Key Figures
This U.S. president and Founding Father was a supporter of the ACS and appears on an ACS membership certificate
Who is James Madison?
The ACS was founded in this year.
What is 1816?
True or False: Most free Black Americans supported the ACS and were eager to leave the U.S.
What is False?
Some proslavery advocates feared that colonization would lead to this major societal change.
What is the abolition of slavery?
The colonization debate is similar to today’s debates about this U.S. immigration issue.
What is deportation or refugee resettlement?
This free Black American leader wrote a letter opposing colonization and insisted that Black Americans deserved full citizenship in the U.S.
Whi is James Forten?
The ACS aimed to send free Black Americans to this African country.
What is Liberia?
This term describes the organized meetings and conventions free Black Americans held to oppose colonization.
What are Negro Conventions?
True or False: All proslavery advocates supported the ACS.
What is False?
Many elite sponsors of the ACS promoted colonization as a solution rather than pushing for this in the U.S.
What is racial integration or equal rights?
This U.S. Speaker of the House and political leader served as vice president of the ACS and strongly promoted colonization.
Who is Henry Clay?
The capital of Liberia was named after this U.S. president, one of the early supporters of the ACS.
Who is James Monroe (City: Monrovia)?
What was one reason free Black Americans opposed colonization?
What is “America is our home, and we have the right to stay” OR “Colonization is forced exile” OR “We helped build this country” ?
Some Southern plantation owners argued that removing free Black people would do this to their enslaved workforce.
What is disrupt control or encourage rebellion?
The ACS’s funding by powerful figures resembles how corporations and politicians today do this to social movements.
What is co-opt them, fund them without real change, or control the narrative?
This abolitionist and journalist was a vocal opponent of the ACS and argued that Black Americans should fight for equal rights in the U.S. rather than leave.
Who is Frederick Douglass?
This was one reason some white Americans supported the ACS.
What is fear of racial conflict, belief that Black Americans could not integrate, or an attempt to avoid dealing with slavery?
In his letter to Paul Cuffe, James Forten stated he preferred this over being sent to Africa.
What is “being colonized in the most remote corner of the U.S.”?
One argument against colonization was that it suggested Black people could do this successfully, challenging proslavery ideology.
What is govern themselves?
Some modern policies, like gentrification or forced displacement, reflect this aspect of colonization.
What is removing marginalized communities rather than improving conditions?
This Supreme Court Justice was the ACS’s first president and helped legitimize its mission.
Who is Bushrod Washington?
Name one of the primary funding sources for the ACS’s operations.
What is donations from wealthy white sponsors, government funding, or fundraising campaigns?
Many Black Americans feared that colonization was a way to do this rather than help them.
What is remove them from society or strengthen slavery?
Some proslavery politicians feared that Liberia would become a base for this.
What is abolitionist efforts or resistance against slavery?
Liberia today still faces challenges related to its ACS origins, including this issue.
What is political instability, economic struggles, or tensions between descendants of freed African Americans and Indigenous Liberians?