Thomas Jefferson Quotes
Nothing is more to be wished than that the United States would themselves undertake to make such an establishment on the coast of Africa ... But for this the national mind is not yet prepared. It may perhaps be doubted whether many of these people would voluntarily consent to such an exchange of situation, and very certain that few of those advanced to a certain age in habits of slavery, would be capable of self-government. This should not, however, discourage the experiment, nor the early trial of it; and the proposition should be made with all the prudent cautions and attentions requisite to reconcile it to the interests, the safety, and the prejudices of all parties
Jefferson was referring to a plan then proposed and discussed to establish a colony in Africa which would be populated with free American Negroes and slaves when and if slavery could be ended. See Quotation xxx.
Thomas Jefferson 1811 Writings, XIII, 11
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Free Negroes were banned by many states and local governments or otherwise restricted in their movements and occupations. The “safety of society” referred to the belief of most Southern whites that the mere presence of free Negroes would undermine the slavery system and encourage slave revolts and retribution against the slave owners. At this point Jefferson was considering a plan to patriot Negroes back to Africa. Jefferson, at this point, thought that this might be the fairest and best solution for all.
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Many whites thought that the solution to the problem of free and emancipated Negroes was to send them to Africa. They assumed that the negroes would by desirous of that solution also, but they rarely asked them. When they did, they received answers much like this one from one of the leading Black clergymen in America.
Abraham Lincoln in his famous eulogy to Clay in Springfield, IL, used this quotation.
More than a decade before the Civil War there were many proposals and plans for ending slavery in America without war. Many of these debates took place amongst major religious institutions. John Price Durbin, an eminent Methodist clergyman and former president of Dickinson College proposed one. His plan called for compensation to slaveholders and the relocation of the freed slaves to Africa—a form of ethnic cleansing. Brown disagreed with forced colonization to Africa. Instead, he suggested California as a voluntary option. Brown’s idea received about 9 months of serious consideration, but in January of 1848, gold was discovered in California and the Gold Rush was on. Black colonization of California was off the table.
See {625675}, {625686}, {625684}, {625682}, {625676} for additional quotations arguing for Black emigration.
This idea has been rejected by American Blacks from before the Civil War. There were many Black families that have been in America longer than Rockwell who always had the choice to go back to where they cam from if they were unhappy with America but they never did.
Lincoln early in his career had thought that voluntary Negro emigration would be a solution to the race problem in America. However, over time he lost his enthusiasm for this. Conversations with Black leaders had persuaded him that American Negroes had helped build this country and wanted their fair place in it. Hay thought that the idea was not only immoral but impractical and considered the suggestion always to be a proposed solution which would never be practically implemented. There were a few attempts and there was a society set up to encourage emigration. The Nation of Liberia was founded by returning American ex-slaves, but there has been friction between the descendants of the Americans and those of the natives ever since.
The United States should authorize payment for
The first sentence is inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC. The last two sentences are rarely quoted.
One of the most amazing things about Abraham Lincoln is the way he grew and matured over time. In 1854 he was not sure that the Negro could be the equal of the white. As he met more Black leaders, saw more, reflected more, and had more responsibility, he grew and developed his views on race. But it was statements like this that led to the great distrust that the very strong abolitionists like Wendell Phillips had in him.
Actually Blacks did all three. Some returned to Africa and established the state of Liberia. Others went to South America and most stayed in the United States and continued to help build the nation.
By 1863, Negro troops were being used to fill in gaps in the Union forces. Many union generals resisted having colored troops under their command. Thomas, however, welcomed them, and won several major battles where black soldiers were instrumental in victory.
Lincoln had promised amnesty to Southerners who would pledge loyalty to the Union. What many feared was that this would include slave owners re-enslaving their former "property," or that the government would allow them to do so in order to stop the rebellion.
In 1862 the president requested a $600,000 congressional appropriation to finance a pilot program for Negroes freed by the Civil War to emigrate to Africa. He met with a delegation of Black leaders:
The Act was passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly whose clerk interestingly enough was Tom Paine.
Most free Blacks were not enthusiastic about the possibility of colonization. Those that were, wanted a colony in the Western part of America—not Africa or the Caribbean. See {613811}.
One of the many complaints that many people made at the time about Smith and his Mormons was that they opposed slavery. In fact, Smith not only opposed it be had a plan for compensating the slave owner and a method for paying for it. Smith was not advocating the kinds of personal lifestyle issues of his church the way modern religious leaders do, but was concerned with the much larger issues of expansionism, corruption of the courts and judiciary, and land distribution. He was a classic reform candidate in that sense. Smith had written to most of the then likely Presidential candidates of both major parties asking for their position on the Mormons who were facing persecution wherever they went. None of the politicians would make any satisfactory commitments. Smith took Direct Action and became the only major religious official to have run for the Presidency of the United States until Pat Robertson tried and failed in 2000. Smith’s assassination shortly thereafter cut his run for the Presidency short before it made much headway and politically he had no chance to affect the race.
Incredibly enough, after the Civil War and emancipation, most Virginia leaders opposed any form of rights for Blacks with one of the major reasons being that they were ignorant and uneducated. It was actually a crime to teach even a free Black to read.
We beseech His Majesty to interest himself in ameliorating the condition of negroes in the colonies.
This Cahier was the consensus of the Clergy of Blois in 1789. There were cahiers of several provinces of France—some by the clergy, some by the nobles. What is fascinating is the emergence of many of the pre-Revolutionary French concepts. The example of the American revolution and its principles was known throughout the educated classes of France.
- Born: April 13, 1743
- Died: July 4, 1826
- Nationality: American
- Profession: President
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
