This disserlation has been miciofilmed exactly as received 67*16,263 CAMPBELL, Penelope, 1935- MARYLAND IN AFRICA: THE MARYLAND STATE COLONIZATION SOCIETY, 1831-1857, The Ohio State University, Ph,D,, 1967 History, modem University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan ' Copyright by Penelope Campbell 1967 MARYLAND IN AFRICA: THE MARYLAND STATE COLONIZATION SOCIETY, 1831-1857 DISSERTATION Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Penelope Campbell, B.A., M.A, ******* The Ohio State University 1967 Approved by Advise Department of History ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Expression of one's appreciation is both difficult and pleasant: difficult in that space and propriety limit the number of persons specifically mentioned; pleasant from the standpoint that It is done with genuine delight. Ruth Erlandson of the Ohio State University Main Library laid the groundwork for this research journey by her attention to reference materials and her effort to impart that information to prospective dissertation writers. The staff of the Maryland Historical Society, particularly Hester Rich who first confirmed that the coloni­ zation papers had been neglected, is remembered for its assistance during two summers of research. Agnes Scott College rendered aid by reducing my teaching load during the final stages of the project. But, more than to any other single force, I feel gratitude toward Lowell Ragatz who exceeds the role of adviser. A fascinating, complex man with a quick mind and a kind heart. Professor Ragatz demands one's upmost effort in any undertaking. His insistence upon the best is a motivation still unsurpassed. 11 VITA December 18, 1935 Born in Bishop, Maryland 1957 B.A., Baylor University, Waco, Texas 1957-1959 Graduate Resident, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1959 M.A.3 The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1959-1960 Administrative Assistant, Student Financial Aids and Scholarships, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1960-1963 Head Resident, Oxley Hall, The Ohio State Uni­ versity, Columbus, Ohio 1964-1965 Graduate Assistant, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1965-present Assistant Professor of History and Political Science, Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History Expansion of Europe. Professor Lowell Ragatz Modern Europe. Professor Philip Poirier United States, 1865-1900. Professor Francis Weisenburger United States since 1900. Professor Robert Bremner 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments.................... ii V i t a ............................................................iii Chapter I. Colonization Beginnings in Maryland ................... 1 II. Legislative Action and Early Expeditions....... 38 III. Establishment of Maryland in Liberia ................. 88 IV. Domestic Operations, late 1833-1840 .......... .... 143 V. Growth of the C o l o n y .................................... 203 VI. Emerging Colonial Independence . ..................... 259 VII. Attempts to Maintain Home Support, 1840-1850 301 VIII. Domestic Operations, 1850-1857 330 IX. Maryland in Liberia: Achievement of Independence and Incorporation within the Republic of Liberia . 357 X, Conclusion .............................................. 408 Bibliography........................ 415 IV CHAPTER I COLONIZATION BEGINNINGS IN MARYLAND From the early days of our history, the presence of Negroes within white midst has been viewed with alarm by some citizens. The incompatibility of the two races as neighbors on the North American continent has preoccupied both the lowly and the high placed in our society. The solution advocated by many has been colonization of Ne­ groes, emancipated and free born, beyond United States’ borders. The colonial legislature of Virginia was the firsc t '» concern itself with the free blacks problem. In 1691, it prohibited further emancipation of slaves unless the owner arranged for their transportation out of the colony within six months.^ Early in the nineteenth century, the Virginia state legislature renewed its interest in the problem of Ne­ groes residing there. First, it considered establishment of a penal colony for those convicted of conspiracy or rebellion. Thomas Jeffer­ son, a native son personally favoring Negro colonization, was asked, as President of the United States, to make arrangements for carrying out that project. The Chief Executive, who wanted Negroes colonized both outside the territorial limits of the United States and apart from ^Henry Noble Sherwood, "Early Negro Deportation Projects," Mis­ sissippi Valley Historical Review. II (March, 1916), 485, 2 any prospective national possession, corresponded with Great Britain about the use of the newly established Sierra Leone colony* Agreement was never reached, but that did not diminish Jefferson's estimate of colonization as wise from the viewpoint of both races* He foresaw the eventual extermination of one race or the other unless separation were q effected. Later, the Virginia legislature solicited the services of President James Monroe in obtaining territory in Africa, or along the coast of the North Pacific, or at some other spot outside the United States for a colony.^ One of the first serious proposals from an individual for the establishment of an African colony was made about 1790 by Ferdinando Fairfax, a neighbor and friend of Washington. A promoter by nature, Fairfax advocated a colony in Africa because the climate there seemed best suited for Negroes. Even more important, the miles of ocean sep­ arating white Americans from the colonists would prevent any intermar­ riage. His plan called for the United States government to provide for the defense, support and government of the colony until it could stand on its own. Moreover, the emigrants were to come not merely from Vir­ ginia, but from the whole nation. Fairfax's motives were both selfish and religious: he expected the United States to benefit from a profit­ able commerce with Africa and he considered the establishment of a 2 Thomas Jefferson, Writings, edited by Paul Leicester Ford (10 vols.; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1892-1899), III, 243-44; VIII, 104-105. ^Ibid., III, 244. ^Herman V, Ames, State Documents on Federal Relations (Philadel­ phia: University of Pennsylvania, 191l), No. 96, 195-96. 3 colony as a means of spreading Christianity on the Dark Continent.^ A New Englander stirred by the plight of Negroes in this country was Samuel D. Hopkins, Yale graduate and long-time pastor of the First Congregational Church in Newport, Rhode Island. He was bold enough not only to preach against the slave trade, in which some of his pa­ rishioners engaged, but he devised a plan for the education of prospec­ tive Negro missionaries to Africa. In 1793, he spelled out a program for the establishment of a colony of American blacks which, he be­ lieved, would spread Christianity on that continent, lead to the end of slavery in America, and provide a home and new opportunities for the Negro.^ Nothing concrete came of Hopkins' idea before his death in 1803, However, at one time in the years during which he was pondering the colony idea, he consulted Granville Sharp, the English philanthro­ pist and humanitarian, about the possibility of experimental groups of American Negro families emigrating to Sierra Leone. Indeed, Hopkins seems to have gotten some of his ideas from his dymanic correspondent. Sharp was the leading light in securing the Mansfield judgment of 1772 which ruled that slavery was contrary to English law and that there could therefore be no bondsmen in that country. In 1786, Sharp was a leader, though not a formal member, of the London-based Committee for the Black Poor, Undertaking the task of planting destitute Negroes in Africa, Sharp made plans for establishing a settlement near the Sierra Leone River. The British Treasury underwrote the operation, and ^Sherwood, op. cit.. pp. 490-91. ^Ibid.. p. 505. 4 the Committee rounded up willing and unwilling prospects wherever they could be found. After numerous delays, including outbreaks of fever and repairs to vessels in the small fleet, 411 passengers set sail from Plymouth, England, in April, 1787.^ The story of this first settlement in the Province of Freedom, as Sharp liked to call it, is an unhappy one. In spite of careful plan­ ning, abundant stores and painful devotion by the Committee to the project, disaster struck with regularity. Within three months after landing, a third of the emigrants were dead of the fever.® Even indus­ trious colonists found their agricultural efforts futile because the seeds died even when fertile spots were chosen for planting and they had to depend heavily upon stores which had been sent out. As these dwin­ dled, the new settlers were reduced to working for neighboring slave traders or seeking employment on passing ships. Less than a year after having embarked from England, only 130 blacks were left in the colony. Sharp, directing operations from home, undertook to send out more emi­ grants and to provide the colony with livestock and supplies.^ Meanwhile, another group, to which Sharp likewise belonged, set about to form a private concern to take over the faltering settlement. At length, in 1791, the Sierra Leone Company, having won abolitionist support throughout Britain, succeeded in getting parliamentary approval for its incorporation,^^ However, Sharp, although a director of the ^Christopher Fyfe, A History of Sierra Leone