American Colonization Society 307Despite some diffi cult beginnings, the members of the
ACS pressed ahead with fi nding a suitable location for a
colony. Agents traveled to Haiti and Sherbro Island, near
present-day Sierra Leone, but neither location was suitable.
President James Monroe, who sympathized with coloniza-
tion, sent government agents in 1820 to Africa to prepare
a settlement. Some prospective colonists made the ocean
journey, but most of them died from disease once they
landed in Africa. An expedition the next year met the same
fate. A third government-sponsored expedition had more
success in late 1821. On December 15 of that year, ACS
agents purchased Cape Mesurado (or Montserado) from
King Peter, and this region became the focus of coloniza-
tion eff orts. Th e king was reluctant to allow foreigners to
establish a foothold on his land but was persuaded when
an American naval offi cer pointed a gun at his head. ACS
agents later admitted they gave almost nothing of value
for the land—merely muskets, gunpowder, beads, tobacco,
clothing, food, and rum worth about $300.
Th e colony constantly lacked food and equipment.
As with earlier eff orts, diseases ravaged the population,
and the colony struggled to survive. Despite these initial
struggles, emigrants moved to Africa, with Jehudi Ashmun
becoming an early leader. Ashmun, a teacher who hoped
to become a missionary, went to Africa in 1822. In 1825
and 1826, Ashmun expanded the colony’s boundaries by
leasing, annexing, and buying neighboring tribal lands.
Ashmun forced King Peter and other native kings to sell
land in exchange for tobacco, rum, gunpowder, umbrellas,
and shoes. Th e Americans in Africa envisioned their colony
becoming a large empire that would dominate the western
coast. Ashmun’s death from fever in 1828, the low rate of
emigration, and lack of economic viability helped squash
these grandiose schemes.
Enough emigrants arrived in Africa to keep the strug-
gling colony alive, but they struggled to survive. Th ere were
no cash crops or valuable natural resources to power the
economy. Th e colony became a fi nancial liability for the
ACS, which was struggling with its own monetary troubles.
Great Britain also menaced the colony, which was not a
sovereign power or a true colony with the protection of a
sovereign nation. Th e United States refused to claim sover-
eignty over the area, so the ACS had no choice but to force
the colony to declare its independence. In 1847, the colony
became the sovereign nation of Liberia, so named for its
promotion of liberty for blacks from the United States.for example, in an 1817 meeting in Philadelphia, African
Americans denounced colonization as cruel and as a viola-
tion of America’s fundamental principles, and black activ-
ists in New York and Boston made similar statements.
A number of African Americans, however, supported
colonization. Some argued that the movement could help
spread Christianity and education in Africa, and others
believed that blacks would never attain equal rights or
decent treatment in the United States and were better off
beginning a new life as freed people in their homeland.
Th ousands of rank-and-fi le African Americans supported
colonization by moving overseas, but support came from a
number of prominent advocates as well, such as Paul Cuff e.
Cuff e was a Quaker ship owner from Boston who gained
support from the British government and members of Con-
gress to take African Americans to Sierra Leone. In 1816,
Cuff e took 38 African Americans to Sierra Leone, a voyage
he hoped would establish a regular schedule of emigration,
but Cuff e’s death in 1817 ended this venture. Decades later,
in 1858, black nationalists under the leadership of Henry
Highland Garnet established the African Civilization So-
ciety, which advocated for black repatriation.
Departure of the Danish steamer Horsa from Savannah, Georgia,
on March 19, 1895. Th e 200 African Americans aboard were
bound for Liberia under the auspices of the American Colonization
Society. (North Wind Picture Archives)