Thoughts on African Colonization Part 1

Thoughts on African Colonization.

by William Lloyd Garrison.

PREFACE.

I dedicate this work to my countrymen, in whose intelligence, magnanimity and humanity I place the utmost reliance. Although they have long suffered themselves to be swayed by a prejudice as unmanly as it is wicked, and have departed widely from the golden rule of the gospel, in their treatment of the people of color, to suppose that they will always be the despisers and persecutors of this unfortunate cla.s.s is, in my opinion, to libel their character. A change in their feelings and sentiments is already visible--a change which promises, ere long, to redeem their character from the b.l.o.o.d.y stains which slavery has cast upon it, and to release the prisoner from his chains. May they be ashamed to persist in a mean and thievish course of conduct, and afraid to quarrel with the workmanship of G.o.d! May a righteous indignation be kindled in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s against a combination which is holding them up, for the scorn and contempt of other nations, as incorrigible oppressors, whom neither self-respect, nor the opinions of mankind, nor the fear of G.o.d, can bring to repentance! Their duty is plain, and it may easily be done. Slavery must be overthrown either by their own moral strength, or by the physical strength of the slaves. Let them imitate the example of the people of _Great Britain_, by seeking the immediate overthrow of the horrid system. Let a National Anti-Slavery Society be immediately organized, the object of which shall be, to quicken and consolidate the moral influence of the nation, so that Congress and the State Legislatures may be burdened with pet.i.tions for the removal of the evil--to scatter tracts, like rain-drops, over the land, on the subject of slavery--to employ active and eloquent agents to plead the cause incessantly, and to form auxiliary societies--to encourage planters to cultivate their lands by freemen, by offering large premiums; to promote education and the mechanical arts among the free people of color, and to recover their lost rights. Religious professors, of all denominations, must bear unqualified testimony against slavery. They must not support, they must not palliate it. No slaveholder ought to be embraced within the pale of a christian church; consequently, the churches must be purified 'as by fire.' Slavery in the District of Columbia is sustained in our national capacity: it ought, therefore, to be prostrated at a blow. The clause in the Const.i.tution should be erased, which tolerates, greatly to the detriment and injustice of the non-slaveholding States, a slave representation in Congress. Why should property be represented at the impoverished south, and not at the opulent north?

To impair the force of this exposition, the ardent advocates of the Colonization Society will undoubtedly attempt to evade the ground of controversy, and lead uncautious minds astray in a labyrinth of sophistry. But the question is not, whether the climate of Africa is salubrious, nor whether the mortality among the emigrants has been excessive, nor whether the colony is in a prosperous condition, nor whether the transportation of our whole colored population can be effected in thirty years or three centuries, nor whether any slaves have been emanc.i.p.ated on condition of banishment; but whether the doctrines and principles of the Society accord with the doctrines and principles of the gospel, whether slaveholders are the just proprietors of their slaves, whether it is not the sacred duty of the nation to abolish the system of slavery now, and to recognise the people of color as brethren and countrymen who have been unjustly treated and covered with unmerited shame. _This is the question--and the only question._

With such a ma.s.s of evidence before them, of the pernicious, cruel and delusive character of the American Colonization Society, I leave the patriot, the philanthropist and the christian to judge of the fitness of the following inflated and presumptuous a.s.sertions of its advocates:--'The plan is of heavenly origin, against which the gates of h.e.l.l shall never prevail'--'a circle of philanthropy, every segment of which tells and testifies to the beneficence of the whole'--'addressing its claims alike to the patriot, and the christian, it being emphatically the cause of liberty, of humanity, of religion'[A]--'so full of benevolence and the hallowed impulses of Heaven's own mercy, that one might, with the propriety of truth, compare its radiant influences to a rainbow, insufferably bright, spanning the sombre clouds of human wrong, that have acc.u.mulated on the horizon of our country's prosperity, and beating back, with calm and heavenly power, the blackening storm that always threatens, in growling thunders, a heavy retribution'[B]--'that citizen of the United States who lifts a finger to r.e.t.a.r.d this inst.i.tution, nay, that man who does not use his persevering efforts to promote its benevolent object, fails, in our opinion, to discharge his duty to his G.o.d and his country'[C][1]--'nothing but a distinct knowledge and a calm consideration of the facts in the case, is wanting to make every man of common intelligence, common patriotism, and common humanity, the earnest friend of the Colonization Society'!![D]

There is one important consideration, which, owing to the contractedness of my limits, I have omitted to enforce in this work. It is this: the serious injury which our interests must inevitably suffer by the removal of our colored population. Their labor is indispensably necessary and extremely valuable. By whom shall the plantations at the south be cultivated but by them? It is universally conceded that they can resist the intensity of a southern sun, and endure the fatigues attendant on the cultivation of rice, cotton, tobacco and sugar-cane, better than white laborers: at least, their bodies are now inured to this employment. I do not believe that any equivalent would induce the planters to part with their services, or white laborers to occupy their places. In the great cities, and in various parts of the southern States, free persons of color const.i.tute a laborious and useful cla.s.s.

In a pecuniary point of view, the banishment of one-sixth of our population,--of those whom we specially need,--would be an act of suicide. The veriest smatterer in political economy cannot but perceive the ruinous tendency of such a measure.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] African Repository.

[B] Rev. Mr Maffit's 'Plea for Africa.'

[C] Western Luminary.

[D] Christian Spectator.

[1] The clerical gentleman who presumes to utter this opinion is the same who has also the hardihood to a.s.sert that 'many of the best citizens of our land are holders of slaves, and hold them _in strict accordance with the principles of humanity and justice_'!!

THOUGHTS ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION.

PART I.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

In attacking the system of slavery, I clearly foresaw all that has happened to me. I knew, at the commencement, that my motives would be impeached, my warnings ridiculed, my person persecuted, my sanity doubted, my life jeoparded: but the clank of the prisoner's chains broke upon my ear--it entered deeply into my soul--I looked up to Heaven for strength to sustain me in the perilous work of emanc.i.p.ation--and my resolution was taken.

In opposing the American Colonization Society, I have also counted the cost, and as clearly foreseen the formidable opposition which will be arrayed against me. Many of the clergy are enlisted in its support: their influence is powerful. Men of wealth and elevated station are among its contributors: wealth and station are almost omnipotent. The press has been seduced into its support: the press is a potent engine.

Moreover, the Society is artfully based upon and defended by _popular prejudice_: it takes advantage of wicked and preposterous opinions, and hence its success. These things grieve, they cannot deter me. 'Truth is mighty, and will prevail.' It is able to make falsehood blush, and tear from hypocrisy its mask, and annihilate prejudice, and overthrow persecution, and break every fetter.

I am constrained to declare, with the utmost sincerity, that I look upon the colonization scheme as inadequate in its design, injurious in its operation, and contrary to sound principle; and the more scrupulously I examine its pretensions, the stronger is my conviction of its sinfulness. Nay, were Jehovah to speak in an audible voice from his holy habitation, I am persuaded that his language would be, 'Who hath required this at your hands?'

It consoles me to believe that no man, who knows me personally or by reputation, will suspect the honesty of my skepticism. If I were politic, and intent only on my own preferment or pecuniary interest, I should swim with the strong tide of public sentiment instead of breasting its powerful influence. The hazard is too great, the labor too burdensome, the remuneration too uncertain, the contest too unequal, to induce a selfish adventurer to a.s.sail a combination so formidable.

Disinterested opposition and sincere conviction, however, are not conclusive proofs of individual rect.i.tude; for a man may very honestly do mischief, and not be aware of his error. Indeed, it is in this light I view many of the friends of African colonization. I concede to them benevolence of purpose and expansiveness of heart; but in my opinion, they are laboring under the same delusion as that which swayed Saul of Tarsus--persecuting the blacks even unto a strange country, and verily believing that they are doing G.o.d service. I blame them, nevertheless, for taking this mighty scheme upon trust; for not perceiving and rejecting the monstrous doctrines avowed by the master spirits in the crusade; and for feeling so indifferent to the moral, political and social advancement of the free people of color in this their only legitimate home.

In the progress of this discussion I shall have occasion to use very plain, and sometimes very severe language. This would be an unpleasant task, did not duty imperiously demand its application. To give offence I am loath, but more to hide or modify the truth. I shall deal with the Society in its collective form--as one body--and not with individuals.

While I shall be necessitated to marshal individual opinions in review, I protest, _ab origine_, against the supposition that indiscriminate censure is intended, or that every friend of the Society cherishes similar views. He to whom my reprehension does not apply, will not receive it. It is obviously impossible, in attacking a numerous and multiform combination, to exhibit private dissimilarities, or in every instance to discriminate between the various shades of opinion. It is sufficient that exceptions are made. My warfare is against the AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY. If I shall identify its general, preponderating and clearly developed traits, it must stand or fall as they shall prove benevolent or selfish.

I bring to this momentous investigation an unbia.s.sed mind, a lively sense of accountability to G.o.d, and devout aspirations for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Unless He 'in whom there is no darkness at all,'

pours light upon my path, I shall go astray. I have taken Him at His word: 'If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of G.o.d, and it shall be given him.' Confessing my own foolishness, I have sought that knowledge which cannot err.

I would premise, that, like many others, I formerly supposed the Colonization Society was a praiseworthy a.s.sociation, although I always doubted its efficiency. This opinion was formed for me by others, upon whom I placed implicit confidence: it certainly was not based upon any research or knowledge of my own, as I had not at that time perused a single Report of the Society, nor a page in its organ, the African Repository. My approval was the offspring of credulity and ignorance. I am explicit on this point, because my opponents have accused me of inconsistency--though it ought not surely to disgrace a man, that, discovering himself to be in error, he promptly turns to the embrace of truth. As if opinions, once formed, must be as irrevocable as the laws of the Medes and Persians! If this were so, accountability would lose its hold on the conscience, and the light of knowledge be blown out, and reason degenerate into brutish instinct. Much stress has been laid upon the fact, that, in 1828, I delivered an address in Park-street meeting-house on the Fourth of July, on which occasion a collection was made in behalf of the American Colonization Society. It is true--but whereas I was then blind, now I see. My address, however, was far from being acceptable to the friends of colonization who were present, not only on account of my denunciation of slaveholders, but because I inserted only a single sentence in favor of the Society. In all my writings, I have never commended this combination in as many sentences as I have used in making this explanation. So much for my marvellous apostacy!

It is only about two years since I was induced to examine the claims of the Colonization Society upon the patronage and confidence of the nation. I went to this examination with a mind bia.s.sed by preconceived opinions favorable to the Society, and rather for the purpose of defending it against opposition than of bringing it into disrepute.

Every thing, apart from its principles, was calculated to secure my friendship. Nothing but its revolting features could have induced me to turn loathingly away from its embrace. I had some little reputation to sustain; many of my friends were colonizationists; I saw that eminent statesmen and honorable men were enlisted in the enterprise; the great body of the clergy gave their unqualified support to it; every fourth of July the charities of the nation were secured in its behalf; wherever I turned my eye in the free States, I saw nothing but unanimity; wherever my ear caught a sound, I heard nothing but excessive panegyric. No individual had ventured to blow the trumpet of alarm, or exert his energies to counteract the influence of the scheme. If an a.s.sailant had occasionally appeared, he had either fired a random shot and retreated, or found in the inefficiency of the Society the only cause for hostility. It was at this crisis, and with such an array of motives before me to bias my judgment, that I resolved to make a close and candid examination of the subject.

I went, first of all, to the fountain head--to the African Repository and the Reports of the Society. I was not long in discovering sentiments which seemed to me as abhorrent to humanity as contrary to reason. I perused page after page, first with perplexity, then with astonishment, and finally with indignation. I found little else than sinful palliations, fatal concessions, vain expectations, exaggerated statements, unfriendly representations, glaring contradictions, naked terrors, deceptive a.s.surances, unrelenting prejudices, and unchristian denunciations. I collected together the publications of auxiliary societies, in order to discern some redeeming traits; but I found them marred and disfigured with the same disgusting details. I courted the acquaintance of eminent colonizationists, that I might learn how far their private sentiments agreed with those which were so offensive in print; and I found no dissimilarity between them. I listened to discourses from the pulpit in favor of the Society; and the same moral obliquities were seen in minister and people.

These discoveries affected my mind so deeply that I could not rest. I endeavored to explain away the meaning of plain and obvious language; I made liberal concessions for good motives and unsuspicious confidence; I resorted to many expedients to vindicate the disinterested benevolence of the Society; but I could not rest. The sun in its mid-day splendor was not more clear and palpable to my vision, than the anti-christian and anti-republican character of this a.s.sociation. It was evident to me that the great ma.s.s of its supporters at the north did not realise its dangerous tendency. They were told that it was designed to effect the ultimate emanc.i.p.ation of the slaves--to improve the condition of the free people of color--to abolish the foreign slave trade--to reclaim and evangelize benighted Africa--and various other marvels. Anxious to do something for the colored population--they knew not what--and having no other plan presented to their view, they eagerly embraced a scheme which was so big with promise, and which required of them nothing but a small contribution annually. Perceiving the fatality of this delusion, I was urged by an irresistible impulse to attempt its removal. I could not turn a deaf ear to the cries of the slaves, nor throw off the obligations which my Creator had fastened upon me. Yet in view of the inequalities of the contest, of the obstacles which towered like mountains in my path, and of my own littleness, I trembled, and exclaimed in the language of Jeremiah,--'Ah, Lord G.o.d! behold I cannot speak: for I am a child.' But I was immediately strengthened by these interrogations: 'Is any thing too hard for the Lord?' Is Error, though unwittingly supported by a host of good men, stronger than Truth? Are Right and Wrong convertible terms, dependant upon popular opinion? Oh no! Then I will go forward in the strength of the Lord of Hosts--in the name of Truth--and under the banner of Right. As it is not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of G.o.d, that great moral changes are effected, I am encouraged to fight valiantly in this good cause, believing that I shall 'come off conqueror, and more than conqueror'--yet not I, but Truth and Justice. It is in such a contest that one shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.

'The Lord disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.'

'Because the foolishness of G.o.d is wiser than men; and the weakness of G.o.d is stronger than men.'

Little boldness is needed to a.s.sail the opinions and practices of notoriously wicked men; but to rebuke great and good men for their conduct, and to impeach their discernment, is the highest effort of moral courage. The great ma.s.s of mankind shun the labor and responsibility of forming opinions for themselves. The question is not--what is true? but--what is popular? Not--what does G.o.d say?

but--what says the public? Not--what is my opinion? but--what do others believe? If people would pin their faith upon the bible, and not upon the sleeves of their neighbors, half of the heresies in the world would instantly disappear. If they would use their own eyes, their own ears, their own understandings, instead of the eyes, and ears, and understandings of others, imbecility, credulity and folly would be as rare as they are now common in community. But, unhappily, to borrow the words of Ganganelli, a large majority of mankind are 'mere abortions:'

calling themselves rational and intelligent beings, they act as if they had neither brains nor conscience, and as if there were no G.o.d, no accountability, no heaven, no h.e.l.l, no eternity.

'My minister,' says one, 'is a most worthy man. He supports this Society: therefore it is a good inst.i.tution.' 'Christians of all denominations are enlisted in this enterprise,' says another: 'therefore it cannot be wrong.' 'Do you think,' says a third, 'that honest, G.o.dly men would countenance a scheme which is not really benevolent?' But it is unwise for beings, who are accountable only to G.o.d, to reason in this manner. All the good men upon earth cannot make persecution benevolence, nor injustice equity; and until they become infallible, implicit reliance upon their judgment is criminal. Ministers and christians, a few years since, were engaged in the use and sale of ardent spirits; _but they were all wrong_, and they now acknowledge their error. At the present day, a large proportion of the professed disciples of the Prince of Peace maintain the lawfulness of defensive war, and the right of the oppressed to fight and kill for liberty; but they hold this sentiment in direct opposition to the precepts of their Leader--'I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.' Surely 'the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of G.o.d.'

I must pause, for a moment, and count the number of those with whom I am about to conflict. If I had to encounter only men-stealers and slaveholders, victory would be easy; but it is not the south alone that is to be subdued. The whole nation is against me. Church after church is to be converted, and the powerful influence of the clergy broken. The friendship of good men is to be turned into enmity, and their support into opposition. It is my task to change their admiration into abhorrence; to convince them that their well-meant exertions have been misdirected, and productive of greater evil than good; and to induce them to abandon an inst.i.tution to which they now fondly cling.

To those who neither fear G.o.d nor regard man--who have sworn eternal animosity to their colored countrymen, and whose cry is, 'Away with them, we do not want them here!'--I make no appeal. Disregarding as they do that divine command, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' it would be idle for me to direct my arguments to them. I address myself to high-minded and honorable men, whose heads and hearts are susceptible to the force of sound logic. I appeal to those, who have been redeemed from the bondage of sin by the precious blood of Christ, and with whom I hope to unite in a better world in ascribing glory, and honor, and praise to the Great Deliverer for ever. If I can succeed in gaining their attention, I feel sure of convincing their understandings and securing their support.

Besides the overwhelming odds which are opposed to me, I labor under other very serious disadvantages. My efforts in the cause of emanc.i.p.ation have been received as if they were intended to bring chaos back again, and to give the land up to pillage and its inhabitants to slaughter. My calls for an alteration in the feelings and practices of the people toward the blacks have been regarded as requiring a sacrifice of all the rules of propriety, and as seeking an overthrow of the established laws of nature! I have been thrust into prison, and amerced in a heavy fine. Epithets, huge and unseemly, have been showered upon me without mercy. I have been branded as a fanatic, a madman, a disturber of the peace, an incendiary, a cutthroat, a monster, &c. &c. &c.

a.s.sa.s.sination has been threatened me in a mult.i.tude of anonymous letters. Private and public rewards to a very large amount, by combinations of individuals and by legislative bodies at the south, have been offered to any persons who shall abduct or destroy me. 'Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.' This malignity of opposition and proximity of danger, however, are like oil to the fire of my zeal. I am not deliriously enthusiastic--I do not covet to be a martyr; but I had rather die a thousand deaths, than witness the horrible oppression under which more than two millions of my countrymen groan, _and be silent_. No reproaches, no dangers shall deter me. At the north or the south, at the east or the west,--wherever Providence may call me,--my voice shall be heard in behalf of the perishing slave, and against the claims of his oppressor. Mine is the frank avowal of the excellent WILBERFORCE:--I can admit of no compromise when the commands of equity and philanthropy are so imperious. I wash my hands of the blood that may be spilled. I protest against the system, as the most flagrant violation of every principle of justice and humanity. I NEVER WILL DESERT THE CAUSE. In my task it is impossible to tire: it fills my mind with complacency and peace. At night I lie down with composure, and rise to it in the morning with alacrity. I NEVER WILL DESIST FROM THIS BLESSED WORK.

Now that the concentrated execration of the civilized world is poured upon those who engage in the foreign slave trade, how mild and inefficient, comparatively speaking, seem to have been the rebukes of Pitt, and Fox, and Wilberforce, and Clarkson! Yet these rebukes were once deemed fanatical and outrageous by good men--yea, like flames of fire, threatening a universal conflagration! So the denunciations which I am now hurling against slavery and its abettors,--which seem to many so violent and unmerited,--will be considered moderate, pertinent and just, when this murderous, soul-destroying system shall have been overthrown.

Fanaticism has been the crime alleged against reformers in all ages.

'These,' it was said of the apostles, 'that have turned the world upside down, come hither also.' Luther was a madman in his day: what is he now in the estimation of the friends of civil and religious liberty? One of

'Those starry lights of virtue, that diffuse Through the dark depths of time their vivid flame.'

That base and desperate men should thus stigmatize those who endure the cross as good soldiers, and walk as pilgrims and strangers here, is not wonderful; but that the professed followers of Jesus Christ should join in this hue-and-cry is lamentable. Singular enough, I have been almost as cruelly aspersed by ministers of the gospel and church members, as by any other cla.s.s of men. Unacquainted with me, and ignorant of my sentiments, they have readily believed the accusations of my enemies.

The introduction of my name into conversation has elicited from them contemptuous sneers or strong denunciations. I have a right to complain of this treatment, and I do strongly protest against it as unchristian, hurtful and ungenerous. To prejudge and condemn an individual, on vague and apocryphal rumors, without listening to his defence or examining evidence, is tyranny. Perhaps I am in error--perhaps I deserve unqualified condemnation; but I am at least ent.i.tled to a privilege which is granted to the vilest criminals, namely, the privilege of a fair trial. I ask nothing more. To accuse me of heresy, madness and sedition, is one thing; to substantiate the accusation, another.

Should this work chance to fall into the hands of those who have thus ignorantly reprobated my course, I appeal to their sense of rect.i.tude whether they are not bound to give it a candid and deliberate perusal; and if they shall find in my writings nothing contrary to the immutable principles of justice, whether they ought not to be as strenuous in my defence as they have been hitherto in seeking my overthrow.

To show that I do not vacate any pledge which I have given to the public, I shall here insert all the specifications, which, from time to time, I have brought against the American Colonization Society. In 'The Liberator' of April 23, 1831, is the following serious compend:

'I am prepared to show, that those who have entered into this CONSPIRACY AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS are unanimous in abusing their victims; unanimous in their mode of attack; unanimous in proclaiming the absurdity, that our free blacks are natives of Africa; unanimous in propagating the libel, that they cannot be elevated and improved in this country; unanimous in opposing their instruction; unanimous in exciting the prejudices of the people against them; unanimous in apologising for the crime of slavery; unanimous in conceding the right of the planters to hold their slaves in a limited bondage; unanimous in their hollow pretence for colonizing, namely, to evangelize Africa; unanimous in their _true motive_ for the measure--a terror lest the blacks should rise to avenge their acc.u.mulated wrongs. It is a conspiracy to send the free people of color to Africa under a benevolent pretence, but really that the slaves may be held more securely in bondage. It is a conspiracy based upon fear, oppression and falsehood, which draws its aliment from the prejudices of the people, which is sustained by duplicity, which really upholds the slave system, which fascinates while it destroys, which endangers the safety and happiness of the country, which no precept of the bible can justify, which is implacable in its spirit, which should be annihilated at a blow.