#antebellum
“ … a number of distressed seamen sent from the port of London by the Consul of the United States, have arrived [in Charleston] and being persons of Color an advertisement has been published requiring evidence of their freedom … “ 4/7/1817
File Unit: March THRU April 1817, 3/1/1817 - 4/30/1817
Series: Letters Received, 1789 - 1906
Record Group 59: General Records of the Department of State, 1763 - 2002
Transcription:
139
Philadelphia April 7th. 1817
Sir
At the instance of several gentlemen
of this City I take the liberty of representing to you
that it appears by information received from
Charleston South Carolina that a number of
distressed seamen sent from the port of London
by the Consul of the United States, have arrived
there and being persons of Color an advertise-
ment has been published requiring evidence
of their freedom or of the claims of any per-
sons to their services, as slaves to be transmitted
to the marshals of the city of Charleston before the first day of May next.
The references given in the adver-
tisement to persons and places from which
the individuals are stated to have represented
that proofs of their freedom maybe be obtained
extend to the State of Massachusetts north-
ward and to the State of Ohio westward
and include almost all the intermediate States to Virginia.
Information received immedi-
ately from them by a benevolent man
[page 2]
resident at Charleston gives reason to believe
that the advertisement is in several respects
erroneous and that other persons and in some
respects other places must be resorted to for
the proofs of their freedom.
The enquiries will be pursued with
care and diligence but it is obvious that the
interval announced in the advertisement
is much too small for the object – nor is it
understood why it has been so limited.
It is apprehended that the case
falling within the range of the Executive
duties of the government of the United States
an application may properly be made to you
Sir to have the time extended.
Perhaps an addition of three months
would be little enough whether however it
shall be more or less is submitted to your judge-
ments – but it is respectfully hoped that you
will deem it within your power to give such
directions as will prevent – what it is appre-
hended may be case if within this narrow
interval the rights of freemen shall not
be established – Viz – being indiscriminately
sold for payment of costs and changes.
I have the honor to be – with the greatest respect [unclear (“Sir”??)]
Your obedient servant
[signature (with extensions/flourishes at left & below):] W. Rawle
Hon[’]ble. [? (abbrev. for “Honorable”; letters in superscript after “b” unclear)] Richard Rush
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Citizens of Kentucky wrote to Congress asking that free Black people be transported “to the land of their fathers,” 4/23/1832.
Series: Records of Early Select Committees, 1793 - 1909
Record Group 233: Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789 - 2015
Transcription:
MEMORIAL.
_________
To the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States, in Congress assembled.
THE undersigned petitioners, citizens of the State of Kentucky, would respectfully represent,
that we cordially unite with our fellow citizens of other States in the Union, in deeply lamenting
the miseries attendant upon slavery, and the resulting evil of an existing and rapidly increasing population
of Free Blacks throughout the Union; and that we are anxious to see those miseries and evils
mitigated by every possible means not repugnant to the rights of individuals or to the constitution
of the United States.
Viewing - therefore, with the highest approbation, the exertions which are making by the friends
of Colonization throughout the United States, for the removal of the Free Blacks to the land of their
fathers; and believing that the enterprize, if successfully prosecuted, will meliorate our own condition
and that of the Colonists, and that it is intimately connected with the present dearest interests
and future welfare of our beloved country, we, as patriots, christians, and philanthropists, do most
earnestly request and petition your honorable body to extend its energetic arm for the complete and
speedy accomplishment of this great and glorious undertaking. We would not presume to prescribe
the mode by which your patronage and assistance shall be afforded; but we trust that every
constitutional expedient in your power will be adopted; and we would bed leave to suggest, that an appropriation
of a portion of the national revenue, and especially of the surplus of the moneys derived
from the sales of the public lands, after existing claims upon that fund are satisfied – to be applied to
the object herein contemplated, either under the immediate direction of the executive, or in aid of
the funds of the American Colonization Society, and the employment of a certain number of suitable
vessels, to be owned, equipped and manned by the United States, in the transportation of Free
Blacks to the coast of Africa - which might serve as a valuable nursery for seamen, as well as for
the more important object in view - may be among the most feasible and efficient measures which can
be adopted.
[signatures]
Js. T. Morehead D.[?] Donaldson A.J. Mitchell Sr.
Saml. A. Atchison Jas. A. Neale R.W.Lucas
Asher W. Graham
H. Grieler [?] John [illegible] Briggs W[?] Payne
Wm. Volt. Loving Wm. Marshall [2 initials, illegible] Thomas B S Young
A.R. Macey Richard [illegible] [3 initials, illegible] _akey
Euclid M. Covington W. Mitchell Tho. Sterrett [?]
C.T. Damaron [?] John H. Graham Tho. Rogers
John H. Todd Wm. R. Payne John S. Lucas
[illegible] James G. Pitts
Geo. [illegible] C. T. Jones
Charles D. Morehead Benj. Temple Jas. R.[illegible]
SIR: [italics] The Board of Managers of the Kentucky Colonization Society respectfully request, that you will procure as
many respectable signatures as you conveniently can, to the above petition, and forward the same directly to your
representative in Congress for presentation. [/italics]
L. MUNSELL, Cor. Sec'y. Ky. Col. Society.
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Stereoview portrait of a group posing on a bridge or pier in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, 1860. By photography firm Osborn and Durbec.
Source: Library of Congress.
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