The Abolitionist Propaganda War

Abstract

In the 1820s, anti-slavery colonizationists in both Britain and America watched with anxious anticipation to see if Sierra Leone and Liberia would live up to their hopes of ending the slave trade through the establishment of ‘Civilization, Commerce, and Christianity’ on the continent of Africa. US agent to Africa, Ephraim Bacon, on his visit to West Africa, remarked on ‘the very friendly disposition which the colonial authorities [of Sierra Leone] manifested towards the objects of our mission’.¹ In the late 1820s and early 1830s, he visited Britain to encourage support for the society and establish a transatlantic branch of the organization. He established the British African Colonization Society, received support from leading abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, and left hoping that Liberia and Sierra Leone could be merged into the ‘Empire of Liberia’. An 1833 pamphlet ‘by a citizen of New England’ pointed out that ‘the Society and colony have become known in Great Britain. Donations amounting to several hundred pounds have already been received, and distinguished individuals have expressed their deep interest in the prosperity of the enterprize’.² This same author pointed out that Clarkson and Wilberforce had indicated support for the ACS.