E 448 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DDDD173Hflbb ^°-*^ 6%. 4.^ "^^ ^ "^ <^^ 4*% A <^ - . • • • ■ * A? ^ * • » 1 • vf»^ 9a^ • . . o » .0 ^ v » VV ''bv* CONSTITUTION OF THK llalMinit Mit Cfllnninitiim k\m% AND THE ©fficcrs fof tl)C |lcar 1852, An Address, by the Presideut, to the People of the State. MONTGOMERY: JOB OFFICE OF THE ALABAMA JOURNAL. 1851. CONSTITUTION, &C. On the 10th December, 1851, a meeting was held in the City of Alontgomery, for the establishment of a State Colonization Society, at which the following Constitution was adopted : CONSTITUTION OF THE ALABAMA STATE COLONIZA- TION SOCIETY. Akticle 1. — The name of this Society is the Alabama State Colonization Society. Art. 2. — The object of the Society is to promote the emigration of free colored persons from the State of Alabama, to Africa. Art. 3. — The officers of the Society are a President, such num. ber of Vice Presidents as the Society may appoint, a Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer, who are elect- ed annually, and remain in office until their successors are elected. Art. 4. — The President, or, in his absence, the Vice President, residing in the City of Montgomery, with the Secretaries and Treasurer, constitute an Executive Committee, who must meet from time to time, as may be necessary, and a majority of whom may act. Art. 5. — It is the duty of the Executive Committee to superin- tend the affiiirs of the Society — to fill all vacancies until the next annual meeting — to make the necessary arrangements for tiie re- moval of such free persons of color of this State as desire to emi- grate to Liberia — to receive subscriptions and donations in aid of the Society, and make report of their proceedings to each annual meeting thereof. Art. 6. — The annual meeting of the Socicly is in the City of Montgomery, on the 1st Monday in Januuiy, for the election of of- ficers and transaction of business, at which the President shall pre- side ; or, in his absence, one of the Vice Presidents. Art. 7. — Any person contributing annually to the Society a sum not less than two dollars, is a member thereof. Tlie payment of twenty dollars constituteg any person a life mr^mI)or. Art. S.^The Recording Secretary must keep a book, and re- cord therein the names of all the members, stating opposite their names which are life member?, and alsp record therein the trans- actions of the Society at its annual meeting, and of the proceedings of the Executive Committee. Art. 9. — The Corresponding Secretary must transact the cor- respondence of the Society. Art. 10. — The Treasurer must keep the funds of the Society, pay them out on the order of the Executive Committee, and make report to the annual meeting of the Society, or to the Executive Committee when required, the receipts and disbursements, and the amount on hand. Art. 11. — The Society, in conjunction with others which are, or may be established in the Southwestern States, having a similar object in view, may establish a Joint Colonization Board, to be lo- cated in New Orleans, for the purpose of aiding emigration to Li- beria, under such rules and regulations as may be agreed on. Art. 12 — Societies formed in any part of this State, having the same object in view, may, on application, become auxilliary to this Society. Art. 13. — The Vice Presidents have authority to receive the subscriptions of members, and such donations as may be made to the Society, forwarding the same to the Treasurer, as soon as prac- ticable after their receipt. Art. 14. — This Constitution may be amended by the vote of the majority of the members present at any annual meeting. The following gentlemen were elected officers of the Society : president. Hon. JOHN J. ORMONI), of Tuscaloosa. VICE PRESIDENTS. ELBERT A. HOLT, of Montgomery County, ABNER McGEHEE, " " ?? Hon. J. A. WINSTON, of Sumter « Hon. FRANCIS LYON, of Marengo " . Hon. W. P. CHILTON, of Macon " Hon. DANIEL COLEMAN, of Limestone " Gen. E. D. KING, of Perry Hon. D. G. LIGON, of Lawrence " Hon. L. TARRANT, of Talladega " Gen. MOSES KELLY, of Jefferson Hon. DANIEL E. WATROUS, of Shelby <' THEA SURER, E. M. HASTINGS, of Montgomery. RECORDING SECRETARY, L. B. HANSFORD, of Montgc^nepy. CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, Rev. A. A. LIPSCOMB, ADDRESS TO THE PJEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA. The Alabama State Colonization Society, for the purpose of aid- ing free persons of color to eniigrate to Libera, having been organ, ized, the society desires to make known its true character ; its ob- jects and design ; and to satisfy the people of the State, that it is entitled to their sympathy and patronage. The objection which has been generally urged in this State, to a po-operation with the Colonisation Society of Washington City, is, that that Society is at least to some extent, either in the hands, or under the control of persons, many of whom are unfriendly to Southern institutions, and who favor that Society as a means of in- directly assailing the institution of Slavery in the Southern States. Whether this belief is well or ill founded, the effect is the same — a strong indisposition on the part of Southern men to affiUiate with t.hem. Jt is an undeniable truth, that the presence of the free colored man in the midst of a slave population, is a great evil, which is felt and acknowledged as such ; an evil which every consideration of self-interest prompts us to remove. Such is the sense of this evil, that at the present Session of the Legislature, the question has been rnooted, and referred to the Judiciary Committee for its solution, "whether laws may not be passed, consistent with the Constitution, requiring them to leave the State. There is now, and has been for many years, a most stringent law upon our statute book, requiring all free persons of color who have come to the State since 1832, to leave it ; and our law forbids the emancipation of slaves within the State. It is then, manifest, that the presence of the Free Negro amongst us, is considered an evil of the first magnitude, and an evil which cannot be removed from amongst us by the passage of laws. In this condition of tilings, the American Colonization Society ofTers to unite with us, and lo aid in their removal, and we decline the prulFered aid, and refuse our co-operation. Surely, then, we are called on by every consideration which can impel reasonable men to action, to put our own shoulders to the wheel. The laws which have been passed to drive them from the State, have been rendered ])owerless, by the sympathies of our own people. These considerations, have led to the organization of the Alabama State Colonization Society. By reference to the constitution, it will be seen, that it has no connection with the Society at Washington, and can only have connection with other similar Societies in the South- west. It being, then, distinctly admitted that the evil exists — that the law is powerless to remove it — that it can only be removed by a union of individual eflbrt, Ave confidently expect that southern men will gladly avail themselves of the only feasible mode of eradi- cating this acknowledged evil. It is perfectly obvious that the free negro has neither the means nor the intelligence, to provide for his own emigration. No matter how much he may be disposed to lcy.ve a country, where, although it is the land of his birth, he is in fiict an alien and a stanger ; where, although he is an object of distrust and suspicion, and must forever continue a member of a degraded caste, he is nevertheless compelled to remain without the hope of being able to better his condition, and without the stimulous thereby afforded to exertion. The question has thus far been considered merely as regards our own interest in the transportation of the free colored population, but there is a higher elevation from which it may be viewed, and one which comes home to the bosom and conscience of every Chris- tian and Philanthrophist, who acknowledges the obligation of doing all the good in his power. Africa is involved in the darkness of paganism, relieved at scattering intervals, by a scarcely less revolt- ing Mab-jmedanism. That vast continent is the abode of wretched- ness, and vice, and misery, so fearful, that the mind shrinks back aghast from its contemplation. Scarcely a ray of civilization has vet penetrated that benighted region ; and if we may judge of the future from the past, never will, but througli the agency of the l»lack man civilized und christianized by intercourse with tlie whites. Ilis constitution will enable him to withstand the deleteri- ous influence of the climate of Africa, to wJiich so many white men have fallen a saeriiicc, and by precept and c\amj)le, teach them the arts of civilized lite, reclaim tliom from barbarism, and carry among them the blcssinajs of Christianity and civilization. Do wo mistake our countrymen, in supposing they will join us in the only feasible plan for the accomplishment of an object which self-interest, religion, and philanthrophy, alike demand ? We are satisfied we do not, and therefore confidently and earnestly solicit their aid. Any donations which may be made, will be sa- credly devoted to the purpose indicated by our Constitution, or in accordance with any particular direction which may be given to it by the donor. Come forward then, fellow citizens, and join us in urging forward this cause, so emphatically the cause of our country, and of humanity. Montgomery^ Dec. Wth, 1851. 54 V ^0 \^r:^'/ V'^-/ \/^^\/ "w* . . ^ «?^ • ao ^vt-O \*^?^\/ %^^-/ \*^^\/ ' -6 'O ■ 1 • J\ %/ /a^v %„c/ ••-^'^'^° ^