Abstracts
Abstract
This article examines how US naval officers’ attitudes about slavery, race, and American empire led many to support for America’s African colonization movement in the antebellum era. It argues that beyond the well-documented support they provided in Africa, many American naval officers joined colonization societies, gave speeches, published in newspapers, and authored books to advocate for colonization in the United States. Drawing on their firsthand experience, they provided credibility to the movement at a time when it was sorely needed in response to attacks from both sides of the political spectrum.
Keywords:
- Liberia,
- colonization movement,
- United States Navy,
- officer corps,
- black Atlantic,
- slavery
Résumé
Cet article porte sur les attitudes des officiers de la marine américaine à l’égard de l’esclavage, de la question raciale et de l’empire américain qui ont amené plusieurs d’entre eux à soutenir le mouvement de colonisation de l’Afrique par les États-Unis durant la période d’avant-guerre. Il fait valoir qu’au-delà de l’appui bien documenté que bon nombre d’officiers de la marine américaine ont apporté en Afrique, ils ont participé à des sociétés de colonisation, prononcé des discours, publié des articles de journaux et écrit des ouvrages visant à promouvoir la colonisation aux États-Unis. Forts de leur expérience directe, ils ont conféré une crédibilité au mouvement à une époque où cette crédibilité était tout à fait nécessaire face aux attaques venant des deux côtés de l’échiquier politique.
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Appendices
Biographical note
Roger A. Bailey is an assistant professor of history at The Citadel. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park. Recently, he served as Class of 1957 Postdoctoral Fellow in American Naval Heritage at the US Naval Academy and Copie Hill Civil War Fellow at the American Battlefield Trust. His scholarship focuses on how the US Navy shaped American foreign relations and domestic discourse in the decades leading up to the Civil War. This article won the Clark G. Reynolds Student Paper Award in 2020.
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