Colonization of Antebellum Period

¶ … Colonization Movement of the Antebellum Period

The Success of Colonization Movement in the Antebellum Period in Attaining its Goals

The American "colonization" movement was a socio-political process, which advocated for the release of slaves by their masters, and the slaves' consequent shipment back to their places of origin in Africa. Another important element of the process was to "enlighten" the "uncivilized" African continent by sending missionaries along with the slaves, who would spread the Christian gospel. The supporters of the movement believed that the inherent differences between whites and blacks ran so deep that the prospects of their peaceful coexistence were extremely dim. Therefore, to ensure that conflicts would not arise in the future, they believed it was integral to expel all black people from the American land. However, as statistics show, their success was limited. They managed to return around 15 thousand slaves to their countries of origin, in the period of 1822 and 1860. That was a very small percentage of the overall slave population, which in 1860, equaled to approximately 3,953,760 black people (Schmoop Editorial Team, 11).

Motivations behind the Colonization Movement

Motivations behind the Colonization Movement varied, and often times conflicted. For example, many supporters believed in the justice of freeing the slaves, yet could not reconcile it with the idea that these slaves were equal to the whites, resulting in their conviction to remove them from the continent altogether. Others were true believers in the notion of emancipation, but acknowledged the difficulty of creating a fully integrated society. Therefore, they preferred to settle for the separation of the two groups. Finally, some saw the movement as a way to further strengthen the culture of slavery by isolating and expelling the blacks who were freed by their owners, in order to avoid a wave of emancipation and uprisings.

It must be noted that neither the believers in the notion of emancipation nor those who thought it was a tactic to further embed slavery into societal fabric contributed much to the movement. This is due to the fact that neither of the two groups had a clear understanding of the end goal of colonization (Schmoop Editorial Team, 10).

Factors that Limited the Movement's Success

The movement had its financial and ideological supporters. Arthur Tappan, a wealthy merchant from the city of New York, was one of them. This renowned abolitionist helped expand the movement, pushing its boundaries as far west as Ohio. The northern state of New England organized weekly anti-colonization gatherings, under the leadership of the Anti-Slavery Society in Boston. In addition, this activist group ran donation programs on the 4th of July to raise funds for the ACS, empowering it as one of the movement's limiting factors (Schmoop Editorial Team, 14).

Support from the Blacks

It comes as no surprise that while some blacks supported the movement, others stood against it. Those in favor were motivated by their belief that people of African descent would never be treated fairly in this land (Ham, 1).

The Impact of the Movement on Black Equality in the U.S.