Nineteenth Congress, first Session.

February 18, 1825.

The following resolution was submitted to the Senate of the United States, by Mr. Rufus King, of New York:

Resolved, That, as soon as the portion of the existing funded debt of the United States, for the payment of which the public land of the United States is pledged, shall have been paid off, then, and thenceforth, the whole of the public land of the United States, with the net proceeds of all future sales thereof, shall constitute or form a fund, which is hereby appropriated; and the faith of the United States is pledged that the said fund shall be inviolably 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, as, by the laws of the 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, the Rev. R. R. Gurley.

Montpelier, December 29, 1831.

Dear sir: I received in due time your letter of the 21st 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 of the pen, that I could not do justice “to the principles and measures of the Colonization Society, 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 supposes. I may observe, in brief, that the society had always my good wishes, though with hopes of its success less sanguine than were entertained by others, found 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 difficulties 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 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. I never considered the main difficulty of the great work as lying in the deficiency of emancipation, but in an inadequacy of asylums for such a growing mass of population, 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 slaveholding States are looking forward to interpositions in different forms, that must have a powerful 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 removal of such a number to so great a distance, my thoughts and hopes have 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 object in that light, and would be willing to let the national domain he a resource in effecting it.

Should it be remarked that the States, though all may be interested 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 benefited are those whose cessions created the fund to be disposed of.

Extract of a letter from the Hon. John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United Hates, to the Rev. R. R. Gurley, dated

Richmond, December 14, 1831.

The great object of the society, I presume, is to obtain pecuniary aids. Application will undoubtedly be made, I hope successfully, to the several State legislatures, by the societies formed within them, respectively. It is extremely desirable that they should pass permanent laws on the subject; and the excitement produced by the late insurrection 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 State 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 immediate contributions will receive attention. It is possible, though not probable, that more people of color may be disposed to migrate, than can be provided for with the funds the society may be enabled to command. Under this impression I suggested, some years past, to one or two of the board of managers, to allow a small additional bounty in lands to those who would pay their own passage, 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 who infest those seas. The power of the Government to afford this aid is not, I believe, contested. I regret that its power to grant pecuniary aid is not equally free from question. On this subject I have always thought, and still think, that the proposition made by Mr. King, in the Senate, is the most unexceptionable, and the most effective, that can be devised.

The fund would probably operate as rapidly as would be desirable, when we take into view the other resources which might come in aid of it; and its application would be, perhaps, less exposed to those constitutional objections which are made in the South, than the application of money drawn from the treasury and raised by taxes. The lands are the properly of the United Slates, and have heretofore been disposed of by the Government, under the idea of absolute ownership.

Acts and Resolutions of State Legislatures in relation to Colonization.

STATE OF VERMONT.

Vermont Legislature, Nov. 12, 1827.

On the petition of the Vermont Colonization Society, the committee reported a resolution, instructing their Senators and Members in Congress to use their exertions in procuring the passage 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 Colonization Society, 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 eminently deserving the attention and aid of Congress, so far as shall be consistent with the powers of Congress, the rights of the several States of the Union, and the rights of the individuals who are the objects of those efforts.

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 General Government to aid the laudable designs of that society, in such manner as Congress, in its wisdom, may deem expedient, and is consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States.

STATE OF NEW YORK.

Resolutions of the Senate, April 13, 1832.

Mr. Tallmadge, from the select committee to which was referred 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 approve 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 mitigate 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 consideration and patronage of the citizens of this State.

Resolved, That these resolutions be transmitted to the honorable the Assembly, for their consideration.

The resolutions passed the House of Assembly with hardly a dissenting voice.

STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Resolution, 1829.

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, That, in the opinion of this General Assembly, the American Colonization Society eminently deserves the support of the National Government; and that our Senators be directed, and that the Representatives 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 Assembly 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 mulattoes.

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 promote, in the councils of the nation, measures for removing from this country to Africa the free colored population who may be 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.

STATE OF MARYLAND.

Resolution of the House of Delegates, 1818.

By the House of Delegates, Jan. 26, 1818.

Resolved, unanimously, That the Governor be requested to communicate to the President of the United State and to our Senators and Representatives in Congress, the opinion of this General Assembly, that a wise and provident policy suggests the expediency, 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 colonization 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, either by the disturbed state of other nations, or domestic 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 African 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 obtaining a territory on the coast of Africa, or at some other place not within 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 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 President of the United States in the attainment of the above object: Provided, 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 appointment of a joint committee to take into consideration the expediency 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 OF 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.

Mr. 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 are hereby, instructed, and that the Representatives be, and they are hereby, requested, to give to the Government of the United States any 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 American Colonization Society, have had that subject under consideration, 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, respecting the objects of this society, or the effects of its labor.

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 philanthropists 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 laudable objects of that society. They, therefore, refer to the same as a part of this report. Your committee recommend the adoption of the following resolutions:

Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That they view, with deep and friendly interest, the exertions of the American Colonization Society in establishing an asylum on the coast of Africa for the free people of color of the United States; and that the Senators and Representatives in Congress from this State be, and they are hereby, requested to 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 General Government, so far as shall be deemed consistent with the safety and interest of the United States.

Resolved, That the Governor he requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolution to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress.

Joint resolutions.

During the year 1828 the following joint resolutions passed the Senate of Kentucky, with only three dissenting voices:

Resolved, &c, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress be requested to use their best endeavors to procure an appropriation of money of Congress to aid, so far as is consistent with 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 Representatives in Congress, and to the Governors of the several States.

STATE 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 the 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 the 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.

Resolved, That the Governor be, and he is hereby, 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; passed session of 1847-’8.

Whereas efforts have been made to create the impression that the citizens of the free States desire to interfere with the institution 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 concurring herein, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to employ all constitutional means in their power to procure ample resources by the Federal Government 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 copy of the above preamble and resolution to each of our Senators and Representatives, with a request that the subject be brought before Congress.

Note.—New Jersey, Connecticut, and several other States have adopted resolutions similar to the above; and in most of them the resolutions have been repeated from time to time, down to a recent date.

Extracts from the report of the Committee of the House of Representatives 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 began, 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 State 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, expressive of the interest which the State felt in the subject, and of the importance attached to it; and at length the Governor 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 States; was characterized 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.” Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, and Georgia were the first to respond to the invitation invoking their assistance. They passed resolutions recommending the subject to the country, and generally announced their accordance in the opinion, expressed 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 decided approbation of the scheme of African colonization, and the citizens and Legislature 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 population 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, industrious, 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 improvement, 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 republican 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.

The annual imports from western Africa into this country probably 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 varied and valuable productions of the African climate. It is of infinite importance that the natives of Africa should be convinced that agricultural labor, and the substitution of lawful trade for the infamous commerce in human beings, will be for their advantage; and that, in their intercourse with them, our own merchants should possess every privilege granted to those of England, 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 committee 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 important 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.

At the 31st 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:

“It is now nearly thirty years since Mr. Finley, Mr. Caldwell, and some other gentlemen, met by agreement with a view to form 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 prejudice; that it should be expelled from our minds, and that we ought to recognise in men, though of different color from ourselves, 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 incontestible 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 practicable, 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 colonizing 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 colored men, and thus to demonstrate to the world that colonization was practicable.

“It has been truly stated, that from the day of its formation to the present hour, the Society has been surrounded with difficulties. It has had to stand the fire of batteries both in front and rear, and upon both flanks. Extremes of opinion and of action, which could unite in nothing else, united in assaulting us. 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 work of colonization, a vast amount of benefit 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 being 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 we 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 purpose to show the power of colonization, in competent hands, fully to carry out the benevolent ends we have in view, to work all the great results for which this Society was formed. Our purpose is to demonstrate to the American people, that if they choose to take hold of this great project in their State Legislatures, or otherwise, the end sought is practicable, and the principle of colonization is 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 never 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 Christian 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 to the shores of Africa? Africans themselves by birth, or sharing at least African blood, will not all their feelings, all their best affections, 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 of the missionaries throughout the globe. Why, gentlemen, what have we heard? In the colony of Liberia there are now twenty-five places of public 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.

“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 effected by the agent we dispatched to Africa for that purpose, the first colonists, about twenty-five years since, left the American shores, and were safely transplanted to the land of their ancestors.

“I know it was then urged, as it has been since, that other places might have been selected with equal advantage. I do not concur in that opinion. Look at the expense alone. It has been stated in your report that the sum of fifty dollars is sufficient 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 could 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 so much propriety as to the coast of Africa. Besides, in any other place that might be selected, you would deprive yourselves of accomplishing 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 mistaken, the immigration from abroad into the port of New 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 numbers to meet the annual increase of our free colored people not only, but, as I believe, that of the slave population also? They come in obedience to one of the great laws of our nature; they have come under that efficient motive which propels men to all enterprises—the desire to better their condition. A like motive will sway the free blacks when enlightened as to the real facts of the case. If they reach the shores of Africa, whether by their own means, or by the aid and agency of others, their position will be physically, morally, and politically better than by any possibility it ever can be here. It is not our office to attempt impracticabilities; to amalgamate two races which God himself, by a difference 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 States 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 him 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 send 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 colored 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 victims either to the climate, or to the tomahawk of 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 Jamestown 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 enterprises 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 its waste of waters, that has not been penetrated and traversed by the enterprise, the skill, and the courage of our New England 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 displayed 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 emigrants, 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 addition to all these, there are many thousands more in the United States now seeking the advantages of colonization through the means held out by this Society. As far then as we have gone, good is done.

“Is it not better that those four or five thousand emigrants should be there, than that they should have remained here? Is it not better for themselves, is it not better for us? Every year the progress of our colony becomes more and more cheering; and, with every free African sent over to it, those prospects brighten, and so much more of good is done. True, we have done all we desire to do. Glad should we be should every free colored man throughout all the States go there, and become free indeed. But it requires time to accomplish great national affairs. The creation of a nation is not the work of a day or of a century. For two or three centuries the embryo nation of the Israelites remained captives in Egypt. But when this Government, or the State governments, shall lend the enterprise their powerful aid, its progress will not be so slow. And when the colony shall have made further advances, it will be self-sustained and increased by its own commerce and marine. I speak not, of course, of any unconstitutional aid. Incidental aid, at least, may be given it in strict accordance with the Constitution. On this subject the legislature of Maryland has set us a noble example. She cherishes her infant 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 revenue, without aid, save the voluntary contributions of the charitable and humane, has this Society continued its labors. During that period it has carried on a defensive war. It has made treaties. It has purchased territory, and that to a large extent; 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 Europe and of the United States, who have united their efforts for the suppression of the slave trade, would consent to lend 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 much more successful than they have hitherto found themselves in putting an end to that detested traffic. I believe that 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 countrymen, 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, gentlemen of the Society, on the eminent success which has already crowned your benevolent labors. A new republic has sprung into existence under your auspices. Yes; a free, representative, constitutional republic, formed on the model of our own beloved institutions. 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 already been done, or lift our eyes to the future and cast them down the long vista of coming time—when we may anticipate, as we are warranted 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 domestic happiness—when we behold those blessings realized on that continent, which I trust in God we are long, long destined to enjoy on this, and think how the hearts of posterity will be gladdened by such a spectacle—how ought our own to exult in hope and to swell with gratitude?

“Go on, then, gentlemen; go on in your noble cause. For myself, I shall soon leave you and this stage of human action forever. I may never occupy this chair again; but I trust that the spirit which originated and which has sustained this Society will long survive me, and that you may long continue, now that our African republic is at length born, to discharge the offices of guardianship, and aid, and co-operation, and ever give to the interests of African freedom, civilization and social happiness, your best energies and most fervent prayers. From this auspicious hour, even to the end of time, or until the great object of the amicable separation 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 whose smiles, I believe, have hitherto been extended to it, I bid you a cordial farewell.”

Resolutions delivered and proposed by Hon. R. W. Thompson, Hon. R. J. Walker, Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll, Hon. R. M. McLane, Hugh Maxwell, esq., and others.

At the 32d annual meeting of the American Colonization Society, held at Washington, January 16, 1849, the Hon. R. W. Thompson, of Indiana, offered the following resolution, which was adopted:

“Resolved, That the history of the past year, as developed in the report which has just been read, has strengthened our confidence 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 appropriate remarks, introduced the following resolution:

“Resolved, That in founding a new republican empire on the shores of Africa, introducing there civilization and Christianity; in banishing 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 followed by a rapid advancement in their condition; in laying the foundation of a system destined to facilitate the ultimate separation of the two races of Ham and Japhet in this Confederacy, by universal consent, for the advantage of both, and the gradual and peaceful restoration of the former to the land of their forefathers, regenerated by the light of Christianity, and trained in the principles of our free institutions: and especially in fixing a basis upon which the friends of religion and humanity, of freedom, of the Constitution, and of the Union, can every where, in every State, north and south, east and west, unite their efforts for the advancement 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 whole 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 mankind.”

The Hon. J. R. Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, seconded the resolution, and addressed the meeting thereupon, after which it was adopted.

The Hon. Robert M. McLane, of Maryland, offered the following preamble and resolutions, which were adopted:

“Whereas the institution of domestic slavery in the United States exists as the creature of local municipal law, so recognised and respected in the Federal Constitution: Therefore—

“Resolved, That in all action affecting this institution in its social or political aspect, the American citizen and statesman 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 this institution.

“Resolved, further, That the efforts of the American Colonization 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 wherein the institution of slavery is sanctioned by municipal law.”

Hugh Maxwell, esq., of New York, was called upon, and having made an address, offered the following resolution, which was adopted:

“Resolved, That the influence which the scheme of African colonization exerts to suppress the slave trade, to spread the English language and the principles of republican government, and to open new markets for American products, and extend American commerce, should commend it to the favorable consideration of the respective State Legislatures and of the General Government.”

Opinion of the Hon. Daniel Webster on colonization at the expense of the General Government.

The Hon. Daniel Webster, in his great speech in the United States Senate, 7th of March, 1850, spoke as follows:

“I have one other remark to make. In my observations 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 propose on that subject, because I do not deem myself so competent as other gentlemen to consider it, that if any gentleman from the South shall propose a scheme of colonization 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 world, I should be quite disposed to incur almost any degree of expense to accomplish 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 purpose as to relieve, in whole or in part, or in any way to diminish or deal beneficially 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 of dollars, the proceeds of the sales of the public lands ceded by her. If the residue should be sold at the same rate, the whole aggregate will exceed two hundred millions of dollars. If Virginia 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 purpose.”

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, superstitious 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 energies of the natives in their inequalities of temperature, soil, and surface, inviting the ingenuity and enterprise of man to overcome them, and in the varieties of their products tempting the interchanges 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 waiting for the approach of influences from abroad. No savage people have ever advanced to a civilized state without intercommunication 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 land to which civilization must 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, 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 accomplish something for her redemption through the instrumentality of white men. Who, then, is to do this work?

“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 continent now in America, will he not say, These are the people appointed for that work?

“Let us not be impatient or presumptuous. These African people are passing to their destiny along the same path which has been trod by other nations, through a mixture of hardship, of endurance; but in a land of light, and amid a civilized society. They are preparing to accomplish a work for their native continent, 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 Hon. Simon Greenleaf, President of the Society, dated Cambridge, 28th May, 1849.

“I have for many years felt an interest in the subject of African colonization. In the winter of 1831, the Legislature of Massachusetts passed a resolution, requesting the Senators and Representatives 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 undertaken was of the highest interest and importance, second to no one of the enterprises undertaken by the philanthropy of the age. The views entertained by me at that time are set forth in a speech before the Society, in the Hill of the House of Representatives at Washington, made on the 16th of January, 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 British Government at London.

“Since that time, the recognition of the political independence of Liberia, by the leading European powers, is an event well calculated 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 Africa, composed of citizens who by birth are (the greater part of them) our own countrymen; but who will carry to the home of their ancestors means and facilities for promoting the civilization and Christianization of that continent, which Providence has confided to them, and to them alone.

“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 descendants of Africa throughout the world. I am led to the opinion, 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 civilization; 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 introduction of Christianity, and with it the languages, improved arts, and commerce of Europe and America.

“These effects have immediately begun to show themselves, wherever the African coast has been colonized from countries disposed in good faith to abolish the slave trade; and I confess I see no other mode for effecting the object.”

Monrovia, (Liberia,) May 17, 1850.

Dear Sir: I have just returned from the windward coast, and find here the U. S. brig Bainbridge, on the eve of sailing for the United States, via Porto 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 territories 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 confidently look to you to aid us in meeting these liabilities at maturity. Had I not deemed it absolutely important to secure the Gallinas, to prevent the revival of the slave trade there, I would not have paid the price demanded. The purchase of Gallinas and the neighboring tracts will cost us about $9,500.

The chiefs were aware of the object of the purchase, and urged strenuously the sacrifice, as they consider it, they must make in abandoning forever the slave trade, and demanded a large sum as an equivalent. In addition to the amount stated above, we have obligated ourselves to appoint commissioners immediately to settle 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 equal to our ability.

The schooner “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 formerly carried on to a great extent.

Extracts from the leading article in the African Repository and Colonial Journal for May, 1850, (the official organ of the Colonization Society,) 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 emigrate. This has already been done. The work has been slow in its progress, as it were piling one stone upon other, till now the foundation 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 thing invites them there, and these four steamers afford the facilities for their reaching 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 accomplish a thousand fold more for the suppression 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 is the way in which it may be done.

We may ask another question. Is it desirable that American commerce should be extended? Undoubtedly. Here then is a way in which it may be done. The 150,000,000 inhabitants of Africa, now all naked, must be clothed, 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 civilized? How shall a market be opened there for all the articles manufactured in the United States, and for the surplus productions of our soil? How shall the inexhaustible treasures of that 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 struggling to achieve. Already more than 80,000 of the natives have put themselves under the laws of Liberia, and are rising in the scale of humanity. Already there is a large demand for the productions of this country.

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 policy, 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 merchant, 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 which 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 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 here, true liberty! We provide for them a means of escape from these depressing circumstances, and place them in a situation were nothing can prevent them from rising to the highest elevation of which they are capable.

Under these circumstances, what is the duty of the Government 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 patriotism, demand a different policy.

Let it be remembered that the legislation of our country touching the extinction of the slave trade, conferred upon her a glory as imperishable as the Constitution herself. A just regard to our national character calls for a perseverance in that policy, until its wisdom and benignity shall be vindicated in the full accomplishment of its ends; the giving to Africa civilization and the arts, and a lawful commerce!

Extracts from the July No. of the African 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 decidedly in favor of colonization, and of national and State appropriations 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 and will be prosecuted on a scale of grandeur and magnificence equal to its merits, the whole country will unite in favor and liberality.

We have the control of the number of emigrants who may be sent in these steamships. We are not 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 safely receive; nor more than we have the means of paying the passage of, and comfortably settling in Liberia? This is our safe-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 consideration, for preparation, and for gathering up the resources for a grand demonstration 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 improvement during the last few years! Who can predict what is next to come? Is it not a fact that the Government of Liberia is now firmly established? Do they not want more citizens of education and influence? Are there not thousands of acres of the richest land there, waiting 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 resources adequate to the greatness of the work? How much longer, then, shall we wait before we make the attempt to summon 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, 1850, the Hon. Henry Clay was elected President of the Society, and the following gentlemen were elected Vice Presidents: