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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11353 ***
+
+JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
+
+HERBERT B. ADAMS, Editor
+
+History is past Politics and Politics present History--_Freeman_
+
+NINTH SERIES
+
+X
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF LIBERIA
+
+BY J.H.T. McPHERSON, Ph.D.
+
+
+
+_Fellow in History, Johns Hopkins University, 1889; Instructor in
+History, University of Michigan, 1890; Professor of History and
+Politics, University of Georgia, 1891._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+1891
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  I. INTRODUCTION
+ II. THE COLONIZATION IDEA
+III. THE COLONIZATION MOVEMENT
+ IV. MARYLAND IN LIBERIA
+  V. THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA
+ VI. THE HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF COLONIZATION
+      1. As a Southern Movement toward Emancipation
+      2. As a Check to the Slave Trade
+      3. As a Step toward the Civilization of Africa
+      4. As a Missionary Effort
+      5. As a Refuge to the Negro from the Pressure of Increasing
+         Competition in America
+AUTHORITIES
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY NOTE.
+
+
+This paper claims to be scarcely more than a brief sketch. It is an
+abridgment of a History of Liberia in much greater detail, presented as
+a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Johns
+Hopkins University. I have devoted the leisure hours of several years to
+the accumulation of materials, which I hope will prove the basis of a
+larger work in the future.
+
+J.H.T. McP.
+
+UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, June, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF LIBERIA.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+There are but few more interesting spots in Africa than the little
+corner of the west coast occupied by the Republic of Liberia. It has
+been the scene of a series of experiments absolutely unique in
+history--experiments from which we are to derive the knowledge upon
+which we must rely in the solution of the weighty problems connected
+with the development of a dark continent, and with the civilization of
+hundreds of millions of the human race. Many questions have arisen which
+have not been settled to our complete satisfaction. Is the Negro capable
+of receiving and maintaining a superimposed civilization? Froude
+declares that "the worst enemies of the blacks are those who persist in
+pressing upon them an equality which nature has denied them. They may
+attain it in time if they are fairly treated, but they can attain it
+only on condition of going through the discipline and experience of
+hundreds of years, through which the white race had to pass before it
+was fit for political rights. If they are raised to a position for which
+they are unqualified, they can only fall back into a state of
+savagery."[1] Upon the truth or error of this view how much depends! It
+is shared by many; some even believe that the condition of Liberia tends
+to confirm it, thinking they discern signs of incipient decay. But the
+great preponderance of opinion is on the other side. The weight of
+evidence shows the colonists have at the lowest estimate retained the
+civilization they took with them. Many maintain that there has been a
+sensible advance. A recent traveller describes them as "in mancher
+Hinsicht schon hypercultivirt."
+
+What might be called a third position is taken by one of the most
+prominent writers of the race, E.W. Blyden, the widely-known President
+of Liberia College. The radical difference in race and circumstance
+must, he thinks, make African civilization essentially different from
+European: not inferior, but different. The culture which the blacks have
+acquired, or may attain in further contact with foreign influence, will
+be used as a point of departure in future intelligent development along
+lines following the characteristics of the race. This tendency to
+differentiate he regards as natural and inevitable; it ought to be
+recognized and encouraged in every way, that the time may be hastened
+when a great negro civilization, unlike anything we have yet seen, shall
+prevail in Africa and play its part in the world's history.
+
+If we make allowance for the errors and mistakes of an untrained and
+inexperienced people, the history of Liberia may be regarded as a
+demonstration of the capacity of the race for self-government. Upon the
+capability of individuals is reflected the highest credit. The
+opportunities for a rounded-out and fully developed culture afforded by
+the peculiar conditions of life in the Republic produced a number of men
+who deserve unqualified admiration. From the earliest days of the
+colony, when Elijah Johnson upheld the courage of the little band in the
+midst of hostile swarms of savages, to the steadfast statesmanship of
+Russwurm and the stately diplomacy of Roberts, there have stood forth
+individuals of a quality and calibre that fill with surprise those who
+hold the ordinary opinion of the possibilities of the Negro. The trials
+of the Republic have afforded a crucial test in which many a character
+has shown true metal. It is not too much to assert that the very highest
+type of the race has been the product of Liberia.
+
+There are other aspects in which our tropical offspring has for us a
+vital interest. Perhaps the most important is the connection it will
+have in the future with what is called the Negro Problem in our own
+country. There have been and are thoughtful men who see in colonization
+the only solution of its difficulties. Others ridicule the very
+suggestion. It is a question into which we do not propose to go. But
+there is scarcely any doubt that when the development of Liberia is a
+little more advanced, and when communication with her ports becomes less
+difficult, and when the population of the United States grows more dense
+and presses more upon the limits of production, there will be a large
+voluntary migration of negroes to Africa. And no one will deny that the
+existence of a flourishing Republic of the black race just across the
+Atlantic will react powerfully upon all questions relating to our own
+colored population.
+
+But let us not venture too deeply into this theme. Another claim of
+Liberia upon the sympathetic interest of the entire people, is that it
+represents our sole attempt at colonial enterprise. It is true the
+movement was largely individual, but the effort came from a widespread
+area of the country; moreover, the part played by the National
+Government was not only important, but essential. Without its friendly
+intervention, the plan could never have been carried out. The action
+carries with it some responsibility. The United States might well
+exercise some protective care, might now and then extend a helping hand,
+and let the aggressive Powers of Europe see that Liberia is not
+friendless, and that encroachment upon her territory will not be
+tolerated.
+
+A few words upon the topography of the country and upon the aborigines
+may not be out of place. Liberia is by no means the dreary waste of sand
+and swamp that some imagine it. The view from the sea has been
+described as one of unspeakable beauty and grandeur. From the low-lying
+coast the land rises in a terraced slope--a succession of hills and
+plateaux as far as the eye can reach, all covered with the dense
+perennial verdure of the primeval forest. Perhaps the best authority on
+the natural features of the country is the zoölogist of the Royal Museum
+of Leyden, J. Büttikofer, who has made Liberia several visits and spent
+several years in its scientific exploration. The account of his
+investigations is most interesting. Small as is the area of the country
+all kinds of soil are represented, and corresponding to this variety is
+a remarkably rich and varied flora. Amidst this luxuriance is found an
+unusually large number of products of commercial value. Cotton, indigo,
+coffee, pepper, the pineapple, gum tree, oil palm, and many others grow
+wild in abundance, while a little cultivation produces ample crops of
+rice, corn, potatoes, yams, arrowroot, ginger, and especially sugar,
+tobacco, and a very superior grade of coffee. The fertility of the soil
+renders possible the production of almost any crop.
+
+The fauna of the land is scarcely less remarkable in variety and
+abundance. The larger animals, including domestic cattle and horses, do
+not thrive on the coast, but are plentiful farther inland. On the
+Mandingo Plateau, elephants are not uncommon. Buffaloes, leopards,
+tigers, antelopes, porcupines, the great ant-eater, divers species of
+monkeys, and numerous other animals are found, besides many varieties of
+birds.
+
+The native Africans inhabiting this territory are probably more than a
+million in number, and belong to several different stocks of somewhat
+varying characteristics. The most common type is of medium size, well
+formed, coal-black in color and rather good-looking. They are
+intelligent and easily taught, but are extremely indolent. Their
+paganism takes the form of gross superstition, as seen in their constant
+use of gree-gree charms and in their sassa-wood ordeal. Like all the
+races of Africa, they are polygamists; and as the women manage the farms
+and do nearly all the work, a man's wealth and importance are often
+estimated by the number of his wives. Domestic slavery is universal
+among them, the great majority of slaves being obtained by capture in
+war. These inter-tribal wars were once almost constant, and their
+prevention requires the utmost vigilance of the Liberian authorities.
+
+The natives harvest rice and cassada; supply the coasting trader's
+demand for palm-oil; raise tobacco; procure salt by evaporating
+sea-water; engage in hunting and fishing. They carry on a number of rude
+industries such as the manufacture of basket-work, hats, mats,
+fish-nets; a crude sort of spinning and weaving. Iron ore exists in
+abundance, and the natives have long known how to smelt it and obtain
+the metal, from which they manufacture rude weapons, spurs, bits,
+stirrups and kitchen utensils. The cheapness of imported iron ware has
+driven out this interesting art on the coast; but in the interior it is
+still practised by the Mandingoes, who are also fine goldsmiths, and
+manufacture highly ornamented rings. There are also silversmiths among
+the Veys, who do good work. The leather industry, too, has been carried
+to some perfection.
+
+With all their disadvantages the natives seem to extract a good deal of
+enjoyment out of existence. They are very fond of singing and dancing to
+the rude strains of a drum and harp, and usually prolong their revelries
+far into the night.
+
+Taken as a whole, the native character has many fine traits; and from
+the civilization and development of this part of her population, Liberia
+has much to hope.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE COLONIZATION IDEA.
+
+
+It is always a most interesting part of historic inquiry to search out
+the very earliest sources, the first feeble germ of the idea whose
+development we are investigating. It is difficult to decide from what
+one origin can be traced the continuous development of the idea which
+resulted in the birth of Liberia; but toward the close of the last
+century there arose a number of projects, widely differing in object and
+detail, which bore more or less directly upon it, each of which may be
+said to have contributed some special feature to the fully rounded and
+developed plan.
+
+The earliest of these sprang from the once notorious hot-bed of
+slavery--Newport, R.I. As early as 1773 the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, then
+widely known as a theological writer, and responsible for the system
+termed Hopkinsianism, conceived the idea of a missionary effort in
+Africa, undertaken by natives properly trained in the United States.[2]
+This at first did not include the conception of a permanent settlement;
+but on consultation with the Rev. Ezra Styles, afterward President of
+Yale, it developed into a definite plan for a colony. The scheme proved
+popular; it was widely advertised by sermons and circulars both in this
+and the mother country; and by 1776 funds had been collected, Negro
+students placed under suitable instruction at Princeton, and success
+seemed almost assured. The outbreak of the Revolution, however, swept
+away all the thought of carrying Hopkins' cherished enterprise into
+execution, and after peace was restored his most strenuous efforts
+failed to arouse the old interest. Later thinkers, however, found
+suggestion and encouragement in his labors.
+
+The colony founded at Sierra Leone by English philanthropists drew in
+part its inspiration from Hopkins' idea, and in turn suggested later
+American plans. After the celebrated decision of Lord Mansfield in the
+Somerset case (1772), many slaves escaped to England, where they
+congregated in the dens of London in helpless poverty and misery. James
+Ramsay's essay on Slavery soon turned public attention to the Negro, and
+Dr. Smeathman's letters suggested quite a scheme of colonization. A
+movement in behalf of the oppressed race asserted itself at the
+University of Cambridge, in which Clarkson, Wilberforce, Granville Sharp
+and others took part. As a result of these efforts some four hundred
+Negroes and sixty whites were landed at Sierra Leone in May, 1787.
+Disease and disorder were rife, and by 1791 a mere handful survived. The
+Sierra Leone Company was then incorporated; some 1,200 colonists from
+the Bahamas and Nova Scotia were taken over, and the settlement in spite
+of discouraging results was kept up by frequent reinforcements until
+1807, when it was made a Government colony and naval station. Its growth
+in population and commerce has since steadily increased, and it now
+numbers some 60,000 persons chiefly concentrated in the city of
+Freetown, and all blacks save one or two hundred.
+
+It may be as well to mention here two other sporadic attempts to lead
+colored colonists to Africa. In 1787 the gifted and erratic Dr. Wm.
+Thornton proposed himself to become the leader of a body of Rhode Island
+and Massachusetts colonists to Western Africa; he appears to have been
+in communication with Hopkins on the subject a year later, but the
+effort fell through for want of funds. The other is much later. Paul
+Cuffee, the son of a well-to-do Massachusetts freedman, had become by
+his talents and industry a prosperous merchant and ship-owner.
+Stimulated by the colony at Sierra Leone, and longing to secure liberty
+to his oppressed race, he determined to transport in his own vessels,
+and at his own expense, as many as he could of his colored brethren.
+Accordingly, in 1815, he sailed from Boston with about forty, whom he
+landed safely at Sierra Leone. He was about to take over on a second
+voyage a much larger number, when his benevolent designs were
+interrupted by death.
+
+It will be observed that the colonization plans hitherto unfolded had
+all been proposed for some missionary or similar benevolent object, and
+were to be carried out on a small scale and by private means. It is now
+time to consider one proposed from a widely different standpoint. As a
+political measure, as a possible remedy for the serious evils arising
+from slavery and the contact of races, it is not surprising to find
+Thomas Jefferson suggesting a plan of colonization. The evils of slavery
+none ever saw more clearly. "The whole commerce between master and
+slave," he quaintly says, "is a perpetual exercise of the most
+boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and
+degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this and learn to
+imitate it." And again, "With what execration should the statesman be
+loaded, who, permitting one-half the citizens thus to trample on the
+rights of the other, transforms these into despots and those into
+enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the amor patriae of
+the other.... I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is
+just."[3] Yet his equally clear perception of the evils sure to result
+from emancipation immediate and unqualified, makes him look to
+colonization as the only remedy. "Why not retain and incorporate the
+blacks into the state?" he asks, "Deep rooted prejudices entertained by
+the whites, ten thousand recollections by the blacks of the injuries
+they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which
+nature has made; and many other circumstances, will divide us into
+parties and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in the
+extermination of the one or the other race." After the lapse of a
+century how prophetic these words sound! Jefferson believed then that by
+colonization slavery was to be abolished. All slaves born after a
+certain date were to be free; these should remain with their parents
+till a given age, after which they should be taught at public expense
+agriculture and the useful arts. When full-grown they were to be
+"colonized to such a place as the circumstances of the time should
+render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of the
+household and handicraft arts, pairs of the useful domestic animals,
+etc.; to declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them
+our alliance and protection till they have acquired strength."
+
+Such in outline was Jefferson's contribution to the colonization idea.
+Its influence was unquestionably great: the "Notes on Virginia,"
+privately circulated after 1781, and at length published in 1787, went
+through eight editions before 1800, and must have been familiar to
+nearly all of those concerned in the formation of the Colonization
+Society.
+
+Clearer still must the details of Jefferson's project have been in the
+minds of the members of the Virginia Legislature in 1800, when, after
+the outbreak of a dangerous slave conspiracy in Richmond, they met in
+secret session to consult the common security. The resolution which they
+reached shows unmistakably Jefferson's influence. With the delicate if
+somewhat obscure periphrasis in which legislation concerning the Negro
+was traditionally couched, they enacted: "That the Governor be requested
+to correspond with the President of the United States on the subject of
+purchasing lands without the limits of this State whither persons
+obnoxious to the laws or dangerous to the peace of society may be
+removed."[4] An interesting correspondence ensued between Monroe, who
+was then Governor, and Jefferson. Both regarded the idea as something
+far more important than a mere penal colony. Monroe, too, saw in it a
+possible remedy for the evils of slavery, and refers to the matter as
+"one of great delicacy and importance, involving in a peculiar degree
+the future peace, tranquillity, and happiness" of the country. After
+much discussion Africa was selected as the only appropriate site, and
+approved by another Act of the Legislature. Jefferson lost no time in
+attempting to secure land for the colony, but his efforts met with no
+success. After a discouraging repulse from Sierra Leone, and the failure
+of several half-hearted attempts to obtain a footing elsewhere, the
+whole matter was allowed to sink into abeyance. For years a pall of
+secrecy concealed the scheme from public knowledge.
+
+In the meantime a new private movement toward colonization was started
+at the North. Samuel J. Mills organized at Williams College, in 1808,
+for missionary work, an undergraduate society, which was soon
+transferred to Andover, and resulted in the establishment of the
+American Bible Society and Board of Foreign Missions. But the topic
+which engrossed Mills' most enthusiastic attention was the Negro. The
+desire was to better his condition by founding a colony between the Ohio
+and the Lakes; or later, when this was seen to be unwise, in Africa. On
+going to New Jersey to continue his theological studies, Mills succeeded
+in interesting the Presbyterian clergy of that State in his project. Of
+this body one of the most prominent members was Dr. Robert Finley. Dr.
+Finley succeeded in assembling at Princeton the first meeting ever
+called to consider the project of sending Negro colonists to Africa.
+Although supported by few save members of the seminary, Dr. Finley felt
+encouraged to set out for Washington in December, 1816, to attempt the
+formation of a colonization society.
+
+Earlier in this same year there had been a sudden awakening of Southern
+interest in colonization. Toward the end of February, Gen. Charles
+Fenton Mercer accidentally had his attention called to the Secret
+Journals of the Legislature for the years 1801-5.[5] He had been for six
+years a member of the House of Delegates, in total ignorance of their
+existence. He at once investigated and was rewarded with a full
+knowledge of the Resolutions and ensuing correspondence between Monroe
+and Jefferson. Mercer's enthusiasm was at once aroused, and he
+determined to revive the Resolutions at the next meeting of the
+Legislature. In the meantime, imputing their previous failure to the
+secrecy which had screened them from public view, he brought the whole
+project conspicuously into notice. At the next session of the
+Legislature, in December, resolutions embodying the substance of the
+secret enactments were passed almost unanimously in both houses. Public
+attention had been in this way already brought to bear upon the
+advantages of Colonization when Finley set on foot the formation of a
+society in Washington. The interest already awakened and the
+indefatigable efforts of Finley and his friend Col. Charles Marsh, at
+length succeeded in convening the assembly to which the Colonization
+Society owes its existence. It was a notable gathering. Henry Clay, in
+the absence of Bushrod Washington, presided, setting forth in glowing
+terms the object and aspirations of the meeting. Finley's
+brother-in-law, Elias B. Caldwell was Secretary, and supplied the
+leading argument, an elaborate plea, setting forth the expediency of the
+project and its practicability in regard to territory, expense, and the
+abundance of willing colonists. The wide benevolent objects to be
+attained were emphasized. John Randolph of Roanoke, and Robert Wright of
+Maryland, dwelt upon the desirability of removing the turbulent
+free-negro element and enhancing the value of property in slaves.[6]
+Resolutions organizing the Society passed, and committees appointed to
+draft a Constitution and present a memorial to Congress. At an adjourned
+meeting a week later the constitution was adopted, and on January 1,
+1817, officers were elected.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE COLONIZATION MOVEMENT.
+
+
+With commendable energy the newly organized Society set about the
+accomplishment of the task before it. Plans were discussed during the
+summer, and in November two agents, Samuel J. Mills and Ebenezer
+Burgess, sailed for Africa to explore the western coast and select a
+suitable spot. They were cordially received in England by the officers
+of the African Institution, and by Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for
+the Colonies, who provided them with letters to Sierra Leone. Here they
+arrived in March, 1818, and were hospitably received, every facility
+being afforded them to prosecute their inquiries, though marked
+unwillingness to have a foreign colony established in the vicinity was
+not concealed. Their inspection was carried as far south as Sherbro
+Island, where they obtained promises from the natives to sell land to
+the colonists on their arrival with goods to pay for it. In May they
+embarked on the return voyage. Mills died before reaching home. His
+colleague made a most favorable report of the locality selected, though,
+as the event proved, it was a most unfortunate one.
+
+After defraying the expenses of this exploration the Society's treasury
+was practically empty. It would have been most difficult to raise the
+large sum necessary to equip and send out a body of emigrants; and the
+whole enterprise would have languished and perhaps died but for a new
+impelling force. Monroe, who ever since his correspondence with
+Jefferson in 1800, had pondered over "the vast and interesting objects"
+which colonization might accomplish, was now by an interesting chain of
+circumstances enabled to render essential aid.
+
+Though the importation of slaves had been strictly prohibited by the Act
+of Congress of March 2, 1807, no provision had been made for the care of
+the unfortunates smuggled in in defiance of the Statute. They became
+subject to the laws of the State in which they were landed; and these
+laws were in some cases so devised that it was profitable for the dealer
+to land his cargo and incur the penalty. The advertisements of the sale
+of such a cargo of "recaptured Africans" by the State of Georgia drew
+the attention of the Society and of Gen. Mercer in particular to this
+inconsistent and abnormal state of affairs. His profound indignation
+shows forth in the Second Annual Report of the Society, in which the
+attention of the public is earnestly drawn to the question; nor did he
+rest until a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives
+designed to do away with the evil. This bill became a law on March 3,
+1819.
+
+Provision was made for a more stringent suppression of the slave trade:
+new cruisers were ordered and bounties awarded for captures; but the
+clause which proved so important to the embryo colony was that dealing
+with the captured cargoes:
+
+"The President of the United States is hereby authorized to make such
+regulations and arrangements as he may deem expedient for the
+safe-keeping, support, and removal beyond the limits of the United
+States, of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color as may be so
+delivered and brought within their jurisdiction; and to appoint a proper
+person or persons residing upon the coast of Africa as agent or agents
+for receiving the negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color, delivered
+from on board vessels seized in the prosecution of the slave trade by
+commanders of the United States armed vessels." The sum of $100,000 was
+appropriated for carrying out the provisions of the Act. President
+Monroe determined to construe it as broadly as possible in aid of the
+project of colonization. After giving Congress, in his message,
+December 20, 1818, fair notice of his intention, no objection being
+made, he proceeded to appoint two agents, the Rev. Samuel Bacon, already
+in the service of the Colonization Society, and John P. Bankson as
+assistant, and to charter the ship Elizabeth. The agents were instructed
+to settle on the coast of Africa, with a tacit understanding that the
+place should be that selected by the Colonization Society; they were to
+provide accommodations sufficient for three hundred, supplying
+provisions, clothing, tools, and implements. It is important to note the
+essential part taken by the Government in the establishment of the
+colony, for this is often said to be purely the result of private
+enterprise; the inference tending to free the United States from any
+responsibility for the protection of its feeble offspring. It is true
+according to the letter, that the Government agency was separate from
+the colony: the agents were instructed "to exercise no power founded on
+the principle of colonization, or other principle than that of
+performing benevolent offices;" and again, "you are not to connect your
+agency with the views or plans of the Colonization Society, with which,
+under the law, the Government of the United States has no concern," Yet
+as a matter of fact the agency and colony were practically identical;
+and for years the resources of the Government were employed "to colonize
+recaptured Africans, to build homes for them, to furnish them with
+farming utensils, to pay instructors to teach them, to purchase ships
+for their convenience, to build forts for their protection, to supply
+them with arms and munitions of war, to enlist troops to guard them, and
+to employ the army and navy in their defence,"[7] These words of one
+unfriendly to the colony forcibly show the extent to which our national
+government was responsible for the experiment.
+
+When the Elizabeth was chartered the Society was notified that the
+Government agency was prepared to transport their first colonists; or
+more literally "agreed to receive on board such free blacks recommended
+by the Society as might be required for the purpose of the agency." For
+the expenses of the expedition $33,000 was placed in the hands of Mr.
+Bacon. Dr. Samuel A. Crozier was appointed by the Society as its agent
+and representative; and eighty-six negroes from various
+states--thirty-three men, eighteen women, and the rest children, were
+embarked. On the 6th of February, 1820, the Mayflower of Liberia weighed
+anchor in New York harbor, and, convoyed by the U.S. sloop-of-war Cyane,
+steered her course toward the shores of Africa. The pilgrims were kindly
+treated by the authorities at Sierra Leone, where they arrived on the
+ninth of March; but on proceeding to Sherbro Island they found the
+natives had reconsidered their promise, and refused to sell them land.
+While delayed by negotiations the injudicious nature of the site
+selected was disastrously shown. The low marshy ground and the bad water
+quickly bred the African fever, which soon carried off all the agents
+and nearly a fourth of the emigrants. The rest, weakened and
+disheartened were soon obliged to seek refuge at Sierra Leone.
+
+In March, 1821, a body of twenty-eight new emigrants under charge of
+J.B. Winn and Ephraim Bacon, reached Freetown in the brig Nautilus. Winn
+collected as many as he could of the first company, also the stores sent
+out with them, and settled the people in temporary quarters at Fourah
+Bay, while Bacon set out to explore the coast anew and secure suitable
+territory. An elevated fertile and desirable tract was at length
+discovered between 250 and 300 miles S.E. of Sierra Leone. This was the
+region of Cape Montserado. It seemed exactly suited to the purposes of
+the colonists, but the natives refused to sell their land for fear of
+breaking up the traffic in slaves; and the agent returned discouraged.
+Winn soon died, and Bacon returned to the United States. In November,
+Dr. Eli Ayres was sent over as agent, and the U.S. schooner Alligator,
+commanded by Lieutenant Stockton, was ordered to the coast to assist in
+obtaining a foothold for the colony. Cape Montserado was again visited;
+and the address and firmness of Lieutenant Stockton accomplished the
+purchase of a valuable tract of land.
+
+The cape upon which the settlers proposed to build their first
+habitations consists of a narrow peninsula or tongue of land formed by
+the Montserado River, which separates it from the mainland. Just within
+the mouth of the river lie two small islands, containing together less
+than three acres. To these, the Plymouth of Liberia, the colonists and
+their goods were soon transported. But again the fickle natives repented
+the bargain, and the settlers were long confined to "Perseverance
+Island," as the spot was aptly named. Space forbids entering on the
+interesting details of the difficulties they successfully encountered.
+After a number of thrilling experiences the emigrants, on April 25,
+1822, formally took possession of the cape, where they had erected rude
+houses for themselves; and from this moment we may date the existence of
+the colony. Their supplies were by this time sadly reduced; the natives
+were hostile and treacherous; fever had played havoc with the colonists
+in acclimating; and the incessant downpour of the rainy season had set
+in. Dr. Ayres became thoroughly discouraged, and proposed to lead them
+back to Sierra Leone. Then it was that Elijah Johnson, an emigrant from
+New York, made himself forever famous in Liberian history by declaring
+that he would never desert the home he had found after two years' weary
+quest! His firmness decided the wavering colonists; the agents with a
+few faint-hearted ones sailed off to America; but the majority remained
+with their heroic Negro leader. The little band, deserted by their
+appointed protectors, were soon reduced to the most dire distress, and
+must have perished miserably but for the arrival of unexpected relief.
+The United States Government had at last gotten hold of some ten
+liberated Africans, and had a chance to make use of the agency
+established for them at so great an expense. They were accordingly sent
+out in the brig Strong under the care of the Rev. Jehudi Ashmun. A
+quantity of stores and some thirty-seven emigrants sent by the
+Colonization Society completed the cargo. Ashmun had received no
+commission as agent for the colony, and expected to return on the
+Strong; under this impression his wife had accompanied him. But when he
+found the colonists in so desperate a situation he nobly determined to
+remain with them at any sacrifice. He visited the native chiefs and
+found them, under cover of friendly promises, preparing for a deadly
+assault on the little colony. There was no recourse but to prepare for a
+vigorous defense. Twenty-seven men were capable of bearing arms; and one
+brass and five iron fieldpieces, all dismantled and rusty, formed his
+main hope. Ashmun at once set to work, and with daily drills and
+unremitting labor in clearing away the forest and throwing up
+earthworks, succeeded at last in putting the settlement in a reasonable
+state of defense. It was no easy task. The fatiguing labor, incessant
+rains, and scanty food predisposed them to the dreaded fever. Ashmun
+himself was prostrated; his wife sank and died before his eyes; and soon
+there was but one man in the colony who was not on the sick-list. At
+length the long-expected assault was made. Just before daybreak on the
+11th of November the settlement was approached by a body of over eight
+hundred African warriors. Stealthily following the pickets as they
+returned a little too early from their watch, the savages burst upon the
+colony and with a rush captured the outworks. A desperate conflict
+ensued, the issue of which hung doubtful until the colonists succeeded
+in manning their brass field-piece, which was mounted upon a raised
+platform, and turning it upon the dense ranks of the assailants. The
+effect at such short range was terrible. "Every shot literally spent its
+force in a solid mass of living human flesh. Their fire suddenly
+terminated. A savage yell was raised, ... and the whole host
+disappeared."[8] The victory had been gained at a cost of four killed
+and as many seriously wounded. Ammunition was exhausted; food had given
+out. Another attack, for which the natives were known to be preparing,
+could scarcely fail to succeed. Before it was made, however, an English
+captain touched at the cape and generously replenished their stores. On
+the very next evening, November 30, the savages were seen gathering in
+large numbers on the cape, and toward morning a desperate attack was
+made on two sides at once. The lines had been contracted, however, and
+all the guns manned, and the well-directed fire of the artillery again
+proved too much for native valor. The savages were repulsed with great
+loss. The unusual sound of a midnight cannonade attracted the Prince
+Regent, an English colonial schooner laden with military stores and
+having on board the celebrated traveller Captain Laing, through whose
+mediation the natives were brought to agree to a peace most advantageous
+to the colonists. When the Prince Regent sailed, Midshipman Gordon, with
+eleven British sailors volunteered to remain, to assist the exhausted
+colonists and guarantee the truce. His generosity met an ill requital;
+within a month he had fallen victim to the climate with eight of the
+brave seamen. Supplies were again running low, when March brought the
+welcome arrival of the U.S. ship Cyane. Captain R.T. Spence at once
+turned his whole force to improving the condition of the colonists.
+Buildings were erected, the dismantled colonial schooner was raised and
+made sea-worthy, and many invaluable services were rendered, until at
+length a severe outbreak of the fever among the crew compelled the
+vessel's withdrawal. It was too late, however, to prevent the loss of
+forty lives, including the lieutenant, Richard Dashiell, and the
+surgeon, Dr. Dix.
+
+On the 24th of May, 1823, the brig Oswego arrived with sixty-one new
+emigrants and a liberal supply of stores and tools, in charge of Dr.
+Ayres, who, already the representative of the Society, had now been
+appointed Government Agent and Surgeon. One of the first measures of the
+new agent was to have the town surveyed and lots distributed among the
+whole body of colonists. Many of the older settlers found themselves
+dispossessed of the holdings improved by their labor, and the colony was
+soon in a ferment of excitement and insurrection. Dr. Ayres, finding his
+health failing, judiciously betook himself to the United States.
+
+The arrival of the agent had placed Mr. Ashmun in a false position of
+the most mortifying character. It will be remembered that in sympathy
+for the distress of the colony he had assumed the position of agent
+without authority. In the dire necessity of subsequent events he had
+been compelled to purchase supplies and ammunition in the Society's
+name. He now found, himself superseded in authority, his services and
+self-sacrifice unappreciated, his drafts[9] dishonored, his motives
+distrusted. Nothing could show more strongly his devotion and
+self-abnegation than his action in the present crisis. Seeing the colony
+again deserted by the agent and in a state of discontent and confusion,
+he forgot his wrongs and remained at the helm. Order was soon restored
+but the seeds of insubordination remained. The arrival of 103 emigrants
+from Virginia on the Cyrus, in February 1824, added to the difficulty,
+as the stock of food was so low that the whole colony had to be put on
+half rations. This necessary measure was regarded by the disaffected as
+an act of tyranny on Ashmun's part; and when shortly after the complete
+prostration of his health compelled him to withdraw to the Cape De Verde
+Islands, the malcontents sent home letters charging him with all sorts
+of abuse of power, and finally with desertion of his post! The Society
+in consternation applied to Government for an expedition of
+investigation, and the Rev. R.R. Gurley, Secretary of the Society, and
+an enthusiastic advocate of colonization was despatched in June on the
+U.S. schooner Porpoise. The result of course revealed the probity,
+integrity and good judgment of Mr. Ashman; and Gurley became
+thenceforth his warmest admirer. As a preventive of future discontent a
+Constitution was adopted at Mr. Gurley's suggestion, giving for the
+first time a definite share in the control of affairs to the colonists
+themselves. Gurley brought with him the name of the colony--Liberia, and
+of its settlement on the Cape--Monrovia, which had been adopted by the
+Society on the suggestion of Mr. Robert Goodloe Harper of Maryland. He
+returned from his successful mission in August leaving the most cordial
+relations established throughout the colony.
+
+Gurley's visit seemed to mark the turning of the tide, and a period of
+great prosperity now began. Relay after relay of industrious emigrants
+arrived; new land was taken up; successful agriculture removed all
+danger of future failure of food supply; and a flourishing trade was
+built up at Monrovia. Friendly relations were formed with the natives,
+and their children taken for instruction into colonial families and
+schools. New settlements were formed; churches and schools appeared; an
+efficient militia was organized; printing presses set up and hospitals
+erected. On every side rapid progress was made. After years of
+illustrious service Ashmun retired to his home in New Haven, where he
+died a few days later, on August 25, 1828. Under Dr. Richard Randall and
+Dr. Mechlin, who successively filled his post, the prosperity of the
+colony continued undiminished.
+
+The decade after 1832 is marked by the independent action of different
+State colonization societies. At first generally organized as tributary
+to the main body, the State societies now began to form distinct
+settlements at other points on the coast. The Maryland Society first
+started an important settlement at Cape Palmas, of which we shall make a
+special study. Bassa Cove was settled by the joint action of the New
+York and Pennsylvania Societies; Greenville, on the Sinou river, by
+emigrants from Mississippi; and the Louisiana Society engaged in a
+similar enterprise. The separate interests of the different settlements
+at length began in many cases to engender animosity and bad feeling; the
+need of general laws and supervision was everywhere apparent; and a
+movement toward a federal union of the colonies was set on foot. A plan
+was at length agreed upon by all except Maryland, by which the colonies
+were united into the "Commonwealth of Liberia," whose government was
+controlled by a Board of Directors composed of Delegates from the State
+societies. This board at its first meeting drew up a plan of government,
+and Thomas Buchanan was appointed first Governor of the Commonwealth,
+1837. The advantages of the union were soon apparent. The more
+aggressive native tribes with whom not a little trouble had been
+experienced, were made to feel the strength of the union; and many of
+the smaller head-men voluntarily put themselves under the protection of
+the Government, agreeing to become citizens, with all their subjects,
+and submit to its laws. The traffic in slaves all along the coast was
+checked, inter-tribal warfare prevented, and trial by the sassa-wood
+ordeal abolished wherever colonial influence extended. Mr. Buchanan was
+the last white man who exercised authority in Liberia. On his death the
+Lieutenant-Governor, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, succeeded him. Roberts, who
+afterward became Liberia's most distinguished citizen, was a Virginia
+Negro, having been born at Norfolk in 1809, and brought up near
+Petersburg. He obtained a rudimentary education while running a
+flat-boat on the James and Appomattox Rivers. In 1829 he went with his
+widowed mother and younger brothers to Liberia, where he rapidly rose to
+wealth and distinction. As Governor he evinced an efficient
+statesmanship that promised well for his future career.
+
+Roberts had not long been governor when trouble arose with the British
+coast-wise traders that gave rise to a most interesting crisis. The
+Liberian Government in regulating commerce within its jurisdiction had
+enacted laws imposing duties on all imported goods. The English traders,
+accustomed for hundreds of years to unrestricted traffic on this very
+coast, were indignant at the presumption of the upstart colony, and
+ignored its regulations. The Government protested, but in vain. And at
+length the little colonial revenue schooner John Seyes, while
+attempting to enforce the laws at Edina, was actually seized by the
+stalwart Britisher and dragged before the Admiralty Court at Sierra
+Leone. A long discussion which would be profitless to follow in detail,
+ensued. The result was, that the John Seyes was confiscated. The British
+Government opened a correspondence with the United States, in which it
+was ascertained that Liberia was not in political dependence upon them.
+Whereupon the sovereignty of Liberia was promptly denied, her right to
+acquire or hold territory questioned, and she was given to understand
+that the operations of British traders would in future be backed by the
+British navy.
+
+Evidently if Liberia was to maintain and govern her territory something
+must be done. The Colonization Society while claiming for Liberia the
+right to exercise sovereign powers, seems to have had the unacknowledged
+conviction, that England's position, however ungenerous, was logically
+unassailable. The supreme authority wielded by the Society, its veto
+power over legislative action, was undoubtedly inconsistent with the
+idea of a sovereign state. This is clearly apparent from the fact that
+though there was pressing necessity for a treaty with England, neither
+the colony nor the Society had power to negotiate it. It was accordingly
+determined to surrender all control over the colony; and the "people of
+the Commonwealth of Liberia" were "advised" by the Society "to undertake
+the whole work of self-government;" to make the necessary amendments to
+their Constitution, and to declare their full sovereignty to the world.
+
+The suggestion was adopted in Liberia by popular vote, and a convention
+met on July 26, 1847, adopted a Declaration of Independence and a new
+Constitution, closely modelled on the corresponding documents of the
+United States. In September the Constitution was ratified by vote of the
+people. Governor Roberts was elected to the office of President, upon
+which he entered January 3, 1848. His inaugural address is one of
+remarkable interest, fitly proclaiming to the world a new Republic.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+MARYLAND IN LIBERIA.
+
+
+The widespread interest awakened by the actual establishment of a
+permanent colony at Monrovia led to the formation of a number of State
+Colonization Societies, at first purely auxiliary to the central body,
+but later in some cases independent. The foundation of independent
+settlements at Bassa Cove and Sinou by the New York, Pennsylvania and
+Mississippi Societies, and their union in 1837 into the Commonwealth,
+has been considered. A much more important colony was founded by
+Maryland at Cape Palmas, which for years maintained its independence.
+
+In 1831, the Maryland State Colonization Society was formed. Active
+interest in the movement had long been felt in the State, and it
+scarcely needed the eloquence of Robert Finley, son of the old champion
+of colonization, who visited Baltimore in that year, to awaken
+enthusiasm. The Society had hardly been formed when ample funds were
+provided in an unexpected way. In August, 1831, a tragic Negro uprising
+took place in Virginia, in which some sixty-five white men, women and
+children were murdered. The Southampton Massacres were attributed
+largely to the instigation of the troublesome free-Negro element, and
+the growing sentiment in favor of emancipation was abruptly checked. The
+Maryland Legislature, sharing the general excitement, passed in December
+a resolution which became law in March, and proved to the State Society
+what the Act of March 3, 1819, was to the main organization. The
+connection was more explicit. Three members of the Society were to be
+appointed Commissioners to remove _all_ free Negroes to Liberia. The sum
+of $20,000 in the current year, and of $10,000 in each succeeding year,
+for a period of twenty years, was devoted to the purpose. Any free Negro
+refusing to emigrate was to be summarily ejected from the State by the
+sheriff. The wave of feeling which dictated this monstrous piece of
+legislation passed away before any of its harsh provisions were carried
+out. But the beneficent portion remained in force. The Society was left
+in the enjoyment of the liberal annuity of $10,000.
+
+In October, 1831, and December, 1832, expeditions were sent out which
+landed emigrants at Monrovia. The difficulty of arriving at an agreement
+with the parent Society regarding the rights and status of these people,
+together with other considerations, led to the adoption of the idea of
+founding a separate colony. The plan was adopted largely through the
+support of Mr. John H.B. Latrobe, throughout his life one of the most
+active and efficient friends of colonization. The motives of the
+undertaking were distinctly announced to be the gradual extirpation of
+slavery in Maryland, and the spread of civilization and Christianity in
+Africa. Cape Palmas, a bold promontory marking the point where the coast
+makes a sharp bend toward the east, was selected as the new site. Its
+conspicuous position makes it one of the best known points on the coast,
+and some identify it with the "West Horn" reached by Hanno, the
+Carthaginian explorer, twenty-nine days out from Gades. Dr. James Hall,
+who had gained experience as physician in Monrovia, was placed in charge
+of the expedition, and the brig Ann, with a small number of emigrants,
+sailed from Baltimore November 28, 1833. A firm legal basis was
+projected for the new establishment in a Constitution to which all
+emigrants were to subscribe. The experience gained by the older colony
+was put to good use. Regular courts, militia, and public schools were
+provided for from the first.
+
+The vessel touched at Monrovia, gathered as many recruits as possible
+from those sent out on the two previous expeditions, and finally
+anchored at Cape Palmas on February 11, 1834. After the usual tedious
+"palaver" and bargaining, the natives formally sold the required land.
+The cape is a promontory some seventy-five feet in height, separated
+from the mainland, except for a narrow, sandy isthmus. A river,
+navigable for some miles to small boats, opens opposite it, and forms a
+safe harbor. A long, salt-water lake extends to the east, parallel to
+the coast. The land is very fertile and well adapted to farming. Several
+native villages lie near the cape. From a well-founded fear of native
+treachery the colonists laid out their town on the promontory, upon the
+summit of which a brass six-pounder was mounted. Farm lands were laid
+out on the mainland, and in a short time the little community was in a
+thriving condition. None of the distressing misfortunes encountered by
+the colony at Monrovia marred the early history of "Maryland in
+Liberia."
+
+In 1836 the health of Dr. Hall, whose services to the infant colony had
+been invaluable, became so much impaired that he was obliged to resign.
+He returned to the United States, and long rendered the Society
+efficient service in another capacity. John B. Russwurm, a citizen of
+Monrovia, and once editor of the Liberia _Herald_, was appointed
+Governor, and served ably and faithfully until his death in 1851. Early
+in his administration a convenient form of paper currency, receivable at
+the Society's store, was introduced, and proved most useful in trade
+with the natives. In 1841 some slight difficulties with employes of
+missions led the Society, while still retaining control of affairs, to
+assert by resolution that the colony was a sovereign State. A revenue
+law introduced in 1846 soon produced an income of about $1,200. In this
+year began the trips of the "Liberia Packet," a vessel maintained by a
+company formed to trade between Baltimore and _Harper_, as the town of
+the colony was named, in honor of Robert Goodloe Harper. A certain
+amount of trade was guaranteed and other aid given by the Society. In
+1847 the justiciary was separated from the executive; a chief justice
+and a system of courts were provided for.
+
+The year 1852 ended the period during which the Society drew its annual
+stipend from the State treasury; but the General Assembly was induced to
+extend the provisions of the Act of 1831 for a further period of six
+years. It may be as well to note here that in 1858 a further extension
+was made for five years, the amount at the same time being reduced to
+$5,000 per annum.[10] For twenty years the colony had flourished under
+the care and good management of the Society. Prosperity now seemed
+secure, and a spirit of discontent, a desire to throw off the yoke and
+assume autonomy began to prevail. The great success following the
+assumption of Independence by Liberia in 1847, and the recognition at
+once obtained from the leading nations of Europe, naturally strengthened
+the feeling. A committee of leading citizens petitioned the Society to
+relinquish its authority, at the same time demanding or begging almost
+everything else in its power to bestow. The Society was further asked by
+its spoiled fosterling to continue to support schools, provide
+physicians and medicine, remit debts, and finally, to grant a "loan" of
+money to meet the expenses of government.[11]
+
+The Board of Managers, though deeming the colony still unripe for
+independence, generously determined to grant the request, as made
+advisable by force of circumstances. Among other things it was feared
+that the better class of colonists might be attracted toward the
+independent State of Liberia. A sort of federal union with that State
+was suggested, but found impracticable. A convention met and drafted a
+Constitution, which was submitted to the Board. An agreement was reached
+as to the conditions of the transfer of the Society's lands, etc. Both
+were ratified by the people, and in May, 1854, Wm. A. Prout was elected
+Governor. Other officials, senators and representatives, were chosen at
+the same time.
+
+The prosperity of the colony continued under the careful management of
+Gov. Prout. On his death the Lieutenant-Governor, Wm. S. Drayton,
+succeeded to his office. It was not long before the "rash and imprudent"
+conduct of this official precipitated a serious conflict with the
+natives. An expedition against them resulted in a demoralizing defeat,
+with loss of artillery and twenty-six valuable lives. In consternation
+an urgent appeal was sent to Monrovia. The treasury of the Republic was
+exhausted from the effects of the uprising of the Sinou river tribes;
+but Dr. Hall was fortunately present, and supplied the Government with a
+loan from the funds of the Maryland Society. One hundred and fifteen
+Liberian troops, under command of ex-President Roberts, were soon
+embarked for Cape Palmas, and easily overawed the native chiefs, who
+agreed to a fair adjustment of their grievances by treaty, February 26,
+1857.
+
+The war was not without important results. The Maryland colonists were
+thoroughly aroused to the weakness of their isolated position, and
+determined to have union with Liberia at any price. It was known that
+the Republic was willing to admit Maryland only as a county, on
+precisely the same terms as the other three--Montserado, Sinou, and
+Bassa. State pride and the views of the Society had hitherto kept them
+from such a union; but now, in the reaction from their recent terror, a
+vote of the people called for by Act of the Legislature was unanimous in
+favor of "County Annexation;" and a committee was appointed to arrange
+matters at once with Roberts. When he declined to assume any such
+responsibility, they actually proceeded to dissolve the Government, and
+cede all public property forthwith to the Republic of Liberia. The
+interesting document entitled the "Act or Petition of Annexation," shows
+the number of colonists to have been at this time 900 and the
+aboriginal population about 60,000. The tax on imports produced $1,800 a
+year. The State's liabilities were $3,000, with assets estimated at
+$10,000.
+
+The Liberian Legislature by an Act of April, 1857, formally received the
+colony into the Republic as "Maryland County." The advantages gained by
+this change undoubtedly more than counterbalanced any loss of
+independence. Though the total dissolution of the government and
+surrender of all rights and property before any negotiation with
+Liberian authorities had taken place, seems inconceivably rash
+statescraft, the wisdom of the colonists in desiring the union is
+unquestionable.
+
+At the time of annexation the Maryland Colonization Society had on hand
+some $6,000, which was invested, and the interest devoted to a school at
+Cape Palmas; in connection with this trust its existence is prolonged.
+Up to the end of its period of activity it had received and expended
+nearly half a million dollars; the balance sheet of December 31, 1857,
+may be of interest:
+
+State Appropriations, ........... $   930.00
+State Colonization Tax, .........  12,851.00
+Colonial Agency, ................   1,091.85
+Columbia Expedition, ............     248.88
+Stock of C. & L. Trading Co., ...   1,250.00
+Mdse., ..........................     104.62
+State Fund, ..................... 241,922.16
+Contributions, ..................  45,385.74
+Profit and Loss, ................ 139,972.31-1/2
+J.T.G., Colonial Agent, .........     126.70
+                                  --------------
+                                  443,883.26-1/2
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.
+
+
+The History of Liberia from this point on assumes a peculiar interest.
+The capacity and capabilities of the Negro are subjected to a crucial
+test. He is left fully freed from the control or influence of an alien
+race, in possession of a borrowed civilization, and of a borrowed
+political system of an advanced type, dependent on popular intelligence
+for its very existence. Can he maintain his position? Will he make
+further progress, developing along lines peculiar to his race and
+environment, and spreading a new civilization among the adjacent tribes?
+Or is he to lapse helplessly back into his original condition--to be
+absorbed into the dense masses of surrounding barbarism? The question is
+a vital one. The solution of weighty problems in large part depends upon
+the answer.
+
+The form of government was, as has been seen, closely copied from that
+of the United States. There is the same tripartite division--executive,
+legislative and judicial. The President is elected every two years, on
+the first Tuesday in May. He is commander-in-chief of the army and navy;
+makes treaties with the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, with
+whose advice he also appoints all public officers not otherwise provided
+for by law.
+
+The legislative authority consists of a Senate of two members from each
+county, elected for four years, and a House of Representatives holding
+office for two years; four members being apportioned to Montserado
+county, three to Bassa, one to each other county, with one additional
+representative for each 10,000 inhabitants. The judicial power was
+vested in a Supreme Court with original jurisdiction in all cases
+affecting ambassadors and consuls and where the Republic is a party, and
+appellate jurisdiction in all other cases; and in subordinate courts to
+be established by the Legislature.
+
+The majority of the colonists had been long accustomed to similar
+institutions in the land of their captivity, and the new machinery of
+government was soon running smoothly. Within the little State peace and
+prosperity prevailed; its foreign relations, on the contrary, were
+involved in the greatest uncertainty. It had indeed severed the leading
+strings which bound it to its natural protector, and stood forth in the
+assertion of its independence. But it was wholly unsupported and
+unrecognized. The dispute with England, whose protegé on the north
+looked with jealousy and distrust on Liberian policy, remained
+unsettled. The danger was real and pressing. Clearly recognition must be
+sought and an international footing obtained without delay. President
+Roberts accordingly determined to go abroad, and as at once chief
+magistrate and ambassador appeal to the leading courts of Europe. His
+first effort, however, was directed toward obtaining alliance with the
+United States. In America his reception was enthusiastic. But the
+delicacy with which the dissension on the slavery question made it
+necessary to handle every subject remotely bearing on that bone of
+contention, prevented him from obtaining even the formal recognition of
+Liberia. Roberts then determined by pleading his country's cause in
+England to arouse compassion in the heart of the power from which there
+was most to fear. Here substantial rewards met his efforts. His
+prepossessing personality, tact, and statesmanlike qualities won many
+friends.[12] With their support the recognition of Liberia as a
+sovereign State was soon obtained, together with a commercial treaty
+which left nothing to be desired. In further evidence of kindly
+sentiment the English Government presented the young Republic with a
+trim little cutter of four guns for coast protection. In France and
+Belgium similar generous treatment was experienced, and Roberts was
+conveyed home in triumph on the British man-of-war Amazon.
+
+A second visit of Roberts to England, in 1852, four years later, to
+adjust disputes with traders who claimed certain tracts of land, was
+equally successful, and France, under Louis Napoleon, presented him with
+arms and uniforms for the equipment of the Liberian troops. In 1852
+Prussia also extended her friendship, soon followed by Brazil and the
+free Hanse towns. In 1862, the necessity for cautious dealing with the
+race question having passed away, the United States government at last
+formally recognized the Republic, and Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Hayti
+formed treaties in 1864. The consent of Portugal and Denmark in 1865,
+and of Austria in 1867, brought Liberia into treaty relations with
+nearly all the leading commercial nations.
+
+The internal condition of the Republic during the first decade was one
+of unprecedented growth and prosperity. The Colonization Society in
+America was in a flourishing condition, and gained friends on every
+side. Its receipts for the ten years were not far short of a million
+dollars; and this generous means permitted the transportation, in the
+same period, of over five thousand chosen emigrants. The accession of so
+large a force of laborers added a new stimulus to the activity awakened
+by self-government. Many new settlements were formed and all the older
+ones received an infusion of new strength. Agriculture, especially the
+cultivation of the great staples, rice, coffee, sugar and cotton, made
+rapid progress; while commerce was stimulated by the establishment of
+regular monthly lines of steamers between England and various points on
+the coast, the first of which was started in 1853. The enterprise of
+Holland soon added still other lines. Communication with America was at
+the same time facilitated by the regular trips of a large vessel built
+for the purpose, the gift to the Society of Mr. John C. Stevens of
+Maryland.
+
+At the close of his fourth administration President Roberts decided to
+decline reëlection. For eight years he had been at the helm, and had
+brought the ship of state safely through her first perilous voyages. And
+now while the waters seemed smooth and skies serene he thought it best
+to intrust her guidance to other hands. The election took place in May,
+1855, amidst scenes of political strife and party violence at once
+intense and short-lived. It resulted in the choice of Stephen A. Benson
+for President and Beverly P. Yates for Vice-President. Both were
+distinctly the product of Liberian training. Benson was brought over, at
+the age of six years, by his parents in 1822, and received his entire
+education in the country. He became a successful merchant and entered
+political life in the wake of Roberts. As chief magistrate he showed
+himself a practical and efficient man, with the interests of the country
+at heart.
+
+One of the leading objects of Benson's policy was the improvement and
+elevation of the aborigines; but his designs were in part frustrated by
+the outbreak of a stubborn and exhausting war with the native tribes
+dwelling about the Sinou River. Details must be omitted for want of
+space; but this war devastated four settlements and sadly depleted the
+national treasury. It was soon afterwards that the Maryland colony at
+Cape Palmas was almost overwhelmed in a similar native uprising, and
+united with the Republic, as elsewhere narrated.
+
+A widespread scarcity of provisions followed these wars, which gave rise
+to much apprehension. But this eventually did good in giving new
+emphasis to the fact that main reliance must be placed upon agriculture
+rather than trade. The great resources of Liberia were shown at a
+National Fair, held in December, 1858; premiums were awarded for the
+best specimens of coffee, arrow-root, cotton, rice, ginger, potatoes,
+oxen, sheep, swine, turkeys, butter, preserves; cloth and socks of
+African cotton; boots; soap and candles from palm oil; ploughs, hoes and
+other implements from native iron and home manufacture; farina;
+chocolate; planks, shingles, cabinet work, and many other products of
+Liberian agriculture and industry.
+
+President Benson was reelected without opposition, and entered upon his
+second term in January, 1858. A fresh outbreak of the slave trade in
+this year was followed by a number of captures by U.S. cruisers, giving
+rise to the old difficulty in regard to the disposition of the cargoes.
+The Act of March 3, 1819, which had long fallen into disuse, was
+revived, and a contract made with the Colonization Society to transport
+and maintain for a twelvemonth the recaptured Africans already on the
+Government's hands. The substitution of small, swift steamers for the
+craft of older days so increased the efficiency of the navy that
+captures were made in rapid succession. Within two months 1,432 Africans
+were landed at Key West. This state of affairs made further legislation
+immediately necessary. Congress, acting upon the suggestion of a
+Presidential message, passed an Act amending the Act of March 3, 1819,
+which empowered the President to form a five-years' contract with "any
+person or persons, society or societies," to receive in Africa and care
+for the unfortunates rescued from slavers, for the period of one year,
+and at a price of $100 per capita. Commanders of cruisers were to be
+instructed to land their captures directly upon the coast of Liberia
+whenever practicable; immediate measures were to be taken for removing
+to Africa those already at Key West; and the sum of $250,000 was
+appropriated to defray expenses.
+
+Three large vessels were at once chartered and stored with $60,000 worth
+of supplies; with the least possible delay the suffering crowd at Key
+West was transported to Liberia; but only 893 survived the passage. The
+effect of the new orders issued to the U.S. slave squadron was soon felt
+in Liberia. On August 8, 1860, the _Storm King_ unexpectedly arrived
+with a cargo of 619; within twenty-four hours the Erie, prize to the
+steamer Mohican, followed with 867. Tidings came that still larger
+numbers were en route. The effect of this inundation of liberated
+barbarians upon the small civilized community, already surrounded by
+savage swarms, may be imagined. The greatest consternation prevailed,
+and excitement rose to fever heat. President Benson wrote to the Society
+that great evils would result unless means were liberally supplied, and
+entire control of the new arrivals given to the Liberian Government. The
+Society accordingly transferred the execution of its contracts to that
+government, and placed at its disposal all money received by their
+terms. This action seems to have allayed the worst apprehensions; and
+although over 4,000 recaptured Africans were landed within the space of
+two months, no harm seems to have resulted. They made rapid progress in
+civilization, becoming assimilated to and in many cases intermarrying
+with the colonists; from among them arose some of the best citizens of
+the Republic.
+
+President Benson's policy in regard to the natives was successful in
+bringing many tribes much more closely under the influence of the
+government. A number of steps were taken toward actively spreading among
+them the arts of civilized life, improving their methods of agriculture,
+and checking the evils of intertribal warfare and of superstition. A
+poll tax of one dollar a year was levied on each male adult, to be
+collected from the chiefs of the several districts; with a part of the
+funds thus raised schools for popular instruction were to be established
+throughout the country.
+
+The control and oversight by the central authority of so many small
+settlements scattered over a large range of coast had been greatly
+facilitated by the small armed cutter presented in 1848 by the English
+government. This was now found to be hopelessly out of repair, and was
+generously replaced by the donor with another and somewhat larger
+vessel--the Quail, an armed schooner of 123 tons. About the same time
+the New York Society sent over a small steamer to provide rapid and
+regular communication between points along the coast. In honor of a
+liberal benefactor it was called the "Seth Grosvenor."
+
+The third and fourth administrations of Benson passed uneventfully, and
+in January, 1864, Daniel B. Warner, who, the May previous, had been
+elected, succeeded him. Warner was born near Baltimore, in 1812, and
+emigrated in 1823. The Civil War in America, with the sanguine hopes it
+aroused in the breast of the Negro, caused a rapid falling off in the
+number of applicants for transportation to Liberia. The income of the
+Society for once exceeded the demand upon it, and several good
+investments were made. Liberia, however, was demanding more cultivators.
+A supply came from an unexpected quarter. Two societies were organized
+by thrifty negroes of Barbadoes, to return to Africa and make their home
+in the new Republic. Agents were sent out, and sympathy with their
+enterprise enlisted. The Liberian Government issued a proclamation of
+cordial invitation, and the Legislature appropriated $4,000 to assist
+the colonists, increasing in their case the allotment of land from ten
+to twenty-five acres for each family. The Colonization Society devoted
+$10,000 to their aid, and despatched an experienced agent to take charge
+of the expedition. A large vessel was chartered, and after a pleasant
+voyage of thirty-three days, without the loss of a single life, 346
+emigrants were landed at Monrovia. They proved a welcome and valuable
+acquisition, many being mechanics and skilled laborers.
+
+After the close of the war, the alluring prospect of "ten acres and a
+mule" having failed our freedmen, the Society again received numerous
+applications for passage. The M. C. Stevens had been sold during the
+period of depression; another and larger vessel, the Golconda, was
+therefore purchased and fitted for an emigrant ship. During her first
+four voyages she safely carried over 1,684 persons.
+
+In January, 1867, the semi-centennial of the founding of the
+Colonization Society was celebrated in Washington. From the review of
+the fifty years' work it appeared that the sum of $2,558,907 had been
+expended, exclusive of outlay by the Maryland Society, and of the large
+sums expended by the United States Government. 11,909 emigrants had been
+sent over, in 147 vessels; of these 4,541 were born free, 344 purchased
+freedom, and 5,957 were emancipated for the purpose of going to
+Liberia.[13] Besides these, 1,227 had been settled by the Maryland
+Society, and 5,722 recaptured Africans had been sent back by the United
+States Government.
+
+In January, 1868, James S. Payne entered upon the office of President.
+He is another example of Liberian training. Born in Richmond, Va., in
+1819, he was taken before his tenth year to Monrovia by his father. One
+of the leading purposes of his administration was the establishment of
+closer intercourse with the great tribes of the interior. These people,
+the Mandingoes especially, were much further advanced in civilization
+than the coast tribes, who formed a barricade between them and Liberia,
+and offered determined opposition to any attempt to penetrate inland.
+They feared to lose their advantageous position as middlemen, and
+succeeded in keeping anything but the vaguest rumors about the interior
+from reaching the colonists. In 1869 Benjamin Anderson, a young Liberian
+appointed by the Government, and provided with liberal financial aid by
+a wealthy citizen of New York, accomplished an extremely interesting
+journey to a point over 200 miles from the coast.[14]
+
+With great difficulty and the expense of a small fortune in presents to
+captious and rapacious chiefs, he succeeded in making his way from point
+to point along a course roughly corresponding to that of the St. Paul's
+River. The route lay through dense forests, along paths worn by many
+generations of native feet. The ascent was steady; at 100 miles from the
+coast the elevation was 1,311 feet, and toward the end of the journey
+it rose to 2,257 feet. All along the way the population was dense, and
+showed a steady improvement in character, civilization and hospitality
+as the coast was left behind. The object of his journey, Musardu, the
+chief city of the Western Mandingoes, was at length reached, just on the
+edge of the primeval forest. Beyond lies a vast plateau covered with
+tall grass, showing here and there a solitary palm, and stretching away
+to the head waters of the Niger. The climate is wholesome, the air
+bracing, and the soil fertile.
+
+The city proved large and populous; the houses were small and of a
+monotonous uniformity, bewilderingly placed without apparent
+arrangement. The whole was surrounded with a huge mud wall, which served
+not only as a defense against foes, but to keep out wild beasts,
+especially elephants, herds of which were frequently seen near the town.
+The inhabitants were strict Mussulmans, and were much further advanced
+in civilization than even the most intelligent tribes through which he
+had passed. They had an extensive commerce with the interior, caravans
+coming from places as distant as Timbuctoo. Good horses were plentiful,
+and there were evidences of the existence of valuable gold mines.
+Anderson was received with profuse hospitality; they appeared to be
+delighted with the idea of opening trade with Liberia, and promised
+gold, ivory and various commodities in exchange for European goods.
+
+Another journey with the same general results was subsequently made by
+another citizen, to Pulaka, about one hundred miles to the southeast of
+Monrovia. These explorations are of great interest. They show the belt
+of coast occupied by Liberia to be merely the entrance to a high and
+healthful interior of great fertility and unlimited resources, over
+which the Republic has power to expand indefinitely.
+
+President Payne's successor was Edward James Roye, who was duly
+inaugurated January 3, 1870. Born in Newark, Ohio, in 1815, he had
+passed through the public schools of his native town, afterwards
+attending the college at Athens, Ohio, and Oberlin. He went to Liberia
+in 1846, becoming a prosperous merchant and politician. From 1865 to
+1868 he held the post of Chief Justice. Roye came into office at a time
+when a rage for internal improvements possessed the country; and with
+this spirit he was in full sympathy. His inaugural outlines a bold and
+ambitious policy. The resources of the Treasury were entirely inadequate
+to his extensive projects, and in an evil moment the Legislature passed
+an Act authorizing the negotiation of a loan of $500,000. The loan was
+placed in London on terms which netted only £85 per bond of £100,
+redeemable at par in 15 years and bearing interest at 7 per cent. The
+amount thus offered was further reduced by the requirement that the
+first two years' interest should be paid in advance. From the remainder
+were deducted various agents' commissions and fees, until at length the
+principal reached Monrovia sadly reduced in amount,--not over $200,000.
+And this soon disappeared without any visible result. It is an old
+story; but in Liberia's case it was particularly disastrous. For with
+her little revenue, rarely exceeding $100,000, it soon became impossible
+to pay the $35,000 yearly interest on a debt for which she had
+practically received not a single advantage. And this accumulating at
+compound interest has reached a magnitude absolutely crushing. So
+desperate is her financial condition that many believe inevitable the
+fate which croaking prophets have long foretold, and against which she
+has struggled bravely--absorption by England.
+
+Serious as were the more remote effects of the financial blunder just
+considered, its immediate consequences brought upon the country a crisis
+which might have resulted in civil war. Great dissatisfaction with the
+negotiation of the loan prevailed. The Administration was severely
+criticised; serious accusations were brought against it. While the
+excitement was at fever heat matters were complicated by an attempt of
+the Administration to prolong its hold of office, which precipitated the
+threatened outbreak. For some years a Constitutional Amendment had been
+under consideration, lengthening the term of President and members of the
+Legislature. The measure had been submitted to the people, and twice
+voted upon; but the result was a subject of dispute. Roye and his party
+maintained that it had been duly carried and was a part of the organic
+law of the land; and that as a consequence his term did not expire until
+January, 1874. A proclamation was issued forbidding the coming biennial
+elections to be held.
+
+This action at once aroused violent opposition. A strong party declared
+that the amendment had not been carried; and in any event could not be
+construed to apply to the present incumbent. The proclamation was
+disregarded; the polls opened on the accustomed day; and the veteran
+Joseph J. Roberts, aptly called the epitome of Liberian history, was
+elected by large majorities.
+
+Far from being subdued by the decided expression of popular will Roye
+and his supporters, with the spirit of the decemvirs of old, determined
+to maintain power at any hazard. Roberts's election was declared
+illegal, and of no effect. Throughout the summer the two parties stood
+at daggers drawn. At length the increasing strength of the opposition
+encouraged the thought of removing the President from office. The legal
+method of impeachment seemed far too slow and uncertain for the temper
+of the times. An excited convention was held in Monrovia, October 26,
+1871, at which a "Manifesto" was adopted decreeing his deposition. A few
+extracts disclose its character:
+
+"President Roye has, contrary to the Constitution, proclaimed himself
+President for four years, although elected for only two years.
+
+"He has distributed arms and munitions of war, and has not ceased his
+efforts to procure armed men to crush the liberties of the people.
+
+"He has contracted a foreign loan contrary to the law made and provided;
+and without an act of appropriation by the Legislature he has with his
+officers been receiving the proceeds of that loan.
+
+"Every effort to induce him to desist from his unconstitutional course
+has been unavailing. Threats and entreaties have been alike lost upon
+him. He has turned a deaf ear to the remonstrances from all the counties
+of the Republic:
+
+"Therefore, on the 26th day of October in the year of our Lord 1871, and
+in the twenty-fifth year of the Independence of the Republic, the
+sovereign people of Liberia did by their resolutions in the city of
+Monrovia, joined to the resolutions from the other counties of the
+Republic, depose President E.J. Roye from his high office of President
+of Liberia; and did decree that the Government shall be provisionally
+conducted by a Chief Executive Committee of three members, and by the
+chiefs of Departments until the arrival of the constitutional officer at
+the seat of Government."
+
+Before the party of the Administration could recover from the shock of
+this action, President Roye and his Secretaries of State and of the
+Treasury were arrested and thrown into prison,--a _coup d'état_ which
+made his opponents undisputed masters of the situation. The appointed
+Committee took charge of affairs; the excitement died away with a
+rapidity characteristic of Liberian politics, and in January, 1872,
+Roberts was triumphantly inaugurated. Roye died in prison soon
+afterward.
+
+A reign of peace and prosperity followed under Roberts, interrupted
+toward the end of another term, to which he was elected, by a severe war
+with the Grebo tribe near Cape Palmas. Limited space will prevent
+detailed consideration of the later history of the Republic. Payne was
+elected to a second term in 1876. A.W. Gardiner was Chief Executive for
+three successive terms, from 1878-1884; and H.R.W. Johnson, a native
+born Liberian, son of the famous pioneer Elijah Johnson, was made
+President in 1884. The recent years of the Republic have not brought an
+increased tide of immigration, nor any marked progress. The diminished
+interest in colonization felt in the United States so crippled the
+finances of the Society that few immigrants have been sent in the last
+decade. That large numbers of Negroes are willing, even anxious to go,
+is shown by the lists of the Society, which has adopted the policy of
+aiding only those who can pay a part of their passage. Several instances
+of the formation of societies among the Negroes themselves to provide
+for their own transportation have occurred. In South Carolina the
+"Liberia Joint Stock Steamship Company" was formed, which succeeded in
+purchasing a vessel and sending over one expedition of 274 emigrants.
+The company was unfortunate and failed financially before another
+attempt could be made. In Arkansas a large secret Society for the same
+object was formed, several hundred members of which made their way to
+New York and prevailed upon the Colonization Society to give them
+passage.[15]
+
+The culmination of a dispute with Great Britain over the north-western
+boundary of Liberia is perhaps the most interesting topic of her recent
+history. The boundaries of the Republic were never very definitely
+marked out, as her territory grew by gradual settlement and purchase
+from native chiefs. Even to-day there is no hard and fast interior
+border line; the country extends back indefinitely from the coast, new
+land being taken up as settlement proceeds. In 1849 the coast line
+acquired in this way extended from the San Pedro River on the south-east
+to Cape Mount, the extreme settlement on the north-west. Between 1849
+and 1852 various purchases were made from the natives covering some
+fifty miles more of the north-western seaboard. These purchases extended
+to She-Bar, very near Sherbro Island, and were confirmed by formal deeds
+from chiefs of the local tribes. The conditions of the deeds bound
+Liberia to establish schools in the districts ceded, and to guarantee
+the protection, peace and safety of the natives. If now a few
+settlements had been made in this territory all future trouble would
+have been avoided; but all available energy was needed for intensive
+development, and the newly acquired territory was left uncolonized. In
+the course of time English traders established themselves within this
+district, who refused to recognize Liberia's jurisdiction, and who
+smuggled in large quantities of goods in bold defiance of the revenue
+laws. As early as 1866 correspondence with the British Government was
+opened; and Liberia's jurisdiction was more than once virtually
+recognized. Matters were complicated by the outbreak of disturbances
+among the natives, in quelling which the Republic was obliged to use
+military force--a course which resulted in the destruction of property
+belonging to the English traders. Claims were at once brought against
+Liberia through the English Government to a large aggregate amount.
+Holding Liberia liable for damages received in the territory was a
+practical admission of her jurisdiction. Nothing was accomplished until
+1871, when Lord Granville proposed to President Roye, who was then in
+England, to compromise on the River Solyma as the limit of the Republic.
+This is about the middle of the disputed territory. Roye weakly agreed,
+and this agreement is known as the Protocol of 1871. It was not ratified
+by the Senate. The tact of President Roberts staved off the crisis for
+some time; but at length the English Foreign Office demanded a
+settlement, and a commission of two from each State and an arbitrator
+appointed by the President of the United States met on the ground. Every
+possible delay and impediment was resorted to by the British
+commissioners, who further refused to submit the points disputed to the
+umpire. Of course, no agreement was reached.
+
+The situation remained unchanged until 1882. On March 20 four British
+men-of-war silently entered the harbor, and Sir A.E. Havelock, Governor
+of Sierra Leone, came ashore. President Gardiner was intimidated into
+acceding to the demand that the boundary should be fixed at the Manna
+River, only fifteen miles from Cape Mount. But when this "Draft
+Convention," as it was called, came before the Senate for ratification,
+it was indignantly repudiated. At the next regular meeting of the
+Legislature in December, a resolution refusing to ratify the Draft
+Convention was passed, and a copy sent to Havelock. It elicited the
+reply:--
+
+"Her Majesty's Government cannot in any case recognize any rights on the
+part of Liberia to any portions of the territories in dispute," followed
+by the peremptory announcement that "Her Majesty's Government consider
+that they are relieved from the necessity of delaying any longer to
+ratify an agreement made by me with the Gallinas, Solyma, and Manna
+River chiefs on the 30th of March, 1882, whereby they ceded to Her
+Majesty the coast line of their territories up to the right bank of the
+Manna River."
+
+Liberia made a last feeble effort. A "Protest" was drawn up and sent to
+the various powers with whom she stood in treaty relations--of course,
+without result. The President of the United States replied at once,
+counselling acquiescence. Nothing else was possible. The Senate
+authorized the President to accept the terms dictated, and the "Draft
+Convention" was signed November 11, 1885. On April 26, 1888, Sir Samuel
+Rowe visited Monrovia and formally exchanged ratifications. Thus once
+more strength proved triumphant; Liberia's boundary was set at the Manna
+River, and Sierra Leone, which had possessed but a few hills and swamps,
+was given a valuable coast line.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF COLONIZATION.
+
+
+Colonization has come to be looked upon with unmerited
+indifference--with an apathy which its history and achievements surely
+do not deserve. To some, perhaps the present condition of the Republic
+seems a discouraging and inadequate return for the life and treasure
+lavished upon it; for others, hoping for a bloodless and gradual
+extinction of slavery, the Civil War carried away the chief element of
+interest. Others still, who looked for a ready solution of the Negro
+Problem in this country, have gradually lost heart in the face of the
+increasing millions of the race. And so, some from one cause, some from
+another, have lost interest in colonization and in Liberia, until a time
+has come when few have more than the vaguest knowledge of these terms.
+Sometimes the voice of contempt is heard; but this is always a proof of
+ignorance. Liberia stands forth historically as the embodiment of a
+number of ideas, efforts, principles, any one of which ought to secure
+at the least our respect, if not our sympathy and enthusiasm.
+
+
+
+
+1. _As a Southern Movement toward Emancipation_.
+
+
+This thesis will doubtless meet with the most strenuous opposition; but
+a careful and impartial study of the writings and addresses of those
+most prominent in the movement will convince anyone of their profound
+hope that colonization would eventually lead to the extinction of
+slavery in the United States. It must be remembered that at the time of
+the formation of the Society the pro-slavery feeling in the South was by
+no means so strong as it became in later years, when the violence of
+Abolition had fanned it to a white heat. Indeed, during the whole period
+before 1832 there seems to have been a prevailing sentiment in favor of
+emancipation--at least throughout Maryland, Virginia, and North
+Carolina. But the condition of the free blacks was notoriously such that
+the humane master hesitated to doom his slaves to it by emancipating
+them. The colonizationist hoped, by offering to the free Negro an
+attractive home in Africa, to induce conscientious masters everywhere to
+liberate their slaves, and to give rise to a growing popular sentiment
+condemning slavery, which would in time result in its extinction. Of
+course there were those in the Society who would not have subscribed to
+this doctrine; on the other hand, many held views much more radical. But
+it is the men who formed and guided the Society, who wielded its
+influence and secured its success, whose opinions must be regarded as
+stamping its policy.
+
+The Constitution of the Society did not touch upon this subject. It was
+needless to give unnecessary alarm or offense. But when in 1833 the
+Maryland Society adopted its Constitution--a much larger and more
+explicit one--the attitude taken is boldly announced:
+
+"Whereas the Maryland State Colonization Society desires to hasten as
+far as they can the period when slavery shall cease to exist in
+Maryland, and believing that this can best be done by advocating and
+assisting the cause of colonization as the safest, truest and best
+auxiliary of freedom under existing circumstances," etc.
+
+It may well be questioned whether such a plan would ever have succeeded:
+but it must not too hastily be called chimerical. As a practical result
+it secured the emancipation of several thousand slaves, many of whom
+were supplied by former owners with money for transportation and
+establishment in Africa. What further success it might have had was
+prevented by the rise of the Abolition Movement. The intense
+pro-slavery feeling which this stirred up in the South caused the
+Colonization Society to be regarded with distrust and even active
+hostility. It was accused of secretly undermining slavery and exciting
+false hopes among the slaves. It was even said to foment discontent and
+raise dangerous questions for sinister purposes, and was subjected to
+bitter attack as "disguised Abolitionism."
+
+From the opposite extreme of opinion the Society suffered assault still
+more violent. William Lloyd Garrison, in his intemperate zeal for
+"immediate emancipation without expatriation," could see nothing but
+duplicity and treachery in the motives of its adherents. His "Thoughts
+on Colonization" hold up the movement to public odium as the sum of all
+villainies, and in the columns of the _Liberator_ no insult or reproach
+is spared. His wonderful energy and eloquence brought over to his camp a
+number of the Society's friends, and enabled him in his English campaign
+to exhibit it in a light so odious that he actually brought back a
+protest signed by the most eminent anti-slavery men of that country.
+
+Assailed on one side and on the other the Society, as we have seen,
+serenely pursued its course. Apparently it did not suffer. But it can
+scarcely be doubted that its growth and expansion were seriously checked
+by the cross-fire to which it was subjected. Among the negroes
+themselves prejudices were industriously disseminated, and everything
+was done to make them believe themselves duped and cheated.
+
+From these reasons colonization never reached the proportions hoped for
+by those who looked to it for the gradual extinction of slavery. But we
+should not fail to recognize in the movement an earnest and noble, if
+too ambitious, effort to solve, without violence or bloodshed, a problem
+only half disposed of by Lincoln's edict and the Fifteenth Amendment.
+
+
+
+
+2. _As a Check to the Slave-Trade._
+
+
+The coast upon which the colony was established had for several hundred
+years been one of the chief resorts of the slave dealers of the western
+shores of Africa. Their "factories" were situated at numerous points on
+both sides of the early settlements. The coast tribes, broken up and
+demoralized by the traffic, waged ceaseless wars for the sole purpose of
+obtaining for the trader a supply of his commodity. It was their only
+means of getting supplies of the products and manufactures of
+civilization; and, as we have seen, when they found the presence of the
+newcomers an obstacle to their chief industry, they took up arms to
+expel them.
+
+Until the year 1807 there was no restriction whatever on the traffic,
+and the proportions which it reached, the horrors it entailed, are
+almost incredible. Sir T.F. Buxton estimated on careful calculations
+that the trade on the western coast resulted in a loss to Africa of
+500,000 persons annually. At length the progress of humanity drove
+England to declare war on the infamous traffic, and her cruisers plied
+the length of the continent to prevent infractions of her decree. At
+enormous expense the entire coast was put in a state of blockade.
+
+The result was mortifying. Instead of disappearing, the exportation of
+slaves was found actually to increase, while the attending horrors were
+multiplied. Small, swift cutters took the place of the roomy slave-ships
+of older days, and the victims, hurriedly crowded into slave-decks but a
+few feet high, suffered ten-fold torments on the middle passage from
+inadequate supplies of food and water.
+
+The colonists, even in their early feebleness, set their face resolutely
+against the slave trade: its repression was a cardinal principle. Their
+first serious wars were waged on its account. Ashmun risked his life in
+the destruction of the factories at New Cesters and elsewhere. The
+slavers, warned by many encounters, forsook at first the immediate
+neighborhood of the settlements, and, as the coast line was gradually
+taken up, abandoned at length, after many a struggle, the entire region.
+Six hundred miles of the coast was permanently freed from an inhuman and
+demoralizing traffic that defied every effort of the British naval
+force. Nor was this all. The natives were reconciled by the introduction
+of a legitimate commerce which supplied all they had sought from the
+sale of human beings.
+
+In still another way did the colony exercise a humane influence. Among
+the natives exists a domestic slavery so cruel and barbarous that the
+lot of the American plantation Negro seemed paradise in comparison. Life
+and limb are held of such small value that severe mutilation is the
+penalty of absurdly slight transgressions, or is imposed at the
+arbitrary displeasure of the master, while more serious offenses are
+punished by death in atrocious form: as when the victim is buried alive
+with stakes driven through his quivering body.[16] The institution is of
+course a difficult one to uproot. But among the natives in the more
+thickly settled portions of the country it has ceased, and is mitigated
+wherever the influence of the Government penetrates, while the number of
+victims is greatly diminished by the cessation of inter-tribal warfare.
+
+In this way Liberia has proved, from the standpoint of humanity,
+pre-eminently successful.
+
+
+
+
+3. _As a Step toward the Civilization of Africa._
+
+
+George Whitefield is said to have declared to Oglethorpe when lamenting
+his failure to exclude slavery from Georgia, that he was making a
+mistake: the Africans were much better off as slaves than in their
+native barbarism, and would receive a training that would enable them
+ultimately to return and civilize the land of their nativity. In this
+bold idea he anticipated one of the leading thoughts of the fathers of
+colonization, and, perhaps prophesied, a great migration which the
+world is yet to see. But to confine ourselves to the present and the
+strictly practical--there is to the interior of Liberia, sweeping away
+beyond the valley of the Niger, a country of teeming population and vast
+resources. That this territory be opened to the commerce of the world,
+and the blessings of civilization be conferred upon the people, it is
+necessary that some impulse of enlightenment come from without. The
+casual visit of the trader has been proved by experience to do vastly
+more harm than good. Vice and demoralization have too often followed in
+his track. The direction and instruction of European agents accomplish
+little. The best efforts of all men of this class have resulted in an
+unequal hand-to-hand fight with the deadly climate, in which no white
+man can work and live. Besides, the natives need more than guidance;
+they must have before them the example of a civilized settlement.
+
+It would be impossible to imagine a more ideal agent for accomplishing
+this work than Liberia. True, its slow development has prevented it as
+yet from penetrating to the most fruitful portion of the interior
+district; but so far as it has gone the work has been wonderful. One
+after another of the native chiefs has sought, with his people,
+admission to the privileges of citizenship, agreeing to conform to the
+laws of the country and abolish inconsistent aboriginal customs. The
+schools are full of native children, while large numbers are distributed
+in a sort of apprenticeship among Liberian families for training in the
+arts of civilized life. The English language has become widely known.
+More remote tribes, while retaining native customs, have entered into
+agreements or treaties to abstain from war, to keep open roads and
+routes of commerce, to protect travellers and missionaries and such
+Liberians as may settle among them. This is in itself an advance; and in
+addition various forms of knowledge, improved implements and methods of
+agriculture must enter in and insensibly raise these tribes to a higher
+plane.
+
+In reclaiming the natives lies a source of great future power for
+Liberia. When immigration from the United States shall assume such
+proportions that numbers of interior settlements can be made which shall
+be radiating centres of civilization, the enormous potential energy of
+native intelligence and labor will be brought to bear on the development
+of the country with marvellous results.
+
+
+
+
+4. _As a Missionary Effort_.
+
+
+The attempts of the Christian Church to evangelize the western districts
+of Africa constitute one of the saddest and most discouraging records of
+history. From the first attempt of the Roman church in 1481, it has been
+one continuous narrative of a futile struggle against disease and death.
+A whole army of martyrs has gone bravely to its doom leaving no trace of
+its sacrifice save unmarked and forgotten graves. It has indeed been a
+bitter experience that has proved this work can be successfully
+undertaken only by men of African blood, for whom the climate has no
+terrors. And the superiority of an established Christian community to a
+few isolated missionary stations requires no demonstration. From the
+first the colonists were active in spreading a knowledge of the Gospel
+among the natives. Lot Cary, one of the earliest emigrants, was an
+earnest missionary, and besides efficient work at home he established
+mission stations at Cape Mount and elsewhere.
+
+In 1826 four emissaries of the Basle Missionary College made Monrovia
+their headquarters, and did some good work; but they soon succumbed to
+the climate. The American churches of those denominations most largely
+represented in Liberia--the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist and
+Methodist--made strenuous efforts, and sent out a succession of
+missionaries, most of whom fell victims to the fever. Later, after
+learning the salutary lesson, they accomplished much through the
+organization and direction of the work of Liberian missionaries. In
+this way the gospel is safely and successfully propagated among the
+natives.
+
+A foe more stubborn than paganism is to be met in the ranks of Islam.
+There seems to be something in its teachings which renders the native a
+ready convert. Its simplicity is readily understood; and it sanctions
+the practices of polygamy and slave-holding to which he is accustomed.
+Under the zealous proselytism of the Mandingoes the Mohammedan faith has
+taken a strong hold on the interior, and is spreading rapidly to the
+very doors of Liberia. Candor compels the admission that it brings with
+it a marked improvement in the condition and intelligence of the
+converts. Intemperance--which in many cases follows in the tracks of the
+Christian merchant--disappears. A knowledge of Arabic is soon acquired
+and the Koran is eagerly read and its principles put in practice. The
+whole life of the convert is transformed, and he becomes in turn zealous
+in the dissemination of the faith. The efforts of missionaries alone can
+never stem this torrent; if any impression is to be made upon the
+Mohammedan tribes it must be by the extension of Christian settlements
+and civilization.
+
+
+
+
+5. _As a Refuge to the Negro from the Pressure of Increasing Competition
+in America._
+
+
+It would be unnecessary to bring into review the causes that are
+operating daily to make the conditions of earning a living in America
+more difficult. However much or little credence we place in the
+Malthusian theory of the increase of population, in the doctrine of
+diminishing returns, or the iron law of wages, all thinking men are
+agreed that the country is already entering upon a new era. The period
+of expansion, of the taking up of new territory by the overflowing
+population of the older districts, is practically ended; future
+development will be intensive, the country will be more thickly settled,
+and the sharpness of competition will be immeasurably increased. The
+possibility of rising in life will be reduced to a minimum; and there
+will exist a class, as in the older civilizations of Europe, who live,
+and expect to see their children live, in a subordinate or inferior
+relation, without the prospect of anything better.
+
+There may be under this new régime a number of occupations in which the
+Negro, by contentedly accepting a subordinate position, may hold his
+ground. Or the conditions of life may become so severe that a sharp
+struggle for existence will leave in possession the race which shall
+prove fittest to survive. To follow the train of thought would lead into
+all the unsolved difficulties of the Negro Problem. But surely there
+will be some among all the millions of the race who will become
+dissatisfied with their life here. Some will aspire to higher things,
+some will seek merely a field where their labor will meet an adequate
+return; many will be moved by self-interest, a few by nobler motives. To
+all these Liberia eagerly opens her arms. The pressure in America finds
+an efficient safety-valve in the colonization of Africa.
+
+With such additions to her strength, the resources of Liberia will be
+brought out and developed. Communication with America will be made
+easier and cheaper. The toiling masses left behind will have before them
+the constant example of numbers of their race living in comfort and
+increasing prosperity under their own government. Many will become eager
+to secure the same advantages, and gradually a migration will begin that
+will carry hundreds of thousands from the house of bondage to the
+promised land.
+
+It is absurd to declaim about "expatriation" and to declare such a
+movement forced and unnatural. The whole course of history reveals men
+leaving their homes under pressure of one cause or another, and striking
+out into new fields. The western course of migration has reached its
+uttermost limit, and the tide must turn in other directions. One vast
+and rich continent remains; upon it the eyes of the world are fixed.
+Already the aggressive Aryan has established himself wherever he can
+gain a foothold; but the greater part of the country is forever barred
+to him by a climate which he cannot subdue.
+
+To whom then can this rich territory offer greater inducements than to
+the colored people of the United States? And what is more natural and
+rational than that they, when the population of the country approaches
+the migration point, should follow the line of least resistance and turn
+their steps to the home of their forefathers.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHORITIES.
+
+
+The sources of information which proved most useful to the writer are:
+
+The Annual Reports of the A.C.S., together with the files of its
+quarterly journal, the _African Repository_.
+
+Messages of Presidents of Liberia, and the Reports of Secretaries of
+Treasury, War, and Navy.
+
+The Archives of the Maryland State Colonization Society, preserved by
+the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+KENNEDY: Colonization Report.
+
+ALEXANDER: History of Colonization. 1845.
+
+GURLEY: Report on Condition of Liberia. 1850.
+
+CARL RITTER: Begründung u. gegenwärtige Zustände der Negerrepublik
+Liberia. 1852.
+
+ANDERSON: Narrative of a Journey to Musardu. 1870.
+
+LATROBE: Maryland in Liberia. 1885.
+
+WAUWERMANS: Libéria; Histoire de la Fondation d'un État nègre libre.
+1885.
+
+SCHWARTZ: Einiges über das interne Leben der Eingebornen Liberias.
+Deutsche Kolonialzeitung. 1887.
+
+--Die Neger-Republik Liberia. Das Ausland. 1888.
+
+BLYDEN: Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race.
+
+BÃœTTIKOFER: Reisebilder aus Liberia. 1890.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Letter to Philip A. Bruce, dated London, April 8, 1889.]
+
+[Footnote 2: James Ferguson, _Life of Hopkins_. Hopkins' Circular,
+1793.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Jefferson, _Notes on Virginia_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Kennedy's _Report_, p. 160.]
+
+[Footnote 5: A.C.S. Report for 1853, pp. 37-55.]
+
+[Footnote 6: The remarks of these gentlemen and others of similar views
+have subjected the Society to many unjust attacks. Of course many would
+join such a movement from mixed motives; but the guiding principles of
+the Society itself have always been distinctly philanthropic.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Report of Amos Kendall, Fourth Auditor, to the Secretary of
+the Navy, August, 1830.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Ashmun.]
+
+[Footnote 9: These were eventually paid by the United States Government.
+Kendall's Report to Secretary of Navy, December, 1830.]
+
+[Footnote 10: The outbreak of the Civil War ended the arrangement after
+the third payment.]
+
+[Footnote 11: This singular petition is preserved in Minute Book No. 4
+of the M.S. C.S., p. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Carl Ritter, who saw him in 1852, speaks of him as "den
+edlen, hochgebildeten, erfahrenen, weisen, und der Rede sehr kundigen
+Staatsman Wir (i.e., Ritter,) haben wiederholt seinen würdenvollen Reden
+in den ersten Kreisen in London beigewohnt."]
+
+[Footnote 13: _Semi-Centennial Memorial_, p. 190.]
+
+[Footnote 14: B. Anderson, _Narrative of a Journey to Musardu_.]
+
+[Footnote 15: A.C. Reports of 1881 and 1882.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Anderson's _Journey to Musardu_.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Liberia, by J.H.T. McPherson
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11353 ***
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Liberia, by J.H.T. McPherson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: History of Liberia
+       Johns Hopkins University Studies In Historical And Political Science
+
+Author: J.H.T. McPherson
+
+Release Date: February 28, 2004 [EBook #11353]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF LIBERIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Joris Van Dael and PG Distributed
+Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+
+JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
+
+HERBERT B. ADAMS, Editor
+
+History is past Politics and Politics present History--_Freeman_
+
+NINTH SERIES
+
+X
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF LIBERIA
+
+BY J.H.T. McPHERSON, Ph.D.
+
+
+
+_Fellow in History, Johns Hopkins University, 1889; Instructor in
+History, University of Michigan, 1890; Professor of History and
+Politics, University of Georgia, 1891._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+1891
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  I. INTRODUCTION
+ II. THE COLONIZATION IDEA
+III. THE COLONIZATION MOVEMENT
+ IV. MARYLAND IN LIBERIA
+  V. THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA
+ VI. THE HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF COLONIZATION
+      1. As a Southern Movement toward Emancipation
+      2. As a Check to the Slave Trade
+      3. As a Step toward the Civilization of Africa
+      4. As a Missionary Effort
+      5. As a Refuge to the Negro from the Pressure of Increasing
+         Competition in America
+AUTHORITIES
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY NOTE.
+
+
+This paper claims to be scarcely more than a brief sketch. It is an
+abridgment of a History of Liberia in much greater detail, presented as
+a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Johns
+Hopkins University. I have devoted the leisure hours of several years to
+the accumulation of materials, which I hope will prove the basis of a
+larger work in the future.
+
+J.H.T. McP.
+
+UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, June, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF LIBERIA.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+There are but few more interesting spots in Africa than the little
+corner of the west coast occupied by the Republic of Liberia. It has
+been the scene of a series of experiments absolutely unique in
+history--experiments from which we are to derive the knowledge upon
+which we must rely in the solution of the weighty problems connected
+with the development of a dark continent, and with the civilization of
+hundreds of millions of the human race. Many questions have arisen which
+have not been settled to our complete satisfaction. Is the Negro capable
+of receiving and maintaining a superimposed civilization? Froude
+declares that "the worst enemies of the blacks are those who persist in
+pressing upon them an equality which nature has denied them. They may
+attain it in time if they are fairly treated, but they can attain it
+only on condition of going through the discipline and experience of
+hundreds of years, through which the white race had to pass before it
+was fit for political rights. If they are raised to a position for which
+they are unqualified, they can only fall back into a state of
+savagery."[1] Upon the truth or error of this view how much depends! It
+is shared by many; some even believe that the condition of Liberia tends
+to confirm it, thinking they discern signs of incipient decay. But the
+great preponderance of opinion is on the other side. The weight of
+evidence shows the colonists have at the lowest estimate retained the
+civilization they took with them. Many maintain that there has been a
+sensible advance. A recent traveller describes them as "in mancher
+Hinsicht schon hypercultivirt."
+
+What might be called a third position is taken by one of the most
+prominent writers of the race, E.W. Blyden, the widely-known President
+of Liberia College. The radical difference in race and circumstance
+must, he thinks, make African civilization essentially different from
+European: not inferior, but different. The culture which the blacks have
+acquired, or may attain in further contact with foreign influence, will
+be used as a point of departure in future intelligent development along
+lines following the characteristics of the race. This tendency to
+differentiate he regards as natural and inevitable; it ought to be
+recognized and encouraged in every way, that the time may be hastened
+when a great negro civilization, unlike anything we have yet seen, shall
+prevail in Africa and play its part in the world's history.
+
+If we make allowance for the errors and mistakes of an untrained and
+inexperienced people, the history of Liberia may be regarded as a
+demonstration of the capacity of the race for self-government. Upon the
+capability of individuals is reflected the highest credit. The
+opportunities for a rounded-out and fully developed culture afforded by
+the peculiar conditions of life in the Republic produced a number of men
+who deserve unqualified admiration. From the earliest days of the
+colony, when Elijah Johnson upheld the courage of the little band in the
+midst of hostile swarms of savages, to the steadfast statesmanship of
+Russwurm and the stately diplomacy of Roberts, there have stood forth
+individuals of a quality and calibre that fill with surprise those who
+hold the ordinary opinion of the possibilities of the Negro. The trials
+of the Republic have afforded a crucial test in which many a character
+has shown true metal. It is not too much to assert that the very highest
+type of the race has been the product of Liberia.
+
+There are other aspects in which our tropical offspring has for us a
+vital interest. Perhaps the most important is the connection it will
+have in the future with what is called the Negro Problem in our own
+country. There have been and are thoughtful men who see in colonization
+the only solution of its difficulties. Others ridicule the very
+suggestion. It is a question into which we do not propose to go. But
+there is scarcely any doubt that when the development of Liberia is a
+little more advanced, and when communication with her ports becomes less
+difficult, and when the population of the United States grows more dense
+and presses more upon the limits of production, there will be a large
+voluntary migration of negroes to Africa. And no one will deny that the
+existence of a flourishing Republic of the black race just across the
+Atlantic will react powerfully upon all questions relating to our own
+colored population.
+
+But let us not venture too deeply into this theme. Another claim of
+Liberia upon the sympathetic interest of the entire people, is that it
+represents our sole attempt at colonial enterprise. It is true the
+movement was largely individual, but the effort came from a widespread
+area of the country; moreover, the part played by the National
+Government was not only important, but essential. Without its friendly
+intervention, the plan could never have been carried out. The action
+carries with it some responsibility. The United States might well
+exercise some protective care, might now and then extend a helping hand,
+and let the aggressive Powers of Europe see that Liberia is not
+friendless, and that encroachment upon her territory will not be
+tolerated.
+
+A few words upon the topography of the country and upon the aborigines
+may not be out of place. Liberia is by no means the dreary waste of sand
+and swamp that some imagine it. The view from the sea has been
+described as one of unspeakable beauty and grandeur. From the low-lying
+coast the land rises in a terraced slope--a succession of hills and
+plateaux as far as the eye can reach, all covered with the dense
+perennial verdure of the primeval forest. Perhaps the best authority on
+the natural features of the country is the zoölogist of the Royal Museum
+of Leyden, J. Büttikofer, who has made Liberia several visits and spent
+several years in its scientific exploration. The account of his
+investigations is most interesting. Small as is the area of the country
+all kinds of soil are represented, and corresponding to this variety is
+a remarkably rich and varied flora. Amidst this luxuriance is found an
+unusually large number of products of commercial value. Cotton, indigo,
+coffee, pepper, the pineapple, gum tree, oil palm, and many others grow
+wild in abundance, while a little cultivation produces ample crops of
+rice, corn, potatoes, yams, arrowroot, ginger, and especially sugar,
+tobacco, and a very superior grade of coffee. The fertility of the soil
+renders possible the production of almost any crop.
+
+The fauna of the land is scarcely less remarkable in variety and
+abundance. The larger animals, including domestic cattle and horses, do
+not thrive on the coast, but are plentiful farther inland. On the
+Mandingo Plateau, elephants are not uncommon. Buffaloes, leopards,
+tigers, antelopes, porcupines, the great ant-eater, divers species of
+monkeys, and numerous other animals are found, besides many varieties of
+birds.
+
+The native Africans inhabiting this territory are probably more than a
+million in number, and belong to several different stocks of somewhat
+varying characteristics. The most common type is of medium size, well
+formed, coal-black in color and rather good-looking. They are
+intelligent and easily taught, but are extremely indolent. Their
+paganism takes the form of gross superstition, as seen in their constant
+use of gree-gree charms and in their sassa-wood ordeal. Like all the
+races of Africa, they are polygamists; and as the women manage the farms
+and do nearly all the work, a man's wealth and importance are often
+estimated by the number of his wives. Domestic slavery is universal
+among them, the great majority of slaves being obtained by capture in
+war. These inter-tribal wars were once almost constant, and their
+prevention requires the utmost vigilance of the Liberian authorities.
+
+The natives harvest rice and cassada; supply the coasting trader's
+demand for palm-oil; raise tobacco; procure salt by evaporating
+sea-water; engage in hunting and fishing. They carry on a number of rude
+industries such as the manufacture of basket-work, hats, mats,
+fish-nets; a crude sort of spinning and weaving. Iron ore exists in
+abundance, and the natives have long known how to smelt it and obtain
+the metal, from which they manufacture rude weapons, spurs, bits,
+stirrups and kitchen utensils. The cheapness of imported iron ware has
+driven out this interesting art on the coast; but in the interior it is
+still practised by the Mandingoes, who are also fine goldsmiths, and
+manufacture highly ornamented rings. There are also silversmiths among
+the Veys, who do good work. The leather industry, too, has been carried
+to some perfection.
+
+With all their disadvantages the natives seem to extract a good deal of
+enjoyment out of existence. They are very fond of singing and dancing to
+the rude strains of a drum and harp, and usually prolong their revelries
+far into the night.
+
+Taken as a whole, the native character has many fine traits; and from
+the civilization and development of this part of her population, Liberia
+has much to hope.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE COLONIZATION IDEA.
+
+
+It is always a most interesting part of historic inquiry to search out
+the very earliest sources, the first feeble germ of the idea whose
+development we are investigating. It is difficult to decide from what
+one origin can be traced the continuous development of the idea which
+resulted in the birth of Liberia; but toward the close of the last
+century there arose a number of projects, widely differing in object and
+detail, which bore more or less directly upon it, each of which may be
+said to have contributed some special feature to the fully rounded and
+developed plan.
+
+The earliest of these sprang from the once notorious hot-bed of
+slavery--Newport, R.I. As early as 1773 the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, then
+widely known as a theological writer, and responsible for the system
+termed Hopkinsianism, conceived the idea of a missionary effort in
+Africa, undertaken by natives properly trained in the United States.[2]
+This at first did not include the conception of a permanent settlement;
+but on consultation with the Rev. Ezra Styles, afterward President of
+Yale, it developed into a definite plan for a colony. The scheme proved
+popular; it was widely advertised by sermons and circulars both in this
+and the mother country; and by 1776 funds had been collected, Negro
+students placed under suitable instruction at Princeton, and success
+seemed almost assured. The outbreak of the Revolution, however, swept
+away all the thought of carrying Hopkins' cherished enterprise into
+execution, and after peace was restored his most strenuous efforts
+failed to arouse the old interest. Later thinkers, however, found
+suggestion and encouragement in his labors.
+
+The colony founded at Sierra Leone by English philanthropists drew in
+part its inspiration from Hopkins' idea, and in turn suggested later
+American plans. After the celebrated decision of Lord Mansfield in the
+Somerset case (1772), many slaves escaped to England, where they
+congregated in the dens of London in helpless poverty and misery. James
+Ramsay's essay on Slavery soon turned public attention to the Negro, and
+Dr. Smeathman's letters suggested quite a scheme of colonization. A
+movement in behalf of the oppressed race asserted itself at the
+University of Cambridge, in which Clarkson, Wilberforce, Granville Sharp
+and others took part. As a result of these efforts some four hundred
+Negroes and sixty whites were landed at Sierra Leone in May, 1787.
+Disease and disorder were rife, and by 1791 a mere handful survived. The
+Sierra Leone Company was then incorporated; some 1,200 colonists from
+the Bahamas and Nova Scotia were taken over, and the settlement in spite
+of discouraging results was kept up by frequent reinforcements until
+1807, when it was made a Government colony and naval station. Its growth
+in population and commerce has since steadily increased, and it now
+numbers some 60,000 persons chiefly concentrated in the city of
+Freetown, and all blacks save one or two hundred.
+
+It may be as well to mention here two other sporadic attempts to lead
+colored colonists to Africa. In 1787 the gifted and erratic Dr. Wm.
+Thornton proposed himself to become the leader of a body of Rhode Island
+and Massachusetts colonists to Western Africa; he appears to have been
+in communication with Hopkins on the subject a year later, but the
+effort fell through for want of funds. The other is much later. Paul
+Cuffee, the son of a well-to-do Massachusetts freedman, had become by
+his talents and industry a prosperous merchant and ship-owner.
+Stimulated by the colony at Sierra Leone, and longing to secure liberty
+to his oppressed race, he determined to transport in his own vessels,
+and at his own expense, as many as he could of his colored brethren.
+Accordingly, in 1815, he sailed from Boston with about forty, whom he
+landed safely at Sierra Leone. He was about to take over on a second
+voyage a much larger number, when his benevolent designs were
+interrupted by death.
+
+It will be observed that the colonization plans hitherto unfolded had
+all been proposed for some missionary or similar benevolent object, and
+were to be carried out on a small scale and by private means. It is now
+time to consider one proposed from a widely different standpoint. As a
+political measure, as a possible remedy for the serious evils arising
+from slavery and the contact of races, it is not surprising to find
+Thomas Jefferson suggesting a plan of colonization. The evils of slavery
+none ever saw more clearly. "The whole commerce between master and
+slave," he quaintly says, "is a perpetual exercise of the most
+boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and
+degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this and learn to
+imitate it." And again, "With what execration should the statesman be
+loaded, who, permitting one-half the citizens thus to trample on the
+rights of the other, transforms these into despots and those into
+enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the amor patriae of
+the other.... I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is
+just."[3] Yet his equally clear perception of the evils sure to result
+from emancipation immediate and unqualified, makes him look to
+colonization as the only remedy. "Why not retain and incorporate the
+blacks into the state?" he asks, "Deep rooted prejudices entertained by
+the whites, ten thousand recollections by the blacks of the injuries
+they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which
+nature has made; and many other circumstances, will divide us into
+parties and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in the
+extermination of the one or the other race." After the lapse of a
+century how prophetic these words sound! Jefferson believed then that by
+colonization slavery was to be abolished. All slaves born after a
+certain date were to be free; these should remain with their parents
+till a given age, after which they should be taught at public expense
+agriculture and the useful arts. When full-grown they were to be
+"colonized to such a place as the circumstances of the time should
+render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of the
+household and handicraft arts, pairs of the useful domestic animals,
+etc.; to declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them
+our alliance and protection till they have acquired strength."
+
+Such in outline was Jefferson's contribution to the colonization idea.
+Its influence was unquestionably great: the "Notes on Virginia,"
+privately circulated after 1781, and at length published in 1787, went
+through eight editions before 1800, and must have been familiar to
+nearly all of those concerned in the formation of the Colonization
+Society.
+
+Clearer still must the details of Jefferson's project have been in the
+minds of the members of the Virginia Legislature in 1800, when, after
+the outbreak of a dangerous slave conspiracy in Richmond, they met in
+secret session to consult the common security. The resolution which they
+reached shows unmistakably Jefferson's influence. With the delicate if
+somewhat obscure periphrasis in which legislation concerning the Negro
+was traditionally couched, they enacted: "That the Governor be requested
+to correspond with the President of the United States on the subject of
+purchasing lands without the limits of this State whither persons
+obnoxious to the laws or dangerous to the peace of society may be
+removed."[4] An interesting correspondence ensued between Monroe, who
+was then Governor, and Jefferson. Both regarded the idea as something
+far more important than a mere penal colony. Monroe, too, saw in it a
+possible remedy for the evils of slavery, and refers to the matter as
+"one of great delicacy and importance, involving in a peculiar degree
+the future peace, tranquillity, and happiness" of the country. After
+much discussion Africa was selected as the only appropriate site, and
+approved by another Act of the Legislature. Jefferson lost no time in
+attempting to secure land for the colony, but his efforts met with no
+success. After a discouraging repulse from Sierra Leone, and the failure
+of several half-hearted attempts to obtain a footing elsewhere, the
+whole matter was allowed to sink into abeyance. For years a pall of
+secrecy concealed the scheme from public knowledge.
+
+In the meantime a new private movement toward colonization was started
+at the North. Samuel J. Mills organized at Williams College, in 1808,
+for missionary work, an undergraduate society, which was soon
+transferred to Andover, and resulted in the establishment of the
+American Bible Society and Board of Foreign Missions. But the topic
+which engrossed Mills' most enthusiastic attention was the Negro. The
+desire was to better his condition by founding a colony between the Ohio
+and the Lakes; or later, when this was seen to be unwise, in Africa. On
+going to New Jersey to continue his theological studies, Mills succeeded
+in interesting the Presbyterian clergy of that State in his project. Of
+this body one of the most prominent members was Dr. Robert Finley. Dr.
+Finley succeeded in assembling at Princeton the first meeting ever
+called to consider the project of sending Negro colonists to Africa.
+Although supported by few save members of the seminary, Dr. Finley felt
+encouraged to set out for Washington in December, 1816, to attempt the
+formation of a colonization society.
+
+Earlier in this same year there had been a sudden awakening of Southern
+interest in colonization. Toward the end of February, Gen. Charles
+Fenton Mercer accidentally had his attention called to the Secret
+Journals of the Legislature for the years 1801-5.[5] He had been for six
+years a member of the House of Delegates, in total ignorance of their
+existence. He at once investigated and was rewarded with a full
+knowledge of the Resolutions and ensuing correspondence between Monroe
+and Jefferson. Mercer's enthusiasm was at once aroused, and he
+determined to revive the Resolutions at the next meeting of the
+Legislature. In the meantime, imputing their previous failure to the
+secrecy which had screened them from public view, he brought the whole
+project conspicuously into notice. At the next session of the
+Legislature, in December, resolutions embodying the substance of the
+secret enactments were passed almost unanimously in both houses. Public
+attention had been in this way already brought to bear upon the
+advantages of Colonization when Finley set on foot the formation of a
+society in Washington. The interest already awakened and the
+indefatigable efforts of Finley and his friend Col. Charles Marsh, at
+length succeeded in convening the assembly to which the Colonization
+Society owes its existence. It was a notable gathering. Henry Clay, in
+the absence of Bushrod Washington, presided, setting forth in glowing
+terms the object and aspirations of the meeting. Finley's
+brother-in-law, Elias B. Caldwell was Secretary, and supplied the
+leading argument, an elaborate plea, setting forth the expediency of the
+project and its practicability in regard to territory, expense, and the
+abundance of willing colonists. The wide benevolent objects to be
+attained were emphasized. John Randolph of Roanoke, and Robert Wright of
+Maryland, dwelt upon the desirability of removing the turbulent
+free-negro element and enhancing the value of property in slaves.[6]
+Resolutions organizing the Society passed, and committees appointed to
+draft a Constitution and present a memorial to Congress. At an adjourned
+meeting a week later the constitution was adopted, and on January 1,
+1817, officers were elected.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE COLONIZATION MOVEMENT.
+
+
+With commendable energy the newly organized Society set about the
+accomplishment of the task before it. Plans were discussed during the
+summer, and in November two agents, Samuel J. Mills and Ebenezer
+Burgess, sailed for Africa to explore the western coast and select a
+suitable spot. They were cordially received in England by the officers
+of the African Institution, and by Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for
+the Colonies, who provided them with letters to Sierra Leone. Here they
+arrived in March, 1818, and were hospitably received, every facility
+being afforded them to prosecute their inquiries, though marked
+unwillingness to have a foreign colony established in the vicinity was
+not concealed. Their inspection was carried as far south as Sherbro
+Island, where they obtained promises from the natives to sell land to
+the colonists on their arrival with goods to pay for it. In May they
+embarked on the return voyage. Mills died before reaching home. His
+colleague made a most favorable report of the locality selected, though,
+as the event proved, it was a most unfortunate one.
+
+After defraying the expenses of this exploration the Society's treasury
+was practically empty. It would have been most difficult to raise the
+large sum necessary to equip and send out a body of emigrants; and the
+whole enterprise would have languished and perhaps died but for a new
+impelling force. Monroe, who ever since his correspondence with
+Jefferson in 1800, had pondered over "the vast and interesting objects"
+which colonization might accomplish, was now by an interesting chain of
+circumstances enabled to render essential aid.
+
+Though the importation of slaves had been strictly prohibited by the Act
+of Congress of March 2, 1807, no provision had been made for the care of
+the unfortunates smuggled in in defiance of the Statute. They became
+subject to the laws of the State in which they were landed; and these
+laws were in some cases so devised that it was profitable for the dealer
+to land his cargo and incur the penalty. The advertisements of the sale
+of such a cargo of "recaptured Africans" by the State of Georgia drew
+the attention of the Society and of Gen. Mercer in particular to this
+inconsistent and abnormal state of affairs. His profound indignation
+shows forth in the Second Annual Report of the Society, in which the
+attention of the public is earnestly drawn to the question; nor did he
+rest until a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives
+designed to do away with the evil. This bill became a law on March 3,
+1819.
+
+Provision was made for a more stringent suppression of the slave trade:
+new cruisers were ordered and bounties awarded for captures; but the
+clause which proved so important to the embryo colony was that dealing
+with the captured cargoes:
+
+"The President of the United States is hereby authorized to make such
+regulations and arrangements as he may deem expedient for the
+safe-keeping, support, and removal beyond the limits of the United
+States, of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color as may be so
+delivered and brought within their jurisdiction; and to appoint a proper
+person or persons residing upon the coast of Africa as agent or agents
+for receiving the negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color, delivered
+from on board vessels seized in the prosecution of the slave trade by
+commanders of the United States armed vessels." The sum of $100,000 was
+appropriated for carrying out the provisions of the Act. President
+Monroe determined to construe it as broadly as possible in aid of the
+project of colonization. After giving Congress, in his message,
+December 20, 1818, fair notice of his intention, no objection being
+made, he proceeded to appoint two agents, the Rev. Samuel Bacon, already
+in the service of the Colonization Society, and John P. Bankson as
+assistant, and to charter the ship Elizabeth. The agents were instructed
+to settle on the coast of Africa, with a tacit understanding that the
+place should be that selected by the Colonization Society; they were to
+provide accommodations sufficient for three hundred, supplying
+provisions, clothing, tools, and implements. It is important to note the
+essential part taken by the Government in the establishment of the
+colony, for this is often said to be purely the result of private
+enterprise; the inference tending to free the United States from any
+responsibility for the protection of its feeble offspring. It is true
+according to the letter, that the Government agency was separate from
+the colony: the agents were instructed "to exercise no power founded on
+the principle of colonization, or other principle than that of
+performing benevolent offices;" and again, "you are not to connect your
+agency with the views or plans of the Colonization Society, with which,
+under the law, the Government of the United States has no concern," Yet
+as a matter of fact the agency and colony were practically identical;
+and for years the resources of the Government were employed "to colonize
+recaptured Africans, to build homes for them, to furnish them with
+farming utensils, to pay instructors to teach them, to purchase ships
+for their convenience, to build forts for their protection, to supply
+them with arms and munitions of war, to enlist troops to guard them, and
+to employ the army and navy in their defence,"[7] These words of one
+unfriendly to the colony forcibly show the extent to which our national
+government was responsible for the experiment.
+
+When the Elizabeth was chartered the Society was notified that the
+Government agency was prepared to transport their first colonists; or
+more literally "agreed to receive on board such free blacks recommended
+by the Society as might be required for the purpose of the agency." For
+the expenses of the expedition $33,000 was placed in the hands of Mr.
+Bacon. Dr. Samuel A. Crozier was appointed by the Society as its agent
+and representative; and eighty-six negroes from various
+states--thirty-three men, eighteen women, and the rest children, were
+embarked. On the 6th of February, 1820, the Mayflower of Liberia weighed
+anchor in New York harbor, and, convoyed by the U.S. sloop-of-war Cyane,
+steered her course toward the shores of Africa. The pilgrims were kindly
+treated by the authorities at Sierra Leone, where they arrived on the
+ninth of March; but on proceeding to Sherbro Island they found the
+natives had reconsidered their promise, and refused to sell them land.
+While delayed by negotiations the injudicious nature of the site
+selected was disastrously shown. The low marshy ground and the bad water
+quickly bred the African fever, which soon carried off all the agents
+and nearly a fourth of the emigrants. The rest, weakened and
+disheartened were soon obliged to seek refuge at Sierra Leone.
+
+In March, 1821, a body of twenty-eight new emigrants under charge of
+J.B. Winn and Ephraim Bacon, reached Freetown in the brig Nautilus. Winn
+collected as many as he could of the first company, also the stores sent
+out with them, and settled the people in temporary quarters at Fourah
+Bay, while Bacon set out to explore the coast anew and secure suitable
+territory. An elevated fertile and desirable tract was at length
+discovered between 250 and 300 miles S.E. of Sierra Leone. This was the
+region of Cape Montserado. It seemed exactly suited to the purposes of
+the colonists, but the natives refused to sell their land for fear of
+breaking up the traffic in slaves; and the agent returned discouraged.
+Winn soon died, and Bacon returned to the United States. In November,
+Dr. Eli Ayres was sent over as agent, and the U.S. schooner Alligator,
+commanded by Lieutenant Stockton, was ordered to the coast to assist in
+obtaining a foothold for the colony. Cape Montserado was again visited;
+and the address and firmness of Lieutenant Stockton accomplished the
+purchase of a valuable tract of land.
+
+The cape upon which the settlers proposed to build their first
+habitations consists of a narrow peninsula or tongue of land formed by
+the Montserado River, which separates it from the mainland. Just within
+the mouth of the river lie two small islands, containing together less
+than three acres. To these, the Plymouth of Liberia, the colonists and
+their goods were soon transported. But again the fickle natives repented
+the bargain, and the settlers were long confined to "Perseverance
+Island," as the spot was aptly named. Space forbids entering on the
+interesting details of the difficulties they successfully encountered.
+After a number of thrilling experiences the emigrants, on April 25,
+1822, formally took possession of the cape, where they had erected rude
+houses for themselves; and from this moment we may date the existence of
+the colony. Their supplies were by this time sadly reduced; the natives
+were hostile and treacherous; fever had played havoc with the colonists
+in acclimating; and the incessant downpour of the rainy season had set
+in. Dr. Ayres became thoroughly discouraged, and proposed to lead them
+back to Sierra Leone. Then it was that Elijah Johnson, an emigrant from
+New York, made himself forever famous in Liberian history by declaring
+that he would never desert the home he had found after two years' weary
+quest! His firmness decided the wavering colonists; the agents with a
+few faint-hearted ones sailed off to America; but the majority remained
+with their heroic Negro leader. The little band, deserted by their
+appointed protectors, were soon reduced to the most dire distress, and
+must have perished miserably but for the arrival of unexpected relief.
+The United States Government had at last gotten hold of some ten
+liberated Africans, and had a chance to make use of the agency
+established for them at so great an expense. They were accordingly sent
+out in the brig Strong under the care of the Rev. Jehudi Ashmun. A
+quantity of stores and some thirty-seven emigrants sent by the
+Colonization Society completed the cargo. Ashmun had received no
+commission as agent for the colony, and expected to return on the
+Strong; under this impression his wife had accompanied him. But when he
+found the colonists in so desperate a situation he nobly determined to
+remain with them at any sacrifice. He visited the native chiefs and
+found them, under cover of friendly promises, preparing for a deadly
+assault on the little colony. There was no recourse but to prepare for a
+vigorous defense. Twenty-seven men were capable of bearing arms; and one
+brass and five iron fieldpieces, all dismantled and rusty, formed his
+main hope. Ashmun at once set to work, and with daily drills and
+unremitting labor in clearing away the forest and throwing up
+earthworks, succeeded at last in putting the settlement in a reasonable
+state of defense. It was no easy task. The fatiguing labor, incessant
+rains, and scanty food predisposed them to the dreaded fever. Ashmun
+himself was prostrated; his wife sank and died before his eyes; and soon
+there was but one man in the colony who was not on the sick-list. At
+length the long-expected assault was made. Just before daybreak on the
+11th of November the settlement was approached by a body of over eight
+hundred African warriors. Stealthily following the pickets as they
+returned a little too early from their watch, the savages burst upon the
+colony and with a rush captured the outworks. A desperate conflict
+ensued, the issue of which hung doubtful until the colonists succeeded
+in manning their brass field-piece, which was mounted upon a raised
+platform, and turning it upon the dense ranks of the assailants. The
+effect at such short range was terrible. "Every shot literally spent its
+force in a solid mass of living human flesh. Their fire suddenly
+terminated. A savage yell was raised, ... and the whole host
+disappeared."[8] The victory had been gained at a cost of four killed
+and as many seriously wounded. Ammunition was exhausted; food had given
+out. Another attack, for which the natives were known to be preparing,
+could scarcely fail to succeed. Before it was made, however, an English
+captain touched at the cape and generously replenished their stores. On
+the very next evening, November 30, the savages were seen gathering in
+large numbers on the cape, and toward morning a desperate attack was
+made on two sides at once. The lines had been contracted, however, and
+all the guns manned, and the well-directed fire of the artillery again
+proved too much for native valor. The savages were repulsed with great
+loss. The unusual sound of a midnight cannonade attracted the Prince
+Regent, an English colonial schooner laden with military stores and
+having on board the celebrated traveller Captain Laing, through whose
+mediation the natives were brought to agree to a peace most advantageous
+to the colonists. When the Prince Regent sailed, Midshipman Gordon, with
+eleven British sailors volunteered to remain, to assist the exhausted
+colonists and guarantee the truce. His generosity met an ill requital;
+within a month he had fallen victim to the climate with eight of the
+brave seamen. Supplies were again running low, when March brought the
+welcome arrival of the U.S. ship Cyane. Captain R.T. Spence at once
+turned his whole force to improving the condition of the colonists.
+Buildings were erected, the dismantled colonial schooner was raised and
+made sea-worthy, and many invaluable services were rendered, until at
+length a severe outbreak of the fever among the crew compelled the
+vessel's withdrawal. It was too late, however, to prevent the loss of
+forty lives, including the lieutenant, Richard Dashiell, and the
+surgeon, Dr. Dix.
+
+On the 24th of May, 1823, the brig Oswego arrived with sixty-one new
+emigrants and a liberal supply of stores and tools, in charge of Dr.
+Ayres, who, already the representative of the Society, had now been
+appointed Government Agent and Surgeon. One of the first measures of the
+new agent was to have the town surveyed and lots distributed among the
+whole body of colonists. Many of the older settlers found themselves
+dispossessed of the holdings improved by their labor, and the colony was
+soon in a ferment of excitement and insurrection. Dr. Ayres, finding his
+health failing, judiciously betook himself to the United States.
+
+The arrival of the agent had placed Mr. Ashmun in a false position of
+the most mortifying character. It will be remembered that in sympathy
+for the distress of the colony he had assumed the position of agent
+without authority. In the dire necessity of subsequent events he had
+been compelled to purchase supplies and ammunition in the Society's
+name. He now found, himself superseded in authority, his services and
+self-sacrifice unappreciated, his drafts[9] dishonored, his motives
+distrusted. Nothing could show more strongly his devotion and
+self-abnegation than his action in the present crisis. Seeing the colony
+again deserted by the agent and in a state of discontent and confusion,
+he forgot his wrongs and remained at the helm. Order was soon restored
+but the seeds of insubordination remained. The arrival of 103 emigrants
+from Virginia on the Cyrus, in February 1824, added to the difficulty,
+as the stock of food was so low that the whole colony had to be put on
+half rations. This necessary measure was regarded by the disaffected as
+an act of tyranny on Ashmun's part; and when shortly after the complete
+prostration of his health compelled him to withdraw to the Cape De Verde
+Islands, the malcontents sent home letters charging him with all sorts
+of abuse of power, and finally with desertion of his post! The Society
+in consternation applied to Government for an expedition of
+investigation, and the Rev. R.R. Gurley, Secretary of the Society, and
+an enthusiastic advocate of colonization was despatched in June on the
+U.S. schooner Porpoise. The result of course revealed the probity,
+integrity and good judgment of Mr. Ashman; and Gurley became
+thenceforth his warmest admirer. As a preventive of future discontent a
+Constitution was adopted at Mr. Gurley's suggestion, giving for the
+first time a definite share in the control of affairs to the colonists
+themselves. Gurley brought with him the name of the colony--Liberia, and
+of its settlement on the Cape--Monrovia, which had been adopted by the
+Society on the suggestion of Mr. Robert Goodloe Harper of Maryland. He
+returned from his successful mission in August leaving the most cordial
+relations established throughout the colony.
+
+Gurley's visit seemed to mark the turning of the tide, and a period of
+great prosperity now began. Relay after relay of industrious emigrants
+arrived; new land was taken up; successful agriculture removed all
+danger of future failure of food supply; and a flourishing trade was
+built up at Monrovia. Friendly relations were formed with the natives,
+and their children taken for instruction into colonial families and
+schools. New settlements were formed; churches and schools appeared; an
+efficient militia was organized; printing presses set up and hospitals
+erected. On every side rapid progress was made. After years of
+illustrious service Ashmun retired to his home in New Haven, where he
+died a few days later, on August 25, 1828. Under Dr. Richard Randall and
+Dr. Mechlin, who successively filled his post, the prosperity of the
+colony continued undiminished.
+
+The decade after 1832 is marked by the independent action of different
+State colonization societies. At first generally organized as tributary
+to the main body, the State societies now began to form distinct
+settlements at other points on the coast. The Maryland Society first
+started an important settlement at Cape Palmas, of which we shall make a
+special study. Bassa Cove was settled by the joint action of the New
+York and Pennsylvania Societies; Greenville, on the Sinou river, by
+emigrants from Mississippi; and the Louisiana Society engaged in a
+similar enterprise. The separate interests of the different settlements
+at length began in many cases to engender animosity and bad feeling; the
+need of general laws and supervision was everywhere apparent; and a
+movement toward a federal union of the colonies was set on foot. A plan
+was at length agreed upon by all except Maryland, by which the colonies
+were united into the "Commonwealth of Liberia," whose government was
+controlled by a Board of Directors composed of Delegates from the State
+societies. This board at its first meeting drew up a plan of government,
+and Thomas Buchanan was appointed first Governor of the Commonwealth,
+1837. The advantages of the union were soon apparent. The more
+aggressive native tribes with whom not a little trouble had been
+experienced, were made to feel the strength of the union; and many of
+the smaller head-men voluntarily put themselves under the protection of
+the Government, agreeing to become citizens, with all their subjects,
+and submit to its laws. The traffic in slaves all along the coast was
+checked, inter-tribal warfare prevented, and trial by the sassa-wood
+ordeal abolished wherever colonial influence extended. Mr. Buchanan was
+the last white man who exercised authority in Liberia. On his death the
+Lieutenant-Governor, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, succeeded him. Roberts, who
+afterward became Liberia's most distinguished citizen, was a Virginia
+Negro, having been born at Norfolk in 1809, and brought up near
+Petersburg. He obtained a rudimentary education while running a
+flat-boat on the James and Appomattox Rivers. In 1829 he went with his
+widowed mother and younger brothers to Liberia, where he rapidly rose to
+wealth and distinction. As Governor he evinced an efficient
+statesmanship that promised well for his future career.
+
+Roberts had not long been governor when trouble arose with the British
+coast-wise traders that gave rise to a most interesting crisis. The
+Liberian Government in regulating commerce within its jurisdiction had
+enacted laws imposing duties on all imported goods. The English traders,
+accustomed for hundreds of years to unrestricted traffic on this very
+coast, were indignant at the presumption of the upstart colony, and
+ignored its regulations. The Government protested, but in vain. And at
+length the little colonial revenue schooner John Seyes, while
+attempting to enforce the laws at Edina, was actually seized by the
+stalwart Britisher and dragged before the Admiralty Court at Sierra
+Leone. A long discussion which would be profitless to follow in detail,
+ensued. The result was, that the John Seyes was confiscated. The British
+Government opened a correspondence with the United States, in which it
+was ascertained that Liberia was not in political dependence upon them.
+Whereupon the sovereignty of Liberia was promptly denied, her right to
+acquire or hold territory questioned, and she was given to understand
+that the operations of British traders would in future be backed by the
+British navy.
+
+Evidently if Liberia was to maintain and govern her territory something
+must be done. The Colonization Society while claiming for Liberia the
+right to exercise sovereign powers, seems to have had the unacknowledged
+conviction, that England's position, however ungenerous, was logically
+unassailable. The supreme authority wielded by the Society, its veto
+power over legislative action, was undoubtedly inconsistent with the
+idea of a sovereign state. This is clearly apparent from the fact that
+though there was pressing necessity for a treaty with England, neither
+the colony nor the Society had power to negotiate it. It was accordingly
+determined to surrender all control over the colony; and the "people of
+the Commonwealth of Liberia" were "advised" by the Society "to undertake
+the whole work of self-government;" to make the necessary amendments to
+their Constitution, and to declare their full sovereignty to the world.
+
+The suggestion was adopted in Liberia by popular vote, and a convention
+met on July 26, 1847, adopted a Declaration of Independence and a new
+Constitution, closely modelled on the corresponding documents of the
+United States. In September the Constitution was ratified by vote of the
+people. Governor Roberts was elected to the office of President, upon
+which he entered January 3, 1848. His inaugural address is one of
+remarkable interest, fitly proclaiming to the world a new Republic.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+MARYLAND IN LIBERIA.
+
+
+The widespread interest awakened by the actual establishment of a
+permanent colony at Monrovia led to the formation of a number of State
+Colonization Societies, at first purely auxiliary to the central body,
+but later in some cases independent. The foundation of independent
+settlements at Bassa Cove and Sinou by the New York, Pennsylvania and
+Mississippi Societies, and their union in 1837 into the Commonwealth,
+has been considered. A much more important colony was founded by
+Maryland at Cape Palmas, which for years maintained its independence.
+
+In 1831, the Maryland State Colonization Society was formed. Active
+interest in the movement had long been felt in the State, and it
+scarcely needed the eloquence of Robert Finley, son of the old champion
+of colonization, who visited Baltimore in that year, to awaken
+enthusiasm. The Society had hardly been formed when ample funds were
+provided in an unexpected way. In August, 1831, a tragic Negro uprising
+took place in Virginia, in which some sixty-five white men, women and
+children were murdered. The Southampton Massacres were attributed
+largely to the instigation of the troublesome free-Negro element, and
+the growing sentiment in favor of emancipation was abruptly checked. The
+Maryland Legislature, sharing the general excitement, passed in December
+a resolution which became law in March, and proved to the State Society
+what the Act of March 3, 1819, was to the main organization. The
+connection was more explicit. Three members of the Society were to be
+appointed Commissioners to remove _all_ free Negroes to Liberia. The sum
+of $20,000 in the current year, and of $10,000 in each succeeding year,
+for a period of twenty years, was devoted to the purpose. Any free Negro
+refusing to emigrate was to be summarily ejected from the State by the
+sheriff. The wave of feeling which dictated this monstrous piece of
+legislation passed away before any of its harsh provisions were carried
+out. But the beneficent portion remained in force. The Society was left
+in the enjoyment of the liberal annuity of $10,000.
+
+In October, 1831, and December, 1832, expeditions were sent out which
+landed emigrants at Monrovia. The difficulty of arriving at an agreement
+with the parent Society regarding the rights and status of these people,
+together with other considerations, led to the adoption of the idea of
+founding a separate colony. The plan was adopted largely through the
+support of Mr. John H.B. Latrobe, throughout his life one of the most
+active and efficient friends of colonization. The motives of the
+undertaking were distinctly announced to be the gradual extirpation of
+slavery in Maryland, and the spread of civilization and Christianity in
+Africa. Cape Palmas, a bold promontory marking the point where the coast
+makes a sharp bend toward the east, was selected as the new site. Its
+conspicuous position makes it one of the best known points on the coast,
+and some identify it with the "West Horn" reached by Hanno, the
+Carthaginian explorer, twenty-nine days out from Gades. Dr. James Hall,
+who had gained experience as physician in Monrovia, was placed in charge
+of the expedition, and the brig Ann, with a small number of emigrants,
+sailed from Baltimore November 28, 1833. A firm legal basis was
+projected for the new establishment in a Constitution to which all
+emigrants were to subscribe. The experience gained by the older colony
+was put to good use. Regular courts, militia, and public schools were
+provided for from the first.
+
+The vessel touched at Monrovia, gathered as many recruits as possible
+from those sent out on the two previous expeditions, and finally
+anchored at Cape Palmas on February 11, 1834. After the usual tedious
+"palaver" and bargaining, the natives formally sold the required land.
+The cape is a promontory some seventy-five feet in height, separated
+from the mainland, except for a narrow, sandy isthmus. A river,
+navigable for some miles to small boats, opens opposite it, and forms a
+safe harbor. A long, salt-water lake extends to the east, parallel to
+the coast. The land is very fertile and well adapted to farming. Several
+native villages lie near the cape. From a well-founded fear of native
+treachery the colonists laid out their town on the promontory, upon the
+summit of which a brass six-pounder was mounted. Farm lands were laid
+out on the mainland, and in a short time the little community was in a
+thriving condition. None of the distressing misfortunes encountered by
+the colony at Monrovia marred the early history of "Maryland in
+Liberia."
+
+In 1836 the health of Dr. Hall, whose services to the infant colony had
+been invaluable, became so much impaired that he was obliged to resign.
+He returned to the United States, and long rendered the Society
+efficient service in another capacity. John B. Russwurm, a citizen of
+Monrovia, and once editor of the Liberia _Herald_, was appointed
+Governor, and served ably and faithfully until his death in 1851. Early
+in his administration a convenient form of paper currency, receivable at
+the Society's store, was introduced, and proved most useful in trade
+with the natives. In 1841 some slight difficulties with employes of
+missions led the Society, while still retaining control of affairs, to
+assert by resolution that the colony was a sovereign State. A revenue
+law introduced in 1846 soon produced an income of about $1,200. In this
+year began the trips of the "Liberia Packet," a vessel maintained by a
+company formed to trade between Baltimore and _Harper_, as the town of
+the colony was named, in honor of Robert Goodloe Harper. A certain
+amount of trade was guaranteed and other aid given by the Society. In
+1847 the justiciary was separated from the executive; a chief justice
+and a system of courts were provided for.
+
+The year 1852 ended the period during which the Society drew its annual
+stipend from the State treasury; but the General Assembly was induced to
+extend the provisions of the Act of 1831 for a further period of six
+years. It may be as well to note here that in 1858 a further extension
+was made for five years, the amount at the same time being reduced to
+$5,000 per annum.[10] For twenty years the colony had flourished under
+the care and good management of the Society. Prosperity now seemed
+secure, and a spirit of discontent, a desire to throw off the yoke and
+assume autonomy began to prevail. The great success following the
+assumption of Independence by Liberia in 1847, and the recognition at
+once obtained from the leading nations of Europe, naturally strengthened
+the feeling. A committee of leading citizens petitioned the Society to
+relinquish its authority, at the same time demanding or begging almost
+everything else in its power to bestow. The Society was further asked by
+its spoiled fosterling to continue to support schools, provide
+physicians and medicine, remit debts, and finally, to grant a "loan" of
+money to meet the expenses of government.[11]
+
+The Board of Managers, though deeming the colony still unripe for
+independence, generously determined to grant the request, as made
+advisable by force of circumstances. Among other things it was feared
+that the better class of colonists might be attracted toward the
+independent State of Liberia. A sort of federal union with that State
+was suggested, but found impracticable. A convention met and drafted a
+Constitution, which was submitted to the Board. An agreement was reached
+as to the conditions of the transfer of the Society's lands, etc. Both
+were ratified by the people, and in May, 1854, Wm. A. Prout was elected
+Governor. Other officials, senators and representatives, were chosen at
+the same time.
+
+The prosperity of the colony continued under the careful management of
+Gov. Prout. On his death the Lieutenant-Governor, Wm. S. Drayton,
+succeeded to his office. It was not long before the "rash and imprudent"
+conduct of this official precipitated a serious conflict with the
+natives. An expedition against them resulted in a demoralizing defeat,
+with loss of artillery and twenty-six valuable lives. In consternation
+an urgent appeal was sent to Monrovia. The treasury of the Republic was
+exhausted from the effects of the uprising of the Sinou river tribes;
+but Dr. Hall was fortunately present, and supplied the Government with a
+loan from the funds of the Maryland Society. One hundred and fifteen
+Liberian troops, under command of ex-President Roberts, were soon
+embarked for Cape Palmas, and easily overawed the native chiefs, who
+agreed to a fair adjustment of their grievances by treaty, February 26,
+1857.
+
+The war was not without important results. The Maryland colonists were
+thoroughly aroused to the weakness of their isolated position, and
+determined to have union with Liberia at any price. It was known that
+the Republic was willing to admit Maryland only as a county, on
+precisely the same terms as the other three--Montserado, Sinou, and
+Bassa. State pride and the views of the Society had hitherto kept them
+from such a union; but now, in the reaction from their recent terror, a
+vote of the people called for by Act of the Legislature was unanimous in
+favor of "County Annexation;" and a committee was appointed to arrange
+matters at once with Roberts. When he declined to assume any such
+responsibility, they actually proceeded to dissolve the Government, and
+cede all public property forthwith to the Republic of Liberia. The
+interesting document entitled the "Act or Petition of Annexation," shows
+the number of colonists to have been at this time 900 and the
+aboriginal population about 60,000. The tax on imports produced $1,800 a
+year. The State's liabilities were $3,000, with assets estimated at
+$10,000.
+
+The Liberian Legislature by an Act of April, 1857, formally received the
+colony into the Republic as "Maryland County." The advantages gained by
+this change undoubtedly more than counterbalanced any loss of
+independence. Though the total dissolution of the government and
+surrender of all rights and property before any negotiation with
+Liberian authorities had taken place, seems inconceivably rash
+statescraft, the wisdom of the colonists in desiring the union is
+unquestionable.
+
+At the time of annexation the Maryland Colonization Society had on hand
+some $6,000, which was invested, and the interest devoted to a school at
+Cape Palmas; in connection with this trust its existence is prolonged.
+Up to the end of its period of activity it had received and expended
+nearly half a million dollars; the balance sheet of December 31, 1857,
+may be of interest:
+
+State Appropriations, ........... $   930.00
+State Colonization Tax, .........  12,851.00
+Colonial Agency, ................   1,091.85
+Columbia Expedition, ............     248.88
+Stock of C. & L. Trading Co., ...   1,250.00
+Mdse., ..........................     104.62
+State Fund, ..................... 241,922.16
+Contributions, ..................  45,385.74
+Profit and Loss, ................ 139,972.31-1/2
+J.T.G., Colonial Agent, .........     126.70
+                                  --------------
+                                  443,883.26-1/2
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.
+
+
+The History of Liberia from this point on assumes a peculiar interest.
+The capacity and capabilities of the Negro are subjected to a crucial
+test. He is left fully freed from the control or influence of an alien
+race, in possession of a borrowed civilization, and of a borrowed
+political system of an advanced type, dependent on popular intelligence
+for its very existence. Can he maintain his position? Will he make
+further progress, developing along lines peculiar to his race and
+environment, and spreading a new civilization among the adjacent tribes?
+Or is he to lapse helplessly back into his original condition--to be
+absorbed into the dense masses of surrounding barbarism? The question is
+a vital one. The solution of weighty problems in large part depends upon
+the answer.
+
+The form of government was, as has been seen, closely copied from that
+of the United States. There is the same tripartite division--executive,
+legislative and judicial. The President is elected every two years, on
+the first Tuesday in May. He is commander-in-chief of the army and navy;
+makes treaties with the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, with
+whose advice he also appoints all public officers not otherwise provided
+for by law.
+
+The legislative authority consists of a Senate of two members from each
+county, elected for four years, and a House of Representatives holding
+office for two years; four members being apportioned to Montserado
+county, three to Bassa, one to each other county, with one additional
+representative for each 10,000 inhabitants. The judicial power was
+vested in a Supreme Court with original jurisdiction in all cases
+affecting ambassadors and consuls and where the Republic is a party, and
+appellate jurisdiction in all other cases; and in subordinate courts to
+be established by the Legislature.
+
+The majority of the colonists had been long accustomed to similar
+institutions in the land of their captivity, and the new machinery of
+government was soon running smoothly. Within the little State peace and
+prosperity prevailed; its foreign relations, on the contrary, were
+involved in the greatest uncertainty. It had indeed severed the leading
+strings which bound it to its natural protector, and stood forth in the
+assertion of its independence. But it was wholly unsupported and
+unrecognized. The dispute with England, whose protegé on the north
+looked with jealousy and distrust on Liberian policy, remained
+unsettled. The danger was real and pressing. Clearly recognition must be
+sought and an international footing obtained without delay. President
+Roberts accordingly determined to go abroad, and as at once chief
+magistrate and ambassador appeal to the leading courts of Europe. His
+first effort, however, was directed toward obtaining alliance with the
+United States. In America his reception was enthusiastic. But the
+delicacy with which the dissension on the slavery question made it
+necessary to handle every subject remotely bearing on that bone of
+contention, prevented him from obtaining even the formal recognition of
+Liberia. Roberts then determined by pleading his country's cause in
+England to arouse compassion in the heart of the power from which there
+was most to fear. Here substantial rewards met his efforts. His
+prepossessing personality, tact, and statesmanlike qualities won many
+friends.[12] With their support the recognition of Liberia as a
+sovereign State was soon obtained, together with a commercial treaty
+which left nothing to be desired. In further evidence of kindly
+sentiment the English Government presented the young Republic with a
+trim little cutter of four guns for coast protection. In France and
+Belgium similar generous treatment was experienced, and Roberts was
+conveyed home in triumph on the British man-of-war Amazon.
+
+A second visit of Roberts to England, in 1852, four years later, to
+adjust disputes with traders who claimed certain tracts of land, was
+equally successful, and France, under Louis Napoleon, presented him with
+arms and uniforms for the equipment of the Liberian troops. In 1852
+Prussia also extended her friendship, soon followed by Brazil and the
+free Hanse towns. In 1862, the necessity for cautious dealing with the
+race question having passed away, the United States government at last
+formally recognized the Republic, and Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Hayti
+formed treaties in 1864. The consent of Portugal and Denmark in 1865,
+and of Austria in 1867, brought Liberia into treaty relations with
+nearly all the leading commercial nations.
+
+The internal condition of the Republic during the first decade was one
+of unprecedented growth and prosperity. The Colonization Society in
+America was in a flourishing condition, and gained friends on every
+side. Its receipts for the ten years were not far short of a million
+dollars; and this generous means permitted the transportation, in the
+same period, of over five thousand chosen emigrants. The accession of so
+large a force of laborers added a new stimulus to the activity awakened
+by self-government. Many new settlements were formed and all the older
+ones received an infusion of new strength. Agriculture, especially the
+cultivation of the great staples, rice, coffee, sugar and cotton, made
+rapid progress; while commerce was stimulated by the establishment of
+regular monthly lines of steamers between England and various points on
+the coast, the first of which was started in 1853. The enterprise of
+Holland soon added still other lines. Communication with America was at
+the same time facilitated by the regular trips of a large vessel built
+for the purpose, the gift to the Society of Mr. John C. Stevens of
+Maryland.
+
+At the close of his fourth administration President Roberts decided to
+decline reëlection. For eight years he had been at the helm, and had
+brought the ship of state safely through her first perilous voyages. And
+now while the waters seemed smooth and skies serene he thought it best
+to intrust her guidance to other hands. The election took place in May,
+1855, amidst scenes of political strife and party violence at once
+intense and short-lived. It resulted in the choice of Stephen A. Benson
+for President and Beverly P. Yates for Vice-President. Both were
+distinctly the product of Liberian training. Benson was brought over, at
+the age of six years, by his parents in 1822, and received his entire
+education in the country. He became a successful merchant and entered
+political life in the wake of Roberts. As chief magistrate he showed
+himself a practical and efficient man, with the interests of the country
+at heart.
+
+One of the leading objects of Benson's policy was the improvement and
+elevation of the aborigines; but his designs were in part frustrated by
+the outbreak of a stubborn and exhausting war with the native tribes
+dwelling about the Sinou River. Details must be omitted for want of
+space; but this war devastated four settlements and sadly depleted the
+national treasury. It was soon afterwards that the Maryland colony at
+Cape Palmas was almost overwhelmed in a similar native uprising, and
+united with the Republic, as elsewhere narrated.
+
+A widespread scarcity of provisions followed these wars, which gave rise
+to much apprehension. But this eventually did good in giving new
+emphasis to the fact that main reliance must be placed upon agriculture
+rather than trade. The great resources of Liberia were shown at a
+National Fair, held in December, 1858; premiums were awarded for the
+best specimens of coffee, arrow-root, cotton, rice, ginger, potatoes,
+oxen, sheep, swine, turkeys, butter, preserves; cloth and socks of
+African cotton; boots; soap and candles from palm oil; ploughs, hoes and
+other implements from native iron and home manufacture; farina;
+chocolate; planks, shingles, cabinet work, and many other products of
+Liberian agriculture and industry.
+
+President Benson was reelected without opposition, and entered upon his
+second term in January, 1858. A fresh outbreak of the slave trade in
+this year was followed by a number of captures by U.S. cruisers, giving
+rise to the old difficulty in regard to the disposition of the cargoes.
+The Act of March 3, 1819, which had long fallen into disuse, was
+revived, and a contract made with the Colonization Society to transport
+and maintain for a twelvemonth the recaptured Africans already on the
+Government's hands. The substitution of small, swift steamers for the
+craft of older days so increased the efficiency of the navy that
+captures were made in rapid succession. Within two months 1,432 Africans
+were landed at Key West. This state of affairs made further legislation
+immediately necessary. Congress, acting upon the suggestion of a
+Presidential message, passed an Act amending the Act of March 3, 1819,
+which empowered the President to form a five-years' contract with "any
+person or persons, society or societies," to receive in Africa and care
+for the unfortunates rescued from slavers, for the period of one year,
+and at a price of $100 per capita. Commanders of cruisers were to be
+instructed to land their captures directly upon the coast of Liberia
+whenever practicable; immediate measures were to be taken for removing
+to Africa those already at Key West; and the sum of $250,000 was
+appropriated to defray expenses.
+
+Three large vessels were at once chartered and stored with $60,000 worth
+of supplies; with the least possible delay the suffering crowd at Key
+West was transported to Liberia; but only 893 survived the passage. The
+effect of the new orders issued to the U.S. slave squadron was soon felt
+in Liberia. On August 8, 1860, the _Storm King_ unexpectedly arrived
+with a cargo of 619; within twenty-four hours the Erie, prize to the
+steamer Mohican, followed with 867. Tidings came that still larger
+numbers were en route. The effect of this inundation of liberated
+barbarians upon the small civilized community, already surrounded by
+savage swarms, may be imagined. The greatest consternation prevailed,
+and excitement rose to fever heat. President Benson wrote to the Society
+that great evils would result unless means were liberally supplied, and
+entire control of the new arrivals given to the Liberian Government. The
+Society accordingly transferred the execution of its contracts to that
+government, and placed at its disposal all money received by their
+terms. This action seems to have allayed the worst apprehensions; and
+although over 4,000 recaptured Africans were landed within the space of
+two months, no harm seems to have resulted. They made rapid progress in
+civilization, becoming assimilated to and in many cases intermarrying
+with the colonists; from among them arose some of the best citizens of
+the Republic.
+
+President Benson's policy in regard to the natives was successful in
+bringing many tribes much more closely under the influence of the
+government. A number of steps were taken toward actively spreading among
+them the arts of civilized life, improving their methods of agriculture,
+and checking the evils of intertribal warfare and of superstition. A
+poll tax of one dollar a year was levied on each male adult, to be
+collected from the chiefs of the several districts; with a part of the
+funds thus raised schools for popular instruction were to be established
+throughout the country.
+
+The control and oversight by the central authority of so many small
+settlements scattered over a large range of coast had been greatly
+facilitated by the small armed cutter presented in 1848 by the English
+government. This was now found to be hopelessly out of repair, and was
+generously replaced by the donor with another and somewhat larger
+vessel--the Quail, an armed schooner of 123 tons. About the same time
+the New York Society sent over a small steamer to provide rapid and
+regular communication between points along the coast. In honor of a
+liberal benefactor it was called the "Seth Grosvenor."
+
+The third and fourth administrations of Benson passed uneventfully, and
+in January, 1864, Daniel B. Warner, who, the May previous, had been
+elected, succeeded him. Warner was born near Baltimore, in 1812, and
+emigrated in 1823. The Civil War in America, with the sanguine hopes it
+aroused in the breast of the Negro, caused a rapid falling off in the
+number of applicants for transportation to Liberia. The income of the
+Society for once exceeded the demand upon it, and several good
+investments were made. Liberia, however, was demanding more cultivators.
+A supply came from an unexpected quarter. Two societies were organized
+by thrifty negroes of Barbadoes, to return to Africa and make their home
+in the new Republic. Agents were sent out, and sympathy with their
+enterprise enlisted. The Liberian Government issued a proclamation of
+cordial invitation, and the Legislature appropriated $4,000 to assist
+the colonists, increasing in their case the allotment of land from ten
+to twenty-five acres for each family. The Colonization Society devoted
+$10,000 to their aid, and despatched an experienced agent to take charge
+of the expedition. A large vessel was chartered, and after a pleasant
+voyage of thirty-three days, without the loss of a single life, 346
+emigrants were landed at Monrovia. They proved a welcome and valuable
+acquisition, many being mechanics and skilled laborers.
+
+After the close of the war, the alluring prospect of "ten acres and a
+mule" having failed our freedmen, the Society again received numerous
+applications for passage. The M. C. Stevens had been sold during the
+period of depression; another and larger vessel, the Golconda, was
+therefore purchased and fitted for an emigrant ship. During her first
+four voyages she safely carried over 1,684 persons.
+
+In January, 1867, the semi-centennial of the founding of the
+Colonization Society was celebrated in Washington. From the review of
+the fifty years' work it appeared that the sum of $2,558,907 had been
+expended, exclusive of outlay by the Maryland Society, and of the large
+sums expended by the United States Government. 11,909 emigrants had been
+sent over, in 147 vessels; of these 4,541 were born free, 344 purchased
+freedom, and 5,957 were emancipated for the purpose of going to
+Liberia.[13] Besides these, 1,227 had been settled by the Maryland
+Society, and 5,722 recaptured Africans had been sent back by the United
+States Government.
+
+In January, 1868, James S. Payne entered upon the office of President.
+He is another example of Liberian training. Born in Richmond, Va., in
+1819, he was taken before his tenth year to Monrovia by his father. One
+of the leading purposes of his administration was the establishment of
+closer intercourse with the great tribes of the interior. These people,
+the Mandingoes especially, were much further advanced in civilization
+than the coast tribes, who formed a barricade between them and Liberia,
+and offered determined opposition to any attempt to penetrate inland.
+They feared to lose their advantageous position as middlemen, and
+succeeded in keeping anything but the vaguest rumors about the interior
+from reaching the colonists. In 1869 Benjamin Anderson, a young Liberian
+appointed by the Government, and provided with liberal financial aid by
+a wealthy citizen of New York, accomplished an extremely interesting
+journey to a point over 200 miles from the coast.[14]
+
+With great difficulty and the expense of a small fortune in presents to
+captious and rapacious chiefs, he succeeded in making his way from point
+to point along a course roughly corresponding to that of the St. Paul's
+River. The route lay through dense forests, along paths worn by many
+generations of native feet. The ascent was steady; at 100 miles from the
+coast the elevation was 1,311 feet, and toward the end of the journey
+it rose to 2,257 feet. All along the way the population was dense, and
+showed a steady improvement in character, civilization and hospitality
+as the coast was left behind. The object of his journey, Musardu, the
+chief city of the Western Mandingoes, was at length reached, just on the
+edge of the primeval forest. Beyond lies a vast plateau covered with
+tall grass, showing here and there a solitary palm, and stretching away
+to the head waters of the Niger. The climate is wholesome, the air
+bracing, and the soil fertile.
+
+The city proved large and populous; the houses were small and of a
+monotonous uniformity, bewilderingly placed without apparent
+arrangement. The whole was surrounded with a huge mud wall, which served
+not only as a defense against foes, but to keep out wild beasts,
+especially elephants, herds of which were frequently seen near the town.
+The inhabitants were strict Mussulmans, and were much further advanced
+in civilization than even the most intelligent tribes through which he
+had passed. They had an extensive commerce with the interior, caravans
+coming from places as distant as Timbuctoo. Good horses were plentiful,
+and there were evidences of the existence of valuable gold mines.
+Anderson was received with profuse hospitality; they appeared to be
+delighted with the idea of opening trade with Liberia, and promised
+gold, ivory and various commodities in exchange for European goods.
+
+Another journey with the same general results was subsequently made by
+another citizen, to Pulaka, about one hundred miles to the southeast of
+Monrovia. These explorations are of great interest. They show the belt
+of coast occupied by Liberia to be merely the entrance to a high and
+healthful interior of great fertility and unlimited resources, over
+which the Republic has power to expand indefinitely.
+
+President Payne's successor was Edward James Roye, who was duly
+inaugurated January 3, 1870. Born in Newark, Ohio, in 1815, he had
+passed through the public schools of his native town, afterwards
+attending the college at Athens, Ohio, and Oberlin. He went to Liberia
+in 1846, becoming a prosperous merchant and politician. From 1865 to
+1868 he held the post of Chief Justice. Roye came into office at a time
+when a rage for internal improvements possessed the country; and with
+this spirit he was in full sympathy. His inaugural outlines a bold and
+ambitious policy. The resources of the Treasury were entirely inadequate
+to his extensive projects, and in an evil moment the Legislature passed
+an Act authorizing the negotiation of a loan of $500,000. The loan was
+placed in London on terms which netted only £85 per bond of £100,
+redeemable at par in 15 years and bearing interest at 7 per cent. The
+amount thus offered was further reduced by the requirement that the
+first two years' interest should be paid in advance. From the remainder
+were deducted various agents' commissions and fees, until at length the
+principal reached Monrovia sadly reduced in amount,--not over $200,000.
+And this soon disappeared without any visible result. It is an old
+story; but in Liberia's case it was particularly disastrous. For with
+her little revenue, rarely exceeding $100,000, it soon became impossible
+to pay the $35,000 yearly interest on a debt for which she had
+practically received not a single advantage. And this accumulating at
+compound interest has reached a magnitude absolutely crushing. So
+desperate is her financial condition that many believe inevitable the
+fate which croaking prophets have long foretold, and against which she
+has struggled bravely--absorption by England.
+
+Serious as were the more remote effects of the financial blunder just
+considered, its immediate consequences brought upon the country a crisis
+which might have resulted in civil war. Great dissatisfaction with the
+negotiation of the loan prevailed. The Administration was severely
+criticised; serious accusations were brought against it. While the
+excitement was at fever heat matters were complicated by an attempt of
+the Administration to prolong its hold of office, which precipitated the
+threatened outbreak. For some years a Constitutional Amendment had been
+under consideration, lengthening the term of President and members of the
+Legislature. The measure had been submitted to the people, and twice
+voted upon; but the result was a subject of dispute. Roye and his party
+maintained that it had been duly carried and was a part of the organic
+law of the land; and that as a consequence his term did not expire until
+January, 1874. A proclamation was issued forbidding the coming biennial
+elections to be held.
+
+This action at once aroused violent opposition. A strong party declared
+that the amendment had not been carried; and in any event could not be
+construed to apply to the present incumbent. The proclamation was
+disregarded; the polls opened on the accustomed day; and the veteran
+Joseph J. Roberts, aptly called the epitome of Liberian history, was
+elected by large majorities.
+
+Far from being subdued by the decided expression of popular will Roye
+and his supporters, with the spirit of the decemvirs of old, determined
+to maintain power at any hazard. Roberts's election was declared
+illegal, and of no effect. Throughout the summer the two parties stood
+at daggers drawn. At length the increasing strength of the opposition
+encouraged the thought of removing the President from office. The legal
+method of impeachment seemed far too slow and uncertain for the temper
+of the times. An excited convention was held in Monrovia, October 26,
+1871, at which a "Manifesto" was adopted decreeing his deposition. A few
+extracts disclose its character:
+
+"President Roye has, contrary to the Constitution, proclaimed himself
+President for four years, although elected for only two years.
+
+"He has distributed arms and munitions of war, and has not ceased his
+efforts to procure armed men to crush the liberties of the people.
+
+"He has contracted a foreign loan contrary to the law made and provided;
+and without an act of appropriation by the Legislature he has with his
+officers been receiving the proceeds of that loan.
+
+"Every effort to induce him to desist from his unconstitutional course
+has been unavailing. Threats and entreaties have been alike lost upon
+him. He has turned a deaf ear to the remonstrances from all the counties
+of the Republic:
+
+"Therefore, on the 26th day of October in the year of our Lord 1871, and
+in the twenty-fifth year of the Independence of the Republic, the
+sovereign people of Liberia did by their resolutions in the city of
+Monrovia, joined to the resolutions from the other counties of the
+Republic, depose President E.J. Roye from his high office of President
+of Liberia; and did decree that the Government shall be provisionally
+conducted by a Chief Executive Committee of three members, and by the
+chiefs of Departments until the arrival of the constitutional officer at
+the seat of Government."
+
+Before the party of the Administration could recover from the shock of
+this action, President Roye and his Secretaries of State and of the
+Treasury were arrested and thrown into prison,--a _coup d'état_ which
+made his opponents undisputed masters of the situation. The appointed
+Committee took charge of affairs; the excitement died away with a
+rapidity characteristic of Liberian politics, and in January, 1872,
+Roberts was triumphantly inaugurated. Roye died in prison soon
+afterward.
+
+A reign of peace and prosperity followed under Roberts, interrupted
+toward the end of another term, to which he was elected, by a severe war
+with the Grebo tribe near Cape Palmas. Limited space will prevent
+detailed consideration of the later history of the Republic. Payne was
+elected to a second term in 1876. A.W. Gardiner was Chief Executive for
+three successive terms, from 1878-1884; and H.R.W. Johnson, a native
+born Liberian, son of the famous pioneer Elijah Johnson, was made
+President in 1884. The recent years of the Republic have not brought an
+increased tide of immigration, nor any marked progress. The diminished
+interest in colonization felt in the United States so crippled the
+finances of the Society that few immigrants have been sent in the last
+decade. That large numbers of Negroes are willing, even anxious to go,
+is shown by the lists of the Society, which has adopted the policy of
+aiding only those who can pay a part of their passage. Several instances
+of the formation of societies among the Negroes themselves to provide
+for their own transportation have occurred. In South Carolina the
+"Liberia Joint Stock Steamship Company" was formed, which succeeded in
+purchasing a vessel and sending over one expedition of 274 emigrants.
+The company was unfortunate and failed financially before another
+attempt could be made. In Arkansas a large secret Society for the same
+object was formed, several hundred members of which made their way to
+New York and prevailed upon the Colonization Society to give them
+passage.[15]
+
+The culmination of a dispute with Great Britain over the north-western
+boundary of Liberia is perhaps the most interesting topic of her recent
+history. The boundaries of the Republic were never very definitely
+marked out, as her territory grew by gradual settlement and purchase
+from native chiefs. Even to-day there is no hard and fast interior
+border line; the country extends back indefinitely from the coast, new
+land being taken up as settlement proceeds. In 1849 the coast line
+acquired in this way extended from the San Pedro River on the south-east
+to Cape Mount, the extreme settlement on the north-west. Between 1849
+and 1852 various purchases were made from the natives covering some
+fifty miles more of the north-western seaboard. These purchases extended
+to She-Bar, very near Sherbro Island, and were confirmed by formal deeds
+from chiefs of the local tribes. The conditions of the deeds bound
+Liberia to establish schools in the districts ceded, and to guarantee
+the protection, peace and safety of the natives. If now a few
+settlements had been made in this territory all future trouble would
+have been avoided; but all available energy was needed for intensive
+development, and the newly acquired territory was left uncolonized. In
+the course of time English traders established themselves within this
+district, who refused to recognize Liberia's jurisdiction, and who
+smuggled in large quantities of goods in bold defiance of the revenue
+laws. As early as 1866 correspondence with the British Government was
+opened; and Liberia's jurisdiction was more than once virtually
+recognized. Matters were complicated by the outbreak of disturbances
+among the natives, in quelling which the Republic was obliged to use
+military force--a course which resulted in the destruction of property
+belonging to the English traders. Claims were at once brought against
+Liberia through the English Government to a large aggregate amount.
+Holding Liberia liable for damages received in the territory was a
+practical admission of her jurisdiction. Nothing was accomplished until
+1871, when Lord Granville proposed to President Roye, who was then in
+England, to compromise on the River Solyma as the limit of the Republic.
+This is about the middle of the disputed territory. Roye weakly agreed,
+and this agreement is known as the Protocol of 1871. It was not ratified
+by the Senate. The tact of President Roberts staved off the crisis for
+some time; but at length the English Foreign Office demanded a
+settlement, and a commission of two from each State and an arbitrator
+appointed by the President of the United States met on the ground. Every
+possible delay and impediment was resorted to by the British
+commissioners, who further refused to submit the points disputed to the
+umpire. Of course, no agreement was reached.
+
+The situation remained unchanged until 1882. On March 20 four British
+men-of-war silently entered the harbor, and Sir A.E. Havelock, Governor
+of Sierra Leone, came ashore. President Gardiner was intimidated into
+acceding to the demand that the boundary should be fixed at the Manna
+River, only fifteen miles from Cape Mount. But when this "Draft
+Convention," as it was called, came before the Senate for ratification,
+it was indignantly repudiated. At the next regular meeting of the
+Legislature in December, a resolution refusing to ratify the Draft
+Convention was passed, and a copy sent to Havelock. It elicited the
+reply:--
+
+"Her Majesty's Government cannot in any case recognize any rights on the
+part of Liberia to any portions of the territories in dispute," followed
+by the peremptory announcement that "Her Majesty's Government consider
+that they are relieved from the necessity of delaying any longer to
+ratify an agreement made by me with the Gallinas, Solyma, and Manna
+River chiefs on the 30th of March, 1882, whereby they ceded to Her
+Majesty the coast line of their territories up to the right bank of the
+Manna River."
+
+Liberia made a last feeble effort. A "Protest" was drawn up and sent to
+the various powers with whom she stood in treaty relations--of course,
+without result. The President of the United States replied at once,
+counselling acquiescence. Nothing else was possible. The Senate
+authorized the President to accept the terms dictated, and the "Draft
+Convention" was signed November 11, 1885. On April 26, 1888, Sir Samuel
+Rowe visited Monrovia and formally exchanged ratifications. Thus once
+more strength proved triumphant; Liberia's boundary was set at the Manna
+River, and Sierra Leone, which had possessed but a few hills and swamps,
+was given a valuable coast line.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF COLONIZATION.
+
+
+Colonization has come to be looked upon with unmerited
+indifference--with an apathy which its history and achievements surely
+do not deserve. To some, perhaps the present condition of the Republic
+seems a discouraging and inadequate return for the life and treasure
+lavished upon it; for others, hoping for a bloodless and gradual
+extinction of slavery, the Civil War carried away the chief element of
+interest. Others still, who looked for a ready solution of the Negro
+Problem in this country, have gradually lost heart in the face of the
+increasing millions of the race. And so, some from one cause, some from
+another, have lost interest in colonization and in Liberia, until a time
+has come when few have more than the vaguest knowledge of these terms.
+Sometimes the voice of contempt is heard; but this is always a proof of
+ignorance. Liberia stands forth historically as the embodiment of a
+number of ideas, efforts, principles, any one of which ought to secure
+at the least our respect, if not our sympathy and enthusiasm.
+
+
+
+
+1. _As a Southern Movement toward Emancipation_.
+
+
+This thesis will doubtless meet with the most strenuous opposition; but
+a careful and impartial study of the writings and addresses of those
+most prominent in the movement will convince anyone of their profound
+hope that colonization would eventually lead to the extinction of
+slavery in the United States. It must be remembered that at the time of
+the formation of the Society the pro-slavery feeling in the South was by
+no means so strong as it became in later years, when the violence of
+Abolition had fanned it to a white heat. Indeed, during the whole period
+before 1832 there seems to have been a prevailing sentiment in favor of
+emancipation--at least throughout Maryland, Virginia, and North
+Carolina. But the condition of the free blacks was notoriously such that
+the humane master hesitated to doom his slaves to it by emancipating
+them. The colonizationist hoped, by offering to the free Negro an
+attractive home in Africa, to induce conscientious masters everywhere to
+liberate their slaves, and to give rise to a growing popular sentiment
+condemning slavery, which would in time result in its extinction. Of
+course there were those in the Society who would not have subscribed to
+this doctrine; on the other hand, many held views much more radical. But
+it is the men who formed and guided the Society, who wielded its
+influence and secured its success, whose opinions must be regarded as
+stamping its policy.
+
+The Constitution of the Society did not touch upon this subject. It was
+needless to give unnecessary alarm or offense. But when in 1833 the
+Maryland Society adopted its Constitution--a much larger and more
+explicit one--the attitude taken is boldly announced:
+
+"Whereas the Maryland State Colonization Society desires to hasten as
+far as they can the period when slavery shall cease to exist in
+Maryland, and believing that this can best be done by advocating and
+assisting the cause of colonization as the safest, truest and best
+auxiliary of freedom under existing circumstances," etc.
+
+It may well be questioned whether such a plan would ever have succeeded:
+but it must not too hastily be called chimerical. As a practical result
+it secured the emancipation of several thousand slaves, many of whom
+were supplied by former owners with money for transportation and
+establishment in Africa. What further success it might have had was
+prevented by the rise of the Abolition Movement. The intense
+pro-slavery feeling which this stirred up in the South caused the
+Colonization Society to be regarded with distrust and even active
+hostility. It was accused of secretly undermining slavery and exciting
+false hopes among the slaves. It was even said to foment discontent and
+raise dangerous questions for sinister purposes, and was subjected to
+bitter attack as "disguised Abolitionism."
+
+From the opposite extreme of opinion the Society suffered assault still
+more violent. William Lloyd Garrison, in his intemperate zeal for
+"immediate emancipation without expatriation," could see nothing but
+duplicity and treachery in the motives of its adherents. His "Thoughts
+on Colonization" hold up the movement to public odium as the sum of all
+villainies, and in the columns of the _Liberator_ no insult or reproach
+is spared. His wonderful energy and eloquence brought over to his camp a
+number of the Society's friends, and enabled him in his English campaign
+to exhibit it in a light so odious that he actually brought back a
+protest signed by the most eminent anti-slavery men of that country.
+
+Assailed on one side and on the other the Society, as we have seen,
+serenely pursued its course. Apparently it did not suffer. But it can
+scarcely be doubted that its growth and expansion were seriously checked
+by the cross-fire to which it was subjected. Among the negroes
+themselves prejudices were industriously disseminated, and everything
+was done to make them believe themselves duped and cheated.
+
+From these reasons colonization never reached the proportions hoped for
+by those who looked to it for the gradual extinction of slavery. But we
+should not fail to recognize in the movement an earnest and noble, if
+too ambitious, effort to solve, without violence or bloodshed, a problem
+only half disposed of by Lincoln's edict and the Fifteenth Amendment.
+
+
+
+
+2. _As a Check to the Slave-Trade._
+
+
+The coast upon which the colony was established had for several hundred
+years been one of the chief resorts of the slave dealers of the western
+shores of Africa. Their "factories" were situated at numerous points on
+both sides of the early settlements. The coast tribes, broken up and
+demoralized by the traffic, waged ceaseless wars for the sole purpose of
+obtaining for the trader a supply of his commodity. It was their only
+means of getting supplies of the products and manufactures of
+civilization; and, as we have seen, when they found the presence of the
+newcomers an obstacle to their chief industry, they took up arms to
+expel them.
+
+Until the year 1807 there was no restriction whatever on the traffic,
+and the proportions which it reached, the horrors it entailed, are
+almost incredible. Sir T.F. Buxton estimated on careful calculations
+that the trade on the western coast resulted in a loss to Africa of
+500,000 persons annually. At length the progress of humanity drove
+England to declare war on the infamous traffic, and her cruisers plied
+the length of the continent to prevent infractions of her decree. At
+enormous expense the entire coast was put in a state of blockade.
+
+The result was mortifying. Instead of disappearing, the exportation of
+slaves was found actually to increase, while the attending horrors were
+multiplied. Small, swift cutters took the place of the roomy slave-ships
+of older days, and the victims, hurriedly crowded into slave-decks but a
+few feet high, suffered ten-fold torments on the middle passage from
+inadequate supplies of food and water.
+
+The colonists, even in their early feebleness, set their face resolutely
+against the slave trade: its repression was a cardinal principle. Their
+first serious wars were waged on its account. Ashmun risked his life in
+the destruction of the factories at New Cesters and elsewhere. The
+slavers, warned by many encounters, forsook at first the immediate
+neighborhood of the settlements, and, as the coast line was gradually
+taken up, abandoned at length, after many a struggle, the entire region.
+Six hundred miles of the coast was permanently freed from an inhuman and
+demoralizing traffic that defied every effort of the British naval
+force. Nor was this all. The natives were reconciled by the introduction
+of a legitimate commerce which supplied all they had sought from the
+sale of human beings.
+
+In still another way did the colony exercise a humane influence. Among
+the natives exists a domestic slavery so cruel and barbarous that the
+lot of the American plantation Negro seemed paradise in comparison. Life
+and limb are held of such small value that severe mutilation is the
+penalty of absurdly slight transgressions, or is imposed at the
+arbitrary displeasure of the master, while more serious offenses are
+punished by death in atrocious form: as when the victim is buried alive
+with stakes driven through his quivering body.[16] The institution is of
+course a difficult one to uproot. But among the natives in the more
+thickly settled portions of the country it has ceased, and is mitigated
+wherever the influence of the Government penetrates, while the number of
+victims is greatly diminished by the cessation of inter-tribal warfare.
+
+In this way Liberia has proved, from the standpoint of humanity,
+pre-eminently successful.
+
+
+
+
+3. _As a Step toward the Civilization of Africa._
+
+
+George Whitefield is said to have declared to Oglethorpe when lamenting
+his failure to exclude slavery from Georgia, that he was making a
+mistake: the Africans were much better off as slaves than in their
+native barbarism, and would receive a training that would enable them
+ultimately to return and civilize the land of their nativity. In this
+bold idea he anticipated one of the leading thoughts of the fathers of
+colonization, and, perhaps prophesied, a great migration which the
+world is yet to see. But to confine ourselves to the present and the
+strictly practical--there is to the interior of Liberia, sweeping away
+beyond the valley of the Niger, a country of teeming population and vast
+resources. That this territory be opened to the commerce of the world,
+and the blessings of civilization be conferred upon the people, it is
+necessary that some impulse of enlightenment come from without. The
+casual visit of the trader has been proved by experience to do vastly
+more harm than good. Vice and demoralization have too often followed in
+his track. The direction and instruction of European agents accomplish
+little. The best efforts of all men of this class have resulted in an
+unequal hand-to-hand fight with the deadly climate, in which no white
+man can work and live. Besides, the natives need more than guidance;
+they must have before them the example of a civilized settlement.
+
+It would be impossible to imagine a more ideal agent for accomplishing
+this work than Liberia. True, its slow development has prevented it as
+yet from penetrating to the most fruitful portion of the interior
+district; but so far as it has gone the work has been wonderful. One
+after another of the native chiefs has sought, with his people,
+admission to the privileges of citizenship, agreeing to conform to the
+laws of the country and abolish inconsistent aboriginal customs. The
+schools are full of native children, while large numbers are distributed
+in a sort of apprenticeship among Liberian families for training in the
+arts of civilized life. The English language has become widely known.
+More remote tribes, while retaining native customs, have entered into
+agreements or treaties to abstain from war, to keep open roads and
+routes of commerce, to protect travellers and missionaries and such
+Liberians as may settle among them. This is in itself an advance; and in
+addition various forms of knowledge, improved implements and methods of
+agriculture must enter in and insensibly raise these tribes to a higher
+plane.
+
+In reclaiming the natives lies a source of great future power for
+Liberia. When immigration from the United States shall assume such
+proportions that numbers of interior settlements can be made which shall
+be radiating centres of civilization, the enormous potential energy of
+native intelligence and labor will be brought to bear on the development
+of the country with marvellous results.
+
+
+
+
+4. _As a Missionary Effort_.
+
+
+The attempts of the Christian Church to evangelize the western districts
+of Africa constitute one of the saddest and most discouraging records of
+history. From the first attempt of the Roman church in 1481, it has been
+one continuous narrative of a futile struggle against disease and death.
+A whole army of martyrs has gone bravely to its doom leaving no trace of
+its sacrifice save unmarked and forgotten graves. It has indeed been a
+bitter experience that has proved this work can be successfully
+undertaken only by men of African blood, for whom the climate has no
+terrors. And the superiority of an established Christian community to a
+few isolated missionary stations requires no demonstration. From the
+first the colonists were active in spreading a knowledge of the Gospel
+among the natives. Lot Cary, one of the earliest emigrants, was an
+earnest missionary, and besides efficient work at home he established
+mission stations at Cape Mount and elsewhere.
+
+In 1826 four emissaries of the Basle Missionary College made Monrovia
+their headquarters, and did some good work; but they soon succumbed to
+the climate. The American churches of those denominations most largely
+represented in Liberia--the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist and
+Methodist--made strenuous efforts, and sent out a succession of
+missionaries, most of whom fell victims to the fever. Later, after
+learning the salutary lesson, they accomplished much through the
+organization and direction of the work of Liberian missionaries. In
+this way the gospel is safely and successfully propagated among the
+natives.
+
+A foe more stubborn than paganism is to be met in the ranks of Islam.
+There seems to be something in its teachings which renders the native a
+ready convert. Its simplicity is readily understood; and it sanctions
+the practices of polygamy and slave-holding to which he is accustomed.
+Under the zealous proselytism of the Mandingoes the Mohammedan faith has
+taken a strong hold on the interior, and is spreading rapidly to the
+very doors of Liberia. Candor compels the admission that it brings with
+it a marked improvement in the condition and intelligence of the
+converts. Intemperance--which in many cases follows in the tracks of the
+Christian merchant--disappears. A knowledge of Arabic is soon acquired
+and the Koran is eagerly read and its principles put in practice. The
+whole life of the convert is transformed, and he becomes in turn zealous
+in the dissemination of the faith. The efforts of missionaries alone can
+never stem this torrent; if any impression is to be made upon the
+Mohammedan tribes it must be by the extension of Christian settlements
+and civilization.
+
+
+
+
+5. _As a Refuge to the Negro from the Pressure of Increasing Competition
+in America._
+
+
+It would be unnecessary to bring into review the causes that are
+operating daily to make the conditions of earning a living in America
+more difficult. However much or little credence we place in the
+Malthusian theory of the increase of population, in the doctrine of
+diminishing returns, or the iron law of wages, all thinking men are
+agreed that the country is already entering upon a new era. The period
+of expansion, of the taking up of new territory by the overflowing
+population of the older districts, is practically ended; future
+development will be intensive, the country will be more thickly settled,
+and the sharpness of competition will be immeasurably increased. The
+possibility of rising in life will be reduced to a minimum; and there
+will exist a class, as in the older civilizations of Europe, who live,
+and expect to see their children live, in a subordinate or inferior
+relation, without the prospect of anything better.
+
+There may be under this new régime a number of occupations in which the
+Negro, by contentedly accepting a subordinate position, may hold his
+ground. Or the conditions of life may become so severe that a sharp
+struggle for existence will leave in possession the race which shall
+prove fittest to survive. To follow the train of thought would lead into
+all the unsolved difficulties of the Negro Problem. But surely there
+will be some among all the millions of the race who will become
+dissatisfied with their life here. Some will aspire to higher things,
+some will seek merely a field where their labor will meet an adequate
+return; many will be moved by self-interest, a few by nobler motives. To
+all these Liberia eagerly opens her arms. The pressure in America finds
+an efficient safety-valve in the colonization of Africa.
+
+With such additions to her strength, the resources of Liberia will be
+brought out and developed. Communication with America will be made
+easier and cheaper. The toiling masses left behind will have before them
+the constant example of numbers of their race living in comfort and
+increasing prosperity under their own government. Many will become eager
+to secure the same advantages, and gradually a migration will begin that
+will carry hundreds of thousands from the house of bondage to the
+promised land.
+
+It is absurd to declaim about "expatriation" and to declare such a
+movement forced and unnatural. The whole course of history reveals men
+leaving their homes under pressure of one cause or another, and striking
+out into new fields. The western course of migration has reached its
+uttermost limit, and the tide must turn in other directions. One vast
+and rich continent remains; upon it the eyes of the world are fixed.
+Already the aggressive Aryan has established himself wherever he can
+gain a foothold; but the greater part of the country is forever barred
+to him by a climate which he cannot subdue.
+
+To whom then can this rich territory offer greater inducements than to
+the colored people of the United States? And what is more natural and
+rational than that they, when the population of the country approaches
+the migration point, should follow the line of least resistance and turn
+their steps to the home of their forefathers.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHORITIES.
+
+
+The sources of information which proved most useful to the writer are:
+
+The Annual Reports of the A.C.S., together with the files of its
+quarterly journal, the _African Repository_.
+
+Messages of Presidents of Liberia, and the Reports of Secretaries of
+Treasury, War, and Navy.
+
+The Archives of the Maryland State Colonization Society, preserved by
+the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+KENNEDY: Colonization Report.
+
+ALEXANDER: History of Colonization. 1845.
+
+GURLEY: Report on Condition of Liberia. 1850.
+
+CARL RITTER: Begründung u. gegenwärtige Zustände der Negerrepublik
+Liberia. 1852.
+
+ANDERSON: Narrative of a Journey to Musardu. 1870.
+
+LATROBE: Maryland in Liberia. 1885.
+
+WAUWERMANS: Libéria; Histoire de la Fondation d'un État nègre libre.
+1885.
+
+SCHWARTZ: Einiges über das interne Leben der Eingebornen Liberias.
+Deutsche Kolonialzeitung. 1887.
+
+--Die Neger-Republik Liberia. Das Ausland. 1888.
+
+BLYDEN: Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race.
+
+BÜTTIKOFER: Reisebilder aus Liberia. 1890.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Letter to Philip A. Bruce, dated London, April 8, 1889.]
+
+[Footnote 2: James Ferguson, _Life of Hopkins_. Hopkins' Circular,
+1793.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Jefferson, _Notes on Virginia_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Kennedy's _Report_, p. 160.]
+
+[Footnote 5: A.C.S. Report for 1853, pp. 37-55.]
+
+[Footnote 6: The remarks of these gentlemen and others of similar views
+have subjected the Society to many unjust attacks. Of course many would
+join such a movement from mixed motives; but the guiding principles of
+the Society itself have always been distinctly philanthropic.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Report of Amos Kendall, Fourth Auditor, to the Secretary of
+the Navy, August, 1830.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Ashmun.]
+
+[Footnote 9: These were eventually paid by the United States Government.
+Kendall's Report to Secretary of Navy, December, 1830.]
+
+[Footnote 10: The outbreak of the Civil War ended the arrangement after
+the third payment.]
+
+[Footnote 11: This singular petition is preserved in Minute Book No. 4
+of the M.S. C.S., p. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Carl Ritter, who saw him in 1852, speaks of him as "den
+edlen, hochgebildeten, erfahrenen, weisen, und der Rede sehr kundigen
+Staatsman Wir (i.e., Ritter,) haben wiederholt seinen würdenvollen Reden
+in den ersten Kreisen in London beigewohnt."]
+
+[Footnote 13: _Semi-Centennial Memorial_, p. 190.]
+
+[Footnote 14: B. Anderson, _Narrative of a Journey to Musardu_.]
+
+[Footnote 15: A.C. Reports of 1881 and 1882.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Anderson's _Journey to Musardu_.]
+
+
+
+
+
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diff --git a/old/11353-8.zip b/old/11353-8.zip
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Liberia, by J.H.T. McPherson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: History of Liberia
+       Johns Hopkins University Studies In Historical And Political Science
+
+Author: J.H.T. McPherson
+
+Release Date: February 28, 2004 [EBook #11353]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF LIBERIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Joris Van Dael and PG Distributed
+Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+
+JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
+
+HERBERT B. ADAMS, Editor
+
+History is past Politics and Politics present History--_Freeman_
+
+NINTH SERIES
+
+X
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF LIBERIA
+
+BY J.H.T. McPHERSON, Ph.D.
+
+
+
+_Fellow in History, Johns Hopkins University, 1889; Instructor in
+History, University of Michigan, 1890; Professor of History and
+Politics, University of Georgia, 1891._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+1891
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  I. INTRODUCTION
+ II. THE COLONIZATION IDEA
+III. THE COLONIZATION MOVEMENT
+ IV. MARYLAND IN LIBERIA
+  V. THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA
+ VI. THE HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF COLONIZATION
+      1. As a Southern Movement toward Emancipation
+      2. As a Check to the Slave Trade
+      3. As a Step toward the Civilization of Africa
+      4. As a Missionary Effort
+      5. As a Refuge to the Negro from the Pressure of Increasing
+         Competition in America
+AUTHORITIES
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY NOTE.
+
+
+This paper claims to be scarcely more than a brief sketch. It is an
+abridgment of a History of Liberia in much greater detail, presented as
+a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Johns
+Hopkins University. I have devoted the leisure hours of several years to
+the accumulation of materials, which I hope will prove the basis of a
+larger work in the future.
+
+J.H.T. McP.
+
+UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, June, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF LIBERIA.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+There are but few more interesting spots in Africa than the little
+corner of the west coast occupied by the Republic of Liberia. It has
+been the scene of a series of experiments absolutely unique in
+history--experiments from which we are to derive the knowledge upon
+which we must rely in the solution of the weighty problems connected
+with the development of a dark continent, and with the civilization of
+hundreds of millions of the human race. Many questions have arisen which
+have not been settled to our complete satisfaction. Is the Negro capable
+of receiving and maintaining a superimposed civilization? Froude
+declares that "the worst enemies of the blacks are those who persist in
+pressing upon them an equality which nature has denied them. They may
+attain it in time if they are fairly treated, but they can attain it
+only on condition of going through the discipline and experience of
+hundreds of years, through which the white race had to pass before it
+was fit for political rights. If they are raised to a position for which
+they are unqualified, they can only fall back into a state of
+savagery."[1] Upon the truth or error of this view how much depends! It
+is shared by many; some even believe that the condition of Liberia tends
+to confirm it, thinking they discern signs of incipient decay. But the
+great preponderance of opinion is on the other side. The weight of
+evidence shows the colonists have at the lowest estimate retained the
+civilization they took with them. Many maintain that there has been a
+sensible advance. A recent traveller describes them as "in mancher
+Hinsicht schon hypercultivirt."
+
+What might be called a third position is taken by one of the most
+prominent writers of the race, E.W. Blyden, the widely-known President
+of Liberia College. The radical difference in race and circumstance
+must, he thinks, make African civilization essentially different from
+European: not inferior, but different. The culture which the blacks have
+acquired, or may attain in further contact with foreign influence, will
+be used as a point of departure in future intelligent development along
+lines following the characteristics of the race. This tendency to
+differentiate he regards as natural and inevitable; it ought to be
+recognized and encouraged in every way, that the time may be hastened
+when a great negro civilization, unlike anything we have yet seen, shall
+prevail in Africa and play its part in the world's history.
+
+If we make allowance for the errors and mistakes of an untrained and
+inexperienced people, the history of Liberia may be regarded as a
+demonstration of the capacity of the race for self-government. Upon the
+capability of individuals is reflected the highest credit. The
+opportunities for a rounded-out and fully developed culture afforded by
+the peculiar conditions of life in the Republic produced a number of men
+who deserve unqualified admiration. From the earliest days of the
+colony, when Elijah Johnson upheld the courage of the little band in the
+midst of hostile swarms of savages, to the steadfast statesmanship of
+Russwurm and the stately diplomacy of Roberts, there have stood forth
+individuals of a quality and calibre that fill with surprise those who
+hold the ordinary opinion of the possibilities of the Negro. The trials
+of the Republic have afforded a crucial test in which many a character
+has shown true metal. It is not too much to assert that the very highest
+type of the race has been the product of Liberia.
+
+There are other aspects in which our tropical offspring has for us a
+vital interest. Perhaps the most important is the connection it will
+have in the future with what is called the Negro Problem in our own
+country. There have been and are thoughtful men who see in colonization
+the only solution of its difficulties. Others ridicule the very
+suggestion. It is a question into which we do not propose to go. But
+there is scarcely any doubt that when the development of Liberia is a
+little more advanced, and when communication with her ports becomes less
+difficult, and when the population of the United States grows more dense
+and presses more upon the limits of production, there will be a large
+voluntary migration of negroes to Africa. And no one will deny that the
+existence of a flourishing Republic of the black race just across the
+Atlantic will react powerfully upon all questions relating to our own
+colored population.
+
+But let us not venture too deeply into this theme. Another claim of
+Liberia upon the sympathetic interest of the entire people, is that it
+represents our sole attempt at colonial enterprise. It is true the
+movement was largely individual, but the effort came from a widespread
+area of the country; moreover, the part played by the National
+Government was not only important, but essential. Without its friendly
+intervention, the plan could never have been carried out. The action
+carries with it some responsibility. The United States might well
+exercise some protective care, might now and then extend a helping hand,
+and let the aggressive Powers of Europe see that Liberia is not
+friendless, and that encroachment upon her territory will not be
+tolerated.
+
+A few words upon the topography of the country and upon the aborigines
+may not be out of place. Liberia is by no means the dreary waste of sand
+and swamp that some imagine it. The view from the sea has been
+described as one of unspeakable beauty and grandeur. From the low-lying
+coast the land rises in a terraced slope--a succession of hills and
+plateaux as far as the eye can reach, all covered with the dense
+perennial verdure of the primeval forest. Perhaps the best authority on
+the natural features of the country is the zooelogist of the Royal Museum
+of Leyden, J. Buettikofer, who has made Liberia several visits and spent
+several years in its scientific exploration. The account of his
+investigations is most interesting. Small as is the area of the country
+all kinds of soil are represented, and corresponding to this variety is
+a remarkably rich and varied flora. Amidst this luxuriance is found an
+unusually large number of products of commercial value. Cotton, indigo,
+coffee, pepper, the pineapple, gum tree, oil palm, and many others grow
+wild in abundance, while a little cultivation produces ample crops of
+rice, corn, potatoes, yams, arrowroot, ginger, and especially sugar,
+tobacco, and a very superior grade of coffee. The fertility of the soil
+renders possible the production of almost any crop.
+
+The fauna of the land is scarcely less remarkable in variety and
+abundance. The larger animals, including domestic cattle and horses, do
+not thrive on the coast, but are plentiful farther inland. On the
+Mandingo Plateau, elephants are not uncommon. Buffaloes, leopards,
+tigers, antelopes, porcupines, the great ant-eater, divers species of
+monkeys, and numerous other animals are found, besides many varieties of
+birds.
+
+The native Africans inhabiting this territory are probably more than a
+million in number, and belong to several different stocks of somewhat
+varying characteristics. The most common type is of medium size, well
+formed, coal-black in color and rather good-looking. They are
+intelligent and easily taught, but are extremely indolent. Their
+paganism takes the form of gross superstition, as seen in their constant
+use of gree-gree charms and in their sassa-wood ordeal. Like all the
+races of Africa, they are polygamists; and as the women manage the farms
+and do nearly all the work, a man's wealth and importance are often
+estimated by the number of his wives. Domestic slavery is universal
+among them, the great majority of slaves being obtained by capture in
+war. These inter-tribal wars were once almost constant, and their
+prevention requires the utmost vigilance of the Liberian authorities.
+
+The natives harvest rice and cassada; supply the coasting trader's
+demand for palm-oil; raise tobacco; procure salt by evaporating
+sea-water; engage in hunting and fishing. They carry on a number of rude
+industries such as the manufacture of basket-work, hats, mats,
+fish-nets; a crude sort of spinning and weaving. Iron ore exists in
+abundance, and the natives have long known how to smelt it and obtain
+the metal, from which they manufacture rude weapons, spurs, bits,
+stirrups and kitchen utensils. The cheapness of imported iron ware has
+driven out this interesting art on the coast; but in the interior it is
+still practised by the Mandingoes, who are also fine goldsmiths, and
+manufacture highly ornamented rings. There are also silversmiths among
+the Veys, who do good work. The leather industry, too, has been carried
+to some perfection.
+
+With all their disadvantages the natives seem to extract a good deal of
+enjoyment out of existence. They are very fond of singing and dancing to
+the rude strains of a drum and harp, and usually prolong their revelries
+far into the night.
+
+Taken as a whole, the native character has many fine traits; and from
+the civilization and development of this part of her population, Liberia
+has much to hope.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE COLONIZATION IDEA.
+
+
+It is always a most interesting part of historic inquiry to search out
+the very earliest sources, the first feeble germ of the idea whose
+development we are investigating. It is difficult to decide from what
+one origin can be traced the continuous development of the idea which
+resulted in the birth of Liberia; but toward the close of the last
+century there arose a number of projects, widely differing in object and
+detail, which bore more or less directly upon it, each of which may be
+said to have contributed some special feature to the fully rounded and
+developed plan.
+
+The earliest of these sprang from the once notorious hot-bed of
+slavery--Newport, R.I. As early as 1773 the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, then
+widely known as a theological writer, and responsible for the system
+termed Hopkinsianism, conceived the idea of a missionary effort in
+Africa, undertaken by natives properly trained in the United States.[2]
+This at first did not include the conception of a permanent settlement;
+but on consultation with the Rev. Ezra Styles, afterward President of
+Yale, it developed into a definite plan for a colony. The scheme proved
+popular; it was widely advertised by sermons and circulars both in this
+and the mother country; and by 1776 funds had been collected, Negro
+students placed under suitable instruction at Princeton, and success
+seemed almost assured. The outbreak of the Revolution, however, swept
+away all the thought of carrying Hopkins' cherished enterprise into
+execution, and after peace was restored his most strenuous efforts
+failed to arouse the old interest. Later thinkers, however, found
+suggestion and encouragement in his labors.
+
+The colony founded at Sierra Leone by English philanthropists drew in
+part its inspiration from Hopkins' idea, and in turn suggested later
+American plans. After the celebrated decision of Lord Mansfield in the
+Somerset case (1772), many slaves escaped to England, where they
+congregated in the dens of London in helpless poverty and misery. James
+Ramsay's essay on Slavery soon turned public attention to the Negro, and
+Dr. Smeathman's letters suggested quite a scheme of colonization. A
+movement in behalf of the oppressed race asserted itself at the
+University of Cambridge, in which Clarkson, Wilberforce, Granville Sharp
+and others took part. As a result of these efforts some four hundred
+Negroes and sixty whites were landed at Sierra Leone in May, 1787.
+Disease and disorder were rife, and by 1791 a mere handful survived. The
+Sierra Leone Company was then incorporated; some 1,200 colonists from
+the Bahamas and Nova Scotia were taken over, and the settlement in spite
+of discouraging results was kept up by frequent reinforcements until
+1807, when it was made a Government colony and naval station. Its growth
+in population and commerce has since steadily increased, and it now
+numbers some 60,000 persons chiefly concentrated in the city of
+Freetown, and all blacks save one or two hundred.
+
+It may be as well to mention here two other sporadic attempts to lead
+colored colonists to Africa. In 1787 the gifted and erratic Dr. Wm.
+Thornton proposed himself to become the leader of a body of Rhode Island
+and Massachusetts colonists to Western Africa; he appears to have been
+in communication with Hopkins on the subject a year later, but the
+effort fell through for want of funds. The other is much later. Paul
+Cuffee, the son of a well-to-do Massachusetts freedman, had become by
+his talents and industry a prosperous merchant and ship-owner.
+Stimulated by the colony at Sierra Leone, and longing to secure liberty
+to his oppressed race, he determined to transport in his own vessels,
+and at his own expense, as many as he could of his colored brethren.
+Accordingly, in 1815, he sailed from Boston with about forty, whom he
+landed safely at Sierra Leone. He was about to take over on a second
+voyage a much larger number, when his benevolent designs were
+interrupted by death.
+
+It will be observed that the colonization plans hitherto unfolded had
+all been proposed for some missionary or similar benevolent object, and
+were to be carried out on a small scale and by private means. It is now
+time to consider one proposed from a widely different standpoint. As a
+political measure, as a possible remedy for the serious evils arising
+from slavery and the contact of races, it is not surprising to find
+Thomas Jefferson suggesting a plan of colonization. The evils of slavery
+none ever saw more clearly. "The whole commerce between master and
+slave," he quaintly says, "is a perpetual exercise of the most
+boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and
+degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this and learn to
+imitate it." And again, "With what execration should the statesman be
+loaded, who, permitting one-half the citizens thus to trample on the
+rights of the other, transforms these into despots and those into
+enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the amor patriae of
+the other.... I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is
+just."[3] Yet his equally clear perception of the evils sure to result
+from emancipation immediate and unqualified, makes him look to
+colonization as the only remedy. "Why not retain and incorporate the
+blacks into the state?" he asks, "Deep rooted prejudices entertained by
+the whites, ten thousand recollections by the blacks of the injuries
+they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which
+nature has made; and many other circumstances, will divide us into
+parties and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in the
+extermination of the one or the other race." After the lapse of a
+century how prophetic these words sound! Jefferson believed then that by
+colonization slavery was to be abolished. All slaves born after a
+certain date were to be free; these should remain with their parents
+till a given age, after which they should be taught at public expense
+agriculture and the useful arts. When full-grown they were to be
+"colonized to such a place as the circumstances of the time should
+render most proper, sending them out with arms, implements of the
+household and handicraft arts, pairs of the useful domestic animals,
+etc.; to declare them a free and independent people, and extend to them
+our alliance and protection till they have acquired strength."
+
+Such in outline was Jefferson's contribution to the colonization idea.
+Its influence was unquestionably great: the "Notes on Virginia,"
+privately circulated after 1781, and at length published in 1787, went
+through eight editions before 1800, and must have been familiar to
+nearly all of those concerned in the formation of the Colonization
+Society.
+
+Clearer still must the details of Jefferson's project have been in the
+minds of the members of the Virginia Legislature in 1800, when, after
+the outbreak of a dangerous slave conspiracy in Richmond, they met in
+secret session to consult the common security. The resolution which they
+reached shows unmistakably Jefferson's influence. With the delicate if
+somewhat obscure periphrasis in which legislation concerning the Negro
+was traditionally couched, they enacted: "That the Governor be requested
+to correspond with the President of the United States on the subject of
+purchasing lands without the limits of this State whither persons
+obnoxious to the laws or dangerous to the peace of society may be
+removed."[4] An interesting correspondence ensued between Monroe, who
+was then Governor, and Jefferson. Both regarded the idea as something
+far more important than a mere penal colony. Monroe, too, saw in it a
+possible remedy for the evils of slavery, and refers to the matter as
+"one of great delicacy and importance, involving in a peculiar degree
+the future peace, tranquillity, and happiness" of the country. After
+much discussion Africa was selected as the only appropriate site, and
+approved by another Act of the Legislature. Jefferson lost no time in
+attempting to secure land for the colony, but his efforts met with no
+success. After a discouraging repulse from Sierra Leone, and the failure
+of several half-hearted attempts to obtain a footing elsewhere, the
+whole matter was allowed to sink into abeyance. For years a pall of
+secrecy concealed the scheme from public knowledge.
+
+In the meantime a new private movement toward colonization was started
+at the North. Samuel J. Mills organized at Williams College, in 1808,
+for missionary work, an undergraduate society, which was soon
+transferred to Andover, and resulted in the establishment of the
+American Bible Society and Board of Foreign Missions. But the topic
+which engrossed Mills' most enthusiastic attention was the Negro. The
+desire was to better his condition by founding a colony between the Ohio
+and the Lakes; or later, when this was seen to be unwise, in Africa. On
+going to New Jersey to continue his theological studies, Mills succeeded
+in interesting the Presbyterian clergy of that State in his project. Of
+this body one of the most prominent members was Dr. Robert Finley. Dr.
+Finley succeeded in assembling at Princeton the first meeting ever
+called to consider the project of sending Negro colonists to Africa.
+Although supported by few save members of the seminary, Dr. Finley felt
+encouraged to set out for Washington in December, 1816, to attempt the
+formation of a colonization society.
+
+Earlier in this same year there had been a sudden awakening of Southern
+interest in colonization. Toward the end of February, Gen. Charles
+Fenton Mercer accidentally had his attention called to the Secret
+Journals of the Legislature for the years 1801-5.[5] He had been for six
+years a member of the House of Delegates, in total ignorance of their
+existence. He at once investigated and was rewarded with a full
+knowledge of the Resolutions and ensuing correspondence between Monroe
+and Jefferson. Mercer's enthusiasm was at once aroused, and he
+determined to revive the Resolutions at the next meeting of the
+Legislature. In the meantime, imputing their previous failure to the
+secrecy which had screened them from public view, he brought the whole
+project conspicuously into notice. At the next session of the
+Legislature, in December, resolutions embodying the substance of the
+secret enactments were passed almost unanimously in both houses. Public
+attention had been in this way already brought to bear upon the
+advantages of Colonization when Finley set on foot the formation of a
+society in Washington. The interest already awakened and the
+indefatigable efforts of Finley and his friend Col. Charles Marsh, at
+length succeeded in convening the assembly to which the Colonization
+Society owes its existence. It was a notable gathering. Henry Clay, in
+the absence of Bushrod Washington, presided, setting forth in glowing
+terms the object and aspirations of the meeting. Finley's
+brother-in-law, Elias B. Caldwell was Secretary, and supplied the
+leading argument, an elaborate plea, setting forth the expediency of the
+project and its practicability in regard to territory, expense, and the
+abundance of willing colonists. The wide benevolent objects to be
+attained were emphasized. John Randolph of Roanoke, and Robert Wright of
+Maryland, dwelt upon the desirability of removing the turbulent
+free-negro element and enhancing the value of property in slaves.[6]
+Resolutions organizing the Society passed, and committees appointed to
+draft a Constitution and present a memorial to Congress. At an adjourned
+meeting a week later the constitution was adopted, and on January 1,
+1817, officers were elected.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE COLONIZATION MOVEMENT.
+
+
+With commendable energy the newly organized Society set about the
+accomplishment of the task before it. Plans were discussed during the
+summer, and in November two agents, Samuel J. Mills and Ebenezer
+Burgess, sailed for Africa to explore the western coast and select a
+suitable spot. They were cordially received in England by the officers
+of the African Institution, and by Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for
+the Colonies, who provided them with letters to Sierra Leone. Here they
+arrived in March, 1818, and were hospitably received, every facility
+being afforded them to prosecute their inquiries, though marked
+unwillingness to have a foreign colony established in the vicinity was
+not concealed. Their inspection was carried as far south as Sherbro
+Island, where they obtained promises from the natives to sell land to
+the colonists on their arrival with goods to pay for it. In May they
+embarked on the return voyage. Mills died before reaching home. His
+colleague made a most favorable report of the locality selected, though,
+as the event proved, it was a most unfortunate one.
+
+After defraying the expenses of this exploration the Society's treasury
+was practically empty. It would have been most difficult to raise the
+large sum necessary to equip and send out a body of emigrants; and the
+whole enterprise would have languished and perhaps died but for a new
+impelling force. Monroe, who ever since his correspondence with
+Jefferson in 1800, had pondered over "the vast and interesting objects"
+which colonization might accomplish, was now by an interesting chain of
+circumstances enabled to render essential aid.
+
+Though the importation of slaves had been strictly prohibited by the Act
+of Congress of March 2, 1807, no provision had been made for the care of
+the unfortunates smuggled in in defiance of the Statute. They became
+subject to the laws of the State in which they were landed; and these
+laws were in some cases so devised that it was profitable for the dealer
+to land his cargo and incur the penalty. The advertisements of the sale
+of such a cargo of "recaptured Africans" by the State of Georgia drew
+the attention of the Society and of Gen. Mercer in particular to this
+inconsistent and abnormal state of affairs. His profound indignation
+shows forth in the Second Annual Report of the Society, in which the
+attention of the public is earnestly drawn to the question; nor did he
+rest until a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives
+designed to do away with the evil. This bill became a law on March 3,
+1819.
+
+Provision was made for a more stringent suppression of the slave trade:
+new cruisers were ordered and bounties awarded for captures; but the
+clause which proved so important to the embryo colony was that dealing
+with the captured cargoes:
+
+"The President of the United States is hereby authorized to make such
+regulations and arrangements as he may deem expedient for the
+safe-keeping, support, and removal beyond the limits of the United
+States, of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color as may be so
+delivered and brought within their jurisdiction; and to appoint a proper
+person or persons residing upon the coast of Africa as agent or agents
+for receiving the negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color, delivered
+from on board vessels seized in the prosecution of the slave trade by
+commanders of the United States armed vessels." The sum of $100,000 was
+appropriated for carrying out the provisions of the Act. President
+Monroe determined to construe it as broadly as possible in aid of the
+project of colonization. After giving Congress, in his message,
+December 20, 1818, fair notice of his intention, no objection being
+made, he proceeded to appoint two agents, the Rev. Samuel Bacon, already
+in the service of the Colonization Society, and John P. Bankson as
+assistant, and to charter the ship Elizabeth. The agents were instructed
+to settle on the coast of Africa, with a tacit understanding that the
+place should be that selected by the Colonization Society; they were to
+provide accommodations sufficient for three hundred, supplying
+provisions, clothing, tools, and implements. It is important to note the
+essential part taken by the Government in the establishment of the
+colony, for this is often said to be purely the result of private
+enterprise; the inference tending to free the United States from any
+responsibility for the protection of its feeble offspring. It is true
+according to the letter, that the Government agency was separate from
+the colony: the agents were instructed "to exercise no power founded on
+the principle of colonization, or other principle than that of
+performing benevolent offices;" and again, "you are not to connect your
+agency with the views or plans of the Colonization Society, with which,
+under the law, the Government of the United States has no concern," Yet
+as a matter of fact the agency and colony were practically identical;
+and for years the resources of the Government were employed "to colonize
+recaptured Africans, to build homes for them, to furnish them with
+farming utensils, to pay instructors to teach them, to purchase ships
+for their convenience, to build forts for their protection, to supply
+them with arms and munitions of war, to enlist troops to guard them, and
+to employ the army and navy in their defence,"[7] These words of one
+unfriendly to the colony forcibly show the extent to which our national
+government was responsible for the experiment.
+
+When the Elizabeth was chartered the Society was notified that the
+Government agency was prepared to transport their first colonists; or
+more literally "agreed to receive on board such free blacks recommended
+by the Society as might be required for the purpose of the agency." For
+the expenses of the expedition $33,000 was placed in the hands of Mr.
+Bacon. Dr. Samuel A. Crozier was appointed by the Society as its agent
+and representative; and eighty-six negroes from various
+states--thirty-three men, eighteen women, and the rest children, were
+embarked. On the 6th of February, 1820, the Mayflower of Liberia weighed
+anchor in New York harbor, and, convoyed by the U.S. sloop-of-war Cyane,
+steered her course toward the shores of Africa. The pilgrims were kindly
+treated by the authorities at Sierra Leone, where they arrived on the
+ninth of March; but on proceeding to Sherbro Island they found the
+natives had reconsidered their promise, and refused to sell them land.
+While delayed by negotiations the injudicious nature of the site
+selected was disastrously shown. The low marshy ground and the bad water
+quickly bred the African fever, which soon carried off all the agents
+and nearly a fourth of the emigrants. The rest, weakened and
+disheartened were soon obliged to seek refuge at Sierra Leone.
+
+In March, 1821, a body of twenty-eight new emigrants under charge of
+J.B. Winn and Ephraim Bacon, reached Freetown in the brig Nautilus. Winn
+collected as many as he could of the first company, also the stores sent
+out with them, and settled the people in temporary quarters at Fourah
+Bay, while Bacon set out to explore the coast anew and secure suitable
+territory. An elevated fertile and desirable tract was at length
+discovered between 250 and 300 miles S.E. of Sierra Leone. This was the
+region of Cape Montserado. It seemed exactly suited to the purposes of
+the colonists, but the natives refused to sell their land for fear of
+breaking up the traffic in slaves; and the agent returned discouraged.
+Winn soon died, and Bacon returned to the United States. In November,
+Dr. Eli Ayres was sent over as agent, and the U.S. schooner Alligator,
+commanded by Lieutenant Stockton, was ordered to the coast to assist in
+obtaining a foothold for the colony. Cape Montserado was again visited;
+and the address and firmness of Lieutenant Stockton accomplished the
+purchase of a valuable tract of land.
+
+The cape upon which the settlers proposed to build their first
+habitations consists of a narrow peninsula or tongue of land formed by
+the Montserado River, which separates it from the mainland. Just within
+the mouth of the river lie two small islands, containing together less
+than three acres. To these, the Plymouth of Liberia, the colonists and
+their goods were soon transported. But again the fickle natives repented
+the bargain, and the settlers were long confined to "Perseverance
+Island," as the spot was aptly named. Space forbids entering on the
+interesting details of the difficulties they successfully encountered.
+After a number of thrilling experiences the emigrants, on April 25,
+1822, formally took possession of the cape, where they had erected rude
+houses for themselves; and from this moment we may date the existence of
+the colony. Their supplies were by this time sadly reduced; the natives
+were hostile and treacherous; fever had played havoc with the colonists
+in acclimating; and the incessant downpour of the rainy season had set
+in. Dr. Ayres became thoroughly discouraged, and proposed to lead them
+back to Sierra Leone. Then it was that Elijah Johnson, an emigrant from
+New York, made himself forever famous in Liberian history by declaring
+that he would never desert the home he had found after two years' weary
+quest! His firmness decided the wavering colonists; the agents with a
+few faint-hearted ones sailed off to America; but the majority remained
+with their heroic Negro leader. The little band, deserted by their
+appointed protectors, were soon reduced to the most dire distress, and
+must have perished miserably but for the arrival of unexpected relief.
+The United States Government had at last gotten hold of some ten
+liberated Africans, and had a chance to make use of the agency
+established for them at so great an expense. They were accordingly sent
+out in the brig Strong under the care of the Rev. Jehudi Ashmun. A
+quantity of stores and some thirty-seven emigrants sent by the
+Colonization Society completed the cargo. Ashmun had received no
+commission as agent for the colony, and expected to return on the
+Strong; under this impression his wife had accompanied him. But when he
+found the colonists in so desperate a situation he nobly determined to
+remain with them at any sacrifice. He visited the native chiefs and
+found them, under cover of friendly promises, preparing for a deadly
+assault on the little colony. There was no recourse but to prepare for a
+vigorous defense. Twenty-seven men were capable of bearing arms; and one
+brass and five iron fieldpieces, all dismantled and rusty, formed his
+main hope. Ashmun at once set to work, and with daily drills and
+unremitting labor in clearing away the forest and throwing up
+earthworks, succeeded at last in putting the settlement in a reasonable
+state of defense. It was no easy task. The fatiguing labor, incessant
+rains, and scanty food predisposed them to the dreaded fever. Ashmun
+himself was prostrated; his wife sank and died before his eyes; and soon
+there was but one man in the colony who was not on the sick-list. At
+length the long-expected assault was made. Just before daybreak on the
+11th of November the settlement was approached by a body of over eight
+hundred African warriors. Stealthily following the pickets as they
+returned a little too early from their watch, the savages burst upon the
+colony and with a rush captured the outworks. A desperate conflict
+ensued, the issue of which hung doubtful until the colonists succeeded
+in manning their brass field-piece, which was mounted upon a raised
+platform, and turning it upon the dense ranks of the assailants. The
+effect at such short range was terrible. "Every shot literally spent its
+force in a solid mass of living human flesh. Their fire suddenly
+terminated. A savage yell was raised, ... and the whole host
+disappeared."[8] The victory had been gained at a cost of four killed
+and as many seriously wounded. Ammunition was exhausted; food had given
+out. Another attack, for which the natives were known to be preparing,
+could scarcely fail to succeed. Before it was made, however, an English
+captain touched at the cape and generously replenished their stores. On
+the very next evening, November 30, the savages were seen gathering in
+large numbers on the cape, and toward morning a desperate attack was
+made on two sides at once. The lines had been contracted, however, and
+all the guns manned, and the well-directed fire of the artillery again
+proved too much for native valor. The savages were repulsed with great
+loss. The unusual sound of a midnight cannonade attracted the Prince
+Regent, an English colonial schooner laden with military stores and
+having on board the celebrated traveller Captain Laing, through whose
+mediation the natives were brought to agree to a peace most advantageous
+to the colonists. When the Prince Regent sailed, Midshipman Gordon, with
+eleven British sailors volunteered to remain, to assist the exhausted
+colonists and guarantee the truce. His generosity met an ill requital;
+within a month he had fallen victim to the climate with eight of the
+brave seamen. Supplies were again running low, when March brought the
+welcome arrival of the U.S. ship Cyane. Captain R.T. Spence at once
+turned his whole force to improving the condition of the colonists.
+Buildings were erected, the dismantled colonial schooner was raised and
+made sea-worthy, and many invaluable services were rendered, until at
+length a severe outbreak of the fever among the crew compelled the
+vessel's withdrawal. It was too late, however, to prevent the loss of
+forty lives, including the lieutenant, Richard Dashiell, and the
+surgeon, Dr. Dix.
+
+On the 24th of May, 1823, the brig Oswego arrived with sixty-one new
+emigrants and a liberal supply of stores and tools, in charge of Dr.
+Ayres, who, already the representative of the Society, had now been
+appointed Government Agent and Surgeon. One of the first measures of the
+new agent was to have the town surveyed and lots distributed among the
+whole body of colonists. Many of the older settlers found themselves
+dispossessed of the holdings improved by their labor, and the colony was
+soon in a ferment of excitement and insurrection. Dr. Ayres, finding his
+health failing, judiciously betook himself to the United States.
+
+The arrival of the agent had placed Mr. Ashmun in a false position of
+the most mortifying character. It will be remembered that in sympathy
+for the distress of the colony he had assumed the position of agent
+without authority. In the dire necessity of subsequent events he had
+been compelled to purchase supplies and ammunition in the Society's
+name. He now found, himself superseded in authority, his services and
+self-sacrifice unappreciated, his drafts[9] dishonored, his motives
+distrusted. Nothing could show more strongly his devotion and
+self-abnegation than his action in the present crisis. Seeing the colony
+again deserted by the agent and in a state of discontent and confusion,
+he forgot his wrongs and remained at the helm. Order was soon restored
+but the seeds of insubordination remained. The arrival of 103 emigrants
+from Virginia on the Cyrus, in February 1824, added to the difficulty,
+as the stock of food was so low that the whole colony had to be put on
+half rations. This necessary measure was regarded by the disaffected as
+an act of tyranny on Ashmun's part; and when shortly after the complete
+prostration of his health compelled him to withdraw to the Cape De Verde
+Islands, the malcontents sent home letters charging him with all sorts
+of abuse of power, and finally with desertion of his post! The Society
+in consternation applied to Government for an expedition of
+investigation, and the Rev. R.R. Gurley, Secretary of the Society, and
+an enthusiastic advocate of colonization was despatched in June on the
+U.S. schooner Porpoise. The result of course revealed the probity,
+integrity and good judgment of Mr. Ashman; and Gurley became
+thenceforth his warmest admirer. As a preventive of future discontent a
+Constitution was adopted at Mr. Gurley's suggestion, giving for the
+first time a definite share in the control of affairs to the colonists
+themselves. Gurley brought with him the name of the colony--Liberia, and
+of its settlement on the Cape--Monrovia, which had been adopted by the
+Society on the suggestion of Mr. Robert Goodloe Harper of Maryland. He
+returned from his successful mission in August leaving the most cordial
+relations established throughout the colony.
+
+Gurley's visit seemed to mark the turning of the tide, and a period of
+great prosperity now began. Relay after relay of industrious emigrants
+arrived; new land was taken up; successful agriculture removed all
+danger of future failure of food supply; and a flourishing trade was
+built up at Monrovia. Friendly relations were formed with the natives,
+and their children taken for instruction into colonial families and
+schools. New settlements were formed; churches and schools appeared; an
+efficient militia was organized; printing presses set up and hospitals
+erected. On every side rapid progress was made. After years of
+illustrious service Ashmun retired to his home in New Haven, where he
+died a few days later, on August 25, 1828. Under Dr. Richard Randall and
+Dr. Mechlin, who successively filled his post, the prosperity of the
+colony continued undiminished.
+
+The decade after 1832 is marked by the independent action of different
+State colonization societies. At first generally organized as tributary
+to the main body, the State societies now began to form distinct
+settlements at other points on the coast. The Maryland Society first
+started an important settlement at Cape Palmas, of which we shall make a
+special study. Bassa Cove was settled by the joint action of the New
+York and Pennsylvania Societies; Greenville, on the Sinou river, by
+emigrants from Mississippi; and the Louisiana Society engaged in a
+similar enterprise. The separate interests of the different settlements
+at length began in many cases to engender animosity and bad feeling; the
+need of general laws and supervision was everywhere apparent; and a
+movement toward a federal union of the colonies was set on foot. A plan
+was at length agreed upon by all except Maryland, by which the colonies
+were united into the "Commonwealth of Liberia," whose government was
+controlled by a Board of Directors composed of Delegates from the State
+societies. This board at its first meeting drew up a plan of government,
+and Thomas Buchanan was appointed first Governor of the Commonwealth,
+1837. The advantages of the union were soon apparent. The more
+aggressive native tribes with whom not a little trouble had been
+experienced, were made to feel the strength of the union; and many of
+the smaller head-men voluntarily put themselves under the protection of
+the Government, agreeing to become citizens, with all their subjects,
+and submit to its laws. The traffic in slaves all along the coast was
+checked, inter-tribal warfare prevented, and trial by the sassa-wood
+ordeal abolished wherever colonial influence extended. Mr. Buchanan was
+the last white man who exercised authority in Liberia. On his death the
+Lieutenant-Governor, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, succeeded him. Roberts, who
+afterward became Liberia's most distinguished citizen, was a Virginia
+Negro, having been born at Norfolk in 1809, and brought up near
+Petersburg. He obtained a rudimentary education while running a
+flat-boat on the James and Appomattox Rivers. In 1829 he went with his
+widowed mother and younger brothers to Liberia, where he rapidly rose to
+wealth and distinction. As Governor he evinced an efficient
+statesmanship that promised well for his future career.
+
+Roberts had not long been governor when trouble arose with the British
+coast-wise traders that gave rise to a most interesting crisis. The
+Liberian Government in regulating commerce within its jurisdiction had
+enacted laws imposing duties on all imported goods. The English traders,
+accustomed for hundreds of years to unrestricted traffic on this very
+coast, were indignant at the presumption of the upstart colony, and
+ignored its regulations. The Government protested, but in vain. And at
+length the little colonial revenue schooner John Seyes, while
+attempting to enforce the laws at Edina, was actually seized by the
+stalwart Britisher and dragged before the Admiralty Court at Sierra
+Leone. A long discussion which would be profitless to follow in detail,
+ensued. The result was, that the John Seyes was confiscated. The British
+Government opened a correspondence with the United States, in which it
+was ascertained that Liberia was not in political dependence upon them.
+Whereupon the sovereignty of Liberia was promptly denied, her right to
+acquire or hold territory questioned, and she was given to understand
+that the operations of British traders would in future be backed by the
+British navy.
+
+Evidently if Liberia was to maintain and govern her territory something
+must be done. The Colonization Society while claiming for Liberia the
+right to exercise sovereign powers, seems to have had the unacknowledged
+conviction, that England's position, however ungenerous, was logically
+unassailable. The supreme authority wielded by the Society, its veto
+power over legislative action, was undoubtedly inconsistent with the
+idea of a sovereign state. This is clearly apparent from the fact that
+though there was pressing necessity for a treaty with England, neither
+the colony nor the Society had power to negotiate it. It was accordingly
+determined to surrender all control over the colony; and the "people of
+the Commonwealth of Liberia" were "advised" by the Society "to undertake
+the whole work of self-government;" to make the necessary amendments to
+their Constitution, and to declare their full sovereignty to the world.
+
+The suggestion was adopted in Liberia by popular vote, and a convention
+met on July 26, 1847, adopted a Declaration of Independence and a new
+Constitution, closely modelled on the corresponding documents of the
+United States. In September the Constitution was ratified by vote of the
+people. Governor Roberts was elected to the office of President, upon
+which he entered January 3, 1848. His inaugural address is one of
+remarkable interest, fitly proclaiming to the world a new Republic.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+MARYLAND IN LIBERIA.
+
+
+The widespread interest awakened by the actual establishment of a
+permanent colony at Monrovia led to the formation of a number of State
+Colonization Societies, at first purely auxiliary to the central body,
+but later in some cases independent. The foundation of independent
+settlements at Bassa Cove and Sinou by the New York, Pennsylvania and
+Mississippi Societies, and their union in 1837 into the Commonwealth,
+has been considered. A much more important colony was founded by
+Maryland at Cape Palmas, which for years maintained its independence.
+
+In 1831, the Maryland State Colonization Society was formed. Active
+interest in the movement had long been felt in the State, and it
+scarcely needed the eloquence of Robert Finley, son of the old champion
+of colonization, who visited Baltimore in that year, to awaken
+enthusiasm. The Society had hardly been formed when ample funds were
+provided in an unexpected way. In August, 1831, a tragic Negro uprising
+took place in Virginia, in which some sixty-five white men, women and
+children were murdered. The Southampton Massacres were attributed
+largely to the instigation of the troublesome free-Negro element, and
+the growing sentiment in favor of emancipation was abruptly checked. The
+Maryland Legislature, sharing the general excitement, passed in December
+a resolution which became law in March, and proved to the State Society
+what the Act of March 3, 1819, was to the main organization. The
+connection was more explicit. Three members of the Society were to be
+appointed Commissioners to remove _all_ free Negroes to Liberia. The sum
+of $20,000 in the current year, and of $10,000 in each succeeding year,
+for a period of twenty years, was devoted to the purpose. Any free Negro
+refusing to emigrate was to be summarily ejected from the State by the
+sheriff. The wave of feeling which dictated this monstrous piece of
+legislation passed away before any of its harsh provisions were carried
+out. But the beneficent portion remained in force. The Society was left
+in the enjoyment of the liberal annuity of $10,000.
+
+In October, 1831, and December, 1832, expeditions were sent out which
+landed emigrants at Monrovia. The difficulty of arriving at an agreement
+with the parent Society regarding the rights and status of these people,
+together with other considerations, led to the adoption of the idea of
+founding a separate colony. The plan was adopted largely through the
+support of Mr. John H.B. Latrobe, throughout his life one of the most
+active and efficient friends of colonization. The motives of the
+undertaking were distinctly announced to be the gradual extirpation of
+slavery in Maryland, and the spread of civilization and Christianity in
+Africa. Cape Palmas, a bold promontory marking the point where the coast
+makes a sharp bend toward the east, was selected as the new site. Its
+conspicuous position makes it one of the best known points on the coast,
+and some identify it with the "West Horn" reached by Hanno, the
+Carthaginian explorer, twenty-nine days out from Gades. Dr. James Hall,
+who had gained experience as physician in Monrovia, was placed in charge
+of the expedition, and the brig Ann, with a small number of emigrants,
+sailed from Baltimore November 28, 1833. A firm legal basis was
+projected for the new establishment in a Constitution to which all
+emigrants were to subscribe. The experience gained by the older colony
+was put to good use. Regular courts, militia, and public schools were
+provided for from the first.
+
+The vessel touched at Monrovia, gathered as many recruits as possible
+from those sent out on the two previous expeditions, and finally
+anchored at Cape Palmas on February 11, 1834. After the usual tedious
+"palaver" and bargaining, the natives formally sold the required land.
+The cape is a promontory some seventy-five feet in height, separated
+from the mainland, except for a narrow, sandy isthmus. A river,
+navigable for some miles to small boats, opens opposite it, and forms a
+safe harbor. A long, salt-water lake extends to the east, parallel to
+the coast. The land is very fertile and well adapted to farming. Several
+native villages lie near the cape. From a well-founded fear of native
+treachery the colonists laid out their town on the promontory, upon the
+summit of which a brass six-pounder was mounted. Farm lands were laid
+out on the mainland, and in a short time the little community was in a
+thriving condition. None of the distressing misfortunes encountered by
+the colony at Monrovia marred the early history of "Maryland in
+Liberia."
+
+In 1836 the health of Dr. Hall, whose services to the infant colony had
+been invaluable, became so much impaired that he was obliged to resign.
+He returned to the United States, and long rendered the Society
+efficient service in another capacity. John B. Russwurm, a citizen of
+Monrovia, and once editor of the Liberia _Herald_, was appointed
+Governor, and served ably and faithfully until his death in 1851. Early
+in his administration a convenient form of paper currency, receivable at
+the Society's store, was introduced, and proved most useful in trade
+with the natives. In 1841 some slight difficulties with employes of
+missions led the Society, while still retaining control of affairs, to
+assert by resolution that the colony was a sovereign State. A revenue
+law introduced in 1846 soon produced an income of about $1,200. In this
+year began the trips of the "Liberia Packet," a vessel maintained by a
+company formed to trade between Baltimore and _Harper_, as the town of
+the colony was named, in honor of Robert Goodloe Harper. A certain
+amount of trade was guaranteed and other aid given by the Society. In
+1847 the justiciary was separated from the executive; a chief justice
+and a system of courts were provided for.
+
+The year 1852 ended the period during which the Society drew its annual
+stipend from the State treasury; but the General Assembly was induced to
+extend the provisions of the Act of 1831 for a further period of six
+years. It may be as well to note here that in 1858 a further extension
+was made for five years, the amount at the same time being reduced to
+$5,000 per annum.[10] For twenty years the colony had flourished under
+the care and good management of the Society. Prosperity now seemed
+secure, and a spirit of discontent, a desire to throw off the yoke and
+assume autonomy began to prevail. The great success following the
+assumption of Independence by Liberia in 1847, and the recognition at
+once obtained from the leading nations of Europe, naturally strengthened
+the feeling. A committee of leading citizens petitioned the Society to
+relinquish its authority, at the same time demanding or begging almost
+everything else in its power to bestow. The Society was further asked by
+its spoiled fosterling to continue to support schools, provide
+physicians and medicine, remit debts, and finally, to grant a "loan" of
+money to meet the expenses of government.[11]
+
+The Board of Managers, though deeming the colony still unripe for
+independence, generously determined to grant the request, as made
+advisable by force of circumstances. Among other things it was feared
+that the better class of colonists might be attracted toward the
+independent State of Liberia. A sort of federal union with that State
+was suggested, but found impracticable. A convention met and drafted a
+Constitution, which was submitted to the Board. An agreement was reached
+as to the conditions of the transfer of the Society's lands, etc. Both
+were ratified by the people, and in May, 1854, Wm. A. Prout was elected
+Governor. Other officials, senators and representatives, were chosen at
+the same time.
+
+The prosperity of the colony continued under the careful management of
+Gov. Prout. On his death the Lieutenant-Governor, Wm. S. Drayton,
+succeeded to his office. It was not long before the "rash and imprudent"
+conduct of this official precipitated a serious conflict with the
+natives. An expedition against them resulted in a demoralizing defeat,
+with loss of artillery and twenty-six valuable lives. In consternation
+an urgent appeal was sent to Monrovia. The treasury of the Republic was
+exhausted from the effects of the uprising of the Sinou river tribes;
+but Dr. Hall was fortunately present, and supplied the Government with a
+loan from the funds of the Maryland Society. One hundred and fifteen
+Liberian troops, under command of ex-President Roberts, were soon
+embarked for Cape Palmas, and easily overawed the native chiefs, who
+agreed to a fair adjustment of their grievances by treaty, February 26,
+1857.
+
+The war was not without important results. The Maryland colonists were
+thoroughly aroused to the weakness of their isolated position, and
+determined to have union with Liberia at any price. It was known that
+the Republic was willing to admit Maryland only as a county, on
+precisely the same terms as the other three--Montserado, Sinou, and
+Bassa. State pride and the views of the Society had hitherto kept them
+from such a union; but now, in the reaction from their recent terror, a
+vote of the people called for by Act of the Legislature was unanimous in
+favor of "County Annexation;" and a committee was appointed to arrange
+matters at once with Roberts. When he declined to assume any such
+responsibility, they actually proceeded to dissolve the Government, and
+cede all public property forthwith to the Republic of Liberia. The
+interesting document entitled the "Act or Petition of Annexation," shows
+the number of colonists to have been at this time 900 and the
+aboriginal population about 60,000. The tax on imports produced $1,800 a
+year. The State's liabilities were $3,000, with assets estimated at
+$10,000.
+
+The Liberian Legislature by an Act of April, 1857, formally received the
+colony into the Republic as "Maryland County." The advantages gained by
+this change undoubtedly more than counterbalanced any loss of
+independence. Though the total dissolution of the government and
+surrender of all rights and property before any negotiation with
+Liberian authorities had taken place, seems inconceivably rash
+statescraft, the wisdom of the colonists in desiring the union is
+unquestionable.
+
+At the time of annexation the Maryland Colonization Society had on hand
+some $6,000, which was invested, and the interest devoted to a school at
+Cape Palmas; in connection with this trust its existence is prolonged.
+Up to the end of its period of activity it had received and expended
+nearly half a million dollars; the balance sheet of December 31, 1857,
+may be of interest:
+
+State Appropriations, ........... $   930.00
+State Colonization Tax, .........  12,851.00
+Colonial Agency, ................   1,091.85
+Columbia Expedition, ............     248.88
+Stock of C. & L. Trading Co., ...   1,250.00
+Mdse., ..........................     104.62
+State Fund, ..................... 241,922.16
+Contributions, ..................  45,385.74
+Profit and Loss, ................ 139,972.31-1/2
+J.T.G., Colonial Agent, .........     126.70
+                                  --------------
+                                  443,883.26-1/2
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA.
+
+
+The History of Liberia from this point on assumes a peculiar interest.
+The capacity and capabilities of the Negro are subjected to a crucial
+test. He is left fully freed from the control or influence of an alien
+race, in possession of a borrowed civilization, and of a borrowed
+political system of an advanced type, dependent on popular intelligence
+for its very existence. Can he maintain his position? Will he make
+further progress, developing along lines peculiar to his race and
+environment, and spreading a new civilization among the adjacent tribes?
+Or is he to lapse helplessly back into his original condition--to be
+absorbed into the dense masses of surrounding barbarism? The question is
+a vital one. The solution of weighty problems in large part depends upon
+the answer.
+
+The form of government was, as has been seen, closely copied from that
+of the United States. There is the same tripartite division--executive,
+legislative and judicial. The President is elected every two years, on
+the first Tuesday in May. He is commander-in-chief of the army and navy;
+makes treaties with the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senate, with
+whose advice he also appoints all public officers not otherwise provided
+for by law.
+
+The legislative authority consists of a Senate of two members from each
+county, elected for four years, and a House of Representatives holding
+office for two years; four members being apportioned to Montserado
+county, three to Bassa, one to each other county, with one additional
+representative for each 10,000 inhabitants. The judicial power was
+vested in a Supreme Court with original jurisdiction in all cases
+affecting ambassadors and consuls and where the Republic is a party, and
+appellate jurisdiction in all other cases; and in subordinate courts to
+be established by the Legislature.
+
+The majority of the colonists had been long accustomed to similar
+institutions in the land of their captivity, and the new machinery of
+government was soon running smoothly. Within the little State peace and
+prosperity prevailed; its foreign relations, on the contrary, were
+involved in the greatest uncertainty. It had indeed severed the leading
+strings which bound it to its natural protector, and stood forth in the
+assertion of its independence. But it was wholly unsupported and
+unrecognized. The dispute with England, whose protege on the north
+looked with jealousy and distrust on Liberian policy, remained
+unsettled. The danger was real and pressing. Clearly recognition must be
+sought and an international footing obtained without delay. President
+Roberts accordingly determined to go abroad, and as at once chief
+magistrate and ambassador appeal to the leading courts of Europe. His
+first effort, however, was directed toward obtaining alliance with the
+United States. In America his reception was enthusiastic. But the
+delicacy with which the dissension on the slavery question made it
+necessary to handle every subject remotely bearing on that bone of
+contention, prevented him from obtaining even the formal recognition of
+Liberia. Roberts then determined by pleading his country's cause in
+England to arouse compassion in the heart of the power from which there
+was most to fear. Here substantial rewards met his efforts. His
+prepossessing personality, tact, and statesmanlike qualities won many
+friends.[12] With their support the recognition of Liberia as a
+sovereign State was soon obtained, together with a commercial treaty
+which left nothing to be desired. In further evidence of kindly
+sentiment the English Government presented the young Republic with a
+trim little cutter of four guns for coast protection. In France and
+Belgium similar generous treatment was experienced, and Roberts was
+conveyed home in triumph on the British man-of-war Amazon.
+
+A second visit of Roberts to England, in 1852, four years later, to
+adjust disputes with traders who claimed certain tracts of land, was
+equally successful, and France, under Louis Napoleon, presented him with
+arms and uniforms for the equipment of the Liberian troops. In 1852
+Prussia also extended her friendship, soon followed by Brazil and the
+free Hanse towns. In 1862, the necessity for cautious dealing with the
+race question having passed away, the United States government at last
+formally recognized the Republic, and Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Hayti
+formed treaties in 1864. The consent of Portugal and Denmark in 1865,
+and of Austria in 1867, brought Liberia into treaty relations with
+nearly all the leading commercial nations.
+
+The internal condition of the Republic during the first decade was one
+of unprecedented growth and prosperity. The Colonization Society in
+America was in a flourishing condition, and gained friends on every
+side. Its receipts for the ten years were not far short of a million
+dollars; and this generous means permitted the transportation, in the
+same period, of over five thousand chosen emigrants. The accession of so
+large a force of laborers added a new stimulus to the activity awakened
+by self-government. Many new settlements were formed and all the older
+ones received an infusion of new strength. Agriculture, especially the
+cultivation of the great staples, rice, coffee, sugar and cotton, made
+rapid progress; while commerce was stimulated by the establishment of
+regular monthly lines of steamers between England and various points on
+the coast, the first of which was started in 1853. The enterprise of
+Holland soon added still other lines. Communication with America was at
+the same time facilitated by the regular trips of a large vessel built
+for the purpose, the gift to the Society of Mr. John C. Stevens of
+Maryland.
+
+At the close of his fourth administration President Roberts decided to
+decline reelection. For eight years he had been at the helm, and had
+brought the ship of state safely through her first perilous voyages. And
+now while the waters seemed smooth and skies serene he thought it best
+to intrust her guidance to other hands. The election took place in May,
+1855, amidst scenes of political strife and party violence at once
+intense and short-lived. It resulted in the choice of Stephen A. Benson
+for President and Beverly P. Yates for Vice-President. Both were
+distinctly the product of Liberian training. Benson was brought over, at
+the age of six years, by his parents in 1822, and received his entire
+education in the country. He became a successful merchant and entered
+political life in the wake of Roberts. As chief magistrate he showed
+himself a practical and efficient man, with the interests of the country
+at heart.
+
+One of the leading objects of Benson's policy was the improvement and
+elevation of the aborigines; but his designs were in part frustrated by
+the outbreak of a stubborn and exhausting war with the native tribes
+dwelling about the Sinou River. Details must be omitted for want of
+space; but this war devastated four settlements and sadly depleted the
+national treasury. It was soon afterwards that the Maryland colony at
+Cape Palmas was almost overwhelmed in a similar native uprising, and
+united with the Republic, as elsewhere narrated.
+
+A widespread scarcity of provisions followed these wars, which gave rise
+to much apprehension. But this eventually did good in giving new
+emphasis to the fact that main reliance must be placed upon agriculture
+rather than trade. The great resources of Liberia were shown at a
+National Fair, held in December, 1858; premiums were awarded for the
+best specimens of coffee, arrow-root, cotton, rice, ginger, potatoes,
+oxen, sheep, swine, turkeys, butter, preserves; cloth and socks of
+African cotton; boots; soap and candles from palm oil; ploughs, hoes and
+other implements from native iron and home manufacture; farina;
+chocolate; planks, shingles, cabinet work, and many other products of
+Liberian agriculture and industry.
+
+President Benson was reelected without opposition, and entered upon his
+second term in January, 1858. A fresh outbreak of the slave trade in
+this year was followed by a number of captures by U.S. cruisers, giving
+rise to the old difficulty in regard to the disposition of the cargoes.
+The Act of March 3, 1819, which had long fallen into disuse, was
+revived, and a contract made with the Colonization Society to transport
+and maintain for a twelvemonth the recaptured Africans already on the
+Government's hands. The substitution of small, swift steamers for the
+craft of older days so increased the efficiency of the navy that
+captures were made in rapid succession. Within two months 1,432 Africans
+were landed at Key West. This state of affairs made further legislation
+immediately necessary. Congress, acting upon the suggestion of a
+Presidential message, passed an Act amending the Act of March 3, 1819,
+which empowered the President to form a five-years' contract with "any
+person or persons, society or societies," to receive in Africa and care
+for the unfortunates rescued from slavers, for the period of one year,
+and at a price of $100 per capita. Commanders of cruisers were to be
+instructed to land their captures directly upon the coast of Liberia
+whenever practicable; immediate measures were to be taken for removing
+to Africa those already at Key West; and the sum of $250,000 was
+appropriated to defray expenses.
+
+Three large vessels were at once chartered and stored with $60,000 worth
+of supplies; with the least possible delay the suffering crowd at Key
+West was transported to Liberia; but only 893 survived the passage. The
+effect of the new orders issued to the U.S. slave squadron was soon felt
+in Liberia. On August 8, 1860, the _Storm King_ unexpectedly arrived
+with a cargo of 619; within twenty-four hours the Erie, prize to the
+steamer Mohican, followed with 867. Tidings came that still larger
+numbers were en route. The effect of this inundation of liberated
+barbarians upon the small civilized community, already surrounded by
+savage swarms, may be imagined. The greatest consternation prevailed,
+and excitement rose to fever heat. President Benson wrote to the Society
+that great evils would result unless means were liberally supplied, and
+entire control of the new arrivals given to the Liberian Government. The
+Society accordingly transferred the execution of its contracts to that
+government, and placed at its disposal all money received by their
+terms. This action seems to have allayed the worst apprehensions; and
+although over 4,000 recaptured Africans were landed within the space of
+two months, no harm seems to have resulted. They made rapid progress in
+civilization, becoming assimilated to and in many cases intermarrying
+with the colonists; from among them arose some of the best citizens of
+the Republic.
+
+President Benson's policy in regard to the natives was successful in
+bringing many tribes much more closely under the influence of the
+government. A number of steps were taken toward actively spreading among
+them the arts of civilized life, improving their methods of agriculture,
+and checking the evils of intertribal warfare and of superstition. A
+poll tax of one dollar a year was levied on each male adult, to be
+collected from the chiefs of the several districts; with a part of the
+funds thus raised schools for popular instruction were to be established
+throughout the country.
+
+The control and oversight by the central authority of so many small
+settlements scattered over a large range of coast had been greatly
+facilitated by the small armed cutter presented in 1848 by the English
+government. This was now found to be hopelessly out of repair, and was
+generously replaced by the donor with another and somewhat larger
+vessel--the Quail, an armed schooner of 123 tons. About the same time
+the New York Society sent over a small steamer to provide rapid and
+regular communication between points along the coast. In honor of a
+liberal benefactor it was called the "Seth Grosvenor."
+
+The third and fourth administrations of Benson passed uneventfully, and
+in January, 1864, Daniel B. Warner, who, the May previous, had been
+elected, succeeded him. Warner was born near Baltimore, in 1812, and
+emigrated in 1823. The Civil War in America, with the sanguine hopes it
+aroused in the breast of the Negro, caused a rapid falling off in the
+number of applicants for transportation to Liberia. The income of the
+Society for once exceeded the demand upon it, and several good
+investments were made. Liberia, however, was demanding more cultivators.
+A supply came from an unexpected quarter. Two societies were organized
+by thrifty negroes of Barbadoes, to return to Africa and make their home
+in the new Republic. Agents were sent out, and sympathy with their
+enterprise enlisted. The Liberian Government issued a proclamation of
+cordial invitation, and the Legislature appropriated $4,000 to assist
+the colonists, increasing in their case the allotment of land from ten
+to twenty-five acres for each family. The Colonization Society devoted
+$10,000 to their aid, and despatched an experienced agent to take charge
+of the expedition. A large vessel was chartered, and after a pleasant
+voyage of thirty-three days, without the loss of a single life, 346
+emigrants were landed at Monrovia. They proved a welcome and valuable
+acquisition, many being mechanics and skilled laborers.
+
+After the close of the war, the alluring prospect of "ten acres and a
+mule" having failed our freedmen, the Society again received numerous
+applications for passage. The M. C. Stevens had been sold during the
+period of depression; another and larger vessel, the Golconda, was
+therefore purchased and fitted for an emigrant ship. During her first
+four voyages she safely carried over 1,684 persons.
+
+In January, 1867, the semi-centennial of the founding of the
+Colonization Society was celebrated in Washington. From the review of
+the fifty years' work it appeared that the sum of $2,558,907 had been
+expended, exclusive of outlay by the Maryland Society, and of the large
+sums expended by the United States Government. 11,909 emigrants had been
+sent over, in 147 vessels; of these 4,541 were born free, 344 purchased
+freedom, and 5,957 were emancipated for the purpose of going to
+Liberia.[13] Besides these, 1,227 had been settled by the Maryland
+Society, and 5,722 recaptured Africans had been sent back by the United
+States Government.
+
+In January, 1868, James S. Payne entered upon the office of President.
+He is another example of Liberian training. Born in Richmond, Va., in
+1819, he was taken before his tenth year to Monrovia by his father. One
+of the leading purposes of his administration was the establishment of
+closer intercourse with the great tribes of the interior. These people,
+the Mandingoes especially, were much further advanced in civilization
+than the coast tribes, who formed a barricade between them and Liberia,
+and offered determined opposition to any attempt to penetrate inland.
+They feared to lose their advantageous position as middlemen, and
+succeeded in keeping anything but the vaguest rumors about the interior
+from reaching the colonists. In 1869 Benjamin Anderson, a young Liberian
+appointed by the Government, and provided with liberal financial aid by
+a wealthy citizen of New York, accomplished an extremely interesting
+journey to a point over 200 miles from the coast.[14]
+
+With great difficulty and the expense of a small fortune in presents to
+captious and rapacious chiefs, he succeeded in making his way from point
+to point along a course roughly corresponding to that of the St. Paul's
+River. The route lay through dense forests, along paths worn by many
+generations of native feet. The ascent was steady; at 100 miles from the
+coast the elevation was 1,311 feet, and toward the end of the journey
+it rose to 2,257 feet. All along the way the population was dense, and
+showed a steady improvement in character, civilization and hospitality
+as the coast was left behind. The object of his journey, Musardu, the
+chief city of the Western Mandingoes, was at length reached, just on the
+edge of the primeval forest. Beyond lies a vast plateau covered with
+tall grass, showing here and there a solitary palm, and stretching away
+to the head waters of the Niger. The climate is wholesome, the air
+bracing, and the soil fertile.
+
+The city proved large and populous; the houses were small and of a
+monotonous uniformity, bewilderingly placed without apparent
+arrangement. The whole was surrounded with a huge mud wall, which served
+not only as a defense against foes, but to keep out wild beasts,
+especially elephants, herds of which were frequently seen near the town.
+The inhabitants were strict Mussulmans, and were much further advanced
+in civilization than even the most intelligent tribes through which he
+had passed. They had an extensive commerce with the interior, caravans
+coming from places as distant as Timbuctoo. Good horses were plentiful,
+and there were evidences of the existence of valuable gold mines.
+Anderson was received with profuse hospitality; they appeared to be
+delighted with the idea of opening trade with Liberia, and promised
+gold, ivory and various commodities in exchange for European goods.
+
+Another journey with the same general results was subsequently made by
+another citizen, to Pulaka, about one hundred miles to the southeast of
+Monrovia. These explorations are of great interest. They show the belt
+of coast occupied by Liberia to be merely the entrance to a high and
+healthful interior of great fertility and unlimited resources, over
+which the Republic has power to expand indefinitely.
+
+President Payne's successor was Edward James Roye, who was duly
+inaugurated January 3, 1870. Born in Newark, Ohio, in 1815, he had
+passed through the public schools of his native town, afterwards
+attending the college at Athens, Ohio, and Oberlin. He went to Liberia
+in 1846, becoming a prosperous merchant and politician. From 1865 to
+1868 he held the post of Chief Justice. Roye came into office at a time
+when a rage for internal improvements possessed the country; and with
+this spirit he was in full sympathy. His inaugural outlines a bold and
+ambitious policy. The resources of the Treasury were entirely inadequate
+to his extensive projects, and in an evil moment the Legislature passed
+an Act authorizing the negotiation of a loan of $500,000. The loan was
+placed in London on terms which netted only L85 per bond of L100,
+redeemable at par in 15 years and bearing interest at 7 per cent. The
+amount thus offered was further reduced by the requirement that the
+first two years' interest should be paid in advance. From the remainder
+were deducted various agents' commissions and fees, until at length the
+principal reached Monrovia sadly reduced in amount,--not over $200,000.
+And this soon disappeared without any visible result. It is an old
+story; but in Liberia's case it was particularly disastrous. For with
+her little revenue, rarely exceeding $100,000, it soon became impossible
+to pay the $35,000 yearly interest on a debt for which she had
+practically received not a single advantage. And this accumulating at
+compound interest has reached a magnitude absolutely crushing. So
+desperate is her financial condition that many believe inevitable the
+fate which croaking prophets have long foretold, and against which she
+has struggled bravely--absorption by England.
+
+Serious as were the more remote effects of the financial blunder just
+considered, its immediate consequences brought upon the country a crisis
+which might have resulted in civil war. Great dissatisfaction with the
+negotiation of the loan prevailed. The Administration was severely
+criticised; serious accusations were brought against it. While the
+excitement was at fever heat matters were complicated by an attempt of
+the Administration to prolong its hold of office, which precipitated the
+threatened outbreak. For some years a Constitutional Amendment had been
+under consideration, lengthening the term of President and members of the
+Legislature. The measure had been submitted to the people, and twice
+voted upon; but the result was a subject of dispute. Roye and his party
+maintained that it had been duly carried and was a part of the organic
+law of the land; and that as a consequence his term did not expire until
+January, 1874. A proclamation was issued forbidding the coming biennial
+elections to be held.
+
+This action at once aroused violent opposition. A strong party declared
+that the amendment had not been carried; and in any event could not be
+construed to apply to the present incumbent. The proclamation was
+disregarded; the polls opened on the accustomed day; and the veteran
+Joseph J. Roberts, aptly called the epitome of Liberian history, was
+elected by large majorities.
+
+Far from being subdued by the decided expression of popular will Roye
+and his supporters, with the spirit of the decemvirs of old, determined
+to maintain power at any hazard. Roberts's election was declared
+illegal, and of no effect. Throughout the summer the two parties stood
+at daggers drawn. At length the increasing strength of the opposition
+encouraged the thought of removing the President from office. The legal
+method of impeachment seemed far too slow and uncertain for the temper
+of the times. An excited convention was held in Monrovia, October 26,
+1871, at which a "Manifesto" was adopted decreeing his deposition. A few
+extracts disclose its character:
+
+"President Roye has, contrary to the Constitution, proclaimed himself
+President for four years, although elected for only two years.
+
+"He has distributed arms and munitions of war, and has not ceased his
+efforts to procure armed men to crush the liberties of the people.
+
+"He has contracted a foreign loan contrary to the law made and provided;
+and without an act of appropriation by the Legislature he has with his
+officers been receiving the proceeds of that loan.
+
+"Every effort to induce him to desist from his unconstitutional course
+has been unavailing. Threats and entreaties have been alike lost upon
+him. He has turned a deaf ear to the remonstrances from all the counties
+of the Republic:
+
+"Therefore, on the 26th day of October in the year of our Lord 1871, and
+in the twenty-fifth year of the Independence of the Republic, the
+sovereign people of Liberia did by their resolutions in the city of
+Monrovia, joined to the resolutions from the other counties of the
+Republic, depose President E.J. Roye from his high office of President
+of Liberia; and did decree that the Government shall be provisionally
+conducted by a Chief Executive Committee of three members, and by the
+chiefs of Departments until the arrival of the constitutional officer at
+the seat of Government."
+
+Before the party of the Administration could recover from the shock of
+this action, President Roye and his Secretaries of State and of the
+Treasury were arrested and thrown into prison,--a _coup d'etat_ which
+made his opponents undisputed masters of the situation. The appointed
+Committee took charge of affairs; the excitement died away with a
+rapidity characteristic of Liberian politics, and in January, 1872,
+Roberts was triumphantly inaugurated. Roye died in prison soon
+afterward.
+
+A reign of peace and prosperity followed under Roberts, interrupted
+toward the end of another term, to which he was elected, by a severe war
+with the Grebo tribe near Cape Palmas. Limited space will prevent
+detailed consideration of the later history of the Republic. Payne was
+elected to a second term in 1876. A.W. Gardiner was Chief Executive for
+three successive terms, from 1878-1884; and H.R.W. Johnson, a native
+born Liberian, son of the famous pioneer Elijah Johnson, was made
+President in 1884. The recent years of the Republic have not brought an
+increased tide of immigration, nor any marked progress. The diminished
+interest in colonization felt in the United States so crippled the
+finances of the Society that few immigrants have been sent in the last
+decade. That large numbers of Negroes are willing, even anxious to go,
+is shown by the lists of the Society, which has adopted the policy of
+aiding only those who can pay a part of their passage. Several instances
+of the formation of societies among the Negroes themselves to provide
+for their own transportation have occurred. In South Carolina the
+"Liberia Joint Stock Steamship Company" was formed, which succeeded in
+purchasing a vessel and sending over one expedition of 274 emigrants.
+The company was unfortunate and failed financially before another
+attempt could be made. In Arkansas a large secret Society for the same
+object was formed, several hundred members of which made their way to
+New York and prevailed upon the Colonization Society to give them
+passage.[15]
+
+The culmination of a dispute with Great Britain over the north-western
+boundary of Liberia is perhaps the most interesting topic of her recent
+history. The boundaries of the Republic were never very definitely
+marked out, as her territory grew by gradual settlement and purchase
+from native chiefs. Even to-day there is no hard and fast interior
+border line; the country extends back indefinitely from the coast, new
+land being taken up as settlement proceeds. In 1849 the coast line
+acquired in this way extended from the San Pedro River on the south-east
+to Cape Mount, the extreme settlement on the north-west. Between 1849
+and 1852 various purchases were made from the natives covering some
+fifty miles more of the north-western seaboard. These purchases extended
+to She-Bar, very near Sherbro Island, and were confirmed by formal deeds
+from chiefs of the local tribes. The conditions of the deeds bound
+Liberia to establish schools in the districts ceded, and to guarantee
+the protection, peace and safety of the natives. If now a few
+settlements had been made in this territory all future trouble would
+have been avoided; but all available energy was needed for intensive
+development, and the newly acquired territory was left uncolonized. In
+the course of time English traders established themselves within this
+district, who refused to recognize Liberia's jurisdiction, and who
+smuggled in large quantities of goods in bold defiance of the revenue
+laws. As early as 1866 correspondence with the British Government was
+opened; and Liberia's jurisdiction was more than once virtually
+recognized. Matters were complicated by the outbreak of disturbances
+among the natives, in quelling which the Republic was obliged to use
+military force--a course which resulted in the destruction of property
+belonging to the English traders. Claims were at once brought against
+Liberia through the English Government to a large aggregate amount.
+Holding Liberia liable for damages received in the territory was a
+practical admission of her jurisdiction. Nothing was accomplished until
+1871, when Lord Granville proposed to President Roye, who was then in
+England, to compromise on the River Solyma as the limit of the Republic.
+This is about the middle of the disputed territory. Roye weakly agreed,
+and this agreement is known as the Protocol of 1871. It was not ratified
+by the Senate. The tact of President Roberts staved off the crisis for
+some time; but at length the English Foreign Office demanded a
+settlement, and a commission of two from each State and an arbitrator
+appointed by the President of the United States met on the ground. Every
+possible delay and impediment was resorted to by the British
+commissioners, who further refused to submit the points disputed to the
+umpire. Of course, no agreement was reached.
+
+The situation remained unchanged until 1882. On March 20 four British
+men-of-war silently entered the harbor, and Sir A.E. Havelock, Governor
+of Sierra Leone, came ashore. President Gardiner was intimidated into
+acceding to the demand that the boundary should be fixed at the Manna
+River, only fifteen miles from Cape Mount. But when this "Draft
+Convention," as it was called, came before the Senate for ratification,
+it was indignantly repudiated. At the next regular meeting of the
+Legislature in December, a resolution refusing to ratify the Draft
+Convention was passed, and a copy sent to Havelock. It elicited the
+reply:--
+
+"Her Majesty's Government cannot in any case recognize any rights on the
+part of Liberia to any portions of the territories in dispute," followed
+by the peremptory announcement that "Her Majesty's Government consider
+that they are relieved from the necessity of delaying any longer to
+ratify an agreement made by me with the Gallinas, Solyma, and Manna
+River chiefs on the 30th of March, 1882, whereby they ceded to Her
+Majesty the coast line of their territories up to the right bank of the
+Manna River."
+
+Liberia made a last feeble effort. A "Protest" was drawn up and sent to
+the various powers with whom she stood in treaty relations--of course,
+without result. The President of the United States replied at once,
+counselling acquiescence. Nothing else was possible. The Senate
+authorized the President to accept the terms dictated, and the "Draft
+Convention" was signed November 11, 1885. On April 26, 1888, Sir Samuel
+Rowe visited Monrovia and formally exchanged ratifications. Thus once
+more strength proved triumphant; Liberia's boundary was set at the Manna
+River, and Sierra Leone, which had possessed but a few hills and swamps,
+was given a valuable coast line.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF COLONIZATION.
+
+
+Colonization has come to be looked upon with unmerited
+indifference--with an apathy which its history and achievements surely
+do not deserve. To some, perhaps the present condition of the Republic
+seems a discouraging and inadequate return for the life and treasure
+lavished upon it; for others, hoping for a bloodless and gradual
+extinction of slavery, the Civil War carried away the chief element of
+interest. Others still, who looked for a ready solution of the Negro
+Problem in this country, have gradually lost heart in the face of the
+increasing millions of the race. And so, some from one cause, some from
+another, have lost interest in colonization and in Liberia, until a time
+has come when few have more than the vaguest knowledge of these terms.
+Sometimes the voice of contempt is heard; but this is always a proof of
+ignorance. Liberia stands forth historically as the embodiment of a
+number of ideas, efforts, principles, any one of which ought to secure
+at the least our respect, if not our sympathy and enthusiasm.
+
+
+
+
+1. _As a Southern Movement toward Emancipation_.
+
+
+This thesis will doubtless meet with the most strenuous opposition; but
+a careful and impartial study of the writings and addresses of those
+most prominent in the movement will convince anyone of their profound
+hope that colonization would eventually lead to the extinction of
+slavery in the United States. It must be remembered that at the time of
+the formation of the Society the pro-slavery feeling in the South was by
+no means so strong as it became in later years, when the violence of
+Abolition had fanned it to a white heat. Indeed, during the whole period
+before 1832 there seems to have been a prevailing sentiment in favor of
+emancipation--at least throughout Maryland, Virginia, and North
+Carolina. But the condition of the free blacks was notoriously such that
+the humane master hesitated to doom his slaves to it by emancipating
+them. The colonizationist hoped, by offering to the free Negro an
+attractive home in Africa, to induce conscientious masters everywhere to
+liberate their slaves, and to give rise to a growing popular sentiment
+condemning slavery, which would in time result in its extinction. Of
+course there were those in the Society who would not have subscribed to
+this doctrine; on the other hand, many held views much more radical. But
+it is the men who formed and guided the Society, who wielded its
+influence and secured its success, whose opinions must be regarded as
+stamping its policy.
+
+The Constitution of the Society did not touch upon this subject. It was
+needless to give unnecessary alarm or offense. But when in 1833 the
+Maryland Society adopted its Constitution--a much larger and more
+explicit one--the attitude taken is boldly announced:
+
+"Whereas the Maryland State Colonization Society desires to hasten as
+far as they can the period when slavery shall cease to exist in
+Maryland, and believing that this can best be done by advocating and
+assisting the cause of colonization as the safest, truest and best
+auxiliary of freedom under existing circumstances," etc.
+
+It may well be questioned whether such a plan would ever have succeeded:
+but it must not too hastily be called chimerical. As a practical result
+it secured the emancipation of several thousand slaves, many of whom
+were supplied by former owners with money for transportation and
+establishment in Africa. What further success it might have had was
+prevented by the rise of the Abolition Movement. The intense
+pro-slavery feeling which this stirred up in the South caused the
+Colonization Society to be regarded with distrust and even active
+hostility. It was accused of secretly undermining slavery and exciting
+false hopes among the slaves. It was even said to foment discontent and
+raise dangerous questions for sinister purposes, and was subjected to
+bitter attack as "disguised Abolitionism."
+
+From the opposite extreme of opinion the Society suffered assault still
+more violent. William Lloyd Garrison, in his intemperate zeal for
+"immediate emancipation without expatriation," could see nothing but
+duplicity and treachery in the motives of its adherents. His "Thoughts
+on Colonization" hold up the movement to public odium as the sum of all
+villainies, and in the columns of the _Liberator_ no insult or reproach
+is spared. His wonderful energy and eloquence brought over to his camp a
+number of the Society's friends, and enabled him in his English campaign
+to exhibit it in a light so odious that he actually brought back a
+protest signed by the most eminent anti-slavery men of that country.
+
+Assailed on one side and on the other the Society, as we have seen,
+serenely pursued its course. Apparently it did not suffer. But it can
+scarcely be doubted that its growth and expansion were seriously checked
+by the cross-fire to which it was subjected. Among the negroes
+themselves prejudices were industriously disseminated, and everything
+was done to make them believe themselves duped and cheated.
+
+From these reasons colonization never reached the proportions hoped for
+by those who looked to it for the gradual extinction of slavery. But we
+should not fail to recognize in the movement an earnest and noble, if
+too ambitious, effort to solve, without violence or bloodshed, a problem
+only half disposed of by Lincoln's edict and the Fifteenth Amendment.
+
+
+
+
+2. _As a Check to the Slave-Trade._
+
+
+The coast upon which the colony was established had for several hundred
+years been one of the chief resorts of the slave dealers of the western
+shores of Africa. Their "factories" were situated at numerous points on
+both sides of the early settlements. The coast tribes, broken up and
+demoralized by the traffic, waged ceaseless wars for the sole purpose of
+obtaining for the trader a supply of his commodity. It was their only
+means of getting supplies of the products and manufactures of
+civilization; and, as we have seen, when they found the presence of the
+newcomers an obstacle to their chief industry, they took up arms to
+expel them.
+
+Until the year 1807 there was no restriction whatever on the traffic,
+and the proportions which it reached, the horrors it entailed, are
+almost incredible. Sir T.F. Buxton estimated on careful calculations
+that the trade on the western coast resulted in a loss to Africa of
+500,000 persons annually. At length the progress of humanity drove
+England to declare war on the infamous traffic, and her cruisers plied
+the length of the continent to prevent infractions of her decree. At
+enormous expense the entire coast was put in a state of blockade.
+
+The result was mortifying. Instead of disappearing, the exportation of
+slaves was found actually to increase, while the attending horrors were
+multiplied. Small, swift cutters took the place of the roomy slave-ships
+of older days, and the victims, hurriedly crowded into slave-decks but a
+few feet high, suffered ten-fold torments on the middle passage from
+inadequate supplies of food and water.
+
+The colonists, even in their early feebleness, set their face resolutely
+against the slave trade: its repression was a cardinal principle. Their
+first serious wars were waged on its account. Ashmun risked his life in
+the destruction of the factories at New Cesters and elsewhere. The
+slavers, warned by many encounters, forsook at first the immediate
+neighborhood of the settlements, and, as the coast line was gradually
+taken up, abandoned at length, after many a struggle, the entire region.
+Six hundred miles of the coast was permanently freed from an inhuman and
+demoralizing traffic that defied every effort of the British naval
+force. Nor was this all. The natives were reconciled by the introduction
+of a legitimate commerce which supplied all they had sought from the
+sale of human beings.
+
+In still another way did the colony exercise a humane influence. Among
+the natives exists a domestic slavery so cruel and barbarous that the
+lot of the American plantation Negro seemed paradise in comparison. Life
+and limb are held of such small value that severe mutilation is the
+penalty of absurdly slight transgressions, or is imposed at the
+arbitrary displeasure of the master, while more serious offenses are
+punished by death in atrocious form: as when the victim is buried alive
+with stakes driven through his quivering body.[16] The institution is of
+course a difficult one to uproot. But among the natives in the more
+thickly settled portions of the country it has ceased, and is mitigated
+wherever the influence of the Government penetrates, while the number of
+victims is greatly diminished by the cessation of inter-tribal warfare.
+
+In this way Liberia has proved, from the standpoint of humanity,
+pre-eminently successful.
+
+
+
+
+3. _As a Step toward the Civilization of Africa._
+
+
+George Whitefield is said to have declared to Oglethorpe when lamenting
+his failure to exclude slavery from Georgia, that he was making a
+mistake: the Africans were much better off as slaves than in their
+native barbarism, and would receive a training that would enable them
+ultimately to return and civilize the land of their nativity. In this
+bold idea he anticipated one of the leading thoughts of the fathers of
+colonization, and, perhaps prophesied, a great migration which the
+world is yet to see. But to confine ourselves to the present and the
+strictly practical--there is to the interior of Liberia, sweeping away
+beyond the valley of the Niger, a country of teeming population and vast
+resources. That this territory be opened to the commerce of the world,
+and the blessings of civilization be conferred upon the people, it is
+necessary that some impulse of enlightenment come from without. The
+casual visit of the trader has been proved by experience to do vastly
+more harm than good. Vice and demoralization have too often followed in
+his track. The direction and instruction of European agents accomplish
+little. The best efforts of all men of this class have resulted in an
+unequal hand-to-hand fight with the deadly climate, in which no white
+man can work and live. Besides, the natives need more than guidance;
+they must have before them the example of a civilized settlement.
+
+It would be impossible to imagine a more ideal agent for accomplishing
+this work than Liberia. True, its slow development has prevented it as
+yet from penetrating to the most fruitful portion of the interior
+district; but so far as it has gone the work has been wonderful. One
+after another of the native chiefs has sought, with his people,
+admission to the privileges of citizenship, agreeing to conform to the
+laws of the country and abolish inconsistent aboriginal customs. The
+schools are full of native children, while large numbers are distributed
+in a sort of apprenticeship among Liberian families for training in the
+arts of civilized life. The English language has become widely known.
+More remote tribes, while retaining native customs, have entered into
+agreements or treaties to abstain from war, to keep open roads and
+routes of commerce, to protect travellers and missionaries and such
+Liberians as may settle among them. This is in itself an advance; and in
+addition various forms of knowledge, improved implements and methods of
+agriculture must enter in and insensibly raise these tribes to a higher
+plane.
+
+In reclaiming the natives lies a source of great future power for
+Liberia. When immigration from the United States shall assume such
+proportions that numbers of interior settlements can be made which shall
+be radiating centres of civilization, the enormous potential energy of
+native intelligence and labor will be brought to bear on the development
+of the country with marvellous results.
+
+
+
+
+4. _As a Missionary Effort_.
+
+
+The attempts of the Christian Church to evangelize the western districts
+of Africa constitute one of the saddest and most discouraging records of
+history. From the first attempt of the Roman church in 1481, it has been
+one continuous narrative of a futile struggle against disease and death.
+A whole army of martyrs has gone bravely to its doom leaving no trace of
+its sacrifice save unmarked and forgotten graves. It has indeed been a
+bitter experience that has proved this work can be successfully
+undertaken only by men of African blood, for whom the climate has no
+terrors. And the superiority of an established Christian community to a
+few isolated missionary stations requires no demonstration. From the
+first the colonists were active in spreading a knowledge of the Gospel
+among the natives. Lot Cary, one of the earliest emigrants, was an
+earnest missionary, and besides efficient work at home he established
+mission stations at Cape Mount and elsewhere.
+
+In 1826 four emissaries of the Basle Missionary College made Monrovia
+their headquarters, and did some good work; but they soon succumbed to
+the climate. The American churches of those denominations most largely
+represented in Liberia--the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist and
+Methodist--made strenuous efforts, and sent out a succession of
+missionaries, most of whom fell victims to the fever. Later, after
+learning the salutary lesson, they accomplished much through the
+organization and direction of the work of Liberian missionaries. In
+this way the gospel is safely and successfully propagated among the
+natives.
+
+A foe more stubborn than paganism is to be met in the ranks of Islam.
+There seems to be something in its teachings which renders the native a
+ready convert. Its simplicity is readily understood; and it sanctions
+the practices of polygamy and slave-holding to which he is accustomed.
+Under the zealous proselytism of the Mandingoes the Mohammedan faith has
+taken a strong hold on the interior, and is spreading rapidly to the
+very doors of Liberia. Candor compels the admission that it brings with
+it a marked improvement in the condition and intelligence of the
+converts. Intemperance--which in many cases follows in the tracks of the
+Christian merchant--disappears. A knowledge of Arabic is soon acquired
+and the Koran is eagerly read and its principles put in practice. The
+whole life of the convert is transformed, and he becomes in turn zealous
+in the dissemination of the faith. The efforts of missionaries alone can
+never stem this torrent; if any impression is to be made upon the
+Mohammedan tribes it must be by the extension of Christian settlements
+and civilization.
+
+
+
+
+5. _As a Refuge to the Negro from the Pressure of Increasing Competition
+in America._
+
+
+It would be unnecessary to bring into review the causes that are
+operating daily to make the conditions of earning a living in America
+more difficult. However much or little credence we place in the
+Malthusian theory of the increase of population, in the doctrine of
+diminishing returns, or the iron law of wages, all thinking men are
+agreed that the country is already entering upon a new era. The period
+of expansion, of the taking up of new territory by the overflowing
+population of the older districts, is practically ended; future
+development will be intensive, the country will be more thickly settled,
+and the sharpness of competition will be immeasurably increased. The
+possibility of rising in life will be reduced to a minimum; and there
+will exist a class, as in the older civilizations of Europe, who live,
+and expect to see their children live, in a subordinate or inferior
+relation, without the prospect of anything better.
+
+There may be under this new regime a number of occupations in which the
+Negro, by contentedly accepting a subordinate position, may hold his
+ground. Or the conditions of life may become so severe that a sharp
+struggle for existence will leave in possession the race which shall
+prove fittest to survive. To follow the train of thought would lead into
+all the unsolved difficulties of the Negro Problem. But surely there
+will be some among all the millions of the race who will become
+dissatisfied with their life here. Some will aspire to higher things,
+some will seek merely a field where their labor will meet an adequate
+return; many will be moved by self-interest, a few by nobler motives. To
+all these Liberia eagerly opens her arms. The pressure in America finds
+an efficient safety-valve in the colonization of Africa.
+
+With such additions to her strength, the resources of Liberia will be
+brought out and developed. Communication with America will be made
+easier and cheaper. The toiling masses left behind will have before them
+the constant example of numbers of their race living in comfort and
+increasing prosperity under their own government. Many will become eager
+to secure the same advantages, and gradually a migration will begin that
+will carry hundreds of thousands from the house of bondage to the
+promised land.
+
+It is absurd to declaim about "expatriation" and to declare such a
+movement forced and unnatural. The whole course of history reveals men
+leaving their homes under pressure of one cause or another, and striking
+out into new fields. The western course of migration has reached its
+uttermost limit, and the tide must turn in other directions. One vast
+and rich continent remains; upon it the eyes of the world are fixed.
+Already the aggressive Aryan has established himself wherever he can
+gain a foothold; but the greater part of the country is forever barred
+to him by a climate which he cannot subdue.
+
+To whom then can this rich territory offer greater inducements than to
+the colored people of the United States? And what is more natural and
+rational than that they, when the population of the country approaches
+the migration point, should follow the line of least resistance and turn
+their steps to the home of their forefathers.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHORITIES.
+
+
+The sources of information which proved most useful to the writer are:
+
+The Annual Reports of the A.C.S., together with the files of its
+quarterly journal, the _African Repository_.
+
+Messages of Presidents of Liberia, and the Reports of Secretaries of
+Treasury, War, and Navy.
+
+The Archives of the Maryland State Colonization Society, preserved by
+the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+KENNEDY: Colonization Report.
+
+ALEXANDER: History of Colonization. 1845.
+
+GURLEY: Report on Condition of Liberia. 1850.
+
+CARL RITTER: Begruendung u. gegenwaertige Zustaende der Negerrepublik
+Liberia. 1852.
+
+ANDERSON: Narrative of a Journey to Musardu. 1870.
+
+LATROBE: Maryland in Liberia. 1885.
+
+WAUWERMANS: Liberia; Histoire de la Fondation d'un Etat negre libre.
+1885.
+
+SCHWARTZ: Einiges ueber das interne Leben der Eingebornen Liberias.
+Deutsche Kolonialzeitung. 1887.
+
+--Die Neger-Republik Liberia. Das Ausland. 1888.
+
+BLYDEN: Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race.
+
+BUeTTIKOFER: Reisebilder aus Liberia. 1890.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[Footnote 1: Letter to Philip A. Bruce, dated London, April 8, 1889.]
+
+[Footnote 2: James Ferguson, _Life of Hopkins_. Hopkins' Circular,
+1793.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Jefferson, _Notes on Virginia_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Kennedy's _Report_, p. 160.]
+
+[Footnote 5: A.C.S. Report for 1853, pp. 37-55.]
+
+[Footnote 6: The remarks of these gentlemen and others of similar views
+have subjected the Society to many unjust attacks. Of course many would
+join such a movement from mixed motives; but the guiding principles of
+the Society itself have always been distinctly philanthropic.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Report of Amos Kendall, Fourth Auditor, to the Secretary of
+the Navy, August, 1830.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Ashmun.]
+
+[Footnote 9: These were eventually paid by the United States Government.
+Kendall's Report to Secretary of Navy, December, 1830.]
+
+[Footnote 10: The outbreak of the Civil War ended the arrangement after
+the third payment.]
+
+[Footnote 11: This singular petition is preserved in Minute Book No. 4
+of the M.S. C.S., p. 36.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Carl Ritter, who saw him in 1852, speaks of him as "den
+edlen, hochgebildeten, erfahrenen, weisen, und der Rede sehr kundigen
+Staatsman Wir (i.e., Ritter,) haben wiederholt seinen wuerdenvollen Reden
+in den ersten Kreisen in London beigewohnt."]
+
+[Footnote 13: _Semi-Centennial Memorial_, p. 190.]
+
+[Footnote 14: B. Anderson, _Narrative of a Journey to Musardu_.]
+
+[Footnote 15: A.C. Reports of 1881 and 1882.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Anderson's _Journey to Musardu_.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of Liberia, by J.H.T. McPherson
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+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF LIBERIA ***
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