In 1852, Frederick P. Stanton, of Tennessee, in an address before the American Colonization Society, advocated the removal of the free negroes to Africa. He believed this step would eliminate sectionalism and largely solve the problem of the runaway which, he thought, was mainly due to the influence of the free negro over the slave. He was also apprehensive of the political influence which the free negroes might come to have.[73] He maintained that the national government could remove the negroes as well as the Indians.[74]
Senator John Bell, of Tennessee, in a letter to James R. Doolittle, October 18, 1859, advocated the acquisition by Congress of some territory south of the United States to be set aside as an asylum for emancipated negroes. He believed that such a settlement of the problem would be a “concordant” between the North and the South.[75]
In 1860, Hon. N. G. Taylor, of Tennessee, in an address before the American Colonization Society, advocated the colonization of the free blacks for moral and commercial reasons. He believed that the negro should be returned to his native home and that Africa colonized by American negroes would naturally become a great commercial ally of the United States.[76]
It is seen from the arguments of these distinguished Tennesseans that colonization of the free blacks was to them a pro-slavery, rather than an anti-slavery, movement. It was pro-slavery in that it made for the security of slavery, but it was anti-slavery in that, in Tennessee after 1831, emancipation could take place only on the condition of removal from the state. The prophecy that the negroes would receive the franchise is interesting in the light of what actually happened. Undoubtedly, the removal of the free blacks from the United States would have lessened friction between the North and the South.
The colonization movement in Tennessee was a failure either as an abolition or as a colonizing agency. There were only 287 free negroes sent to Liberia from Tennessee from 1820 to 1866.[77] A few went to Hayti. Manumission was able to number only 7,300 free negroes in the state in 1860. Of course, free negroes were constantly leaving the state, especially after 1831, but not in any considerable number. The greatest good that came from these movements was the fostering of a humanitarian spirit toward the negro.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The Knoxville Gazette, January 23, 1797.
[2] American Historical Review, V, 599.
[3] Indiana Historical Society Publication, Vol. 12, p. 236.