Journey of Hope: The Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800sUniv of North Carolina Press, 2005 M10 12 - 288 pages Liberia was founded by the American Colonization Society (ACS) in the 1820s as an African refuge for free blacks and liberated American slaves. While interest in African migration waned after the Civil War, it roared back in the late nineteenth century with the rise of Jim Crow segregation and disfranchisement throughout the South. The back-to-Africa movement held great new appeal to the South's most marginalized citizens, rural African Americans. Nowhere was this interest in Liberia emigration greater than in Arkansas. More emigrants to Liberia left from Arkansas than any other state in the 1880s and 1890s. In Journey of Hope, Kenneth C. Barnes explains why so many black Arkansas sharecroppers dreamed of Africa and how their dreams of Liberia differed from the reality. This rich narrative also examines the role of poor black farmers in the creation of a black nationalist identity and the importance of the symbolism of an ancestral continent. Based on letters to the ACS and interviews of descendants of the emigrants in war-torn Liberia, this study captures the life of black sharecroppers in the late 1800s and their dreams of escaping to Africa. |
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Page 7
... tirelessly to that end. No longer a big-budget institution, the American Colonization Society had become virtually a one-man show.12 William Coppinger. From Liberia Bulletin, November 1892. But at the ~~ 7.
... tirelessly to that end. No longer a big-budget institution, the American Colonization Society had become virtually a one-man show.12 William Coppinger. From Liberia Bulletin, November 1892. But at the ~~ 7.
Page 8
... November 1892. But at the same time, the momentum in the back-to-Africa movement was shifting from white northerners to poor black farmers in the South. Freedom's rewards were slow in coming and fewer than expected. The Liberian ...
... November 1892. But at the same time, the momentum in the back-to-Africa movement was shifting from white northerners to poor black farmers in the South. Freedom's rewards were slow in coming and fewer than expected. The Liberian ...
Page 12
... not just the severe realities for black southerners in the late 1800s but also their hopes and dreams for a better life. The Liberia Exodus Arkansas Colony, 1877–1880 On 23 November 1877, 12 ~~
... not just the severe realities for black southerners in the late 1800s but also their hopes and dreams for a better life. The Liberia Exodus Arkansas Colony, 1877–1880 On 23 November 1877, 12 ~~
Page 13
... November 1877, a convention of nearly one hundred black delegates and observers assembled at the Third Baptist Church of Helena, Arkansas, to make plans for a mass migration to Liberia. Calling themselves the Liberia Exodus Arkansas ...
... November 1877, a convention of nearly one hundred black delegates and observers assembled at the Third Baptist Church of Helena, Arkansas, to make plans for a mass migration to Liberia. Calling themselves the Liberia Exodus Arkansas ...
Page 16
... Stanford busily prepared for a convention in November to discuss a mass migration to Liberia.6 A flamboyant man of questionable character, Stanford proved to be 16 ~~
... Stanford busily prepared for a convention in November to discuss a mass migration to Liberia.6 A flamboyant man of questionable character, Stanford proved to be 16 ~~
Contents
1 | |
13 | |
The 1880s | 33 |
Liberia Fever 18881891 | 49 |
The Crisis of 1892 | 75 |
Five Troublemakers | 91 |
Six Missions | 107 |
Seven The Meaning of Africa | 123 |
Eight The Last Voyages | 135 |
Nine In Liberia | 149 |
Conclusion | 177 |
Notes | 195 |
Bibliography | 245 |
Index | 259 |
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Common terms and phrases
ACS reel African African Americans agent American Annual appeared applicants Arkansas arrived asked August Baptist became Bishop black Americans brought called Christian Church citizens City civilization claimed club Colonization color Conway Coppinger correspondence County December Democrats discussion early election emigration Exodus farmers February Gazette Henry hope immigrants interest interview James January John July June kansas labor land late later leaders leave letters Liberia Little Rock lived lynchings March meeting migration missionary Missions Monrovia months moved movement Negro newspaper North November October Office organized party Phillips political population president Printing race received Recorder refugees reported Republican returned Ridgel September settlers ship Smith Society South southern Stanford tion took town traveled Turner United University Press Voice vote wanted Washington women wrote York
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