| In
the early nineteenth century, the American Colonization Society was
formed for the purpose of encouraging emigration of free blacks to
Africa. While intent on ridding the United States of what the Society's
members saw as a dangerous black population, the association also
attracted some liberals who viewed its goals as an incentive toward
emancipation.
Attitudes among African Americans toward colonization were varied,
some viewing it as an opportunity to start new lives in a free country
and others seeing in it a deceptive scheme of the white man. But
when the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 put the freedom
of every person of African descent in jeopardy, many began to consider
emigration their only option.
This collection of historic documents illuminates the debate on
emigration through the narratives of four black men who in 1853
traveled to the new black nation of Liberia. Their accounts offer
surprisingly different views and insights on the young country and
provide both endorsements and condemnations of the colonization
effort.
Liberian Dreams contains four selections that have never
before been published in a single volume: William Nesbit's attack
on Liberia and its sponsors, Samuel Williams's spirited defense
of the black republic in response to Nesbit, Daniel Peterson's pro-emigration
tract commissioned by the ACS, and Augustus Washington's balanced
critique of both sides of the issue. Each account offers a perspective
not found in the others, and together they cover nearly the full
range of debate among black Americans of that time.
These narratives shed light not only on the experience of creating
a new country but also on the conflict among African Americans over
the colonization effort, and they offer a unique opportunity to
witness African Americans encountering Africans and their cultures.
The selection by Augustus Washington in particular reveals the insights
of an educated community activist with a sure understanding of the
issues at stake.
Historian Wilson Moses, who has published widely on African American
history and black nationalism, provides an introduction that expertly
places the selections in context. |
