The Struggles of John Brown Russwurm John Brown Russwurm, c. 1848. Courtesy of Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundation. The Struggles of John Brown Russwurm The Life and Writings of a Pan-Africanist Pioneer, 1799(cid:60)1851 Winston James (cid:4) NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London www.nyupress.org © 2010 by Winston James All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data James, Winston. The struggles of John Brown Russwurm : the life and writings of a pan-Africanist pioneer, 1799–1851 / Winston James. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978–0–8147–4289–1 (cl : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0–8147–4289–0 (cl : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978–0–8147–4290–7 (pb : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0–8147–4290–4 (pb : alk. paper) [etc.] 1. Russwurm, John Brown, 1799–1851. 2. African American intellectuals— Biography. 3. Pan-Africanism—History—19th century. 4. African Americans— Colonization—Liberia—History—19th century. 5. Liberia—History—To 1847. 6. Pan-Africanism—History—19th century—Sources. 7. African Americans— Colonization—Liberia—History—19th century—Sources. 8. Liberia—History— To 1847—Sources. I. Russwurm, John Brown, 1799–1851. II. Title. E448.R96J36 2010 966.62’02092—dc22 [B] 2010011993 New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books. Manufactured in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 in memoriam Lindon Barrett (1961–2008) Walk good. We are considered a distinct people, in the midst of the millions around us, and in the most favoured parts of the country; and it matters not from what causes this sentence has been passed upon us; the fiat has gone forth, and should each of us live to the age of Methusalah, at the end of the thousand years, we should be exactly in our present situation: a proscribed race, how- ever, unjustly—a degraded people, deprived of all the rights of freemen; and in the eyes of the community, a race, who had no lot nor portion with them. We hope none of our readers, will from our remarks think that we approve in the least of the present prejudices in the way of the man of colour: far from it, we deplore them as much as any man; but they are not of our creat- ing, and they are not in our power to remove. They at present exist against us—and from the length of their existence—from the degraded light in which we have ever been held—we are bold in saying, that it will never be in our power to remove or overcome them. So easily are these prejudices imbibed, that we have often noticed the effects on young children who could hardly speak plainly, and were we a believer in dreams, charms, &c we should believe that they imbibed them with their mother’s milk. Sensible then, as all are of the disadvantages under which we at present labour, can any consider it a mark of folly, for us to cast our eyes upon some other portion of the globe where all these inconveniencies are removed where the Man of Colour freed from the fetters and prejudice, and degrada- tion, under which he labours in this land, may walk forth in all the majesty of his creation—a new born creature—a Free Man! John Brown Russwurm (March 1829) If I know my own heart, I can truly say, that I have not a selfish wish in plac- ing myself under the patronage of the [American Colonization] Society; usefulness in my day & generation, is what I principally court. John Brown Russwurm (February 1829) You will not be surprised, that sometimes when difficulties & dangers sur- round us, we despond a little; and think, that do our best, all our efforts will be in vain. But these are only temporary; as every day’s experience gives us a better knowledge of our duty, & the practicability of establishing colonies on this coast, which in process of time, may realize all the fondest anticipa- tions of their patrons. But such is not the labor of one or five years; time must pass—difficulties are to be met and overcome; the present generation, & perhaps the next, must pass away, before we can with justice look for prosperity to crown our efforts, or the blessing of posterity our labor. John Brown Russwurm (June 1837) Men make their own history, but not of their own free will; not under cir- cumstances they themselves have chosen but under the given and inherited circumstances with which they are directly confronted. Karl Marx (1852) Contents Preface and Acknowledgments xi A Note on Quotations xiv Part I John Brown Russwurm 1 Prologue: The Man Out of Place 3 1 From Boy to Man 5 2 Freedom’s Journal:Pleading Our Own Cause 26 3 Quitting America and Its Cost 44 4 “We Have Found a Haven”: In the Land of His Fathers 59 5 Governor Russwurm: The Cape Palmas Years 85 Epilogue: Russwurm in His Rightful Place 108 Part II Selected Writings of John Brown Russwurm 127 Editorial Note 129 1 Early Writings 131 The Condition and Prospects of Hayti 132 2 Writings from Freedom’s Journal 135 Part A. Uplift, Abolitionism, and Opposition to Colonization 135 To Our Patrons 135 Proposals for Publishing the Freedom’s Journal: Prospectus 139 [Raising Us in the Scale of Being] 140 Haytien Revolution 141 | vii Mutability of Human Affairs 143 People of Colour 150 [A Trip through New England] 157 Betrayed by Our Own Brethren: 177 On Fugitive Slaves, Kidnapping, Man-Stealing, and Action Self-Interest: [Betrayed by Colored Persons] 177 Self-Interest: [Shaming and Naming Names] 179 Land of Liberty 180 Engaging the Colonizationists 181 [An Exchange with “Wilberforce”] 182 [An Exchange with Dr. Samuel Miller] 187 Travelling Scraps: To Philadelphia, Delaware, 190 Baltimore, and Washington Part B. Our Views Are Materially Altered: Looking toward Liberia 200 Liberia: [Casting His Eyes Elsewhere] 201 Liberia: [Unanswerable Argument] 202 Our Vindication 204 Colonization 207 To Our Patrons 209 3 Writings from Liberia 213 Part A. First Impressions: Two Early Letters from Liberia 213 Extract of Letter to Rev. A. R. Plumley, 213 Agent of the ACS, November 18, 1829 Extract of Letter to Edward Jones, March 20, 1830 216 Part B. Writings from the Liberia Herald 218 To Our Readers: [Inaugural Editorial] 218 Union 221 [We Have Found a Haven] 222 To Our Readers: [Taking Stock—One Year On] 223 Every Man the Architect of His Own Fortune 225 To Our Readers: [Let the Experiment Be Tried on Africa’s Soil] 229 [Facts Speak Louder Than Words] 230 Part C. Letters Home from Afar to a Brother 231 Letter to Francis Edward Russwurm, March 31, 1834 231 Letter to Francis Edward Russwurm, September 27, 1835 232 Part D. Governor Russwurm: Departing from the Old and Beaten Paths 234 Letter Accepting Appointment as Agent and Governor of 234 Maryland in Liberia viii | Contents Part E. Sometimes We Despond a Little: Some Candid and Private 235 Thoughts on the Liberian Project Letter to Rev. I. A. Easter, June 2, 1837 235 Letter to Judge Samuel Wilkeson, January 4, 1840 236 Part F. Home from Home: A Visit to Maine and After 238 We Are Now Ready to Return to Africa: Letter to Dr. James Hall 238 Back in Our “Free Home” in Liberia: Letter to John H. B. Latrobe 239 The Arrival and Departure of Russwurm:(cid:3)A Contemporary Report 240 Russwurm in Baltimore: A ReminiscencebyJohn H. B. Latrobe 242 Part G. “None in Your Employ Eat the Bread of Idleness in Africa”: 243 A Governor’s Dispatches Dispatch from Harper, Cape Palmas, ca. December 1838 243 Dispatch from Harper, Cape Palmas, December 8, 1839 246 Dispatch from Cape Palmas, December 30, 1845 250 Notes 255 Index 293 About the Author 305 Contents | ix This page intentionally left blank