Disharmony among the African Civilization Society

The word independence means to not depend on anyone for anything, For individuals to fully depend on someone forever means that they cannot deal with being alone, that they cannot deal with doing things for themselves. Independence is what helps people become better and become unafraid of anything they must face in life. For people to be dependent on someone means they are afraid to fight for themselves and rather have someone do it for them. But to be clear here, depending on someone is not wrong, there is nothing wrong with getting support from other people, however, it should not be something that a person should do forever, it should not be something that a person needs to do for the rest of their lives because they need to learn how to depend on themselves first due to the fact that they are their own and first priority, they need to put themselves first before anyone else for their well-being; they need to put themselves first because it is important that they look out after themselves if no one else is going to look out after them for the rest of their lives. Independence is extremely important for any person who wants to have the freedom to do whatever he or she wants. Independence is something that every person deserves, no matter where they come from. To have independence is to have liberty; having independence means people having the power to make decisions without having to get an approval from someone, it means people making decisions for themselves and not asking for permission to do it. Independence is important for an individual to have because it means being able to survive in the world without the help of anyone, it means being able to not give up everytime there is a struggle in life, and most importantly, it means people being able to stay strong and not having to worry about getting attacked for their actions, not having to worry about facing dangerous consequences simply because of their race, or religion, or beliefs. Independence is what leads every single individual towards a successful future, it leads to being confident and having self-esteem; independence means to be able to understand what is happening yet still being able to persevere and not give up. Independence leads to not having to be worried about anything because of the awareness of what goes on in the world and knowing how to prepare for it. Independence was something that African-Americans valued and longed for, but it was not easy due to slavery. To escape slavery did not change anything for African-Americans; even having the status of free men or free women, did not improve their lives. They were still struggling to live in peace and harmony. Abolishing slavery was not an easy thing to do, and many people had different ideas and solutions on how to end it. The fight to end slavery required years of persevarance, it required consistency, and it showed how passionate people were about getting rid of it such as Frederick Douglass, a man who escaped slavery. African-Americans were Americans, yet they were still held captive by White men, even though they were American, they were not being treated like it was their home; instead they were viewed as unimportant or having no value. The African Civilization Society, founded by abolitionist, Henry Highland Garnet, completely had trust that emigration to Africa was the best option and only solution for Black Americans who no longer wanted to feel oppressed and face injustice because of their skin color. It believed that if African-Americans were still going to be treated poorly, then it would be better to move towards Black Nationalism and not deal with White culture in America. In other words, it believed that a country of only once race would improve the lives of those who have suffered for so many years under the powerful white men. Emigration was viewed as the only escape for those hoping to get away from slavery, and for those who were free, but still facing issues simply because they were not White. African-Americans still faced hardships and obstacles because of racial discrimination, White-Americans still believed they had absolute power over them, they believed that they were superior and better than them. African- Americans did not want to deal with that issue for the rest of their lives, so they fought endlessly to become free men and free women, but it was a fight that would not finish in a year, or months, but a fight that would go on for several years. The fight to abolish slavery meant having so many arguments on what is best for African-Americans whose only concern was being free in their own country. The African Civilization Society concentrated on encouraging African-Americans to leave America because of the fact that even being free, they were still seen as less than a human being; they were still viewed as property. Although the intention of the African Civilization Society was to help African-Americans become independent and free by emigrating to Africa, it failed to understand that they are human beings and their independent choice should be based on what makes them comfortable, and most importantly, it should be based on what makes them happy and be at peace. The organization could not know what is best for each individual because they all had different wants and needs.

Henry Highland Garnet was born in the winter season in Maryland, he later went on to become an African-American abolitionist, founded the African Civilization Society; he believed in negro nationality. Garnet’s goal was to make his people feel important, he wanted to give them a status of dignity. He believed that his people deserved to be respected and have self-worth. To him it was important that they stood up for themselves and not tolerate suffering. This demonstrates right away that Henry Highland Garnet was extremely passionate about his beliefs and was not one to give up but rather persevere with his goals.

The article, The Rivalry Between Frederick Douglass and Henry Highland Garnet, discusses the different views that Frederick Douglass and Henry Highland had on ending slavery and segregation. Many people did not understand the actions of black abolitionists and interpreted them in the wrong way. Garnet was considered to be too radical or in other words, having extreme views. In his speech from 1843, people were shocked because of the amount of violence he proposed. He believed in death over slavery because he did not like the idea of being degraded, while Douglass wanted to use the political system to make change. From his viewpoint, he felt that Garnet could not handle the struggle against prejudice and ignorance in the United States and as a result, he believed that Garnet was afraid to live in those conditions.

Henry Highland Garnet had a plan: it was to establish a cotton industry in Africa; he wanted African American business people to move to Africa. This plan became known as The African Civilization Society. Garnet had a vision of blacks becoming free if they left the U.S and moved to Africa, a black community. In order to reach this plan, he had to get people to convert to his idea. Douglass opposed this idea; he believed that African Americans emigrating to Africa were traitors because from his viewpoint it seemed that they were not fighting for their rights; they were born in America and he wanted them to fight instead of moving to another country. He attacked Garnet when he said that it would be better to see a man in Liberia than to see a slave in the United States; he accused him of being a supporter of violence and being mentally unstable.

Henry Highland Garnet contributed a lot to the movement, but he continued to hate the fact that Douglass was getting famous, while he remained poor. Everyone he tried to help, he felt that they had forgotten him. While he was radical, Douglass kept the dialogue going, he kept people talking about relevant issues. Garnet became resentful because he felt unfulfilled and he wanted recognition.

In addition, the article, African-American Resistance to Colonization, discusses the opposition of emigration to Africa. Frederick Douglass was against colonization, he firmly believed that America was the true home of African-Americans. The idea of emigrating to Africa was unnecessary in his eyes. This demonstrates that colonization was not a solution that everyone supported. The article also mentions colonization being supported by people; one example is John Randolph. Randolph who supported the American Colonization Society, an organization that focused on getting free African-Americans to leave America forever, believed that colonization would aim to protect slave property economically by eradicating the free Black population, a source of weakness and productivity for slave labor. While the African Civilization Society encouraged African Americans to emigrate to Africa to become independent and free, the American Colonization Society did not intend to eliminate slavery, but instead maintain it. It is very clear that free African-Americans were seen as a threat by living in the United States. African Americans were still being viewed as people who do not deserve to live in peace with White men. From this, it is very clear that inequality was an ongoing issue, and most importantly, an issue that would never end because the truth is that it is impossible for every White man to understand that they are not better or superior than a certain race.

National Black Conventions and the Quest for African American Freedom and Progress, 1847-1867, discusses the importance of national black conventions. During difficult times, African-Americans felt that national black conventions were a crucial part of not giving up and continuing to fight for freedom. Black conventions were viewed as a positive movement for African-Americans wanting to abolish slavery. Although The African Civilization Society had good intentions, it was not strongly supported and African-Americans mainly focused on staying in America and seeing a positive change for them. There was support towards emigration to Africa, and there was support towards being able to live in America as an independent group. Clearly, this shows that African-Americans had different views on how to solve the issue of slavery and oppression.

Margaret Mercer was a slaveholder in Maryland, but she was disgusted by slavery and saw it as evil. However, she did not want African-Americans to be in America and thought it would be best not to be mixed up in one country. In the book, Slavery and the Peculiar Solution : A History of the American Colonization Society, it mentions how During the colonial era, plans for the deportation of Black people arose in America. By the revolutionary period, these arrangements were regularly discussed. During the Early National and Antibellum eras, the colonization crusade became even more visible as the discussions about slavery escalated. However, because of the fact that the attempt to get African Americans to emigrate happened during the Civil War, the effort of it was not compelling. This could imply that African Americans believed that America is where they truly belong. Without a doubt, this demonstrates that African-Americans were not easy to get rid of by the powerful white men; it shows that African-Americans were brave and not in constant fear. It was not easy to convince them that emigration was the only way that they would no longer face dangers in America or obstacles; it was not something that African-Americans turned to immediately during difficult times. The book also mentions the fact that while over seven-hundred free Blacks migrated to Liberia after the rebellion in 1831 by Nat Turner, an enslaved African-American preacher, free African-Americans in the mid 1830s had almost unanimously opposed the African Colonization Society and despite a decline in their living standards and legal privileges, multiple events led several Southern free blacks to oppose colonization, including negative reports from past emigrants. This illustrates that even migrating would not be the solution to have freedom or independence. It also demonstrates that African-Americans were smart enough to realize that emigration would not lead to improvement or positive changes for them. Emigration does not simply mean that issues would come to an end for African-Americans if they were to become citizens in Africa.

Overall, the African Civilization Society, founded by Henry Highland Garnet, although attempting to help and encourage African-Americans have a completely different and better life, become independent, have freedom, and no longer tolerate discrimination, it just simply neglected to realize that not all of them believed in leaving their home, which is the United States of America. It failed to see that emigration was not the only solution to abolish slavery and to help African-Americans become more independent. The society’s intention to help African-Americans become absolutely free and independent was appreciated and understood, but not every individual was on board with it, not every individual believed that all of a sudden, Black nationalism would lead towards positive changes for them and that they would no longer suffer if they live in a community where people dealt with the same issues as they did. They had this mindset of as an African-American, they should not be forced out of their own home. Not every African-American had the mindset of if they cannot be free in America, then they will be free in Africa. This idea was not supported because it is actually true that people can live in one nation, and still face issues, a Black person may live in Africa, a country where only Black people live, and still have to face different kinds of issues and hardships, still have to face struggles in the world. As stated before, the organization could not truly know or understand what is best for every African-American because they each had different wants and different needs; they had different ideas and their own beliefs on freedom. The African Civilization Society had good intentions, however, not every individual believed that emigration was the only solution, and because of this, there were a lot of conflicts among the society