Existing comment:
The Maryland State Colonization Society
Prior to the Civil War, Maryland was home to the largest population of free African Americans in any slave state. The free black community threatened the institution of race-based slavery and caused tensions between white and black Marylanders.
In an attempt to ease the growing nationwide tension between black and white communities, white citizens founded the Colonization Society of America in 1816. The Society's solution was to relocate free and formerly enslaved African Americans to Africa where it was believed they could live in greater freedom. Organized in 1827, the Maryland State Colonization Society assisted in the relocation of free African Americans to a settlement in Cape Palmas, Liberia. |