
 It now only remains for the United States Government to adopt, 
 foster, and encourage this work, and it will be done. 
 
 The great ends to be established present considerations of 
 sufficient importance to induce the Government to comply with 
 the prayer of the memorial. When these steamers are started 
 the United States squadron on that coast may be withdrawn. It 
 now costs upwards of $384,500 to maintain that squadron a 
 year. These four steamers, and the emigrants carried out by 
 them, will -annually accompli&h a thousand fold more for the sup- 
 pression of the slave trade, than the squadron ever has or ever 
 can accomplish ! There cannot be a doubt of this. Does the 
 United States Government desire the suppression of the slave 
 trade ? Undoubtedly. Here then ia the way in which it may 
 be done. 
 
 i 
 
75 
 
 We may ask another question. Is it desirable that Anierican 
 commerce should be extended ? Undoubtedly. Here then is a 
 way in which it may be done. The l.'50,000,000 inhabitants of 
 Africa, now all naked, must be clotkedy and will be as civilization 
 advances among them. They must have the means and appliances 
 of agriculture and the mechanic arts. And in return for all these, 
 they have all the rich and varied productions of tropical climates! 
 How shall this work be accomplished ? How shall Africa be civi- 
 lized ? How shall a market be opened there for all the artirlee 
 manufactured in the United States, and for the surplus produc- 
 tions of our soil ? How shall the inexhaustible treasures of 1-iat 
 immense continent be brought to supply our wants, and increase 
 our wealth and our glory ? 
 
 By Colonization — by carrying out the plans and measures 
 which the Society has adopted and been strugj^ling to achieve. 
 Already more than 80,000 of the natives have put themselves un- 
 der the laws of Libera, and are rising in the scale of humanity. 
 Already there is a large demand for the productions of thia 
 countr3\ 
 
 When the transported population of Liberia shall be .50,000 or 
 200,000. they will present a market for our surplus manufactures, 
 and bread stuffs, of immense value. A line of settlements on the 
 coast will command the commerce of the interior. If that power 
 is held by men sent from this country by a large and liberal po- 
 licy, nurtured and grown up under our institutions, and by our 
 fostering care and aid, in establishing themselves in Liberia, they 
 will ever be inclined to trade with this country, and thus open to 
 our merchants those wide fields of wealth ! The amount asked 
 by the Company from the Government for carrying the mails, 
 would not affect injuriously one single interest of the country, and 
 it would be more than repaid with interest by the advantages of 
 the commerce to be secured thereby. 
 
 The advantages whi; h would be enjoyed by the people of the 
 United States as the result of the removal of the free colored 
 people, and the separation of the races, would be immense. The 
 
76 
 
 blessings to them would be incalculable. They dwell among us, 
 but they are not of us. They do not enjoy, and the prospect is, 
 they never can enjoy h'^re, true liberty ! We provide for them a 
 means of escape from these dcpiossing circumstance^*, and place 
 them in a situation were nothuig car» prevent them from rising to 
 the highest elevation of which they are capable. 
 
 Under these circumstances, what is the duty of the Govern- 
 ment to do? To sit still and lose the golden opportunity ? No, 
 this is not, this cannot be, the wisest policy ! Motives of honor, 
 of benevolence, of justice, of patiiolism, demand a difTerent 
 policy. 
 
 Let it be remembered that the legislation of our country touch- 
 ing the extinction of the slave trade, conferred upon her a glory 
 as imperi.-hable as the Constitution herself. A ju>t regard to our 
 national character calls for a pei severance in that policy, until its 
 "wisdom and binignity shall be vin<licated in the full a inplinh- 
 ment of its ends ; the giving to Africa civilization and the arts, 
 and a lawful commerce ! 
 
 IM 
 
 Extracts from the July JVb. of the Jlfrican Repository. 
 
 In all parts of the country we perceive that the friends of 
 Liberia look upon this four-steamships scheme as fraught with 
 immense promise. The public sentiment of the country is de- 
 cidedly in favor of colonization, and of national and State appro- 
 priations for carrying it on. 
 
 We think there are indications that the State Legislatures 
 will render assistance to an almost unlimited extent. When it is 
 made manifest that colonization can an 1 will be prosecuted on a 
 scale of grandeur and magnificence equal to its merits, the whole 
 country will unite in favor and liberality. 
 
 We huve the control of the number of emigrants who may be 
 sent in these steamships. We are ?wt bound to send any specific 
 number. They are bound to take as many as we want to send. 
 But we shall take good care not to send more than the Republic 
 can softly receive; nor more than we have the means of paying 
 
 ff 
 
77 
 
 tne passage of, and comfortably settling in Liberia ? This is our 
 Hafe-guard. 
 
 Let it be remembered, that it will be some two or three years 
 before the steamships will be ready for operation. This will give 
 time for cont-idenition, for preparation, and for gathering up the 
 resources for a grand demon^tration of what can be done. The 
 work is worthy of a nation's energy ! why may we not hope that 
 it will receive it ? 
 
 Does any one say, « the time has not yet come .^" Are you 
 sure of it ? Is not this the day of great things ? How rapid has 
 been the march of iir)provement during the last few year.- ! Who 
 can predict what is next to come ? is it not a fiict that the Gov- 
 ernment of Liberia is now firmly established ? Do ihey not want 
 more citizens of education and influence ? Are there not thou- 
 sands of acres of the richest land there, w-ailing for cultivation ? 
 Have we not all been for years looking to the time when the work 
 of colonization should be carried on with means and re.-ources 
 adequate to the greatness of the work ? How much longer, then, 
 shall we wait before we make the attempt to sum.mon these 
 means, and enter on these enlarged operations ? Has not the 
 time fully come ? We are persuaded it has. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the American Colonization Society, 
 on January 16th, 1S50, tlie Hon. H"NRV ("lay was elected Pre- 
 sident of the Society, and the following gentlemen were elected 
 Vice Presidents: 
 
 1. General John H. Cocke, of Virginia. 
 
 2. Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts. 
 
 3. Charles F. Mercer, of Florida. 
 
 4. Rev. Jeremiah Day, D. D., of Connecticut. 
 
 5. Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New York. 
 
 6. Louis McLane, of Baltimore. 
 
 7. Moses Allen, of New York. 
 
 8. General W. Jones, of Wa.^hington. 
 
 9. Joseph Gales, of Washington. 
 
78 
 
 10. Right Rev. Wm. Meade, D. D., Bishop of Virginia. 
 
 11. John McDonogh, of Louisiana. 
 
 12. Rev. fames O. Andrews, Biahop of the M. E. Church 
 
 13. William Maxwell, of Virginia. 
 
 14. Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio. 
 
 15. Walter Lowrie, of New York. 
 
 16. Jacob Burnet, of Ohio. 
 
 17. Dr. Stephen Duncan, of Mississippi. 
 
 18. William C. Rives, of Virginia. 
 
 19. Rev. J. Laurie, D. D., of Washington. 
 
 20. Rev. Wm. Winans, of Mississippi. 
 
 21. James Boorman, of New York. 
 
 22. Henry A. Foster, ot New York. 
 
 23. Dr. John Ker, of Mississippi. 
 
 24. Robert Campbell, of Georgia. 
 
 25. Peter D. Vroom, of New Jersey. 
 
 26. James Garland, of Virginia. 
 
 27. Right Hon. Lord Bexley, of London. 
 
 28. Willard Hull, of Delaware. 
 
 29. Right Rev. Bishop Otey, of Tennessee. 
 80. Gerard Ralston, of London. 
 
 31. Rev. Courtland Van Rensselaer, of New Jersey. 
 
 32. Dr. Hodgkin, of London. 
 
 83. Rev. £. Burgess, D. D., of Massachusetts. 
 
 84. Thos. R. Hazard, of Rhode Island. 
 
 85. Dr. Thomas Massie, of Virginia. 
 
 86. Major General Winfield Scott, of Washington. 
 
 37. Rev. A. Alexander, D. D., of New Jersey. 
 
 38. L. Q. C. Elmer, of New Jersey. 
 89. James Railey, of Mississippi. 
 
 40. Rev. Geo. W. Bethune, D. D., of Philadelphia. 
 
 41. Rev. C. C. Cuyler, D. D., of Philadelphia. 
 
 42. Elliot Cresson, of Philadelphia. 
 
 43. Anson G. Phelps, of New York. 
 
 44. Rev. Leonard Woods, D. D., of Massachusetts. 
 
 < 
 
79 
 
 45. Jonathan Hide, of Maine. 
 
 46. Rt>v. Beverly VVai^h, Bishop M. E. Church, Baltimore. 
 
 47. Rev. Dr. W. B. Johnxon, oi Suuth Caioliaa. 
 
 48. Mostvs Siiv ' mid, Baliimore. 
 
 49. Rihhop Mcllvuiti, of Ohio. 
 
 fiO. Rev. Dr. Edgar, Nashville, Tennessee. 
 51. Rev. P. Liiidaley, D D., of Tennessee. 
 
 62. Hon. J. R. Underwood, of Kentucky. 
 
 63. Rev. J. J. Janeway, D. D., of New Jersey. 
 
 64. H. L. Lumpkin, Esq., Athens, Georgia. 
 
 65. James Lenox, of New York. 
 
 66. Bi-hopSoule, D. D., of Tennessee. 
 
 67. Professor T. C. Upham, of Maine. 
 
 68. Hon. Thomas Corwin, of Ohio. 
 
 69. Hon. Thos. W. W>!!iams, of Connecticut. 
 
 60. Hon. Simon Gr^enleaf, of MassachuseUs. 
 
 61. Rev. John Early, D. D., of Virginia. 
 
 62. Rev. Lovick Pierce, of Georgia. 
 
 63. Hon. R. J. Walker, of Mississippi. 
 
 64. Samuel Gurney, England. 
 
 65. Charles McMicken, Esq., Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 66. John Bell, M. D. Philadelpliia, Pennsylvania.