The American Colonization Society had begun sending…
1828 CE to 1839 CE
Although mortality from tropical diseases is horrendous—of the four thousand five hundred and seventy-one emigrants who arrive in Liberia between 1820 and 1843, only eighteen hundred and nineteen will be alive in 1843—by 1867 the ACS (and state-related chapters) will have assisted in the migration of more than thirteen thousand blacks to Liberia.
These free African-Americans and their descendants marry within their community and come to identify as Americo-Liberians.
Many are of mixed race and educated in American culture; they do not identify with the indigenous natives of the tribes they encounter.
They intermarry largely within the colonial community, developing an ethnic group that has a cultural tradition infused with American notions of political republicanism and Protestant Christianity.
The ACS, supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believes repatriation of free African Americans is preferable to widespread emancipation of slaves.
Similar state-based organizations establish colonies in Mississippi-in-Africa, Kentucky in Africa, and the Republic of Maryland, which Liberia will later annex.
Images
Map of Liberia Colony in the 1830s, created by the ACS, and also showing Mississippi Colony and other state-sponsored colonies. The map presented is taken from ‘A Map of Africa’ where it is shown as an inset in the left bottom corner. In the right top corner of the map is stated: "No. 16. Map of Africa. Engraved to illustrate Mitchell’s School and Family Geography.” Below the map is written: "Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by S. Augustus Mitchell, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Connecticut.” (Uploaded to Wikipedia Commons by Fred van der Kraaij, January 12, 2013).
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