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2 results

  • Chapter 1 - Reform and Relocation: West Africa and Haiti in the Early Republic

  • Elena K. Abbott
  • Book:
    Beacons of Liberty
    Published online:
    09 April 2021
    Print publication:
    22 April 2021, pp 21-49

  • Summary

    This first chapter traces how the emergence of free soil in Sierra Leone, Haiti, and Liberia captured the attention of American reformers in the early nineteenth century amidst growing concern about free African Americans’ social welfare and economic prospects in the United States. Reformers, activists, and potential migrants debated whether the migration of free and recently freed black men and women would improve or degrade the conditions of individual migrants, whether it would help or hinder the black communities left behind, and whether it would positively or negatively affect the overall progress of general emancipation. Reviewing the information available to them, they debated whether to encourage the voluntary “emigration” of free people to Haiti, to support the typically involuntary “colonization” of former slaves to West Africa, or to oppose free-soil relocation schemes altogether. In the process, advocates of each position honed their ideas of what freedom meant, where it could be achieved, and who could enjoy it.

Beacons of Liberty
  • International Free Soil and the Fight for Racial Justice in Antebellum America
  • Elena K. Abbott
  • Published online:
    09 April 2021
    Print publication:
    22 April 2021
  • Before the Civil War, free African Americans and fugitive slaves crossed international borders to places like Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean in search of freedom and equality. Beacons of Liberty tells the story of how these bold migrants catalyzed contentious debates over citizenship, racial justice, and national character in the United States. Blending fresh historical analysis with incredible stories of escape and rebellion, Elena K. Abbott shows how the shifting geography of slavery and freedom beyond US borders helped shape the hopes and expectations of black radicals, white politicians, and fiery reformers engaged in the American anti-slavery movement. Featuring perspectives from activists and risk-takers like Mary Ann Shadd, Martin Delany, and James C. Brown, Beacons of Liberty illuminates the critical role that international free soil played in the long and arduous fight for emancipation and racial justice in the United States.