Autograph letter signed : Playford, Suffolk, to [James Cropper], 1832 Oct. 19.

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Autograph letter signed : Playford, Suffolk, to [James Cropper], 1832 Oct. 19.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/270870532

Outlining arguments for and against the American Colonization Society's plan to send freed American slaves to Liberia. He notes that upon hearing that many slave owners agreed to freely give up their slaves to the society with the knowledge that they would be resettled, he was "much struck and delighted," and that he had been told that "by means of the exertions of pious ministers of the gospel and other good men there slavery had become odious even in the slave-holding states themselves. There were hundreds of masters, who then felt the sin of holding their fellow-men in bondage, and were willing to make them free for conscience sake." Asking Cresson whether it might be more economically feasible to settle the freed slaves in the vast U.S. than in Africa, he was told that "The prejudices against these people and against the color of their skin as a badge of slavery, were so great and so deep rooted among the whites, that, if they were to be settled within the Union, they would always be looked upon as a separate, a distinct, and a degraded People ..." He expresses concern that, as a friend warned him, the society's plan is a "scheme for getting rid of all the black people altogether from the soil of their birth."

1 item (6 p.) ; 23 cm.

Pierpont Morgan Library.

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SNAC Resource ID: 7217015

Related Entities

There are 2 Entities related to this resource.

Cropper, James, 1773-1840

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sx75qd (person)

James Cropper (1773-1840), philanthropist, was born at Winstanley, Lancashire. Following an apprenticeship with the merchants Rathbone Brothers, Liverpool, he founded his own mercantile house, Cropper, Benson & Co. He became director of the new Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, and maintained an interest in the company's affairs until his death. Cropper was involved in philanthropic work, supporting the anti-slavery movement and pressing for the relief of the Irish poor. He also esta...

Clarkson, Thomas, 1760-1846

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6000287 (person)

Philanthropist. Entered St John's 1780. B.A. 1783. Clarkson won the members prize for Latin essay in 1785, the subject being a question 'anne liceat invitos in servitutem dare?' ('is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?') This contest determined the course of the rest of his life. The essay was read in the Senate House to much applause in June 1785, and published by James Phillips in June 1786. He met William Wilberforce in 1786 and co-founded a committee for the suppr...