YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

^COLONIZATION AND: ABOIITIOK:

AN ADDRESS

BY

JOHN H. B. LATROBE.

Waltn 3- iatokttta

IF THOU ART BORROWED BY A FRIEND.
RIGHT WELCOME SHALL HE BE,
TO READ, TO STUDY— NOT TO LEND-
BUT RETURN TO ME,
NOT THAT IMPARTED KNOWLEDGE DOTH
DIMINISH LEARNING'S STORE:
BUT BOOKS, I FIND, IF OFTEN LENT,
return to me no more i
"read slowly, pause frequently, think
seriously, keep cleanly, return duly with
the corners of the leaves not turned down."

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

AN ADDRESS
DELIVERED BY
JOHN H. B. LATROBE,
OF MARYLAND,
AT THE ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE NEW YORK
STATE COLONIZATION SOCIETY, HELD IN
METROPOLITAN HALL,
MAY 13TH, 185a.

BALTIMORE:
PRINTED BY JOHN D, TOY.
1852.

"I have often, Mf. President, expressed the opinion, tliat over slavery, as
it exists in the States, this Government has no control whatever. It is enriiely
and exclusively a State concern. And, while it is tlius clear that Congress has
no direct power over the subject, it is our duty to take care that the authority of
this Government is not brought to bear upon it by any indirect interference what
ever. It must be left to the States, to the course of things, and to those causes
over which this Government has no control. All this, in my opinion, is in the
clear line of our duty." — Webster, before the SenatCj March 16, 1836.

CU<5.S2 i

i

TO DOCTOR JAMES HALL.
My Dear Doctor:
In dedicating to you this revised publication of
my address in New York, I wish to testify my sense of
the great services you have rendered to Colonization. As
the founder and first governor of the Maryland Colony at
Cape Palmas, whose wse counsels and determined cour- )
age gave it the firm foundation on which it rests, and as 1
the zealous and devoted friend, who, in this country, has j
since devoted his talents and his unequalled experience ;
to promote its interests, your claims to consideration are !
know^n to no one better than to myself, as President of 1
the Society, which, as yet, controls it. When, to this is ]
added, the inducement of personal friendship, the present ;
dedication will not be ¦wondered at. !
The views contained in the following pages were ;
suggested by general reasoning, some tw^enty years ago, I
and have, in the interval, been more than once pro- !
claimed and acted upon : but, it was not until the !
seventh census, that it was seen, how fully they were j
sustained by the best of all testimony, then, for the
first time, afforded, to the same extent. 1
A leading object of the address was to place Coloni- j
zation and Abolition in what were believed to be their

DEDICATION.
true relations towards each other, and to the objects at ;
which their friends, respectively, were aiming. That i
this should be done in good temper, and fairly, was, of
course, important : and although, as a Southern man, I |
am, certainly, fully imbued with what is known as " the
Southern feeling," on this subject, it is hoped, that you
will find, that, in this revision of my speech, I have
offended against no canon of good taste, or indulged in
more than a proper latitude of argument. That there
are many, very many, among the so-called abolitionists,
who believe, that they are laboring, in the best way, to
promote the best interests of the colored race in the
United States, is willingly conceded. Such persons
must always be open to conviction ; and I would avoid
the use of a phrase or a word, which could, by irritating
them, prevent their appreciating, at its true value, what
ever of fact or argument is contained in the follow^ing
address. There are others, again, to whom abolition has
its political, as well as its philanthropical, attractions, — the
former constituting its chief interest. But the most of
these, even, I believe, would hesitate in their uses of
abolition, if they could be satisfied that they were peril
ing the welfare, if not the very existence, of an entire
people, by the violence and bitterness of their course.
Renewing the expression of my respect and regard,
I am, my dear Doctor, most truly yours,
JOHN H. B. LATROBE.
Baltimore, June 27, 1852.

40

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

ME, PEESIDENT:
I HAVE left a distant home and a sick bed,
that I might witness the honor here paid, this evening,
to Colonization. It is now upwards of thirty years,
since, as a boy, I was accidentally present, for the first
time, at a Colonization meeting; not in a haU like this,
where the blaze of a thousand lamps, reflected from
frescoed walls, turns night to day, but ia an ancient
Presbyterian church, where a few dip candles, in tin
sconces, hung here and there, shone feebly upon a body
of men, more brilliant in talent than great in numbers,
who had met to discuss the first expedition to Africa.
This was in Georgetown, then little more than a vil
lage in the District of Columbia. And now, here, in

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

the throbbing heart of our country, Colonization holds
its annual meetings, and takes high rank among the
most important of the philanthropic and religious
associations of the day.
The object of the Society, as declared by its foun
ders, was, and has always been, " the removal of the
free colored people of the United States, with their
own consent, to Africa." At first, men scouted at
the insignificance of the means by which such a result
was proposed to be accomplished; and few, who lent
their pecuniary aid, had much faith in the scheme.
WhUe the names of Bible Society, Tract Society,
Missionary Society, and, later. Temperance Society,
attracted the support of their respective friends to
objects which the names explained, the name. Coloni
zation Society, seemed to convey no meaning, which
the contributors agreed about, as a reason for helping
to set it forward. Some gave money, as though it
were a missionary enterprise. Some gave in view of
affecting the slave trade. Some gave, that slaves
might be made more valuable, when the free blacks
were removed from contact with them. Some gave,
on the other hand, in the hope, that, somehow or
other, the abolition of slavery would be promoted by
Colonization. Some gave with purely commercial
views : and some gave, because others gave, and

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

because they had a vague idea that good might come
of it. Want of faith in the primary object was thus
compensated, pecuniarily, by the interest felt in the
secondary considerations connected with it. It is
true, the means thus obtained were, after all, very in
considerable ; but they were suflicient.
Had Colonization, in 1818, possessed the present
income of the Bible Society, what could it have done
with it .' It was totally destitute of all experience in
its work. Its first settlement, at Sherbro, had proved
a failure. Had ampler means authorized an establish
ment there on. a larger scale, the failure would have
been more conspicuous and appalling. But money
could not have procured more emigrants than then
came forward. Money could not have qualified the
first emigrants to assume, at once, the oflSces of a free
government. Money could not have imparted that
acquaintance with the diseases of the climate, which
it took years of experience, afterwards, to obtain.
What was wanting, far more than money, was the
great want of our countrymen, patience. A colony,
like a fire, is to be built up by degrees. A few coals,
fed at first, with shavings, then with light wood, then
with small sticks, then with larger, produce, at last, a
flame which may consume a forest. So, in planting a
Colony. The first emigrants should be few and well

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

selected; additions, of suitable materials, should be
made cautiously, and at intervals, permitting each ship
load to become permanently established before the
arrival of another ; until, the strength of the community
being sufficiently assured, an ad libitum emigration to it
might be permitted. Necessity compelled the Coloni
zation Society to pursue this prudent plan; to which
is to be attributed, in a good degree, a success un
paralleled in the annals of Colonization throughout the
world. Had the Society's means corresponded to its
eagerness, the Colony might have been smothered
with emigrants, for whom it was not prepared, — as
green logs will put out the newly made fire. All this
is appreciated now. It was very far from being ap
preciated at the time.
At last, and after many years. Colonization suc
ceeded in its experiment ; and, as it grew to be ad
mitted, that a Colony of free colored people from the
United States, capable of self-government, self-support
and self-defence, had been established on the Coast of
Africa, Colonizationists ceased to be looked upon as
\ fanatics or enthusiasts; and the enquiry came to be
I common, as to the practical effect of what had thus
I been accomplished, and what were to be the in-
> fluences exercised upon many interests by the Re-
\ public of Liberia.

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
The Republic of Liberia!* The name alone
speaks volumes. The few Colonists — uneducated
men — many of them just released from slavery — who
landed upon Sherbro Island, — who removed to Cape
Montserrado, — where, having been joined by others,
not a whit more learned than themselves, or more
experienced in the ways of freedom, they did battle
with the natives unto victory, against overwhelming
odds, — these Colonists, protected from on High, have

?The name of Liberia was ^ven to the Colonies on the Coast of
Africa by the late General Robert Goodloe Harper, one of the earliest,
most active and most distinguished friends of Colonization. InlS21,
Doctor Eli Ayres, an agent of the American Colonization Society, re
turned from the Coast, where, in conjunction with Commodore Stock
ton, — ^now senator from New Jersey in the United States Senate, — he
had purchased the territory at Cape Montserrado, now Monrovia, from
the natives. He was a frequent visitor at General Harper's. On one
occasion, when Dr. Ayres was describing the localities about the Cape,
General Harper suggested that the speaker, then a student of law in
his office, should attempt, under Dr. Ay res' instructions, to make a map
of the newly acquired territory. This was done ; and the map -was
given to the engraver, who returned a proof sheet, that the names
might be added. It was agreed that this should be the work of Gene
ral Harper and the map maker, each exercising his ingenuity alter
nately. General Harper naming the territory. Various names were
! suggested, and Freedonia was on the point of being adopted ; when
General Harper said, '*can nothing be made of Liber, a free man ?"
and, after several attempts to render the word euphonious, ** Liberia"
was hit upon and adopted. This name being subsequently approved
by the American Colonization Society, has ever since been retained aa
descriptive of the entire country occupied by the Colonies from the
United States : thus, when the State of Maryland founded a Colony
there, it was called •• Maryland in Liberia."

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
grown to be a Republic ; — recognized, even where not
formally acknowledged, as one among the family of
civilized nations. It has its treaties with Europe.
England has received its President with the distinc
tion due to the head of an independent State, and
sent him to Monrovia, on his return from London, in
a vessel of war, which she presented to the infant
government. Its flag is known and respected. Its
commerce is increasing: its laws are wise and well
administered: its people live in obedience to them:
religion is respected : education thrives : want is un
known to hands willing to labor ; and the rewards of
labor, integrity and talent, in Liberia, as elsewhere,
are wealth and honor.
It is true, that it has taken time to produce these
results ; and the unfriends of the cause refer to the
slow growth of the Colony, as an argument against
the efficiency of the scheme. But they do not recollect
the fact, that the Colonies of Liberia are now much
further advanced, in permanent prosperity, than were
the Colonies of this country, at the end of the same
number of years. The proper view of the subject, in
this connection, is that taken by the Legislature of
Maryland, at its recent session, in the following
extract from the Report of its Committee on Colored
Population. 10

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

"The committee deem it only proper to say, that
they do not look upon the numbers of emigrants, that
have been transported to Africa by the State Society,
as, by any means, the proper standard by which to
estimate the success of Colonization. The true stan
dard is the condition and capacity of the Colony in
view of the purposes for which it was established.
Does it afford a safe and comfortable home, in a cbn-
genial cHmate, to which the free people of color may
emigrate, when circumstances shall make it their in
terest to do so, — presently, at the expense of the
State and others, — thereafter, as commerce grows up
between the two countries, at their own expense, as
Irish and German emigrants now come to America ?
If this question can be satisfactorily answered, and
the committee believe that it can be, the Society has
done all that could be reasonably required of it, and
has fulfilled, so far, the purpose of its existence."
Since the successful results on the Coast of Africa,
the interest felt in Colonization, in its relations "be
yond the sea," has, naturally, to some extent dimin
ished. Its home relations, however, have been
gradually increasing in importance. They occupy
now a large share of the public mind; and it is
in regard to these last, Mr. President, that I propose
more particularly to speak. "n"

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

The persons who take the most active interest in
all questions connected with the colored population,
in a philanthropic point of view, are the colonization
ists and the abolitionists. The relations which they
occupy towards each other are not without their
interest. A good many rough passages have doubt
less taken place between them, in which, perhaps, the
hardest words were those used by the abolitionists.
These words, however, have done but httle mischief;
and, putting them out of view, it is thought, that the
colonizationists, as such, have, after all, less cause of
complaint against their opponents than they have
sometimes fancied.
Abolition aims at the emancipation of the slaves
without regard to circumstances. The ground of its
action is, that slavery is a sin of itself, which no
circumstances can ever justify. Colonization, without
meddling, at all, with this vexed question, has to do,
only, with the removal of the free people of color,
and emancipated slaves, of the United States, with their
own consent, to Africa. Apparently, there is no
occasion for collision between "the two. Abolition
might succeed in freeing every slave in America, and
Colonization still exist, to remove every one, so freed,
to Liberia. But Colonization gives, as reasons for its
existence, — that, amalgamation being out of the ques-

12

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

tion, tlie two races, of free whites and free blacks, can
never enjoy social and political equaUty in the same
land:* that the well-being of both, and especially the
freedom and happiness of the latter, require their sepa
ration: that an unexampled immigration of whites
from Europe, and a rapidly increasing native white
population, are gradually elbowing the free colored
race, which is the weakest, out of their accustomed
employments : that none other are open to them; that
this state of things is growing, and must grow, worse
and worse, — and that the day will arrive, when it will
be apparent to the free colored people, that, with them,
starvation, or the bitterest oppression, has no alterna
tive but emigration. Against this day, and acting
on these convictions, Colonization has established the
Colonies in Africa, by the slow process that has been
described, as a refuge and a home for those, whose
future in America is dark and hopeless. AboUtion,
denying aU these premises, and insisting that emanci
pation on the spot, here to remain, is perfectly consis-
*A11 history shews that two races, which cannot amalgamate by
intermarriage, can exist in the same land in no other relation than
that of master and slave, or, where both are nominally free, in that
of the oppressor and the oppressed. The cases of the Moors and
Spaniards — Saxons and Normans — ^Anglo-Saxons and American In
dians — Anglo-Saxons and East Indians — are in point. See '* Thoughts
Concerning Domestic Slavery," by John L. Carey, for a full discussion
of this point.

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
tent with the happiness of the blacks, finds itself the
antagonist of Colonization, rather on account of the
reasons for action, than of the action itself, of the lat
ter. It is the active antagonist, too ; because, if it is
to succeed in its views in regard to the colored popula
tion, it must do so by means of agitation ; while time
alone, without agitation, must determine the success
of the scheme of Colonization. A people cannot be
argued into a change of its habitation: while argu
ment may be sufficient to induce a master to manumit
his slaves, or a Legislature to adopt measures for pros
pective emancipation. Hence, while Colonization,
relying upon the force of circumstances, over which
it has no control, to shew the free blacks that their
true interests must be promoted by removal, has
remained comparatively passive, — Abolition has ever
been its active assailant; and, with all the means at its
command, has encouraged agitation in regard to every
matter connected with the social and political relations
of our colored population.
If there is error in these propositions concerning
abolition, it proceeds from no willingness to state the
case unfairly. There is no reason for other than the
most candid view of the matter; for, practically, abo
lition has been one of the most efficient auxiliaries
that Colonization has had; unintentionally, of course:
"u

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

but tliere can be no doubt about the fact. Let me
explain. Modern abolition is, now, rather more than twenty
years old. Its activity preceded, somewhat, the
Southampton massacre./ The Colony at Monrovia had
then been founded some twelve years, was assuming a
permanent character, and acquiring a fair reputation
among the firee people of color. In 1832, the State
Society, in Maryland, found no difficulty in obtaining,
in one or two counties, one hundred and fifty emi
grants for its first expedition, by the Lafayette, under
the law giving ten thousand dollars, annually, to the
cause. The American Colonization Society had as
many applicants as they could obtain means to send to
Africa. This period was a critical one for Coloniza
tion. Had the supply of emigrants continued, they
would have been shipped, and great mischief would
have been done. The Colonies were not yet ready for
the accessions to their numbers that would have gone
forward. We see this now: we were blind to it then.
They had not, yet, served a long enough apprentice
ship to qualify their people to act as their own rulers.
Self-government had not yet become a matter of
course to them. They still required white men at the
head of affairs. The people themselves distrusted
those of their own color as their chief magistrates.

J5

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
They were, in fact, in a transition state. To have
crowded them, at this time, with such emigrants as
would have been procured, — comparatively ignorant
and inexperienced, — might have postponed for a long,
long time, their political independence, if it had not
periled the whole scheme. And yet, the impatience
of Colonization would have permitted the crowd to
sail. But, thanks to abolition, the supply of emigrants
was suddenly cut off, and the gristle of the Colonies
had time given to it to harden into the bones and
sinews of manhood. The agents of abolition filled
the minds of the ignorant of the colored people, — and
they were the mass, — with a dread of Africa, its cli
mate, deserts, serpents and wild beasts. Their prom
ises of social and political equality with the whites, in
the United States, won over the intelligent and ambi
tious: and thus, although there was money in abun
dance, yet but few emigrants were forthcoming. In
Maryland, to which my experience more particularly
relates, it was only necessary for a colored man to
declare publicly his intention of going to Liberia, to
make it sure that he would not go. He at once
became a mark for the agents of the abolitionists; and
they changed his purpose in nine cases out of ten. As
already shewn, the end of all this was for our good :
and this is the first of our obligations to abolition.

ic

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

Again, although the colonizationists were satisfied
that the two races could not amalgamate, and must
therefore separate, sooner or later, yet this was, by no
means, the universal belief. It was, therefore, most
important, that this fact, upon whose truth Coloniza
tion rested, should be ascertained unto demonstration.
No where could this be done so well as in the free
States, in which the abolitionists were numerous,
where the laws had already given the free blacks the
broadest political rights, and where the feeling against
slavery, even among those who did not rank as aboli
tionists, was, unquestionably, strong. The experiment
of establishing a social, as well as political equahty, of
destroying prejudices as they interfered with a general
amalgaination, was accordingly tried, here, at the
North, under the most favorable circumstances. Up to
the present time, it is persevered in. That it has utterly
failed, will not be denied. White and colored orators
have occupied the same platform at anniversary meet
ings; white and colored listeners have been seated,
promiscuously on the benches before them ; but this is
all, that efforts, sincerely and zealously made, have
been able to accomplish. It is to the abolitionist,
therefore, that the colonizationist owes the demonstra
tion of the truth of the conviction upon which he has
been acting — that the two races, forever socially sepa-
—— — — ~-

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

rated by the prejudices of caste, must separate in fact,
if they would severally enjoy the same measure of
social and political freedom. And this is the second
of our obligations to abolition.
But the greatest of the obligations, which abolition
has conferred upon Colonization, has resulted from
the agitation, to which reference has been already
made. This has led men to look, full in the face, the
difficulties involved in the existence, in a land, whose
population increases as rapidly as ours does, of two
free races whose amalgamation is impossible ; between
whom exist all the prejudices of caste ; and the masses
of both of which are fast becoming competitors for
bread in all the avenues of labor. The solution of the
problem, which these difficulties present, is the great
question of the day ; and the abolitionists have made
it so. They propose to solve it by emancipating the
slaves, wherever held, and changing the hearts and
prejudices of the whites, until color ceases to be a
mark of caste, and caste ceases to have an existence.
These two conditions are inseparable; otherwise the
emancipated slaves, unprotected by owners, and at
the mercy of a class, superior in numbers, holding
the pohtical power, and influenced by prejudices made
active by daily competition for employment, — would,
evidently, be far worse off than they were before. The

is

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

colonizationists propose to solve it, leaving hearts and
prejudices as they are, by opening an outlet, through
which, when the free colored people, themselves, shall
feel the necessity of removal, they may emigrate to a
home as free as this is, to a climate as congenial to
them, to a Republic, on the model of that which they
leave, and the mission of which in Africa seems to be
the fulfilment of prophecy, and the development of
the great problem of human progress. Which of
these solutions finds most favor with the public, can
not, now, well be questioned. Colonization is in
the ascendant. Its resources have increased ; state
after state is becoming a contributor to its treasury ;
its emigrants have multiplied ; the proposition of
ocean steamers, to facilitate its operations, has been
kindly entertained in Congress; and multitudes of
the free colored people are now among the warmest
of its advocates. That this happy change has come
over the pubHc mind in regard to Colonization,
is to be attributed, mainly, to the full discussion
which the abolition excitement has provoked, even
unto the shaking of the Union to its centre. And
this is the third of our obligations to Abolition, and
the greatest.
Truly, then, Mr. President, may it be said, that
Colonization, so to call the Society here assembled.

19

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

and other societies affiliated with it, has no cause to
complain of Abolition.
But, there are those, sir, who have bitter wrongs
to lay at its door. They are black men, however, not
white men. Abolition has been the black man's curse.
The word is a harsh one, certainly; but is the only one
that seems to convey the idea produced by the practi
cal workings of abolition upon the condition of the
black man, slave and free, in the slaveholding States.
A Marylander myself, marrying in Mississippi, my
experience has been acquired in the Middle and in the
Southern States. Not a slaveholder, having no per-
, sonal interests connected with the institution of sla
very, abolition has not done, either to me or my friends,
a wrong that I should resent. If I know my own
heart, any feeling of excitement, which I entertain
upon the subject, grows out of the fact, that I fancy
myself to be the black man's friend. I am not a paid
official, either, of Colonization, and never have been.
I claim, therefore, to speak without undue bias, and
with a knowledge derived from close observation
under circumstances favorable to arrive at truth.
Prior to the year 1830, the relations between the
whites and the blacks, slave and free, in the slave-
holding states, especially in the large cities of these
States, from Baltimore to New Orleans, cannot be bet-

20

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
ter described than by the single word "kindly." The
free blacks were ordinarily employed in preference to
whites, in all those callings in which there was a
choice between the two. Household servants in cities,
carters, draymen, coachmen, stevedores, farm-hands,
other than slaves, were nearly all free blacks. As a
general rule the slaves were treated with kindness and
weU provided for. This was the true interest of
masters, even if they had no better motive. Societies,
composed .of the most respectable citizens, slave
holders and non-slave-holders, had long existed, whose
object was to protect the black man from imposition,
to promote the fairest trial of petitions for freedom,
and, generally, to give aid and comfort to a race,
whose very weakness formed its strongest claim to
sympathy and protection. In 1830, it was believed
by many, that a majority of the Legislature of Mary
land "was in favor of prospective emancipation.
Modern abolition changed all this. The black laborer
no longer received the preference, which, at one time,
seemed to be almost a right. When free black men
were taught, that they must look to obtaining " from
the fears, what they could not expect from the justice
of the whites," the hne of separation between the
two, which had rarely before been noticed, to the in
convenience of either, became, at once, a barrier that
'2i~

COLONIZATION AITO ABOLITION.

was insurmountable ; and passion, on both sides, built
it, day by day, higher and higher. Masters began to
suspect their slaves ; for Southampton had proved that
risings could be planned in secret. Jealousy took the
place of confidence ; harshness of kindness. There
was some palliation for the slaveholder, who became
a spy on his people, who curtailed their privileges,
who threw difficulties in the way of their instruction,
when he found tracts in circulation among them, which
counselled massacre as the price of freedom. The old
abolition societies were trodden down by the modern
ones ; and have never been, and, from present appear
ances, never will be, revived : and, so great was the
change which the new associations produced, in a very
few years, in Maryland, that, when the constitution of
that State was altered, in 1834, slavery was made a
perpetual institution. Slavery used to be looked at
through the medium of interest. Abolition made it a
matter of State pride. Virginia and -Kentucky enter
tained the same views with Maryland, prior to 1830.
Abolition did for them what it did for Maryland : and,
at this day, there are not three States in the Union
more " Southern," to use a well understood word, in
their feeling, than the three here named. It is admit-
ed, that this state of things, so far as temper entered
into it, may not have been Christian ; yet it was hu-

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION,
man : and, in calculating the future of its schemes,
it might have been well for abolition to have recol
lected the humanity it had to deal with.
In this enumeration of the mischievous conse
quences of modern abolition, there must not be omitted
the effect, which it has had in the border slaveholding
States, of causing sales of slaves to States still further
South; where the feehng in favor of voluntary emanci
pation is much weaker; where the condition of the
slaves, if the abohtionists themselves are to be be
lieved, is much worse; and where, their market
value being greater, they have little or no hope of buy
ing their freedom, according to a common custom in
Maryland certainly, and, it is believed, in Kentucky
and Virginia also. Every one, at all famihar with the
state of things in the middle slaveholding States, must
recollect, that the phrase, "selling to Georgia," —
Georgia here meaning the remote South — expressed
the idea of all others the most abhorrent to the slaves.
But, when abolition became active and efficient, in
instigating slaves to run away, and in facilitating their
doing so, masters, who could not afford to lose their
slave property, sold it to save its money value. It
may be safely said, that, as modern Abolition suc
ceeded in promoting escapes, the negro traders thrived.
After a somewhat careful enquiry, I am satisfied, that,
23 "" ~'

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
for every slave that the abolitionists succeeded in
"running off," two, at the very least, were sold to the
South, who would not have been sold, but for the.
apprehension that they would be the next to be spirit
ed away." If a runaway were re-captured, he was
invariably sold: and along with him were sold all who
were suspected of being of the same mind with him.
So. that, were the account balanced, with a view to
ascertain how far the abolitionists had promoted fi:ee-
dom by adding to the list of freemen, the result would,
* From 1830 to 1850, the abolition era, the slaves in Maryland di
minished from 102,994 to 90,368, the difference being 12,626. From
1790 to 1810, they had increased from 103,036, their number, very near
ly, in 1830, to 111,502, the difference being 8,466. There being few,
if any, " sales out of the State," from 1790 to 1810, the number, 8,466,
expresses what the natural increase would have been from 1830 to
1850, with sufficient accuracy. Sales to the South then, during these
last 20 years, emancipations and escapes, affected the slave population
to the extent in numbers, of 21,092, which is less than the true amount,
for the emancipations between 1790 and 1810, are thrown out of view.
The numbers actually emancipated in the interval between 1832, when
a record was commenced, and 1852, presently and prospectively, was
4,319. Deducting for emancipations, become absolute prior to 1852,
3,000, which is a large allowance, ajid we have for escapes and South
ern sales, 18,092. A large portion of the sales was, doubtless, caused
by the high prices of cotton, which raised the price of slaves, multi
plied negro traders, and induced many owners to buy Southern plan
tations and remove their slaves to them. But there arc few in Mary
land, who have kept their eyes open to events, who will not readily
admit, that, at least, one-half of the transfers of slaves to the South,
sometimes with their owners, and sometimes by sales, was materially
affected, if not actually produced, by the uncertain value of slave
property, consequent upon abolition, its aids and temptations.

24

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
most probably, shew, that they had practically thrown
it backward, through tlieir particular function of aid
ing slaves to escape. If this is the fact, as it is be
lieved to be, it is but another illustration of the harm,
¦which well intentioned ignorance is capable of doing.
I know, Mr. President, that, as the opinion of an
individual, all that is here said, in regard to the effect
of . the abolition agitation upon the entire colored
population, notwithstanding a disclaimer to the con
trary, may be looked upon as biased, to use the
mildest term. It is well, therefore, to corroborate it,
by testimony which cannot be suspected upon any
ground ; and I accordingly read from the published
" Extracts from the minutes of the Yearly Meeting of
Friends, held at Lombard street, in the city of Balti
more, 1842," a few passages having a bearing upon
what has just been said.
After expressing, in strong argumentation, but
most unexceptionably, in spirit and manner, " the tes
timony" of "friends" against slavery, and referring to
the steps taken by " friends" to abate the evil of it,
the report, which became the action of the Yearly
Meeting, goes on thus :
" These movements of friends, influenced wholly
by kindness and benevolence, produced in the mind of
the slaveholder, no hostile feeling, either towards us, or
"if

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION,

towards the colored population of our' country. They
created no dangerous excitement in the public mind,
ending in tumults and riots ; on the contrary, our ap
peals were received with respect and listened to with
patience. Many were brought to reflect very seriously
upon the subject, and thousands of slaves were volun
tarily liberated. Laws were passed protecting the
rights of the emancipated, and mitigating the condi-;
tion of those retained in bondage. But how different
is the present state of things ! What a melancholy
change has taken place in our country I Instead of
laws ameliorating the condition of the colored people,
we find an alarming disposition to abridge the few
rights that have been granted to them : instead of a
general feeling of kindness and commiseration, we
find in many instances, a disposition of acrimony and
bitterness engendered against them, without any pro
vocation on their part. Even in the free States, great
violence and many cruelties have been exercised fo
rwards them. The progress of emancipation has been
checked, and a mutual feeling of jealousy and suspi
cion has taken the place of the reciprocal confidence,
which, to a great extent, had subsisted between the
master and slave."
"For all this there must be a cause. Can 'the
good tree' produce such bitter fruit.? We earnestly

26

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

and affectionately entreat our friends and brethren
everywhere, to pause and deeply reflect upon the con
sequences, before they commit themselves in any
degree, by countenancing or entering into associations
founded upon principles, or governed by motives, in
consistent with the mild, forbearing and peaceable
spirit of the Gospel. We may rest assured, that all
attempts to effect the liberation of slaves by coercivie
measures will be met, as they already bave been, by
a counteracting force, and, if persisted in, wUl finally
lead to violence — perhaps to bloodshed." ¦' > '
Testimony like this, from such a quarter, must be
above aU suspicion. It describes a state of things. In
1842, which, no one pretends, has since been amelio
rated. Taking it for granted, then, that the practical
working of abolition upon the condition of the black
man, slave and free, has prejudiced his present and
future interests, there is the fullest justification for say-*
ing, that the account, which abolition will have to set
tle, for wrong done, is with him, and not with the
white man. That all this wrong has been wilfully
done, is, of course, not charged. That true and sin
gle minded men are to be found, who are, at the same
time abolitionists, is admitted. But, on the other
hand, it is equally plain, that abolition has been made

27

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

an instrument in the hands of men who have been
utterly regardless of the interests of the blacks ; and
that their carelessness and indifference, and the igno
rance of the others, have brought about a state of
things deeply to be deplored, and for which abolition
is utterly powerless to make the smallest compensa
tion. Hereafter, and before the Judge of all things,
should the black man, at that awful. day, be the ac
cuser, it will be known, how far the plea of igno
rance wiU prevail, in mitigation of the punishment
proper to those, whose ill-considered zeal has per
formed, what is here shown to have been, the office
of modem abolition. A kindly feeling changed, too
often, to a rancorous hate, — ^bonds tightened and
privileges curtailed, — a present without permanence,
and a future without hope, — are among the results for
which abolition may yet have to answer before Him,
who, if He permits such evil upon earth, holds, never
theless, the agents of it to a dread accountability.*
* Statistics furnish some not uninteresting facts affecting the practi
cal workings of modern abolition : and although where the population
is large, and differences are small enough to be accounted for aa in
accuracies, mathematical precision is not to be obtained from the
pages of a census, yet reliable inferences may sometimes be drawn
from the facts disclosed there.
From 1790 to 1800 the free colored population increased 82.2 per cent.
" 1800 to 1810 " " " " 72.2 "
" 1810 to 1820 " " " " 25.25 "
This remarkable change in the ratio of increase is difficult to ac-

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
But it has been said, tliat tliese results are properly
chargeable to Colonization, whose teachings, in regard
to the impossibility of a general amalgamation, and
the establishment of social and political equality, have
count for, unless upon the supposition, that the numerous manumis
sions, wliich swelled tlie per centage in the two previous decades, were
checked by some active cause ; and the only one that occurs to us is,
that, up to 1S08, there was a free importation of slaves from Africa; and
that, a supply from this source being cut off during the decade following
1810, slaves acquired a fancy value during that period, which affected
manumissions. In thedecade, ending 1830, tliepercentage increased to
36.85, which shows that manumissions were again becoming frequent,
on the supposition that 25.25 approximated to the natural increase.
But, from 1830 to 1840, it fell to 20.9, and, from 1840 to 1850, to 10.96 !
Now, there is no question, that, during these last twenty years, the in
creased cultivation of cotton, and the corresponding increased value of
slaves, affected manumissions. But, when we recollect that these
twenty years embrace the life time of modern abolition, and recollect
also the influence which abolition has upon the temper of the owners
of slaves, upon whom the increase from manumissions depends, it is
certainly not unfair to attribute to its agency, in some degree, the
result here exhibited. At all events, we may, unquestionably, infer
from the tables of the census, that abolition, with manumission its
exclusive object, has had very acant success in promoting it ; affording
another illustration of the fact, that the means are sometimes most
potent to defeat the very end they propose to accomplish.
There are other considerations worth noticing, connected with the
above facts, to elaborate which would exceed the limits of the present
note. While the increase of the free blacks, from 1840 to 1850, was
but 10.9 per cent, the increase of the slaves, notwithstanding manu
missions, which are constantly going on, was 28.81 per cent. Making
allowance for some free colored emigration to Canada and Liberia,
and for a difference in the habits of the bond and free in regard to
marriage, &c. &c,, there is still a striking disproportion in the ratios
of increase; from which it would seem, that the causes promoting
increase, such as good food, clothing, shelter and medical attendance,

29

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
produced that state of feeling between the races,
which has led to the conviction, if it really exists, that
a separation must take place.* This is attributing to
and their accompaniment, health, were more operative with the slaves
than with the free people of color. A fair inference too, would appear
to be, that a general emancipation, such as the abolitionists are striving
for, would reduce the increase of the slaves from 28,81 to 10,96 per
cent, with the prospect of a still further reduction. Indeed, the "ab
stract of the seventh census" looks as if it gave some probability to the
assertion, heretofore often regarded as a random one, that the best way
" to get rid of the colored population, would be to emancipate the
slaves forthwith, when the whole race, in a generation or two, would
wear out. But the object is not " to get rid of" this papulation, in the
^ense here intended. The object is to prevent its wearing out, by
giving it a home, where, apart from aU baleful influences, it may
work out a noble destiny.
* " We have been convinced, for a long time, that it was the wish
of many of the leading men amongst us, .both North and South — but
principally at the South, where the scheme originated — a wish deemed
¦worthy by them to be unceasingly labored for — that the condition of
ihe free colored people should be rendered so undesirable, that the
-feelings of humane and conscientious owners would be so quenched
or turned back that they would not emancipate; that many of the
slaves would not greatly desire to enter that class; that, when com
pared with the other classes of our population, it would appear to de
crease, and that it .would really increase but slowly ; and that, should
the planners succeed in this, they, the free colored people, would, in
the end, be compelled to emigrate from this country — already begin
ning to be called " the white man's home, and his exclusively, and
that God had so appointed it," — and seek some other, where they
would be at peace, and where, in consequence of their emigration,
and of their emigration alone, the usual stimulants of men would be
open to theln and unrestrained.'' — /. G. Bimey's Address to i/ie JPree
Colored People of the United Slates.
The address, from which the above is an extract, is written calmly
and well; and, in the scope of it, is entitled to the candid considera-

30

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

Colonization a power, which it has never possessed,
over the public mind.
Until a comparatively recent period, until, it may
be said, the abolition agitation brought us into notice,
"we were but of small consideration. An annual
meeting of the American Colonization Society at
Washington, with a brief flourish of trumpets: a
meeting of your Society here, drowned in the thunder
of the other anniversaries ; an occasional gathering of
the Maryland State Colonization Society, at Annapo
lis, scarcely heard of beyond the limits of that ancient
city; three or four Colonization newspapers of very
meagre circulation ; the announcement, at rare inter
vals, of the sailing of an expedition to the coast; and,
tion of every free colored man in America. It is eminently unjust to
the colonizationists as a body, it is true; but this is a matter of small
consequence. It attributes to them a state of things, which ia due to,
far other causes, as has been shewn in the text. The conclusions to
which it arrives, however, are so just ; its recognition of the impossi
bility of the social and political equality of the two races, here, no
matter from what it proceeds, is so ample ; and its comparison of the
recommendations of Canada, the West Indies, and Liberia, aa places
to which to emigrate, is so fair and satisfactory; and, withal, its style
is so clear, and strong and able, that it deserves to be placed amongst
the most important of the publications of the day, affecting this sub
ject : — the more especially, as it comes from one, who has, heretofore,
occupied the highest rank with the abolitionists. It is a frank aban
donment, by an honest man, of a hopeless contest. Its only mistake
consists in attributing defeat to the labors of individuals, separately,
or associated ; whereas it is due, exclusively, to circumstances infi
nitely beyond the power of man to control or affect.
~~~" '31'

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
now and then, a notice, from some good-natured edi
tor, of the latest news from Liberia, — these, with the
exertions of some half a dozen agents, — " rari nantes
in gurgite vasto," — constituted the " appliances and
means to boot" of colonization, to which has been
attributed the sentiment, fast becoming national, that
the races are to separate. — It is idle to contend that
such means were ever adequate to produce it.
And yet, assuredly, the sentiment exists. To
what, then, is it to be attributed.'' To what, but the
mighty immigration, which has built across the At
lantic the bridge of boats, one abutment of which is
in New York, and over which comes, with heavy
tramp, in the shape of a vast multitude, power!
Power, to add to our national strength, and raise, still
higher, the fabric of our national renown ; — ^power, to
construct our rail roads and canals ;— power, before
which the free black man must flee as from the wrath
that is to come. Fold the sails of our commerce, —
give employment and bread, at home, to the starving
thousands of Europe, — take from us our great name
of being an asylum for the oppressed of every land, —
check the westward march of the star of empire, —
render our country as inaccessible as a city fenced
round about with walls, — and then, and not till then,
if, even then, will you smother the sentiment above

32

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
referred to, and which Colonization has been so idly
charged with having originated.
It is not the white man's sentiment only: it is fast
becoming the free black man's. He is becoming dis
abused of the idea, so studiously inculcated by our
unfriends, and, once, so successfully, that coloniza
tionists are his enemies. He is beginning, now, to
listen to the coming tramp.
This question, as to whether the colonizationists
or the abolitionists are the black man's truest friends,
has often been discussed. The former have, gener
ally, been satisfied to refer the question to time to
settle. The latter, whose system is agitation, have
made it the subject of loud and vehement argument:
and, as their avowed object was the emancipation of aU
the slaves in the country, and the establishment of
social and political equality between the free whites
and free blacks, it was no wonder, that, for a season,
they had the best of the dispute in the opinion of the
free colored population. But these last were, them
selves, by their own conduct, all this time, settling
the question in the other way. At all events, it is a
singular coincidence, that, where Colonization was
most active, there were they the most numerous ; and
their numbers seemed to increase as Colonization
thrived. For example; Maryland, which has a free

33

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

colored population of 74,077, larger than that of any
other State in. the Union, has done ten times more than
any other State in behalf of the cause. She began, by
subscribing to it one thousand dollars per annum, as
far back as 1826. In 1831, this was increased to ten
thousand per annum, for twenty years. When circum
stances compelled her, in 1841, and for some years
thereafter, to suspend the payment of the interest on
her public debt, the Colonization subscription, upon
which her Colony at Cape Palmas depended, was
never in arrear for a single day: and, within the last
month, the ten thousand dollars subscription having
expired by limitation, it has been renewed, and made
a charge upon the public treasury, instead of bemg a
specific tax on the counties, as heretofore. Mary
land is the only State which has established a Colony
of its own in Africa. On the other hand, few States
have done less for Colonization, in proportion to their
means, than New York and Ohio; and in no States
has abolition had a greater influence than in these
two; while, in Maryland, abolition has no party and
but few friends. One would think, then, that, were
the abolitionists right in this matter, the free colored
people would flee from Maryland to take refuge in
Ohio and New York. But the fact is, that in Mary
land, there are 74,077 free blacks to 418,590 whites ;

34

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION,
while, putting New York and Ohio together, they
contain but 71,237 free blacks to 5,005,565 whites.
These figures speak for themselves.*
It is due, however, to frankness to say, that the
change which has taken place in the minds of the free
colored people, is, probably, in the main, independent
of either colonizationists or abolitionists; but that it
grows out of the fact, that they are beginning to feel,
uncomfortably, the immigration already mentioned.
Between 1810 and 1820, this was less than 12,000 per
annum. From 1820 to 1830, it was but little more
than 20,000. The next decade found it increased to
about 78,000. The last years of the last decade saw
it swell to 270,000 : and an estimate in the Herald,
within a few days, makes the immigration into New
York alone, at this present time, at the rate of 30,000
per month, or 360,000 per annum; which would justify
us in setting down the entire immigration, into all
the ports of the country, at about half a million a year.
Thus it is seen, that, during the earlier years of Abo-
* In speaking thus of New York, the occasion is afforded to say,
that one of the most able and conclusive arguments, in favor of Colon
ization, looking at it as eminently philanthropic in its promised re
sults, both to America and to Africa, which has yet been made, is to
be found in the speech of the Hon. J. W. Beekman, in the Senate of
New York, on the 10th of March, 1852. It covers, thoroughly, this
branch of the subject. It is only to be regretted, that, where the argu
ment was so able, the legislative action waa not correspondent.

35

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
lition and Colonization, there was no such pressure
upon the free colored people as now exists. During this
period, the free colored people regarded emigration as
a matter of unbiased choice ; and finding themselves
comfortably fixed in this country, buoyed up at times
with the promises of social equality held out by the
abolitionists, they looked rather to places of profit and
honor in America, than in a remote land, with which
they had no sympathies, and where civil government
was in its infancy: nor was it until the increasing
pressure, whose statistics have been given, roused
them from their delusion, that any change appears to
have taken place -in their opinions.
As illustrations of what is here said, — the speaker
was called upon, within the last month, by a colored
man of intelligence and respectability in Baltimore,
who wished to emigrate to Liberia. He was worth,
at least, sixteen thousand doUars, and in a thriving
business. He stated, that the immediate cause of his
visit was seeing, in a daily paper, that the immigration
into New York, during the preceding week, had been
nine thousand. — This, to use his own words, " was a
warning to the colored people to clear out." Again,
within a few hours, a colored man at the hotel at
which the speaker stays here, shewed him the consti
tution of a society to purchase land in Liberia, and

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
make preparations tliere for tlie comfortable reception
of its members. This man gave, as tlie immediate
cause of hi^ interest in the subject, the reflections
suggested by the turning out of all the colored ser
vants of a large hotel in New York, during the last
¦winter, and the substitution of white ones in their
place. Instances like these are of every-day occur
rence. The foreign immigration into the United States is
not likely to diminish. Were it not for the immense
extent of our uninhabited lands, its pressure upon the
free blacks would be that of iron upon iron, inelastic
and inflexible ; and the consequences would be mise
rable to anticipate. But the constant drain upon the
white population of the Atlantic States, to supply the
demand west of the mountains, affords, and may
continue to afford, for years to come, breathing space
for both races in their accustomed homes. It is this
drain which makes the pressure spoken of an elastic
one; a pressure that suggests, rather than compels, the
removal of the free blacks, — which gives them time to
make preparation for themselves or for their chil
dren, — which will aUow those unfit to emigrate to end
their lives here, in peace and in comfort, — a pressure
adapted to the occasion, and regulated by a far higher
power than man's, in mercy : but a pressure, neverthe-

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

less, constant and increasing, and whose suggestions
have the solemnity and the force of doom.*
*Thc "Abstract of the Seventh Census "is not without its interest in
this connection. It shews the influence upon our entire population of
the foreign immigration, and the periods at which this has been most
potent. The proportion between the white and the colored population, bond
and free, at the first census, in 1790, was as 4.18 to 1 — that is, there
were four hundred and eighteen whites to one hundred colored per
sons. The following table exhibits the successive decades in this
respect:

1790,

4.18 whi

teto 1, c

olorcd.

1800,

4.29

white gain.
.11
1810.
4.25
colored gain.
.04
1820,
4.44
white gain.
,19
1830,
4,52
tt
,18
1840,
4,93
"
.41
1850,
5,4
"
,47
The colored gain at 1810 is accounted for by the acquisition of Louisi
ana, and probably also, because, the slave trade, ceasing, by law,
in 1803, a large importation took place in the early part of the decade,
in view of that fact. The increase of the slave population between
1800 and 1810 was 33.4 per cent. The average increase of the six
decades from 1790 to 1850 was 28.93.— the next greatest to 1810 being
30.6, in 1830, and the least being 23.08 in 1840,
In the/our decades, ending at 1830, the gain in the rate of increase
of the white over the colored population, bond and free, was but ,34, —
while in the two decades, ending at 1850, it was .88 : but then, the
total number of immigrants, up to 1830 — forty years, had been only
437,979— while in the next twenty years, up to 1860, it was 2,321,350.
A calculation in " The Abstract" shews the whole number of
immigrants and their descendants, in 1850, to have been 4,350,934.
Deducting this from the total white population in 1850— 19,630,738— and
there remains 15,279,804 as the white population of 1850, irrespective
of immigration : and the colored population of 1850, being 3,632,750,
it appears, that, but for the immigration, the proportion between the
white and the colored would have been as 4.2 of the former to 1. of the
latter, which is almost identical with the proportion in 1790.
¦ 3S'
COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
The true light in which to regard Colonization
is to look upon it as differing, in no-wise, from the
colonizations that have preceded it, — from that, for
The change, then, in the proportions of the races, which works a
corresponding change in the comfort and prospects of the weaker, is
due, mainly, if not entirely, to the immigration, as has been stated in
the text : and the ratio of the increase of this immigration being a
constantly ajid rapidly accelerating one, — as shewn by the table
above, — the result insisted on, the emigration of the weaker, —
instead of being a matter of opinion only, acquires the certainty of
demonstration, when connected with the impossibility of amalgama
tion and the consequent strife of caste.
The above is the statement most favorable to the abolition side of I
the argument, too; because it is founded on the increase of the entire )
colored population — and looks at the question as if both bond and free J
were free, which is the result at which modern abolition aims, \
But the argument becomes far stronger, when the comparison is i
limited, according to the fact, to the whites and the free blacks — \
between whom the competition, that is to drive the latter to the wall, !
actually takes place: for, while, between 1840 and 1860, the increase !
of the whites was to that of the entire colored population as 38,23 to >
26.41, it was to the increase of the free blacks as 38.28 to 10.96 ! ]
And yet, even this is more favorable to the free blacks, than the true ]
condition of things : for it supposes the free colored population to be |
scattered in equal proportions over the entire country, which is very j
far from being the case. Of the whole free colored population of 1850 —
amounting to 428,661— ten States contained 349,677; and among these
States were New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, the ratio of
the increase of whose white population very far exceeds that of the free
blacks, whose number in these States is 136,348, while that of the white
population is 8,241,656.
In any aspect of the case, then, even the most favorable, "The
Abstract of the Seventh Census" corroborates most fully the views of
the text. The whites are becoming stronger and stronger; the free
blacks weaker and weaker, and between the two there may one day be
a strife, without compromise, for bread.

39

!

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

instance, which brought our ancestors to America.
Thus viewed, the whole subject becomes a very simple
one. The emigrants will be forthcoming, when it
becomes their interest to emigrate ; not because those,
who have prepared a new home for them, have done
aught to force or accelerate their departure, but be
cause circumstances, beyond all human control, and
for which they have provided, compel it. Like other
emigrants, they will pay their own expenses, or have
them paid by those of their friends or relatives who
are already established in comfort in Liberia. When
the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, they had to conquer
a home from the Indians, and subsistence from the
unproductive soil and unfriendly climate. The pil
grims to Liberia find houses prepared for them, in a
congenial chmate and upon an exhaustless soU. The
mother country of the first yielded independence at
the point of the bayonet and the mouth of the cannon.
The mother country of the last educated them for
independence, and gave it before it was asked even.
The first came to a continent covered with forests,
and sparsely peopled with hunters and warriors,
affording no market for the products of civilization,
save to a very limited extent. The last go to a conti
nent swarming with people, cultivating the soil, living
in regular communities, themselves manufacturers in

40

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION,

gold, and clotli, and iron,— and as thirsty for all that
the loom and the anvil, in civilized hands, can pro
duce, as tlieir sands are thirsty for the dew. Com
merce was an incident with the first. It is a necessity
of the last. Where the first Colonization referred to,
therefore, had one chance of success, the last has
many chances. Through its agency, the market of
Africa is to be opened to relieve the glut which now
exists in other markets, — and, thus, independent even
of Colonization, except as subsidiary, a commerce
wUl grow up, which wUl do for the free blacks of
America, what the commerce between this country and
Europe is now doing for the Irish, the Germans, and
many others.
The entire free colored population of the United
States, is but 428,661 — not a year's work to remove,
for the emigrant ships now plying between the old
world and the new. The entire colored population,
slave and free, is 3,633,150, or less than seven years'
work for the same ships, were both slaves and free
ready for removal. It is most true, that there is an
increase of both going on daily; and that the figures
of the last census, here used, are already inaccurate.
This affects the question of time, only, however. For
illustration sake, we have spoken of years in connec
tion with the subject. Such results as are contem-

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION. ;
plated, however, are the work of generations. But ;
if the principle, on which the results are to depend, is \
constant in its operation, time must bring them about.
The circumstances which exist, in this case, to
quicken time, have already been noticed.
Time and circumstances, then, using the agency
of the same Colonization, which has been going on
from the earliest period, throughout the world, may be
seifely relied upon to separate, quietly and naturally,
the two free races now inhabiting this country ; tak
ing to Africa the free colored population, and estab
lishing them under a government of their own,
modeled after ours, in the only land where, thanks to
a climate, fatal to the white man, they wUl, forever, be
free from his encroachments, — and leaving us, here,
in America, with a homogeneous free population of
one color, with common interests, feelings and des
tiny. To bring all this about, a mighty enginery, not of
man's contrivance, but growing out of the fitness of
things, in which man's feelings, passions, virtues and
interests, all perform their parts, is in motion, resist
less motion. Whether it shall move smoothly, or
" grate harsh thunder," depends upon that public
favor, to invoke, and secure which, meetings like
the present are convened. Hence, Colonization still
'42"

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.
labors, even after the RepubHc has been established,
and circumstances are sufficient for the rest.
The remarkable concurrence of these circum
stances is by no means the least satisfactory of the
assurances, which give to colonizationists confidence
in their cause. When the meeting was held, with a
reference to which this address commenced, the popu
lation of the United States did not exceed 9,000,000,
and in 1820, the total number of emigrants and their
descendants, was but 359,000. The whites and the
free colored population lived in perfect harmony and
trustful confidence. There were neither circum
stances nor instigators to produce ill will : and, to the
nine hundred and ninety-nine in the thousand, there
was no reason apparent why this state of things
should not last forever ; — and, hence, the very dis
crepancies of opinion in regard to this cause, that
have already been adverted to. The miracle of the
cotton-gin was of recent date. The manufactures,
it so marvellously quickened, were in their early in
fancy. The steam engine, instead of being the com
mon tool which it has since become, was of rare
employment. In 1818, there were but four steam
boats on the North River. The rail road and the
locomotive were unknown : and ocean steam naviga
tion, and its predecessors, the New York packet
, . — . ^^•~~~~^~~~  ,„ ,

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

ships, were not even the visions of a dream. Hand
labor was the labor of the world. Since that period,
our population has increased to 25,000,000. The
immigrants and their descendants were estimated, in
1850, at 4,350,000. Steam has wrought its count
less wonders. Not only has it taken the place of
hand labor in a multitude of instances, but it has
facilitated intercommunication, until labor has been
deprived of the protection, which the trouble and
expense of transporting laborers from place to place
once afforded it. Human affairs are moving on with
a velocity that is almost fearful. Lifetimes are being
lived, so far as events are concerned, in single days.
Strife for pleasure, strife for profit, strife for power,
characterize each hour of present existence. Strife,
strife, it is all strife ! and woe to the weakest now.
If this state of things continues for a generation, —
and what is there to change it, — and there remain in
this country, which is the most vivid illustration of the
wonderful activity referred to, the two races of free
men so often mentioned, what is to be the fate of the
weakest, if amalgamation is impossible, in the pres
ence of a population which increases in such rapid
numbers.' But while population thus increases, and
has thus increased in the last five and thirty years,
the manufactures of civilization have increased more

44

COLONIZATION AND ABOLITION.

rapidly, in proportion to the existing demand for them :
and, now, that the known markets of the world are
glutted, the demand is for new ones. Africa is tlie
j greatest of those remaining to be opened. The
English, at Sierra Leone and up the Niger, the Dutch,
I the French, the Portuguese, have tried in vain to
! penetrate it. It can be reached but by one agency;
I and that is, through the colonies of civilized emigrants
•; from the United States, which, during the period here
referred to. Colonization has been quietly engaged in
planting upon the coast. Had this demand for mar
kets existed, a quarter of a century ago, it could not
have been thus supplied. Had this swarming activity
I existed, a quarter of a century ago, there would have
I been no escape for the free black man from the pres-
; sure that it created. Had the abolition excitement
i raged at its utmost, a quarter of a century ago, no
I such solution, as we now have of the problem, growing
I out of the existence of the two races in this country,
I with no possibility of amalgamation, would have pre-
! sented itself. But it has been ordered otherwise.
j The exigencies referred to have become apparent only
when the means of answering them have been supplied,
after a preparation, perfected by the very obstacles,
which, to human eyes, threatened to defeat it. While
active progress has characterized all other things,

COLONIZATION. AND ABOLITION. i!

Colonization, which was, in the end, to be the hand
maid of this activity, has been prosecuted slowly and
painfully; until now, all circumstances concurring, the
nation, which it has built up, is ready to enter upon
its functions, as a powerful agent in the progress of
human affairs, and, in the order of Providence, fulfil-
ing the destiny in store for it, when the slave trade
was permitted, that Africa, through the agency of its
horrors, even, might, when the descendants of the
captives returned to her, be brought within the pale of
civilization, under the blessed light of the Christian
dispensation.

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YALE UNIVERSITY