Reviews for The African colonization movement, 1816-1865

The average rating for The African colonization movement, 1816-1865 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-11-29 00:00:00 Krysta Bruynson Staudenraus’ begins his history of the ACS in the late eighteenth century. While the ACS wouldn’t be established until 1816, colonization as a solution to the “problem” of a growing African American population predates the organization. Thomas Jefferson was only one of many who believed that America’s future success was contingent on ending slavery and removing people of African descent. Prominent men in the upper south discussed the problem and introduced legislation to facilitate the removal of African Americans. Thus, the ACS was not a far-fetched scheme that miraculously emerged in the nineteenth century but one that reached back to the revolutionary era and its leading men. The Reverend Robert Finley of Baskridge, New Jersey, according to Staudenraus’, founded the ACS. Finley’s desire for a benevolent cause to identify with led him to the idea that establishing a colony in Africa, similar to the British colony of Sierra Leone would have a threefold effect of removing free African Americans from the country, spreading Christianity in Africa, and position black Americans for success because they would be free of the inevitable prejudice that would follow them in America. In addition, Finley also believed that while African colonization would lead to social stability by removing free blacks, it would also encourage slace holders to manumit their enslaved workers. Having the option for removal would help alleviate “southern fears that emancipation was dangerous. Crediting Finley with the founding of the ACS has significant ramifications for the study. It is because Staudenraus’ believes Finley to be the organization’s founder that he offers a sympathetic interpretation of the organization. With the reverend Finley at the organization’s patriarch, Staudenraus’ argues that the ACS was at its core a conservative, anti-slavery movement.

Review # 2 was written on 2007-06-19 00:00:00 Patricia Deeck Excellent examination of relationship between America's rise first as an economic power and then as a colonial power. LaFeber re-evaluates McKinley. He's was far from a tool used by the powerful, but a very sharp politician he was fully in command of his administration. This book is justifiably famous, and is required reading for anyone wanting to understand America's entry into global politics.