The Brief Career of Rufus W. Bailey, American Colonization Society Agent in Virginia
2005; Southern Historical Association; Volume: 71; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2325-6893
Autores Tópico(s)American Constitutional Law and Politics
ResumoTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY (ACS), A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION headquartered in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to repatriating Americans of African descent, has been the subject of controversy almost from the date of its founding in 1817. Was its main goal the ultimate eradication of slavery in the United States, as many supporters claimed, or to purge American society of its free non-white population? The society's constitution declared that it would interfere with slavery, yet several thousand slaves were manumitted and sent to the society's holdings in the colony (and later, nation) of Liberia. (1) Much of the ambiguity lies in the society's efforts to garner national support, which required that it craft different appeals for each section of the country. Whereas in free states the American Colonization Society could more openly oppose slavery and to some extent needed to do so in order to attract support, in southern states the group insisted that it desired only to colonize free blacks. This, as observed by both contemporaries and historians, indirectly strengthened slavery by removing a segment of the population that undermined control and discipline. (2) In neither section of the country did proponents of African colonization believe that people of African descent could ever be truly free and full citizens in the United States. White racism was too entrenched, even in abolitionist strongholds. The solution, according to the ACS, was repatriation to Africa. Although more than ten thousand African Americans apparently concurred, emigrating to the specially created state of Liberia between 1820 and 1860, the overwhelming majority of American blacks rejected repatriation. They wanted a fair share of the rights, opportunities, and security enjoyed by white citizens. In southern states, opposition tended to follow a path of passive resistance, but it was quite vocal in free states. At a meeting in Philadelphia in 1817, blacks denounced African colonization as not only ... cruel, but in direct violation of those principles, which have been the boast of this republic. Blacks elsewhere also protested African repatriation. At a meeting in New York more than a dozen years later, blacks condemned the ACS and declared, claim this country, the place of our birth, and Africa, as our mother country, and all attempts to send us to Africa we consider gratuitous and uncalled for. (3) Potential emigrants were also apprehensive about the high mortality rate among early Liberian colonists. Those African Americans who did emigrate to Liberia went voluntarily, as required by the society. Their numbers, however, had only a minor effect on either diminishing the size of the American free black population or in raising the number of manumissions. (4) This article concerns an individual American Colonization Society agent, Rev. Rufus W. Bailey, who was assigned to work in western Virginia at mid-century. In the organization's early years, African colonization had enjoyed the patronage of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and a number of other prominent Virginians. (5) Yet in terms of actual emigration, Rufus W. Bailey proved more effective in promoting the society and its goals than perhaps any other single individual in this strategically important state. First, Bailey was content merely to solicit donations from church congregations and facilitate the transportation of any emigrants who came forward. He actively sought out prospective emigrants and personally worked to expedite their journey. Secondly, instead of beating the bush for numerous private donations, Bailey successfully lobbied the Virginia legislature for a subsidy to reduce the cost of emigration for those considering departure. Lastly and most worthy of notice, where persuasion and subsidies did work, Bailey tried to shame local authorities into clamping down on the free blacks who remained in Virginia contrary to state law and thus to force them to leave, preferably for Liberia. …
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