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Title: William Thornton and negro colonization
Author: Gaillard Hunt
Release date: November 2, 2026 [eBook #79903]
Language: English
Original publication: Worcester: The American Antiquarian Society, 1920
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM THORNTON AND NEGRO COLONIZATION ***
Transcriber’s Note
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American Antiquarian Society
WILLIAM THORNTON AND
NEGRO COLONIZATION
BY
GAILLARD HUNT
REPRINTED FROM THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY
FOR APRIL 1920
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A.
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY
1921
THE DAVIS PRESS
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS
WILLIAM THORNTON AND NEGRO COLONIZATION
BY GAILLARD HUNT
In the Caribbean Sea, stretching eastward from Porto Rico, lies a
group of about one hundred small islands, some mere rocks in the sea
furnishing no sustenance for human beings, and some of larger size
where a few planters raise sugar and cotton. These are the Virgin
Islands discovered by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in
1494, and named by him in honor of the Eleven Thousand Virgin Martyrs
of St. Ursula; but this pious name did not prevent them from being, in
the middle of the seventeenth century, the favorite resort of those
picturesque desperadoes, the pirates of the Spanish Main, who found
in their numerous inlets and harbors which were dangerous to pursuing
navigators a safe refuge from the consequences of their crimes. The
largest of the islands is Tortola, the Turtle Dove, a beautiful
little domain, twenty-four miles long and five miles wide, with rich
valleys and a range of high hills. Travellers seldom go to Tortola
now, planting is unprofitable, the island is almost deserted; but in
the eighteenth century it flourished, and a few planters and numerous
black slaves lived there prosperously and contentedly. In 1756 the
whole population of the island was 460 white persons and 3,864 negro
slaves.[1]
Chief among the planters was an English Quaker named Thornton and over
his household presided his young wife, Dorcas Downing Zeagurs.[2]
On May 27, 1761, their son William was born. I have fixed the year
approximately by circumstantial evidence; for he never disclosed it and
there are no vital statistics for Tortola. When William Thornton was
two years old his father died, and when he was five he was sent to his
father’s relatives, his grandfather and aunts, in Lancashire, England,
to be educated. In 1777, when he was sixteen, he was apprenticed to a
Doctor Fell of Ulverstone, England, to learn the business of a doctor,
who was also then an apothecary, a dentist and a phlebotomist. Thornton
attended Doctor Fell’s shop, learned to make boluses and plasters,
how to bleed people and how to pull their teeth out, and before he
left Doctor Fell he had earned several sixpences and shillings with
his lancet and forceps. After three years with Doctor Fell he went
to Edinburgh to take the finishing course in medicine for which the
University at that city was famous. He entered in 1781 and took his
degree in 1784. After a brief return to Tortola he went to Paris to
continue his scientific studies and there he learned a great deal
and made many pleasant acquaintances. By this time he had formed the
definite idea that he was to be a leader in the world, but to obtain
this leadership a large private fortune was needed and he determined
to acquire it by marriage. In 1787 he came to America and made a
considerable stay in Philadelphia and Wilmington. It was at this time
that he addressed himself to Governor John Dickinson, of Delaware, and
asked the hand of the Governor’s daughter in marriage. The Governor was
rich and had married an heiress himself, but he rejected Thornton’s
overtures because he thought his daughter was too young to marry, she
being only sixteen years old. The lover could not wait for her to grow
older, and went back to Tortola in April, 1788. He intended to settle
in America, however, and had been naturalized as a citizen of Delaware
on January 7, 1788. When he reached the West Indies he met another
heiress, whose initials only have been preserved, Miss R. H., and
became engaged to her. Shortly before the day set for their marriage
she ran off with another man. This mortifying circumstance threw
Thornton into a fever and he was very ill. As soon as he had recovered
sufficiently to travel, he came back to America to mend his health and
heart. Neither was permanently broken, for he was soon in good physical
condition, and in October, 1790, within a year from the time he was
jilted in the West Indies, he was married in Philadelphia to Anna Maria
Brodeau. Two failures to secure heiresses had somewhat diminished his
matrimonial ambitions, but his wife was not portionless. Her mother
was a French woman, a widow of high social position in Philadelphia,
clever and influential, and Thornton’s position in Philadelphia, and
afterwards in Washington, was strengthened by her support. Although her
daughter was hardly older than Miss Dickinson was when the Governor
rejected Thornton, Mrs. Brodeau was not afraid to entrust her happiness
to Thornton’s care. In fact, she was pleased with the match, for she
saw that her son-in-law was a remarkable man, and she yielded, as
others did, to his charm of manner and conversation, his sprightliness
and enthusiasm which made him more like a Frenchman than an Englishman.
At the time of his marriage he was thirty years old, of medium height,
with regular features, brown hair and English complexion, an aquiline
nose, active in body and abnormally active in mind. There was hardly a
man in America who had received a scientific education equal to his,
for the Americans who studied abroad usually went through a classical
course only, but Thornton, having received a rudimentary classical
education, had studied medicine and chemistry and then botany and
other branches of natural science. The young man was no adventurer, nor
was he penniless, for the plantation yielded him an income which was,
however, not always certain. By nature he was a fearless idealist and
believed that the New World would welcome plans and projects which in
Europe would go unheeded.
In 1793 the American Philosophical Society awarded him the Magellanic
gold medal for his essay entitled “_Cadmus_; or a Treatise on the
Elements of Written Language, Illustrated by a Philosophical division
of Speech, the power of each character, thereby mutually fixing the
orthography and orthoepy, with an Essay on the mode of teaching the
surd or deaf, and consequently dumb, to speak.” It was a treatise upon
the elements of written language and the application of a new system
of letters and spelling to the teaching of the deaf to speak. Much of
the argument has become familiar to later generations in the literature
concerning Volapuk, Esperanto, simplified spelling and visible
speech.[3]
Before Thornton attracted attention in this field he had become the
patron, friend and coadjutor of John Fitch.[4] He made John Fitch’s
steamboat a success. Twenty years later he swore that Robert Fulton
had stolen the plans of the boat. It was soon after his experiments
with the steamboat began that he invented a steam cannon which drove
twenty-four bullets successively in two minutes through a plank an inch
thick, but this rapid-fire gun he considered to be more curious than
useful. In 1792 his plans for the new Capitol building at Washington
were accepted. He had previously designed the Philadelphia Library
Building. Subsequently, he designed several other buildings including
some beautiful private houses, a few of which are still standing. The
history of his connection with the Capitol building has been written
by Glenn Brown. A full account of William Thornton, the Architect,
has yet to be written. He studied architecture for the first time
when he drew the plans for the Capitol, but architecture was never
more than a recreation with him. He gave up the practice of medicine
before he left Philadelphia for Washington and never regularly resumed
it. The fees were much smaller in this country than they were in
the West Indies, but, apart from that, he felt an aversion for many
branches of a general practitioner’s duties, and in those days there
were no specialists. He took an interest in agriculture and had a
farm near Washington, but he never followed farming as a profession.
He was a prolific writer, a printer of pamphlets, a contributor to
the newspapers, and letters flowed from his pen in endless numbers,
but he never wrote a book and he could not be called an author. His
writings cover a bewildering multitude of subjects--negro colonization
and emancipation, a national university, landscape gardening,
somnambulism,[5] South American independence, the breeding of horses,
city building, George Washington, to mention only a few. Of no
circumstance in his life was he as proud as he was of Washington’s
friendship. The intimate association began in Philadelphia in 1792
and when Tobias Lear ceased to be Washington’s private Secretary the
following year Thornton aspired to succeed him. The President’s reply
to him saying he had chosen his wife’s kinsman, Bartholomew Dandridge,
was warm and friendly in tone. Washington appointed him a Commissioner
of the new federal district in 1794, moved to the selection,
doubtless, because he wished him to have oversight of the construction
of the building he had designed, because he believed him to be a genius
in planning generally, and because he had confidence in him and a
personal liking for him. He and Commissioner Thornton tramped together
over the ten miles square and he lent a willing ear to Thornton’s
projects, liking them none the less because many of them were Utopian.
Thornton told him how a philosophical society must be founded; how
there must be a national university on a novel plan which should
include mechanical as well as classical and scientific education;
how there must be an agricultural institution on a comprehensive
scale--that government, art, science, learning, mechanics, husbandry,
all must have their central point in the new city which this modern
Cadmus hoped to build.
Thornton fairly revelled in the intimacy with Washington. He wrote to
his friends in England about it; he planned to become Washington’s
Boswell and to record his daily sayings and doings; but he appears
to have abandoned the idea--at any rate he has left us no notes to
indicate that he even started to carry it out. The friendly letters
which Washington and the family at Mt. Vernon wrote him survive
as conclusive proof that he did not exaggerate his position. At
Washington’s request he wrote out his ideas on the subject of the
national university and they were printed in 1796 under the title
“Public Education.” He designed the General’s handsome house on North
Capitol Street between B and C streets, and supervised the building,
being often intrusted by Washington with large sums of money to pay for
the work as it progressed. He helped Washington’s nephew, Lewis, in
planning his country house. Mrs. Washington appealed to him on occasion
as a physician and often intrusted him with those small household
commissions which are a sure sign of intimacy.
After Thornton had served as Commissioner of the District of Columbia
for five years, the office was abolished and he became Superintendent
of the Patent Office, then under the Department of State, serving from
1802 up to the time of his death in 1827. His activities as a citizen
were numerous. He served as a justice of the peace; was an officer in
the militia; was one of the founders of the Columbian Institution,
the first society for mental improvement organized in Washington; he
was one of the organizers of the Washington Assemblies in 1800, the
first effort to give form to the society of the place; he painted
amateur portraits; he wrote verses; he entertained a great deal. He
became interested in South American politics and was a correspondent of
several of the leaders in the struggle for South American independence.
In 1815 he printed a pamphlet entitled “Outlines of a Constitution for
United North and South Columbia, Addressed to the Citizens of North
and South Columbia”--a fantastic plan for uniting the whole Western
Hemisphere under one government with the capital on the Isthmus of
Darien. He wanted to be a minister to one of the South American
republics.
He was a contentious man, and the habit grew on him as he grew older.
He was a writer of long, explanatory, circumstantial letters, all true
enough but doubtless wearisome to receive. He quarreled with his fellow
Commissioners of the District, with Fulton over the steamboat, with
Latrobe over the Capitol. He importuned Congress on many subjects,
the Secretary of State over the Patent Office, the President on
Appointments to office and public questions. He became a man with
grievances and claims. I have read a great many of these letters and
they seem convincing that he was right. Nevertheless, I can imagine how
sorry his correspondents were to receive them, how reluctantly they
read them, and how difficult they found it to answer them, knowing, as
they did, that he would be sure to write more long letters in reply.
He was an unconquerable man and he never grew old. When he died
on March 28, 1828, at the age of 67, he was still planning, still
contending, still hoping for that leadership and success which he had
resolved should be his when he started out in life.
I have said that Thornton wrote on negro colonization and emancipation,
and his connection with this subject I shall now develop by several of
his surviving papers.
I must turn first to another West Indian, who like Thornton was
born in the Virgin Islands, who was also a Quaker, a physician, an
emancipationist and a scientist of varied accomplishments and great
curiosity. John Coakley Lettsom had already made his mark in London
when Thornton came upon the scene, being some seventeen years older
than Thornton, and to him Thornton appealed for assistance in his plans
for helping the negroes to be free and the free negroes to become
useful members of society.[6] For Thornton’s benefit Lettsom obtained
an account from Granville Sharp of his experiment at Sierra Leone.
Granville Sharp was a philanthropist and pamphleteer, a sympathizer
with the American Revolution, a friend of General Oglethorpe and a most
effective friend of the negroes. It was he, in fact, who brought about
the litigation in England which resulted in the British declaration
that a slave became free as soon as he landed on British soil. Sharp’s
letter of October 13, 1788, to Doctor Lettsom, told how Sierra Leone
had been bought for a trifling sum from King Tom, a negro chief. The
King not only sold his territory but his subjects as well. He was
in the slave trade, and did, in fact, sell some of the free negro
colonists when their number became few and they could not resist him.
To Sierra Leone, Sharp and several others, with the aid of the British
Government, sent some four hundred wretched negroes early in 1787. They
were the remnant of those American slaves who had been incorporated
into the British Army and Navy during the American Revolution, besides
some runaways who had found refuge in London. They started on the
voyage much debilitated by long waiting on shipboard and by drunkenness
from the rum which was served to them as a part of their rations. Only
two hundred and seventy-six got to Sierra Leone. A few months later
only one hundred and thirty of these were still in the Colony.
Doctor Lettsom’s friend, Henry Smeathman,[7] a scientific explorer
who had lived for several years on the West Coast of Africa, was the
originator of the Sierra Leone experiment, and when Thornton heard in
1786 that Smeathman intended to visit Africa he wrote to Lettsom, Nov.
18, 1786, that he would like to go with him. He said that he wished to
emancipate the slaves on the plantation in Tortola, but as only half of
them, some seventy or eighty, belonged to him he would have to take his
slaves away. Where could he send them? To their own country, naturally,
but in that country some one must protect them from their relatives,
the natives, and from their own helplessness. Thornton wished to be
that protector. Before removing his slaves from Tortola he intended to
allot to them some land and require them to pay him for it gradually
before they were emancipated. He hoped in this way to arouse in them
habits of independence. He said that in Africa a commonwealth should
be founded. He worked out his plan in detail. It included, as he was
then a Quaker, disarming the inhabitants and the making of inviolable
treaties of peace with all the world. His activities extended to the
free negroes in America. He told Lettsom, February 15, 1787, that he
found many free negroes in Rhode Island who were desirous of going to
the Guinea Coast and who approved of his project to transport them
thither. He learned that there were a great many free blacks in Boston.
The American blacks were anxious to know if Sierra Leone was a British
colony or an independent settlement. If it was a colony they would not
go, but if it was independent they would go and Thornton would go with
them. They changed his plans by insisting upon the right to carry arms
for their self-defense; otherwise they might be captured and reduced to
slavery again. Thornton could get 2,000 to go with him. The blacks in
Newport were organized as the “Union Society”, and more than seventy
had signed as ready to join him. Going to Boston he grew warmer in his
plans. May 20, 1787, he wrote that hundreds were ready to go from that
place. He discussed his project with Samuel Adams, who approved of
it. Thornton wished to dedicate himself to “this grand affair,” as he
called it. Returning to Philadelphia in July, 1788, he was still full
of his black commonwealth, but the expedition to Sierra Leone having
sailed, he would wait to hear how it turned out. If it failed he would
organize another expedition. If it succeeded his American blacks would
join the new settlers. They would go in prodigious numbers if the
settlement was free and not a colony. The free blacks had petitioned
the legislature of Massachusetts for vessels and equipment to take
them to Africa. If it was necessary, Thornton would fit out transports
himself for that purpose. In 1789 began his correspondence on the
subject with the French emancipation society, “Les Amis des Noirs,” but
he appears to have derived only moral encouragement from that source.
He thought he could do more good in Africa than he could anywhere
else on the globe, but he must have the “superintendence of the
undertaking.” (To Lettsom Nov. 13, 1789.) He was then a bachelor, and
had no ties to deter him from personal risk. On June 15, 1790, he was
still ardent for his plan. After that we hear no more of his desire to
go to Africa. He was married in October of that year. His attention was
now engrossed by his explorations in the elements of written language.
He was writing a dictionary of the English language, giving all the
roots of words and their true spelling, which had never been properly
given. By 1794 he was telling Lettsom about the new capital, which
he thought would be “one of the most elegant cities in the world.”
(January 8, 1795.)
When Thornton was deep in his colonization plans he laid them before
Samuel Adams, as we have seen, and he approved of them, and he found
encouragement and assistance from James Madison who wrote out for him
certain considerations which he incorporated in his letter to the
President of the “Société des Amis des Noirs.”
J. DOTY TO WILLIAM THORNTON
[Tortola] [1786]
Dear Sir
I informed you I would transmit to you early intelligence of the
determination of the members of the House of Assembly on your address
to them, and the letter to me which accompanied it. I yesterday
submitted both to them, and according to the usual form, the further
consideration of the Subject matter was ordered for the next meeting.
In the mean-time it may not be improper to state to you, the Ideas
which this Subject seems to have given rise to, in the minds of some
of the members. It is not extraordinary that a plan, which has for
its object, the establishing a Colony of free blacks, in a tropical
climate, for the purpose of Cultivating the usual articles which
are the produce of the West Indies, and promoting the Interests of
Freedom among those people, should not be a very popular one in
this Country. And some of the members of the Assembly seem to be
of opinion that such an establishment should it be carried into
effect and be successful, will eventually be highly injurious to
the Interests of the West India Islands, and therefore ought not to
be countenanced by them. There are some other Gentlemen, who seem
desirous of knowing, to whom the Colony intended to be established at
Sierra Leone is to be made Subject; whether it is to be absolutely
a dependency of Great Britain, or whether it is intended to be only
placed under the protection of that power, and as to matters of
Government, Commerce, &c to remain in a state of Independency. I
must confess it appears to me, that a discussion of this subject at
large, in this, or any other of the Islands, will be a fruitless, and
futile, undertaking, as the establishing, and ultimate existence and
success of such Colony, will depend upon causes, which these Islands
can very little Influence or control, but were this not the case, I
can conceive that the establishment of a Colony of free people of
colour in Africa, may not only, not be injurious to the Interests of
the West India Islands, but may even be rendered beneficial to them,
for if to the free Blacks who it is intended shall be removed from
North America to Africa, the plan is so extended as that the free
people of colour in the Islands may be added, the community without
an Act of injustice might be disencumbered of a class of people, who
it is universally acknowledged are highly injurious to its Interests.
These people are, in the Islands, in a situation more ineligible
than they are on the Continent of North America, and probably would
most willingly emigrate to another Country whose policy would not
make it necessary to restrict them, in the rights of Citizenship. In
the Islands they can scarcely be said legally to possess any visible
permanent property, in some of them they are not allowed to possess
the smallest quantity of Land in fee, nor beyond a very small number
of Slaves, and in others where they are permitted by Law to hold a
small quantity of Land in fee, they are prohibited from planting any,
but certain Articles of cultivation. In this Island, their legal
right to hold property within it, is a more liberal one than in most
others, but even here, they cannot possess more than eight Acres of
Land, nor more than fifteen Slaves. In one of the Windward Islands
of this government it is at present or was lately in contemplation,
to pass a Law, prohibiting any free person of Colour, from keeping
a Huckstering shop, and from retailing Rum and other spirituous
liquors, in any of the Towns in the Island, and as this business has
hitherto constituted a principal object of employment with these
people, should such a Law pass the Legislature, many of them will
be deprived of the means of subsistence, at least until they have
adopted some other object of employment. They are not eligible to
the holding any publick office of trust, or profit, in many of the
Islands, nor have they a Vote in the election of any publick officer,
and in some of the Islands (particularly in the foreign) they are
prohibited from following any but certain Trades and employments. In
the French Islands their situation is much worse than in the English,
if the late revolution in the government, has not operated to their
advantage, and in the Danish & Dutch, they are but little removed
from mere Slaves.
Without reasoning as to the Justice of the distinction which is
universally made between the white Inhabitants and the free people
of colour, and the very great distance at which the Law has placed
the one from the other, it is sufficient that the policy of the
West Indies, will never suffer these poor people to emerge from
their present humble state, or to possess the equal rights of free
Citizenship. To these causes, and their consequent poverty it is
to be attributed that in general in the Islands, they are an Idle,
profligate Race, and very Injurious to the Interests of the rest
of the Community of which they are Members, and they probably will
ever remain so, until they are placed in a situation, where they can
enjoy the rights and immunities of free citizens. Where the right
of possessing property to any extent, may operate as a spur to the
acquiring it by an exertion of honest industry, and where, finding a
fair reputation will be an essential prerequisite in the acquirement
of office, and the good opinion of the Community, it will be their
Interest to be careful of their moral conduct, and to preserve a
decent appearance.
The House of Assembly stands adjourned to tuesday next, on which day,
or at any subsequent meeting, I shall be happy in communicating to
the members, any further information on this Subject, which you shall
think proper and necessary to be submitted to their consideration.
I am
Sir
_Friday Morning_ with great Respect
Your most obedient Servant
J Doty
Doctor Thornton
General Outlines of a Settlement on the Coast of Africa
particularly that part under the Appellation of the Tooth-Ivory
Coast. In the Language of the Blacks _Quaqua_.--[by Thornton].
This part of the Coast is chosen because it enjoys as good Air as any
of the Windward Coast, is not so subject to pestilential Fevers as
the Grain Coast, because it does not contain large Rivers.[8]
It does not abound so much with Minerals as the Gold Coast, therefore
the Water will probably be better. It is equally luxuriant with
any part, for Nature providing always with a Bountiful Hand has
placed there the largest Animals with which we are Acquainted, (the
Elephant), and the Sugar Cane grows there, naturally, in the most
rich manner as Food for them. The Natives are much more numerous than
on any other place on the Windward Coast, for they have generally
been more peaceable, and have not yet got into the refined Species of
Traffic i. e. for Men.
The European powers have no Forts there, & cannot on that Account be
jealous of a Settlement that promises not to interfere with their
immediate Views. They could be supplied with Grain on one side, and
Gold Dust for a medium in Traffic on the other.
1. The Country must be visited, and Lands purchased of the Natives,
making a Settlement in a peaceable manner.
2. The Courts of England, France, & the States of America to be
visited that a Treaty of Commerce with them & the Africans may be
established. This Treaty not to exclude them from a free Trade with
any other power, or with the whole World: And that any Vessel which
may be built in Africa or owned there, shall have free admittance
into the ports which receive their Commodities. If any power shall
encroach upon the Liberties of the Settlement the most formal & fixed
Resolution shall be taken never more to trade with that power till
Restitution be made, and the other powers in treaty will doubtless
protect from Insults their commercial Allies. The Americans having
no Settlement in the torrid Zone would be much benefitted by such a
Treaty. No power would ever be jealous, as this Settlement would be
one founded in perfect peace, and therefore incapable of assuming or
dictating to any other. The Articles of Commerce would be, to Europe,
Cotton, Indigo, Gold Dust, Ivory, Gums, Dying Wood, Drugs & Spices;
to America the same with the addition of Sugar & its products; Cocoa,
Coffee &c. as they have no Colonies that would interfere with such
productions, and as their chief dependence is on the Agriculture of
their own Country, might be supplied with some Manufactures of Africa.
3. Blacks who are now free in America & Europe, or who may be made
free in the West Indies hereafter, to be taken to the New Settlement
carrying with them such Utensils as will be requisite to cultivate
the Lands, and also to form the necessaries of Life. The West India
Negroes will be well acquainted with the culture of Sugar, Cotton,
Indigo, Cocoa, Ginger, Coffee, Rice, Corn, (Indian & Guinea) and
raising such live Stock as is peculiarly adapted to the torrid
Zone. The Negroes of the Northern Countries, who have been amongst
Christians (a sect which the poor West India Negroes know little
of, except by Name) would be easily induced to live a regular Life,
and by their Example the rest, as well as the Natives, might become
a sober religious People. The northern Negroes too, by the Example
of Industry which they have been accustomed to behold in the lower
Classes of the White Inhabitants of those Countries would easily, by
introducing their acquired Habits & Customs, bring to Industrious
Lives the ignorant & slothful of the warm Country of Africa.
4. The Lands already purchased from the Natives might be divided into
portions or Estates according to the number of their Family. These
might be taxed in a very light degree, for the support of--
5. Schools & religious Houses, which are to be raised by the public
Stock.
6. Such a Trade might be opened with the Africans that into this
Settlement great Riches would be drained from the other parts, and
the European Powers, particularly Great Britain & France and also the
States of America, would find their Advantage in opening an extensive
Commerce with it.
7. A Code of Laws to be framed for the mutual good of each Member
of the Community which Code must be signed by every Individual, and
executed by the Sentence of a Majority of Judges, a Jury, or single
Judge, according to the nature of the Crime and Circumstances.
8. That such valuable Vegetable productions, as do not naturally grow
in that part of Africa, be imported to the most proper nurseries
appointed for the general Good of the Community, and their culture
could then be extended with the demand.
9th To buy the Slaves that are brought from different parts and
more fully to answer the purpose particular Ships may be stationed
upon the Coast to receive them, and prevent their being offered to
trading Vessels, and to free every person thus purchased, making
him a member of the Community and giving equal privileges with the
rest. If he have a Wife, or she a Husband, or they have Children
or Friends in the Country whence they were brought, by having
permission to return and invite such Friends or any other persons to
this Settlement of Peace, and paying their own Ransom by working or
by Commerce, with Interest, the Community would increase rapidly, and
as any province is rich only by the number of its Inhabitants such a
Settlement would doubtless soon acquire an immense property. By this
mode Thousands would annually be rescued from the most oppressive
slavery, or Death, would be adopted into a Family of Peace on Earth,
and taught Doctrines of Him, the King of Kings who has promised peace
to his followers, in Heaven. The price which each would give for
his Freedom would so much exceed any Sum that could be offered with
Advantage by the Slave Traders, that in a little time the Traffic
would cease. What heavenly pleasure must dilate every Breast that has
been instrumental in delivering from oppression the poor defenceless
Captive, and restoring tranquillity to his Family. The power that
created you as Instruments would never leave you! What happiness
awaits him who calls a Soul from Bondage under the promise of the
most high, but my Friends what infinity of happiness shall be theirs
who deliver from bondage & call unto Christ so many Thousand Souls!
W. T.
To the Black Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, assembled at one
of their stated Meetings in Philadelphia. [Draft by Thornton].
It is in Contemplation by the English to make a free Settlement of
Blacks on the Coast of Africa, which they have already begun, and
have purchased a Tract of Land twenty Miles square at Sierra Leone
for the intended Settlers.[9] They are desirous of knowing if any
of the Blacks of this Country be willing to return to that Region
which their Fathers originally possessed, and finding many in Boston,
Providence and Rhode Island very desirous of embarking for Africa,
wish also to be informed if any of the Blacks in Pennsylvania are
inclined to settle there. They would on landing be entitled to
Estates, or certain Tracts of Land, and possess them for ever.
The Place intended for this Settlement is at the mouth of the River
of Sierra Leone, which is navigable back 240 Miles. It is situated
in about 10 Degrees East Long: of Tenerif, and 8 Deg: North Lat:
Sir George Young of the British Navy who visited this Place gives
the following Account of it. “St. George’s Bay, in which the first
Township is formed, is, without exception, as fine a Harbour as any
in the World; that the Mountains abound with Brooks of fresh Water;
and are covered with the most noble Forests of all kinds of Timber,
and with perpetual verdure; that when he ascended those Mountains,
and looked about him he had never been so agreeably struck before
with beautiful Landscapes of Wood and Water; and that he found the
Air so cool upon the Mountain that he could have borne his great Coat
with pleasure.”
The Blacks who form this Settlement should be a free and independent
People, governed by their own Laws, and by Officers of their own
election. Their Ports would be open to trade with the whole World,
whereby they would have the Advantage of procuring every thing at
the cheapest Rate, which would not be the Case were the Settlement
monopolized as a dependent Colony, by any power either of Europe or
America; but it is imagined the Slave Trade will be soon abolished,
and that the Europeans and Americans will co-operate in the
establishment of this laudable Undertaking.
It is requested that those who may be disposed to embark for Africa
will sign their Names, Ages, Trades and Families, &c., in the
following, or a similar manner.
Names Ages Trades Families
The immediate Exports from Africa to Europe would be Gold Dust,
Ivory, Cotton, Dying Woods, Gums, Drugs, Spices, Fruits and
Preserves, Wood for Cabinets, &c, Oil of Palms &c, Indigo, Tobacco,
Rice and Wax; to America the same, except the four last Articles,
but with the Addition of Cocoa, Coffee, Sugar & its products &c, as
the Americans have no Colonies with which such productions would
interfere.
WILLIAM THORNTON TO ÉTIENNE CLAVIÈRE [1788]
Mons.^r [Étienne] Clavière
_President de la Societe des Amis des Noirs_
Respected Friend
Thy Letter with which I was lately honored is truly interesting & I
perused it with most satisfaction, and think myself highly obligated
for this favour: I am happy that your Nation while engaged in a noble
struggle for her own Privileges was not inattentive to the rights and
happiness of the most oppressed of the human Race. While the Voice
of Liberty was heard in every Street, and acclamations of Joy rent
the Heavens, you listened to the voice of humanity, in the midst of
gladness, the cry of the afflicted in a distant Land pierced each
Heart of Benevolence. The Sum of your Happiness is not yet complete
for Tears of Sorrow continue to flow from the Eyes of Slaves, and
the God of Man cannot delight in the freedom of one who binds another
to administer to his pleasures. Let that nobleness of Character which
has distinguished your People rouse you to assert for the Africans
those privileges that are claimed so loudly by the French! then will
their solemn appeals to Heaven and to Earth for the Rights of Man
be marked with consistency, requiring that _all_ Men are _equally_
entitled by Nature to the same Favours! Thus shall each name that
dignifies your Society do honor to human Nature, and when the Trumpet
of Fame has done sounding the names of Heroes, your Names will be
heard with secret Joy in the most remote Ages, and Time will hand
them over to Eternity.
I am happy that you approve of the Men with whom I propose to form
a Settlement in Africa, though you think it will be necessary to
form a concert of opinions and of actions between the different
powers of Europe in favour of the plan previous to the attempt to
form the Establishment: if however we consider that even with all
the disadvantages of inexperienced Superintendents, appointed over a
lawless Banditti and not very satisfactorily equipped, the English
made an Essay, and as I have lately been informed not unsuccessfully,
we might, with reason, hope that with such Men as I had the honor
of proposing to you, properly provided with Necessaries & Arms, a
free Settlement might be established upon the most solid Basis; for
it does not appear that either the continuance of Slavery in other
places, or even the Slave Trade affected the Settlers at Sierra Leone
materially and, as the Traders seek only to take the Men, not the
Country, they would have no Inducements to attack the free Blacks who
were trained to Arms, and who were determined to sell their liberty
only with their loss of Life. The Blacks of the Eastern States of
North America still continue anxious to embark for Africa. They even
addressed the Legislature of Massachusetts, and received an Answer
truly worthy of that noble-spirited People, signifying that they were
willing to grant the prayer of their Petition, in furnishing Ships
with Stores, Implements of Labour, and Necessaries for the Coast of
Africa, as soon as a proper place could be secured to them, either by
Grants made by the African Princes, or in Consequence of Negotiations
with any of the European Powers.
I am incapable of expressing my admiration of your spirited and
excellent address to the Bailliages or Districts entitled to send
Delegates to the states Gen^l: It speaks the Language of Magnanimity,
but though its justice may stare every slave dealer in the Face,
and each sleeping Conscience be awaked to its Sense of Guilt, it
withdraws behind the impenetrable Veil of Interest, and the Mind is
afraid to give way to conviction. A total and immediate abolition of
Slavery may indeed be pregnant with some Danger to Society, but there
can be no inconvenience in a gradual Emancipation to commence as soon
as general Safety will permit it. You expect the abolition of the
Trade: I sincerely hope that the Voice of a few Slave Traders, the
most despicable of human Beings will not be suffered to dictate the
most unchristian of practices to your enlightened Nation so justly
famed for humanity and generosity: But whether or no you succeed in
this praiseworthy attempt to abolish a traffic in the human Species
let me urge the immediate consideration of the plan for forming a
Settlement in Africa. The English will no doubt co-operate with
you, and the Americans are willing, What can be urged against it
that will not shrink before Resolution? If the Colonies preserve
their unjust Titles to hold Slaves, how will they interfere with
Africa? If the Slave Trade be still permitted even on every part
of the Coast, what Madman would run headlong into danger to take
them, knowing the dispositions of regularly disciplined Men in Arms
especially if the terror of retaliation in Slavery were threatened
by the Victors on both sides? If you be afraid that the surrounding
Kings might be instigated by the Traders to destroy and captivate the
Settlers, Laws might without difficulty be enacted to prevent under
pain of Death any Traders from making Slaves within a few Degrees
North and South of the Settlement--Prudence is to be admired, but no
difficulties ought to overcome the Minds of Men engaged in the Cause
of Virtue. Liberty is now alive: Let her not die _till she visit
another_ Quarter of the Earth--You are not immortal, and know not
who shall succeed you. The Sun shineth today--to-morrow may never
come.--No political objection can be urged against the Plan. The
Manufacturing Nations of Europe, particularly France and England,
will be benefitted by procuring raw materials, at a cheaper rate,
exchanging for them manufactured articles. America also will find
great advantages in the Productions of Africa. The immediate Exports
from Africa to Europe would be gold Dust, Ivory, Cotton, Dying Woods,
Gums, Drugs, Spices, Fruits and Preserves, Wood for Cabinets &c.
Oil of Palms &c. Indigo, Tobacco, Rice & Wax; to America the same,
except the four last Articles, but with the addition of Sugar and its
products, Cocoa, Coffee, &c. as they have no Colonies with which such
productions would interfere.
The Planters in the West Indies particularly the Sugar Planters
cannot for many Years be affected by the exportation of any tropical
Productions from Africa to Europe for the expense of Sugar Works
would be too great for a new Settlement, and were Sugar after that
as cheap in Africa as in the East Indies it would bear so heavy a
Duty that the Revenue of either France or England would be much
increased by its Importation; however if these nations should regard
more the Interest of the West India Planters than the increase of
their Revenues though at the expense of the Subjects resident in
either Kingdom, they might lay such high Duties on the African Sugar
as to be prohibitory, or at least equivalent to a Bounty on West
India Sugars, till _true_ policy should open the Eyes of European
Politicians, and force them to urge the eternal abolition of Slavery.
Reasons in favour of the immediate Settlement of Africa may be
collected from the Sentiments of many in this Country. I will give
you upon this Subject the Opinion of a Gentleman from one of the
most respectable States in the Union--a Gentleman who does honor
not to America only, but to human Nature--a Gentleman of the first
Abilities, and whose Voice has ever been listened to with uncommon
attention in the Councils of this Nation. His own Words are the best
adapted to his Sentiments. [Insert the note by M^r.M.]
“Without inquiring into the practicability or the most proper means
of establishing a settlement of freed blacks on the Coast of Africa,
it may be remarked as one motive to the benevolent experiment that if
such an asylum was provided, it might prove a great encouragement to
manumission in the Southern parts of the U. S. and even afford the
best hope yet presented of putting an end to the slavery in which not
less than 600,000 unhappy negroes are now involved.
“In all the Southern States of N. America, the laws permit masters,
under certain precautions to manumit their slaves. But the
continuance of such a permission in some of the States is rendered
precarious by the ill effects suffered from freedmen who retain
the vices and habits of slaves. The same consideration becomes an
objection with many humane master ag^{st}. an exertion of their legal
right of freeing their slaves. It is found in fact that neither the
good of the Society, nor the happiness of the individuals restored to
freedom is promoted by such a change in their condition.
“In order to render this design eligible as well to the Society as to
the Slaves, it would be necessary that a compleat incorporation of
the latter into the former should result from the act of manumission.
This is rendered impossible by the prejudice of the whites,
prejudices which proceeding principally from the difference of colour
must be considered as permanent and insuperable.
“It only remains then that some proper external receptacle be
provided for the slaves who obtain their liberty. The interior
wilderness of America, and the Coast of Africa seem to present
the most obvious alternative. The former is liable to great if
not invincible objections. If the settlement were attempted at a
considerable distance from the White Frontier, it would be destroyed
by the Savages who have a peculiar antipathy to the blacks. If the
attempt were made in the neighbourhood of the White Settlements,
peace would not long be expected to remain between Societies,
distinguished by such characteristic marks, and retaining the
feelings inspired by their former relation of oppressors & oppressed.
The result then is that an experiment for providing such an external
establishment for the blacks as might induce the humanity of Masters,
and by degrees both the humanity & policy of the Governments, to
forward the abolition of slavery in America, ought to be pursued on
the Coast of Africa or in some other foreign situation.[10]”
Such is his Opinion, and he further intimated that Slavery is not
likely to be _ever_ abolished in the Southern States of America till
an Asylum be provided to which the manumitted Blacks may be sent.
I have only to add my sincere Wishes that the honorable and
benevolent Society over which thou presidest may concur with me in
Sentiment respecting the propriety of adopting a plan of immediately
commencing this Settlement, as it may beside other beneficial Effects
have that of forwarding the abolition of not only the Slave Trade,
but Slavery itself, teaching the European Nations that Slavery is
not necessary for raising the productions of the torrid Zone, and
teaching the Kings of Africa that their Kingdoms would be much richer
by a Sale of their Commodities, than by a sale of their Inhabitants;
that a King who sells his Subjects to enrich himself is (according to
Montesquieu) like one who cuts down his Trees to pick off the Fruits.
Nothing I hope will subdue your Minds! Great is your Cause, and may
Heaven prosper your Society! You defend not imaginary Titles; you
plead not the cause of an Individual or a Family; you support not
the honorary dignities of a Kingdom; but you disinterestedly raise
your Voice in favour of many Nations, to preserve the Lives of many
Millions, and in defence of the dearest rights of Man!!--
I am with the greatest regard & esteem
thy respectful Friend
W:T.
SUGGESTION TO BUY PORTO RICO FOR FREE NEGROES.
DRAFT, BY THORNTON [1802]
About the year 88, at the time that the Government of England was
engaged in settling a free Colony at Sierra Leone the Americans in
New England were desirous of sending all the free Blacks from that
Country and offered Ships and every necessary for their support.
The Blacks likewise were desirous of fixing in any Country where
they might enjoy the rights & privileges of free-men, which they
knew could not, consistently with the policy of the American
Government, be accorded to them while so large a portion of the
Black people remained in a State of Slavery. But without they had
returned to Africa there was no place in which they could find
the contemplated Asylum. If an Island had been in the possession
of the Americans it would have served this valuable purpose. The
English made a Settlement, which some French Privateers destroyed,
and which humanity has to lament; but Virtue generally perseveres
in the plans she has commenced, because she seldom commences them
without considering attentively the end. They again sent settlers
and it is thought they will amply repay the trouble and expense
incurred. The same Causes that induced the Inhabitants of Boston to
desire a place of settlement for the Blacks still exist, and we yet
possess no place that can without various objections be dedicated
to this end. But the mere settlement of the Blacks is perhaps not a
sufficient inducement to the Government of America to engage in the
establishment of a Colony, for it has been considered by many wise
men as incurring a great expense, & subjecting any Nation to the
Evils of foreign warfare. It is in part true, but only as it relates
to certain European powers. With respect to us is it materially
different, and though we are at present but in the infancy of our
political Existence we are considered as so important in the Scale
of Nations that were we even now to possess one or more Islands
no Nation would presume to molest us, because our weight thrown
into any Scale would outbalance the advantages of opposition to
any of our National Measures; especially if there were not direct
aggression on the rights & privileges of others; and though it might
be extremely difficult for the Americans at any other time to obtain
from the Court of Spain, or any other Nation an Island in the West
Indies, especially of sufficient importance to be worthy of being
possessed by one of the most extensive Nations in the world, yet at
this time it would not be difficult to induce the Court of Spain to
cede to us, what is not important to them, I mean the Island of
Porto Rico, for it is an annual expense to the Spanish Government
of above 150,000 Doll^s. Other motives might tend to induce them
to grant us this Island which may be enumerated. During a War, &
the present particularly, the English may make prize of it, if they
know the Americans wish it, may sell it to them, thereby depriving
the Spaniards not only of our Friendship but also of the Island &
the Money we would give. It is not however the policy of England to
grant the Americans an Island for the very Idea of giving us more
strength in the American Archipelago is contrary to their national
policy, not only on acct. of increasing our Seamen & consequently
our naval power, but of being her competitors in the Sugar Market:
but this policy would give way to the consideration of our obtaining
from the Spaniards what was refused by them, and the National
Jealousies between the two Courts would at this time work mutually
to our Advantage. If the English had wished for Porto Rico, or any,
or all, of the Spanish Islands, & other Settlements, they could at
any time have obtained them, as well as the French Settlements,
but the Merchants of England who have lent Money to the Jamaica
Planters, on their Estates, and the Planters who at great Expense
have settled Sugar Estates, would oppose the Intention of Government,
if a Disposition were shown to extend their Colonies in such rich
& fertile Islands, where a competition would diminish the value of
their settled possessions--and these rich merchants & planters who
possess Boroughs in England and send by their extensive Patronage
& Influence many Members to parliament do not express their wishes
without being heard by the royal or Ministerial Ear. The French
Islands have been repeatedly taken by the English and restored at
the conclusion of the War, but if retained they would only have
thrown the same quantity of Sugar into a different Channel without
actually increasing it & there could be less objection to their being
retained. If the American Government were opposed to _purchasing_
the Island there is no doubt it would be ceded by our giving way in
the Settlement of our Western Limits of Louisiana--for if a serious
demand were to be made of the Rio Bravo or Rio del Norte as our
Boundary, the Spaniards would be extremely adverse to a Dispute, &
would be equally or more adverse to the relinquishment of a Territory
that contains the richest Gold Mines in the world, which are situated
in the Mountains of the Province of Texas, and several Rich ones in
the neighborhood of S^{ta}. Fé, besides some of the richest Silver
Mines in the world--rather than permit such a cession of Territory
there is no Doubt they would give the two Floridas & Porto Rico: the
last however is the richest most beautiful most pleasant & healthy
Island in the same Latitude or between the Tropics in the world.
It is likewise very extensive in fertile Land, and contains more
really rich Land proper for Canes & at the same time in a healthy
situation than all the other possessions of this Government, if even
what is mentioned above were ceded to us. Porto Rico contains Ports
that are very extensive & very safe. It is more easy of access to
our Ships than any Settlement we can form, as they can run thither
& back with the Trade Wind, without beating up or tacking. If the
Government possess that Island and make it a free Port it would give,
independent of the produce, an astonishing revenue, and if a free
Port, it would prevent the Jealousies that it might otherwise excite.
If the Government were even adverse to this Island being considered
as an object of exchange for such a portion of Louisiana as we may
have a right to claim, and were also adverse to making a purchase of
it, would any Objection arise to their acceptance of its Sovereignty,
and permit a private Company to purchase the Island under the
Sanction of the American Government, permitting every proprietor to
hold his Land, and the Company taking possession only of the Crown
Lands. Upon these Principles the English the Danes the Dutch & others
have established Settlements which have been so productive as to give
immense revenues.
DRAFT OF A LETTER TO A NEWSPAPER.
BY THORNTON [1816?]
Mess^{rs}. Editors
The Cause of the Blacks has called forth the energetic power of
England, & Cruisers have been sent to the Coast of Africa to put a
Stop to that inhuman trafic, that has so long disgraced the most
enlightened Nations of Europe. Such evidences have been produced
that we find it is impossible to deny that many of our own People
are engaged very deeply in this Business, furnishing under different
Flags, the Spaniards of Cuba, with Slaves, who again wait for
convenient opportunities to send them to Missouri, & thus many
thousands have been introduced in the very teeth of the Constitution;
against law, against humanity, against every rule of right & every
principle of Christianity, at the very time that we are tickling the
vanity of each other, in orations on our freedom & declaration of
common rights, & at the very time that we are immolating those poor
wretches, who listening to our 4^{th}. of July flights, declare that
“whatever is praiseworthy in Massa, is certainly praiseworthy in his
Slave!”
The Eye of Heaven is not blinded with Gold-dust, & the Day of
reckoning is drawing near. Has a single Individual dared to stand
forth the Champion of the Oppressed: has he dared to recommend to
Congress that a law should be passed to take to the Coast of Barbary
every Man captured on board the Slave-trading Vessels who was
engaged directly or indirectly in making Slaves or trading in them;
& that such Individuals should be exchanged to ransom the innocent
Captives of the Barbarians!--We are seeking for a President. Give
me the Name of such a Champion of humanity, & I would write Night
& Day to blazon forth his Virtues, and to make him the Ruler of
the People. I would have none of your cold-blooded, tardy-thinking
and calculating Characters. I would have the warm-hearted the
noble-minded & generous Being who would dare to stem the torrent
of opposition, and whose Virtues would rise against every attack,
with a bolder crest: for in this land there is still great virtue,
but it lies in a latent State. It requires to be brought forth, &
to be fostered. It would, under the cherishing influence of a great
master-spirit, be productive of effects that cannot be contemplated
by the puny Soul! The North Americans would thus be distinguished as
a great, a generous, a virtuous, & magnanimous People. It would then
be an honor to be called by such an Appellation. At present we look
not for good and enlightened Men to fill our offices, but for men
of money, of influence in Elections, of intrigue, to help forward
our contemptible views of self-interest. Even parties are created,
without knowing why they are to be enlisted on this or that side, and
without seeing the causes that tend to ultimate results, of which
they remain as ignorant as if the wood-and-wire worked here were to
dance puppets in the moon! If an Envoy be sent to a foreign Country,
it is not for what he is expected to do there; but to pay for
electioneering services performed here, or to be performed. He may
be old to superannuation, he may be deaf & dumb,--that is, incapable
of understanding, or speaking intelligibly a word of the People to
whom he is sent.--What impositions are these upon the Community! Can
no man be found who has honesty enough to call upon the actors in
these base desertions of common Sense! No, we have no men, or few
who dare write, & fewer still who dare publish what is written: for
all the Papers that obtain extensive circulation are in the pay of
Government. The Laws are to be published in each of these papers, not
for the benefit of the People, but to pay the vile hirelings who are
as much bought & sold, as the hack-lawyers, that will plead in favor
of any villain, in a cause, known to be iniquitous, for a fee. I
speak to you Citizens, without your accustomed homage, & I call upon
you to publish what I write if you have any of the spirit of ’76.
It was then that men dared to think, and to write. It was then that
those bold and home Truths were told in the Pages of _Common Sense_.
But the Times have changed, & I call upon you my Countrymen to resume
your native energies.
When this Country declared its Independence the Inhabitants were but
ab^t two millions & a half, of which nearly a Million were slaves.
We were then without Ships, without Money, without Arms, without
ammunition: and yet the whole power of England was insufficient
to subject us to an unconditional Submission to parliamentary
decrees. We became independent! England was at the commencement
of the Struggle nearly free from Debt: at the end of the war they
were involved in a debt of 500,000,000 Sterl^g. The great men of
this Country & many others thought it impossible that England could
long sustain such a burthen of Taxes as were requisite to pay the
interest of this enormous Debt. But England has since that sustained
a War against all the powers of Christendom & when engaged with
all Europe, we, to obtain a redress of some grievances, threw our
power into the Scale against England. She sustained the whole! and
put down, finally, the power of France, that had forced the rest of
Europe to succumb. That Nation, England, that seemed unappalled by a
combination of all the powers of the World, pretends now, in perfect
peace, to dread the effects that will be likely to result from an
effort of the Emperor of Russia to humble the pride and power of the
Turks, if unopposed by the rest of Europe! Has England any thing to
fear even if Alexander were to make Constantinople his winter’s,
& St. Petersburgh his summer’s, residence? His Empire would be
assailable, in so many points, that he would never be able to defend
it. He would prepare only for revolutions, for when men are placed
under Rulers acting only as Vicegerents, they are apt to break the
Clue of power and wind up a Ball for themselves. The East Indies
will become independent of Great Britain--New Holland will become
independent--The Cape of good-hope will become independent, but all
these speaking the English Language will give such advantages to our
Commerce as to render us in a few years the most potent Nation in the
World.
[December, 1816.]
To the honorable Henry Clay, Chairman of the Assembly for
promoting the establishment of a free and independ^t. Nation
of Blacks in Africa [draft by Thornton.]
Sir
My public Duties did not permit my personal attendance at the meeting
lately held for this praise-worthy object but I have heard with
unspeakable satisfaction of the respectability of the meeting & of
the unanimity of benevolence with which this Subject was discussed.
It is a Subject that has long impressed my mind as one of the most
momentous; for it involves the happiness of millions of our Fellow
Beings; and as the Government of America was the first to provide
against the extension of Slavery it is with inexpressible pleasure
that I view among its most respectable Citizens a zealous desire
to restore to their Country the Descendents of the Africans who
have obtained their freedom among us. It has been thought by many
that they would depart with reluctance for the region of their
forefathers, but the feelings of human nature are the same in all.
Let those who prejudge the feelings of the Blacks apply the Case
to themselves, and ask if they were carried into Slavery among
the Barbary Powers or other savages, and by degrees had gained
their freedom, and a desire were expressed by the Barbarians that
the emancipated & their descend^{ts} should be restored to their
original country, could there be a hesitation in those to whom such
a proposal should be made in embracing the offer, especially if
they were to have lands presented to them, and were to be assisted
in forming a free Government? It is impossible on this subject, if
well considered, to offer a doubt. But lest any should judge from
expressions that may have escaped from contented Individuals, I will
mention a Fact in favor of this contemplated Establishment that
cannot fail to make some Impression.
In the winter of 1786–7 I was travelling in Rhode Island &
Massachusetts. I found many free Blacks & having been engaged in a
correspondence with some of the members of the Sierra Leone Society
of London, among whom were some of my Friends I was desirous of
knowing what number of free Blacks in Mass. & R.I. could be found,
desirous of joining in that Settlement. I made my wish known to
some of the elder Blacks who informed me they would call Meetings
that they might be informed of the contemplated object of such a
Settlement. They assembled in hundreds, in one of the places of
worship & in the most orderly and decent manner, heard all I had
to say. They were delighted with the prospect, and in a few Weeks
informed me that two thousand were willing to accompany me. I made
this known to some of the Members of the Assembly of Massach^{ts}
who expressed a desire of aiding in sending them out of the Country,
and I had no doubt from the ardour with which the proposal of taking
them away entirely, was advocated, that the Legislature would have
furnished them with Ships, with provisions, Tools &c. and many of the
members promised that every requisite would cheerfully be granted.
When however I explained to them the intention of taking the Blacks
to Sierra Leone--then Members of the Legislature expressed an
unwillingness to send them out of the limits of the U.S., & wished a
Settlement to be made in the most southern part of the back Country
between the whites & Indians. I informed them that I would never
be instrumental in placing those men, who were now comparatively
happy & in a state of protection, between the Indians & Savages on
their Borders, where they would become a prey to both; besides I was
confident the Blacks could have no motive for wishing such a change;
for if they should prove capable of defending themselves ag^{st}
all their Enemies, & should preserve their political freedom, could
they ever hope to be rec^d as representatives in our Assemblies?
Could they ever be treated with an equality in a country where many
of their Colour were still held in Slavery? It would be morally
impossible, but if possible it would be politically dangerous. We
thus parted, but I had still a hope that the Day would arrive when
other views of this Subject would open to the mind a prospect of such
unbounded good to that miserable race, that all minor Considerations
would vanish. Happily the Day has arrived, and I hope that the holy
zeal with which this Business has commenced may never feel a check;
for most fortunately for the cause of humanity, the Cause of self
Interest has nothing to fear from its advancement.
I laid before the World in 1804 a Letter containing a plan for
emancipating the Blacks, a copy of which I take the liberty of
presenting with this.[11] It is however a Subject distinct from the
one now under contemplation. This is on the mode of establishing
them as a free, distinct, & independent people. Without attempting
to combat the various opinions that prevail on this Subject, I
think it sufficient to give my own but I offer my Sentiments upon
this great Subject with the utmost deference. The Almighty in that
wisdom that Man cannot pretend to scan, has destined Africa to be
the Country of the Blacks. They lived in a state of Nature, enjoying
the fruits & natural productions of one of the most fertile regions
of the Earth--till America was discovered. The rich mines of Silver
& Gold found there induced the nations of Europe who possessed
themselves of these inexhaustible sources of Wealth after sacrificing
millions of poor Indians, to import Africans to work their mines &
cultivate their lands. These People have been subject to cruelties,
at which human Nature has long shuddered. Their sufferings have made
impressions that have roused the activity of many benevolent & highly
distinguished Characters. The Slave Trade has been abolished, many
humane Persons have liberated their Slaves, and more would follow
them if such provision were made for their future destiny as would be
likely to ensure a prospect of felicity. An Establishment was made by
the English at Sierra Leone, on one of the finest rivers, & in the
richest country in Africa. This settlement flourished till broken up
by the French through a mistaken Jealousy. It is revived, & hopes of
its advancement entertained. The liberal policy of those enlightened
Characters who commenced that Establishment of free Blacks would
doubtless induce them cordially to assist in extending it to the free
Blacks of this Country, & of all others. To join those already in
some degree established would offer advantages to each; but this is
only under the supposition that the Settlement is to be considered as
appertaining to not only a free but compleatly independent People:
and in no respect whatever to be viewed as a Colony. If they should
be settled as a Colony, they would be restricted by regulations to
trade with particular nations, & would be subjected to oppressive
Duties. They might be considered as free but not independent. In an
establishment of this kind, where provision should be made for unborn
Millions, every movement should be correspondent. Let the Sovereignty
of five hundred miles square be purchased of the natives of Africa,
by discreet and competent agents and let this region be recorded by
our Government as a free gift forever to the people who may settle
thereon. The price of purchase may perhaps be small in comparison to
the immensity of the Object & particularly if the surrounding People
be informed that nothing but good is contemplated. But instead of
thousands were it to cost us millions it would be unworthy of the
Consider^n. of a great & magnanimous People, who have not hesitated
to sacrifice more than a hundred Millions in asserting National
Principles in defence of private Rights; especially when this great
Cause is a beneficent retribution for long sustained injuries
inflicted on the Innocent; & to blot from the records of Eternity
the highest stigma of humanity. After purchasing the Country let
it be surveyed in the same manner as our own back Countries, & the
fee simple only be disposed of by degrees that the Settlers may be
kept compact, and be thereby more capable of defending themselves &
their flocks from the incursions of the Savages & from the beasts
of the wilderness. A form of republican Govern^t. would be prepared
for them--and they ought for a while to be protected by a due force.
Every Advantage should be accorded to them, that an orderly &
reasonable people could desire. Public Schools & places of worship
should be established. Whatever would tend to their advancement
in this world, & preparation for the next should be solicitously
fostered--and if with all our Care such a people should be produced
as might reasonably be expected to arise from such preparatory Steps,
they would bless the humble Instruments of this great work;--for when
the surrounding Nations of Africa now wrapt in miserable Ignorance
should incline to join their emancipated Brethren they would find
them truly emancipated--not from the chains of Slavery alone, but
from the thraldom of the Mind. They would find them enjoying the
light of Christianity--and able to instruct their fellow men in the
precepts of divine wisdom. Thus would Slavery, the darkest stain on
Christian Professors, be finally rendered subservient to the work
of heaven & the poor Africans be in a manner repaid for the long
sufferings of their unhappy children. The wilderness would flourish
in Arts, Agriculture & Science, their Ports would be open to the
whole world, the Native African would be taught the principles
of Christianity & be happy; thus millions unnumbered in singing
halelujahs to our God, would bless the Children of the West!
W: T:
FOOTNOTES
[1] The Development of the West Indies, by Frank Wesley Pitman, Ph. D.,
Yale Historical Publications, 1917, p. 383.
[2] Thornton Papers, Library of Congress MSS. Unless otherwise stated
these papers are the authority for this paper.
[3] CADMUS, or a Treatise on the Elements of Written Language,
Illustrated by a Philosophical Division of Speech, the Power of each
character thereby mutually fixing the Orthography and Orthoepy. Cur
nescire, pudens prave, quam descire malo? Hors Ars. Poet. V. 88. With
an Essay on the Mode of Teaching the Surd or Deaf and Consequently
Dumb to Speak. By William Thornton, M.D., Member of the Societies of
Scots Antiquaries of Edinburg and Perth; the Medical Society and the
Society of Natural Hist. of Edin.; the American Philosophical Society,
&c., Philadelphia, Printed by R. Aitken & Son, No. 22, Market Street,
M.DCC.XCIII.
[4] William Thornton and John Fitch, by Gaillard Hunt, in The Nation,
May 21, 1914.
[5] See in _Harper’s Weekly_ for Oct. 1, 1910, “The Remarkable Case of
William Kemble,” based on one of Thornton’s papers.
[6] Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late John Coakley Lettsom,
M.D., LL.D., etc., by Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, F. L. S. London, 1817.
[7] Smeathman wrote: Plan of Settlement to be made near Sierra Leone on
the Grain Coast of Africa, intended more particularly for the service
and happy establishment of Blacks and People of Colour to be shipped as
freemen under the Direction of the Committee for Relieving the Black
Poor, and under the Protection of the British Government. By Henry
Smeathman, Esq., who has resided in that country nearly four years.
London 1786.
[8] There are instances where the Rivers on the Grain Coast have risen
during the Rainy Season 150 feet perpendicular from the Bed and when
the Sun dries them up the Stench is intolerable.--Bennett. [Note in the
MS].
[9] See Substance of the Report delivered by the Court of Directors
of the Sierra Leone Company to the General Court of Proprietors on
Thursday the 27th March, 1794. London, 1794.
[10] This insertion is in James Madison’s handwriting.
[11] Political Economy founded in Justice and Humanity in a letter to a
friend by W. T. Washington, 1804. Printed by Samuel Harrison Smith.
Transcriber’s Note
Some inconsistencies in spelling, hyphenation, and punctuation have
been retained.
p. 19: changed “verduer” to “verdure” (and with perpetual verdure)
p. 19: changed “CLAVIÉRE” to “CLAVIÈRE” (WILLIAM THORNTON TO ÉTIENNE
CLAVIÈRE)
p. 19: changed “Claviére” to “Clavière” (Mons.^r [Étienne] Clavière)
p. 19: changed “must” to “most” (I perused it with most satisfaction)
p. 24: changed “af” to “of” (engage in the establishment of a Colony)
p. 25: changed “french” to “French” (as well as the French Settlements)
p. 26: inconsistent spelling “trafic” (vs. “traffic” elsewhere) left as
printed, because this section of the text is labeled as a “draft.” (put
a Stop to that inhuman trafic)
p. 27: changed “intelligbly” to “intelligibly” (understanding, or
speaking intelligibly)
p. 27: changed “circultaion” to “circulation” (Papers that obtain
extensive circulation)
p. 29: changed “Member” to “Members” (some of the Members of the
Assembly)
p. 29: changed “then” to “them” (would have furnished them with Ships)
p. 30: changed “themsevles” to “themselves” (who possessed themselves
of these)
Footnote 3: changed “therby” to “thereby” (each character thereby
mutually fixing)
Footnote 6: changed “Lettson” to “Lettsom” (Writings of the late John
Coakley Lettsom)
Footnote 7: changed “Graiu” to “Grain” (near Sierra Leone on the Grain
Coast)
Footnote 9: changed “Propietors” to “Proprietors” (General Court of
Proprietors)
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