Mtidon  1nulttiN in   fwra
SUGGESTIONS
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
CULTIVATION     OF COTTON IN AFRICA,
IN REFERENCE TQ THE
ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES,
THROUGHL THE ORJGAN1ISTION OF AN
3frimalli lliaatio -inotdt.
BY
BENJAMIN COATES.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN & SON.
1858,
r~saraea R~-,,~~~-~~sr   lX~~~XX~~XXX~K_  MIX XX-11  -   W1, ~ acaaarr e~rrar~P'r








~{Atfon (fdnfihf ion'fin
SUGGESTIONS
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE
CULTIVATION OF COTTON IN AFRICA,
IN REFERENCE TO THE
ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THEUNITED STATES,
THROUGH THE ORIGANIZATION OF AN
afitma MI lllatfilon a iwid 11
BY
BENJAMIN COATES.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN & SON.
1858.








PREFACE.
THE suggestions on the importance of the cultivation
of cotton in Africa, as a measure calculated to effect the
abolition of slavery in America, were presented originally to those more immediately interested in the
success of the proposed measure. The practicability
of the scheme was then supposed to have been clearly
demonstrated. But that which a few years since might
have been considered rather speculative, and, perhaps,
by some even visionary, with the information then obtained, is now placed beyond all doubt; and the fact is
established to the entire satisfaction of those who have
labored so zealously for the accomplishment of the object
-that cotton of superior quality, fully equal to the best
grown in America, can be raised in Africa by free labor,
in an unlimited quantity, and much cheaper than it
can be produced by the expensive slave labor of the
United States. In confirmation of this, we have the
testimony of the celebrated African travellers, Barth,
Livingstone, and Bowen, whose explorations have revealed the fact that nearly the whole continent of Africa
is admirably adapted to the cultivation of cotton. That
in many places it grows spontaneously, and that several
kinds bloom all through the year, requiring only the labor
of picking. They establish another fact scarcely less
important, both to Africa and to the world, viz., that




4
most of the interior tribes are a very industrious people,
not only willing, but glad to work for the smallest compensation. And that many of these natives are very
intelligent, far superior in capacity, in morals, and industry to those on the coast, who have become demoralized in all respects by their intercourse with slavetraders.
In corroboration of this testimony, Thomas Clegg, of
Manchester, England, a practical cotton spinner and
large manufacturer, to whose indefatigable exertions the
whole civilized world is much indebted for valuable
information and experiments of the greatest importance
to the cause of philanthropy and civilization, and the
"Cotton Supply Association of Manchester," of which
it is believed Mr. Clegg is a leading and active member,
both give assurance of the value of this most important
staple, and the cheapness at which it may be produced.
Thus proving, beyond any doubt, that Africa possesses
within herself all the means, not only for her own elevation and regeneration, but also for severing the bonds
of slavery, to which her children are subjected in foreign
lands.
It cannot be that any number of intelligent black men
can be found who will shut out the claims of Africa to
their sympathies; but with increased knowledge of the
capabilities of the African continent, the great advantages it presents in many respects to enterprising colored
emigrants from the United States, who can take with
them the means for developing the resources of the
country, and thus introduce in every successive year an
improved civilization, must the interest in Africa increase.
The writer presents these remarks solely on his own
responsibility; feeling a strong interest in the civilization and christianization of Africa, as well as in the
welfare of the whole African race in the United States.




CULTIVATION OF COTTON IN AFRICA.
BY the true philanthropist of the present day, whose
sympathies are enlisted for the oppressed of all countries
and of every race, any suggestion that may lead to even
a partial improvement of their condition will be received with favor. And on the people of the United
States chiefly rests the responsibility of discovering the
best mode of emancipating four millions of bondmen
in their midst; and of providing for their future welfare, when emancipated.  This has been deemed so
difficult a subject-so complex in its political, social,
and economical bearings, that many well-disposed persons have been willing to pass it by, as a question to be
solved by time, or by the superior wisdom of a future
age; although aware that every successive year increases
and strengthens the evil.
But there are some who believe that the present is the
proper time for action, and that they have a duty to
perform in this great work, that should not be neglected. To such it is desired to, make a few suggestions, under a belief that, with proper effort, much may
be done now to effect the desired result, and that measures maybe commenced immediately, which will eventuate, at no distant period, in a general emancipation,
without violence of any kind, and without any collision
with the laws of the land.




6
As slavery originated in the spirit of gain, by which
alone it is still sustained, it is proposed to make use of
the same agency to accomplish its overthrow. It is
generally conceded that the profit derived from the
culture of Cotton is the chief support of slavery in
America, and this being the most vulnerable point, is
that towards which the attack on the institution should
be directed; for whatever shall prove available in
making slave labor unprofitable, must of course cause
the demand for that labor to cease. It is proposed to
accomplish this result by means of the cultivation of
cotton in Africa, with the use of free labor. As the soil
of Africa is much more fertile than that of the United
Slates, and is particularly adapted to the growth of
cotton, the advantages in its favor must be apparent to
the most superficial observer; for not only can all the
best varieties at present cultivated in the United States,
be more cheaply raised in Western or Central Africa,
but there are several kinds indigenous to that continent, of superior quality, that have been highly approved in the English market. When it is remembered
that this plant is perennial in Africa, and produces very
much more than it does in America, where it must be
planted annually, the superiority of the former over the
latter will be very obvious; but in comparing the cost
of labor in the two countries, the difference is still
greater in favor of the free labor of Africa, over the
slave labor of America.
To make this apparent to the most skeptical, it is
only necessary to compare the value of slaves in Africa,
with the market price of the same class of laborers in
the United States. The foreign slave-traders usually
pay from twenty to fifty dollars for each slave, in tradegoods, at an enormous profit; so that the cash value of
a good field-hand may be safely estimated at from fifteen to twenty-five dollars; while the same laborer in
America would cost from five hundred to one thousand




dollars. This comparison shows the real difference in
the value of labor to be estimated in calculating the
relative cost of the production of this important staple,
the variation in the price of which so seriously affects
our commercial prosperity as to make the information
respecting it, of the first importance on every arrival
from Europe. As this comparison, however, is only
between slave labor in the two countries, and as the
object of encouraging the increased production of cotton in Africa is to liberate the bondman there as well
as here, some may be inclined to doubt whether the
native African, in a state of freedom, can be so stimulated by the love of gain, and the hope of improving
his condition, as to compete successfully with the compulsory labor used here. But it must be remembered
how vast is the population of Africa, and that the employment of even a very small part of it, for a few hours
each day, would give a greater amount of labor than
that obtained by compulsion from the smaller number
in the United States. And when we take into view,
the difference in the cost of living, the exceeding productiveness of the soil, and that much less clothing is
required in that tropical climate than with us, may we
not reasonably calculate from these facts, that cotton,
more than equal to the whole product of the United
States, can be obtained from the free sons of Africa in
their native land, at less than one-half of its present
cost, while amply compensating the laborer, and, at the
same time, greatly improving his condition in other
respects? This plan is, then, simply to make the immense profits at present derived by the slave-trader
from his iniquitous business, together with the great
emolument accruing to the planter in the United States,
from the unrequited labor of his slaves, both available
to the African himself. And the same process that thus
benefits the free laborer, as a necessary consequence,
liberates the bondman in America, and emancipates the




8
uncounted millions of slaves in Africa; for it is not to
be supposed that slavery will continue long anywhere,
when it is found to be unprofitable.
All the Bible arguments of southern theologians, or
the patriotic appeals of pro-slavery politicians, will not
avail to sustain an institution that occasions a clear loss
to every individual connected with it. Both slavery
itself and its adjunct, the fugitive slave law, will then
be numbered with the things that were; instead of laws
for the protection of this species of property, we shall
see, as John Randolph predicted, the master running
away from the slave. Succeeding generations will read
the history of the present time in constant wonder that
such an institution as human slavery could have existed
so long among a professedly Christian and enlightened
people, glorying, in an eminent degree, in the republican principles of their government.
Assuming, then,Athat the free labor of Africa may be
made available, if properly applied, to the abolition of
slavery in both countries, the question will naturally
arise, as to the best mode of accomplishing so desirable
an object in the shortest time possible; and also that
the greatest amount of good, as well as the chief profit,
shall result to the advantage of the entire African race.
To this end, care should be taken that the business of
collecting, cleaning, pressing, and exporting the cotton,
should not be monopolized either by English or American capitalists, nor by any associations of white men,
with even very philanthropic views in regard to the
abolition of slavery. The most suitable agents to promote the success of the measure, whose exertions could
be made to advance their own interest and that of their
posterity, while they were using the most effective measures for eradicating one of the greatest evils of the present age, are enterprising colored men from the United
States, properly educated, so as to be qualified for the
work, and who are capable of appreciating the immense




9
benefits to the world that must result from their labors.
These men could form settlements on the whole western
coast of Africa, between the parallels of 20 deg. north
and 20 deg. south latitude, which would include Upper
and Lower Guinea and Gambia-selecting, of course,
the most eligible points on the coast, not already possessed by other powers, from whence they could gradually extend themselves into the interior. They would
thus be enabled to control the vast and continually increasing commerce of a hitherto unexplored region, comprising the larger and better portion of Central Africasufficient of itself, with the improvements in cultivation
naturally introduced by civilization, to form a large and
very lucrative portion of the commerce of the world.
The important results that must follow from the success of this scheme, cannot fail to strike every one who
will give it attention.  The downfall of American
slavery is inevitable, and with it the whole system of
servitude throughout the world; for, with the great advantage thus shown that Africa possesses for the cultivation of cotton, over the more expensive lands and
labor in America, is it to be doubted for a moment that
it can be profitably raised at much less than one half of the
price it has commanded in the United States for many years
past?
Cotton, however, is not the only article of general
consumption produced by slave labor, that can be more
cheaply cultivated in Africa by freemen. Coffee and
rice grow there luxuriantly, and have already been
raised to a considerable extent and with comparatively
little labor; both being indigenous to that continent.
The Liberia coffee is considered one of the best varieties
in the English market, where it commands a high price,
and for that reason but little is imported into the United
States.
This plan for eradicating one of the greatest evils that
afflicts so large a portion of the human race, and our




10
own country in particular, may seem so plain, when
viewed in the light of its commercial importance alone,
and yet so simple in the means proposed for carrying it
into effect, that many will be inclined to ask why it has
not been tried before, if so efficacious as here repre-'sented, for the accomplishment of its object?  This
would be a natural question, and the answer is this:
The agents who would be best adapted to the work, in
most respects, have not been properly educated for it;
the influences surrounding them in this country have
all been of a depressing nature, calculated to discourage
any noble aspirations that would lead them to promote
the welfare of their race, and to achieve for it a higher
position in the estimation of the world than it has yet
attained; and from this want of a knowledge of their
own capabilities, they have been too long contented
with the most servile occupations.
The great mortality that occurred in some of the
earlier expeditions that formed the settlement of the
present republic of Liberia, has given rise to very incorrect views as to the salubrity of the climate, and has
led the colored man to overlook the great advantages
that must result to himself, to his posterity, and to the
entire race, from a vigorous and judicious prosecution of
the scheme in the manner here indicated. It is, however, not desirable that a very large proportion of our
colored population should at once emigrate to Africa,
much less a general exodus; but if only fifty thousand
of the intelligent and educated should be induced to
settle there within the next ten years, what might they
not accomplish? This would be but one-tenth of the
free colored population of the United States, and only
equal to about one per cent. per annum. Yet this
number, distributed in some eight or ten different settlements along the coast, would form the nucleus of
probably as many independent States, hereafter to form
a confederacy similar to our own; and, as they would




11
naturally adopt republican principles, might in less than
half a century show a more important destiny for this
race, in the civilization and christianization of Africa,
and perform a more important part in the great work of
the world's redemption, than many of their best friends
have ever anticipated. If it should be objected that this
calculation is not entirely within the bounds of moderation,
that the effects hoped for are too great for the means
employed, we have only to look at our own country to
see the vast results of colonization from small beginnings; or to realize what has been accomplished within
the last few years in California and Australia; and then
ask ourselves if the colored man has not greater inducements, at this time, to emigrate to Africa, than our
forefathers had, in their day, to emigrate to America?
And is the prospect of gain that yearly takes so many
thousands to the gold fields of California and Australia,
to be compared with the great advantages accruing to
the enterprising emigrant to Western Africa?
If any one doubts the capability of colored men to
overcome difficulties in establishing for themselves an
independent government, and in spreading the blessings of civilization and christianity among savage people,
he has only to cast his eyes on Liberia to see what has
been achieved by a few thousand of the same class, a
large majority of whom were emancipated slaves, without any previous education or the least experience in
the great work they have so successfully accomplished.
Liberia has fully established the capacity of the African
race for self-government and the highest degree of
civilization, and she stands at this moment as the most
successful example of colonization to be found in the
annals of history.
There we see an independent government, formed on
strictly republican principles, modelled after our own in
all respects, slavery excepted, established and creditably
conducted by less than ten thousand of the African




12
race, most of them from a state of bondage in America,
and of whom not one hundred ever had an education
in this country such as is to be obtained in our best
schools. They were aided, indeed, in the first instance,
by the labors of a few of the self-denying and devoted
friends of this oppressed people, among whom the
names of Ashmun and Buchanan should be held in
grateful remembrance by every true-hearted black man
in Africa or America.
Liberia is now enjoying a high degree of prosperity,
and occupies an honored and most respectable position
among the civilized governments of the world, her
sovereignty and independence having been acknowledged by Great Britain, France, Prussia, Belgium,
Brazil, Iamburg, Lubec, Bremen, and Portugal, with all
of whom  she interchanges national civilities, and a
mutually lucrative trade; her flag and her revenue laws
are respected by the vessels of all nations, and her
citizens meet on equal terms those from Europe or
America who visit her ports in pursuit of commerce, or
in the employment of their respective countries. On the
two occasions when her chief magistrate visited Europe,
he was received with distinguished consideration by the
nobility and crowned heads, and by the virtuous of
other classes of the most powerful and most refined nations of the Eastern Continent. Liberia, however, still
needs the sympathy and aid of her friends in extending
the benefits of education among her growing population,
as both the government and people are far from a state
of affluence. Yet, they have overcome most of the
difficulties incident to the settlement of a new country,
especially that great obstacle, the slave-trade, with which
they had to contend for many years, and which resisted
them with all its power, constantly inciting the natives
to oppose their friendly and peaceful advances. The
slave-trade is now entirely destroyed, not only within
their own borders, but it is prohibited in all their




13
treaties with the native kings. who have sought their
friendship. The Liberians have otherwise exerted a
healthful influence in the suppression of wars between
the different tribes with whom  they have had intercourse.
When it is remembered that the entire yearly consumption of cotton in England alone is upwards of
800,000,000 of lbs., and of this 79 per cent., or more
than three-fourths, is raised in the United States, it will
be readily perceived how indispensable it is that we
should undermine this powerful support of slavery, in
our plans for the overthrow of the institution. This
done, we may safely leave the repeal of all fugitive slave
laws, and the answer to all pro-slavery arguments, to the
slaveholders themselves. Make slavery obviously unprofitable, and the work is done.
In this view of the case, our first and great duty
would seem to be, to raise the colored man from his
present state, infuse into him a, noble ambition to
occupy a more elevated position in the world, and to
qualify him to act the part which appears to be so clearly
marked out for him in this age of progress.
With a liberal education, it is not to be supposed that
he will fail to recognize the responsibility resting on
him, and learn to know that it is on his own exertions
he must mainly depend to become a useful and respected
member of society; he will then see the importance of
immediate action, to secure for himself and his children
some of the advantages that the Continent of Africa
offers to the enterprising emigrants who seek her shores;
and having thus secured a home for themselves, and
laid the foundation of an extensive Christian empire,
will soon be able to receive all of their brethren whose
interest or adventurous spirit may lead them to seek a
new abode from under the dominion of " the proud and
imperious Saxon," where their labor will be estimated
at its proper value. Our duty, however, will be but




14
partially performed to a long-neglected portion of our
brethren, by freeing them from actual bondage, without,
at the same time, making provision for their future welfare. We must bear in mind that the prejudice arising
from a long course of degradation will not soon be
eradicated after chattel slavery shall have ceased; that
while we may grant them entire equality under the law,
in accordance with our republican creed, yet that social
equality which cannot be looked for until the feeling of
brotherly love, engendered by a truer spirit of Christianity than at present prevails, shall have pervaded the
mass of the community; and as this work will be a
work of years, many of the free spirits among our
colored brethren may not be willing to await this " good
time coming." When the certainty of a general emancipation is made manifest to our Southren brethren,
it is to be hoped that there will be shown a liberal
and Christian spirit toward their slaves, that will induce them to allow such educational privileges as will
prepare them to become useful, either in the land of
their nativity or that of their adoption. Many, no doubt,
will still be employed as laborers in the Southern States,
where their services, to a certain extent, will be indispensable, while others will seek new residences, in which
they can immediately become landed proprietors. To
provide for a large emigration of this nature, consequent
upon the success of the measures indicated for the overthrow of slavery, a broad and sure foundation should be
laid, upon which these new African States will be
erected.
In asking the attention of the friends of the African
race to this subject, it is respectfully suggested, that
much may be done towards the object at the present
time, by extending the facilities of education to the
different towns and settlements in Liberia, in establishing primary, high, and normal schools for both males
and females, and also by furnishing each settlement




15
with the necessary machines for cleaning and pressing
cotton. These must be extended as new settlements
are formed, as the emigrants are generally very poor,
and require all their means for the cultivation of their
farms. Capital is, therefore, much needed by them for
such purposes. To secure the accomplishment of this
plan on a scale commensurate with the important end
to be attained, combined effort will be necessary; and
as the measures proposed do not come within the prescribed duties of any existing organization, the object
will probably be effected in the surest manner by a
union of all the friends of freedom in America, whose
sympathy for the oppressed is not limited by geographical boundaries or national sovereignty, in an association
with the philanthropists of Great Britain (or in such
manner as shall receive their co-operation); and as distinguishing the society, and explaining its object, it
might be called "The African Civilization Society."
It would occupy a different field of labor from any other
anti-slavery association, and thus be free from the objection of many, whose exertions have been limited to mere
partial measures. There are in the religious Society of
Friends, many who deeply feel the wrongs of slavery,
and who would gladly avail themselves of an opportunity
of more extended usefulness, but who have not deemed
it their duty to take an active part in the political conflict that the slavery question has engendered. Such
will probably see in this quiet and peaceful, yet most
effective mode of overcoming the principal obstacle to
our national prosperity, the way made clear for extending more enlightened views of governmental policy to
the nations of the world, some of whom have been deterred from adopting our professed principles from the
inconsistency of our practice, in continuing an institution at variance with both the obvious precepts of Christianity and our boasted republicanism.
The attention of the reader is called to the very rapid




16
development of the resources of Africa, particularly as
shown in the vast increase in the exports of cotton
within the past three years, through the agency of native Africans, stimulated thereto by the enterprise of
British commerce, and British manufactures. It will
also be noticed that the intelligent natives of Central
Africa are not content with exporting only the raw
material, but are already supplying foreign countries
with it in its manufactured state, the product of their
own skill and industry.  If so much can be accomplished with so little effort by a semi-civilized people,
and who have been viewed by some as incapable of
taking care of themselves, and by others as so lacking
both the industry and enterprise that actuates the white
races, what may not reasonably be expected from this
people under a superior state of civilization, and stimulated not only by the love of gain and the love of power,
which is common to all men, but also by those nobler
impulses which a pure Christianity is calculated to produce, when the higher objects of love to God and
love to man shall supersede the inferior motives that
actuate those of every race, who cannot appreciate the
blessings of the highest civilization?
Here, then, is presented to the educated and Christian
Afric-American, the instrumentality for abolishing slavery in America, and also of regenerating a whole continent, and placing a long-neglected race in a most favorable light before the nations of Christendom.
Will American Christians of African descent, secure
the opportunity now offered, and in the most effective,
yet peaceful way, strike a deathblow to slavery, to
superstition, and crime, at the same time, by introducing
Christitanity into Central Africa, accompanied as it will
be by the arts and science of civilized life? Several
hundred missionaries, of various Christian denominations, from Europe and America, are now occupying
this important field, and sowing the good seed; the har



17
vest promises to be so bountiful, that more laborers are
needed; and the natives, conscious of their inadequate
means for so great a task, are now imploring some of
their brethren in America to come over and help them.
But it must be remembered that at present it is only the
skilled laborers that are needed to gather the material
as well as the spiritual harvest, for unskilled laborers,
and rude materials they possess in abundance. American laborers, of higher culture, and American implements, of the most approved inventions, are required for
the work; and when the harvest is gathered, then, no
doubt, others will be invited to the feast.
So much has already been said and written on the
subject of slavery, that what seems now most needed is
argument addressed to the pocket as well as to the conscience of the slaveholder, and it is earnestly suggested
that now is the time to act. Indeed, the time for talking on this subject seems to have passed, and action is
now demanded. The action here contemplated is that of
a perfectly legitimate commerce, stimulated not only by
self-interest but also by Christian philanthropy, and is of
such a character as to commend itself to the approbation
of all right thinking men. It is only necessary that the
colored population of the United States should fully appreciate their own power, so as to exercise it judiciously
for the extinction of slavery and for the elevation of their
race; but this can only be accomplished by organization, and to some extent, a united action: the motto of
the United States should be their motto, " United we
stand, divided we fall.". To this end, therefore, the author would propose the formation of emigrant aid societies in each State, after the plan of the emigrant aid
societies that settled Kansas (and which Hon. Eli Thayer
is now so successfully prosecuting in Virginia), to form
settlements in Yroruba, Soudan, and other portions of
the high table land of Central Africa, which is described
by recent explorers as both healthy and fertile, and free
2




18
from the vicinity of the mangrove swamps, which are the
cause of the fever of the African coast.
It is very important that between these State associations there should be harmonious action, so as not to
conflict with each other; this could be best insured by
a general organization, to be styled "The African Civilization Society," to be composed either exclusively, or
chiefly of men of known character and standing, who
possess the confidence of the whole community. This
should be entirely free from any party or sectarian bias,
and thus be removed from the objections that might otherwise attach to it. Such a society should not be identified
with any existing organization, while it would combine
within itself the best features and missionary spirit of
the colonization enterprise, with the philanthropic spirit
of the various anti-slavery associations, so that of a natural consequence, if wisely conducted, it will supersede
them all. An African Civilization Society then, formed
on purely Christian principles, and conducted in accordance therewith, will enlist the sympathy and receive
the aid and encouragement of all the true friends of the
colored race, both in America and in Africa. Should
such a society be located either in New York or Philadelphia as central points, there should still be auxiliaries
in the different States, acting through the parent or principal organization.  Such State societies could, from
time to time, send out select companies of enterprising
men who desire a change of residence for themselves and
their children.  These would be no filibustering expeditions to usurp power and dominion by force, but
would go at the earnest solicitation of their semi-civilized brethren, taking with them the plough, the loom,
and the anvil, with the arts and attainments of civilized
life, as co-laborers with them in the great and glorious
work of regenerating Africa.
A few picked men are all that will be required to produce
this vast change; and the movement, therefore, should




19
have no effect to unsettle or alarm the great mass of our
colored population, whose rights should be respected
here in the land of their birth, and their interest here
promoted in every proper way.
But should only one person out of every hundred
emigrate to Africa yearly, for the next ten years, it
would be quite as many as could well be provided for;
and, if they are of the right stamp, quite sufficient to
work out great results to the world. While it is fully
conceded that the great mass of the colored population
of the United States will require that education, for
years to come, which they can receive in this country
better than in any other to which they might remove,
notwithstanding all the difficulties and discouragements
that surround them here, yet there are many who feel
that their energies have not the opportunity they require in this land, and desire a broader field for the
development of their talents. The question, then, is,
whether such men shall be encouraged to grapple with
difficulties that may be overcome by industry and perseverance, where their exertions will be amply rewarded.
The success of these pioneers, in the great work of
civilization, will give encouragement and strength to
their brethren in America, who will thus acquire greater
confidence in their own powers to work for the elevation of their race in America, as their friends are doing
in Africa.
No one knows of how much he is capable, until there
is something to call forth his energies. It is great occasions that make great men. What would Washington
and Jefferson have been, except for the American Revolution? respectable Virginia gentlemen; and Adams,
and Hancock, and their associates? honored citizens
of Massachusetts. Who would have known of Roberts
and Benson, further than as worthy colored men in
America, but for the establishment of the republic of
Liberia? And would not Frederick Douglass still be




20
an unruly slave on a Maryland plantation, or working
in a shipyard at New Bedford, except for the antislavery movement? And how many such men may
there be, whose talents now lie dormant, who might
largely benefit the world, should circumstances occur to
cause their development, no one can say. But we
would ask, is it anticipating too much to suppose that a
yearly emigration of only one out of a hundred of our
free colored population, which would be about five
thousand persons, from among the most enterprising
and energetic among them, even if not all of superior
education, yet going as farmers, merchants, and mechanics, of the various trades, with their churches and
schools, and forming settlements among the intelligent
natives of Yoruba, of Soudan, of Dahomey, and Ashantee, should be the means of Christianizing that whole
district of country, and effect, in a few years, a peaceful
revolution, such as the world has never seen.
This emigration movement is essentially different
from any that has ever before taken place. Here are
people of the same race going to those who will receive
them with open arms, and who are most desirous to be
benefited by the religion, the commerce, and the improved civilization of their more advanced brethren.
An emigration of one per cent. per annum of our free
colored population to Africa, will place fifty thousand
civilized men there in the next ten years; and surely
one man out of one hundred would scarcely be missed
in America. Yet what could they not accomplish for
Africa? Who does not believe that even one thousand
civilized men from America, forming settlements in
either Dahomey or Ashantee, would be sufficient to place
Christianity in the ascendant, and cause a peaceful revolution in either or both of those kingdoms in much less
than ten years? Why, then, should we not have a
confederacy of republican states in Africa, that shall
control the immense commerce of the interior of that




21
continent, and supply cotton sufficient for the wants of
the world?
The vast importance of the commerce of Africa is
such to the manufacturing nations of Europe, who also
need her cotton, coffee, and sugar, that the spirit of
avarice that has led the white man to America, and to
Australia, and the grasping power of England, which has
seized India and China, will also take possession of
Central Africa, now that its great wealth and healthy
climate have become known, unless it is at once settled
by the colored men of America. The question, then,
simply is, shall Africa be possessed and controlled by
the white man or the black man? Shall the former
always maintain the superior, and the latter an inferior
position? or will the black man assert his equal right,
at least in Africa? And when having firmly secured to
its original possessors the benefit of their own. toil
and labors, and shall have employed that wealth and
power, thus acquired, to the civilization of the entire
continent, and the spread of true Christianity, not only
to all within its borders, but to those of every color and
every race, they will thus not only break the fetters of
the slave, but will be the means, under Divine Providence, of advancing and securing the rights of all men.
If the greatness of this work, with the full assurance
of the importance of the results that must ensue from
their rightly directed labors, shall fail to inspire the
colored men of America with a determination to succeed
in their glorious mission, it is difficult to conceive of
higher and nobler objects that can arouse their dormant
energies, and impel them to a brighter future.




TESTIMONY.
MR. CLEGG'S LETTER.
THE following letter on the success which has attended
Mr. Clegg's persevering efforts to promote the cultivation of cotton on the West Coast of Africa was recently
addressed by that gentleman to Mr. McGregor Laird,
the promoter of the new commercial expedition up the
Niger. The facts are highly encouraging.
MANCHESTER, March 18, 1858.
MY DEAR SIR:
I may state that my operations in Africa were commenced, some seven or eight years ago, with the view
of putting down the slave-trade by a new but very simple
method, viz., convincing the native African chiefs and
others that it was their interest to employ their people,
instead of making war upon each other for the sake of
getting a colorable right or pretext for selling into slavery the prisoners taken in such marauding expeditions.
I commenced at Sierra Leone, and strongly recommended
every one to begin to collect the cotton already growing,
and to cultivate more wherever it would grow. The
Church Missionary Society kindly recommended agents
to conduct the business, and in every way aided my
efforts with the very great influence they so deservedly
possess. The African Native Agency Committee of
London kindly paid the agents their salaries, and the
African Improvement Society of Sierra Leone put down
an hydraulic packing-press, made by Messrs. Bellhouse,




23
of Manchester, to pack such cotton as these agents and
others might be able to purchase. Not being able to
collect more than about two hundred and thirty-five
pounds of clean cotton during the first year, I found that
Sierra Leone was not the right place at which to try
the experiment, and at once decided to go direct to the
interior cotton-field, and to the residence of the chiefs
about Abbeokuta. In the meantime I discovered that
all our European agents either died off or had to return
to this country, and another long process had to be gone
through, by which several more years were almost lost.
The Missionary Society kindly selected several young
Africans, who came over to this country at the expense
of the Native Agency Committee, to be educated and
instructed in the best method of cleaning the cotton
without injury to the fibre. Two of these I had at my
mill in the country for several years, where they also
learned to work as mechanics, carpenters, &c.; a third I
had in my office in town as clerk, bookkeeper, &c. In
the meantime another young African, who had been
educated as a surgeon in England, took the matter up
heartily, and conducted the various transactions until the
two others from the mill returned to their own country.
These three native African youths have since conducted
the whole of my operations in a manner most creditable
to themselves and their country. The African Native
Agency Committee of London liberally supplied several
packing-presses, a boat, weighing-machines, cotton stores,
and other heavy articles, whilst I supplied cotton-gins,
goods, and money to purchase the cotton with. Consul
Campbell, of Lagos, seeing the great advantage likely to
accrue to Africa from the energetic prosecution of the
new trade, rendered every assistance; indeed, he applied
for, and has obtained leave from Government to come
over to this country, and may be expected this spring to
come down to Manchester-where I hope he will be my
guest-with a view to further and promote these operations under the sanction of our Government.




24
Up to the first of the month, I have sent out one hundred and fifty-seven cotton-gins, costing from 31. 17s. 6d.
to 101. 10s. each. I have entered into correspondence
with upwards of seventy-six native and other African
traders-twenty-one or twenty-two of them being chiefs
-many of whom have begun to consign their cotton, as
well as other produce, to me; and I assure you it gives
me the greatest pleasure to sell it for the highest price
I can obtain, as well as to invest the money in any
articles they may require, with the exception of spirits, or
the implements of war. In conducting this affair, I have
to venture, and have now outstanding, about 46931.,
every shilling of which I expect to receive back; indeed,
I have bills of lading, and advices of great quantities of
cotton and other produce being on its way to me now,
both on consignment and in liquidation of what is owing
to me. I have had one transaction with one of these
traders from which he received 35001.; and it is both
satisfactory and pleasing to know that every trader
almost invariably takes back hardware, earthenware,
cotton goods, or other merchandise, for the whole
amount of cotton or other produce sent here. Owing
to two extensive fires at Abbeokuta, I have not got quite
as much cotton as I expected in 1857, but have had
cotton advices and bills of lading for shipments from
Lagos up to the 28th of December, as follows, viz.:
Bales.
Per Candace,... 46
Gambia,.......  10
Invincible,.                    34
Token,........  36
Jarrow,........  41
Gambia,........  116
St. George,........  81
Powerful,........  249
Oscar,.....               3
Saltern Rock,....  245
Propeller,.......  34
In the whole,      929




25
Bales.
Add to these 17 tons burnt in the first fire, and 3000
lbs. to 4000 lbs. in the second,....  321
Produced, or rather collected for sending to me, of
usual size....                     1250
of African cotton.
This quantity has therefore been purchased, and there
has still always been plenty more offering on like terms,
viz., 2d. per lb. in the seed. On this account the people
of Abbeokuta cannot be made to believe that England
can purchase all the cotton that they can produce, and
yet Abbeokuta is but just on the border, at one corner
I may say, of the great cotton-field of Western Africa,
extending from Abbeokuta to the Niger, and away into
the interior. Coupling my experience on this coast, the
belief of the Abbeokutans, and the recent despatch of
Dr. Baikie from the Niger to our Government, where
he states that the Rev. Mr. Clark had seen at Illa, near
Ilorin, in the Yoruba country, fifteen or sixteen packages
of clean cotton offered for sale, weighing seventy-five to
eighty pounds each, and had been assured by the natives
that on market-days (every fourth), from one to two
thousand such bags were offered for sale, and this for
their own country manufacture only: I say, coupling
these statements with my operations, what I know of
Tunis and Natal, and what Dr. Livingstone tells us of
the East, I can clearly see a prospect of the slave-trade
being entirely starved out; the tractable, docile, and
intelligent African rising in the scale of civilization and
Christianity in proportion as he is allowed to enjoy his
own rights, stay in, till the land, and trade in his own
native country, even if confined to the cultivation of
cotton alone. You know, much better than I do, what
Africa so abundantly produces beside cotton, such as
palm and other oils, arrow-root, ground-nuts, ivory,
cayenne pepper, fruits, spices, gums, resins, dyes, dyewoods, &c. I should give a poor idea of the prospect of
the cotton-trade by simply mentioning the commence



26
ment and recent operations connected with my own
experiment; for, in all such cases, people first look on,
and when they clearly see advantage, they also set to
work: so it has been, and so I wish it to be, in Western
Africa. One trader has ordered a good, serviceable
English canoe, to convey the cotton, whilst he and
another have ordered each a good new packing-press, at
considerable expense; and as there are now at least four
presses ready for work, and the natives are able of themselves to turn out ten bales daily from each press, they
should turn out forty daily, or upwards of 12,000 annually with their present appliances. Three makers of
cotton-gins at Manchester, through my and various other
instrumentality, have sent out to Africa the following,
viz.:
Gins.                          Lbs.
( capable)  fdaily, say)
C. 34    of   100   for    80   2720
cleaning     safety, 
D. 66    "    100    "     80   5280
J. 150   "     40    "     40   6000
250 capable of continuously clean- 14 000
ing daily          }   000
of clean cotton; 4363 lbs. yearly; 10,000 American, or
40,000 African-sized bales of cotton. And as all these
gins have been bought, and in most instances paid for
on delivery, I believe they will not be allowed to be idle.
This, I think, is a rare instance of rapid development of
a particular trade, and the more so, inasmuch, as in my
case, every ounce of cotton has been collected, all the
labor performed, and the responsibility of doing it borne
by native Africans alone. I have many reasons for
believing that the whole matter will prosper; first, I
believe it has God's blessing upon it; next, Africa is
naturally adapted for growing cotton, as everywhere it
springs spontaneously, and is indigenous to the country; next, because wherever cotton will grow, the people cry out for the African to come and help them to




27
cultivate it, showing, in my opinion, that he is its natural cultivator also. Besides all this, I find that African
cotton-whether from Quilinane on the east, Abbeokuta on the west, Tunis or Algeria on the north, or
Natal in the south-that this cotton is the best substitute for American cotton. Indeed, from whatever part
of Africa it comes, in its natural state, it will invariably
fetch in the Liverpool market from 2d. to 3d. per pound
more than East-India cotton under similar circumstances.
For some years this cotton has never cost more than
Id. per pound in the seed, and at that price the agents,
chiefs, and dealers have never been able to buy up what
has been offered; and this, I think, is a proof that it can
be produced exceedingly cheap, sufficiently so to compete with any other country. It can be laid down in
Liverpool in all ordinary times at about 44d. per pound,
viz.:
d.
Cost of it in the seed 6d. 4 Ibs. to make one... 2
Cleaning 30 to 40 lbs. for 4d., say,.. 
Packing and canvas,... 
Carriage and charges on board,. 
Freight to England (too much by half),.... 1
Charges in England,....
41
Recently, however, the Native Agency Committee have
begun to charge those who use their gins and pack in
their store Id. per pound, and those who do this will be
at a little more expense; but as the cotton is still worth
cd. in Liverpool, and'not long ago was worth 9d., there
is yet profit sufficient to encourage all natives to embark
in the trade. Believing first in the goodness of the
cause, and next that to act entirely through the natives
is the way not only further to develope, but most certainly the most sure way of making it progressive and
lasting; also, having a dread that if Europeans took up
the cultivation of cotton, or dealing in the interior, it




28
would, in all probability, result in the revival of slave
labor, or merely in a spasmodic effort or two, and then
a sickening off, a failure, and relinquishing the effort,
after destroying, in all probability, the self-reliance the
native formerly had.
On these grounds, then, I am anxious to raise at
least 20401. for four new cotton stations, and I hand you
an estimate for them which has been prepared by one
who knows Africa, and what is requisite, much better
than I do. It is as follows:
~
20 gins, at 51. each,...              100
Press,....                      90
Weighing machine,.... 20
Shed, or native house,.....100
Wages for two natives, one year,.      100
Capital to trade with,.                100
Or, for each station,.......  510
I feel that I have not half done justice to this matter,
and only regret that I have not been well enough either
to do it better now, or attend to it earlier. I must,
therefore, supplement the statement by sending a few of
my letters to the public papers, leaving you to deal with
the whole in any manner most likely to redound to the
benefit of Africa and this particular movement.
Yours, very truly,
(Signed)    THOMAS CLEGG.
MCGREGOR LAIRD, ESQ.
ADDRESS BY MR. CAMPBELL.
THE subjoined extracts from a report from the London
Times, of August 7th, 1858, of a meeting held on the
preceding evening, in the Manchester Town Hall, on
the subject of an increased supply of cotton from Africa,




29
is deserving of mention, on account of the important
facts stated by Mr. Campbell, British Consul at Lagos,
and a resident for thirty-five years of Western Africa.
MR. CAMPBELL remarked:
" The palm-oil trade from the Bight of Benin had increased, during the last six years, by about 600,0001.
out of 1,000,0001. Why should not a cotton trade
receive equal development if this country supplied capital for the purchase, and skill for the preparation of that
important product? The first ship loaded with cotton
would give the signal for the whole of the cotton regions
of Africa. The people were exceedingly fond of agriculture. In Abbeokuta they preferred working in the
plantations for 3d. a-day to working at any other employment for 9d. But hitherto they had been shut out from
communication with civilized countries, and their roads
were at present mere pathways. He believed the Niger
would become the Mississippi of Africa as its trade
became developed. At present the cotton from that
region had been obtained from Abbeokuta only. It
was a peculiar feature in this part of Africa, that it contained towns of 40,000, 60,000, 80,000, 100,000, and
even 120,000 inhabitants, while other parts only contained scattered villages. The people were not only
growers, but manufacturers of cotton, and from Lagos
and the Bight of Benin 200,000 cotton cloths of native
manufacture, averaging 2~ lbs. each in weight, had been
exported, in the year 1857, to the Brazils or elsewhere,
for the clothing, probably, of their own countrymen.
The shipment of cotton from Lagos, in 1856, was
34,491lbs., and in 1857 it was 114,844 lbs. Small as these
beginnings were, it was obvious how they were progressing. Besides the export, the people supplied their
neighbors with at least 200,000 heavy cloths, weighing
4- or 5lbs. each. All this commerce had been established before we had begun to deal with them. He




30
looked forward to our buying the cotton from the natives, and their purchasing from us the manufactured
article, which we could supply so much cheaper. There
was nothing to fear on the score of security to property.
Europeans were everywhere received with kindness,
and cotton was found exposed for sale in every town
at the weekly markets. It might, therefore, be said
that it was going a begging for want of purchasers.
What was wanted by the growers and traders was the
cheap and rapid means of cleaning the cotton. There
was no foundation for the prevailing belief that the free
African would not work if he were secured the fruits of
his labor. At Lagos the people went to work at daybreak, and took their meals and rest in the heat of
the day, and a more industrious people he believed did
not exist. He had mentioned the value of labor at
Abbeokuta, but at other towns it was only 2d. a
day, or 1:d. a day in the interior. He estimated the
population at a million and a half, and they were all
clothed in garments of their own manufacture. He was
confident that 41 lbs. taken as the cotton consumption of
each person was an extremely low estimate. In the
question of cotton supply to England, it must be remembered that in Africa there was no rent to pay for
the land. After referring to the importance of the
indigo production of this part of Africa, and to the
additional advantages it possessed, as regards cotton
cultivation, that no lands have yet been cleared exclusively for that purpose, Mr. Campbell concluded by submitting detailed suggestions for the commencement of
operations for promoting the cultivation of cotton in
the districts in question, by sending a respectable man
as superintending agent at Abbeokuta, with a supply of
small presses, gins, an iron store, iron canoes to convey
cotton bales between Abbeokuta and Lagos, &c. The
agent should carry with him 25001. or 30001. in suitable
merchandise for the purchase of cotton. He should be




81
authorized to buy on the spot from time to time, as
wanted, cowrie shells to the value of 2501., those being
the currency of the country. They were to be had at
Lagos from 221. to 231. the ton. The London and Liverpool market might be tried. The cheap blue shell
cowries from Zanzibar were what was required, but care
should be taken in selecting them, as, being bought by
weight and sold by number, the smaller size shell would
be the most profitable. The agent should be authorized
to hire native sub-agents for the interior towns, men of
good character; and as these did not abound, their
services were now valued at from 601. to 801. per annum,
they providing for themselves. The agent should be
supplied with an iron house, lined inside with board,
raised on iron pillars at least twelve feet high. This
elevation was essential to health."
EXTRACT FROM BARTH'S TRAVELS.
"I MET with fertile lands, irrigated by large navigable
rivers and extensive central lakes, ornamented with the
finest timber, and producing various species of grain,
rice, sesamum, ground-nuts in unlimited abundance,
the sugar-cane, &c., together with COTTON and indigo,
the most valuable commodities of trade. The whole of
Central Africa, from Bagirme to the east as far as Timbuktu to the west (as will be seen in my narrative),
abounds in these products. The natives of these regions
not only weave their own cotton, but dye their homemade shirts with their own indigo."-Preface, pages
20, 21.
Barth describes his travels as " extending over a tract
of country of twenty-four degrees from north to south,
and twenty degrees from east to west, in the broadest
part of the Continent of Africa."




82
DR. LIVINGSTONE'S TESTIMONY.
WHILE in England, Dr. Livingstone met the members
of the Chamber of Commerce, Commercial Association,
and Cotton Supply Association, at the Town Hall, Manchester, and in reply to questions put to him replied,
as thus reported by the London Times:
" In Angola, the natives knew of a very great many different dyes, which they were not very willing to make
known to Europeans. The Columba root was exported
by the Americans in abundance as a dye stuff, and grew
along the Zambesi River.  Besides this, there was,
throughout the country, indigo, the kind called silver
indigo, with which the people dyed their clothes, and
which grew wild, for it was not at all cultivated. The
only exportation of it was by the Portuguese who lived
at Tete, but it might be exported abundantly.
In reference to cotton, Dr. Livingstone added, that
very large quantities of it were cultivated by the natives,
and one small district, between the Rivers Conza and
Loanda, produced 1300 cloths annually, of cotton grown
by the natives, spun by the women, and woven by the
men. The natives never employed any manure, and
the more the ground was worked the more fertile it became. The whole of Angola, if it had been in the hands
of Englishmen, for its size, would have produced much
more cotton and sugar than any part of the Southern
States of America. It grew abundantly on the west,
and that was by far the best field for cotton. On the
east it was cultivated a little, but it was not so good.
It clung to the seed, and an iron roller had to be used
to separate it. The quantity grown on the east side
was very much smaller than that on the west side, but
the natives had never been induced to cultivate cotton;
they had never been offered anything for it, and they




33
only cultivated a little to make clothes for themselves.
He believed if they had a market they would cultivate
largely, for wherever they had the opportunity of selling
anything, they immediately began to collect it.  In
Angola skilled labor was to be had for 4d. a day, field
labor for 2d., and he believed it might be got, by paying
in calico, the usual currency of the country, at about Id.
a day. He proposed, on going back, to distribute cotton seeds among all the chiefs on the banks of the river,
and endeavor to give the impression that all they produced would be purchased. The beginning must necessarily be small and not profitable, but he thought if
the natives could be engaged in lawful commerce, it
would put an end to the slave-trade in all that central
region.
VIEWS OF ENGLISH STATESMEN.
The months of June and July last were fertile in Parliamentary discussions on the slave-trade and kindred
subjects. Among these were repeated reference to the
cultivation of cotton in Africa, a few of which are herewith presented. We quote from the London Times'
report of proceedings.
S. FITZGERALD, Under Secretary of State, said:
He did not scruple to say that, looking at the papers
which he had perused, it was not to India, it was not to
other parts of the world which had been named, that we
must direct our attention; it was to the West Coast of
Africa that we must look for that large increase in our
supply of cotton which was now becoming absolutely
necessary, and without which he and others who had
studied this subject foresaw grave consequences to the
most important branch of the manufactures of this
3




34
country. In the papers which had been laid upon the
table he found that our consul at Lagos reported:
"The whole of the Yoruba and other countries south
of the Niger, with the Houssa and the Nuffe countries
on the north side of that river, have been from all time
cotton-growing countries; and, notwithstanding the civil
wars, ravages, disorders, and disruptions caused by the
slave-trade, more than sufficient cotton to clothe their
populations has always been cultivated, and their fabrics.have found markets and a ready sale in those countries
where the cotton plant is not cultivated, and into which
the1 fabrics of Manchester and Glasgow have not yet
penetrated. The cultivation of cotton, therefore, in the
above-named countries is not new to the.inhabitants; all
that is required is to offer them a market for the sale of
as much as they can cultivate, and by preventing the
export of slaves from the seaboard render some security
to life, freedom, property, and labor."
He would not go into the items of the calculation, but
it appeared from the statement made by this gentleman,
that during the last year there were exported from this
coast to the Brazils no less than 7,200,000 lbs. of cotton
and cotton goods. He implored the House to consider
what this trade might be made if, in the words of our
consul, by repressing the slave-trade we gave security to
labor and property. Another of our consuls, speaking
of the trade in the Bight of Benin in 1856, said:
" The readiness with which the inhabitants of the large
town of Abbeokuta have extended their cultivation of
the cotton plant-merits the favorable notice of the manufacturer, of the philanthropist, and, as a means of supplanting the slave-trade, by its turning the attention of
the native to the value of the soil and of human labor,
of her Majesty's Government."
It was worthy of notice that while the quantity of cotton obtained from America between 1784 and 1791, the
first seven years of the importation into this country,




85
was only 74 bales, during the years 1855 and 1856 the
town of Abbeokuta alone exported 249 bales, or 38,695
lbs., or nearly twenty times that quantity. He thought
he might fairly say that if we succeeded in repressing
the slave-trade, as he believed we should, we should in
a few years receive a very large supply of this most important article from the West Coast of Africa.
MR. J. H. GURNEY said:
As to the growth of cotton in Central Africa, he had
received from Mr. Thomas Clegg, of Manchester, a few
figures, from which it appeared that while in 1852 only
1800 lbs. of cotton had been brought into Great Britain,
the quantity increased in 1856 to 11,500 lbs., in 1857 to
35,400 lbs., and in the first five months of the present
year it was 94,400 lbs. Mr. Clegg further stated that the
quality of this cotton, between December, 1856, and
April, 1858, had been such that its average price had
reached within one half-penny that of the middling
quality of cotton brought from New Orleans. At the
same time the native manufacture was carried on to a
considerable extent, so that within a particular period
200,000 pieces had been exported to Brazil, 200,000
pieces were sent to the people living beyond the cottonproducing districts, while the inhabitants of those districts had themselves been kept supplied. Another
abundant article of produce which had not yet made its
way into this market, but which must do so before long,
was indigo. It was extensively grown in the countries
bordering on the cotton district, and it only required a
continuance of the present system to develope the export of that produce.
MR. BUXTON said:
There was no question now, that any required amount
of cotton, equal to that of New Orleans in quality, might
be obtained. A very short time ago MAr. Clegg, of Man



36
chester, aided by the Rev. 1. Venn, and a few other
gentlemen, trained and sent out two or three young
negroes as agents to Abbeokuta.  These young men
taught the natives to collect and clean their cotton, and
sent it home to England. The result was, that the natives had actually purchased 250 cotton-gins for cleaning their cotton, and lately these natives of Abbeokuta
had sent to England and procured four presses for
pressing it for exportation, at a cost of several hundred
pounds. Mr. Clegg stated that he was in correspondence with seventy-six native and other African traders,
twenty-two of them being chiefs. With one of them
Mr. Clegg had a transaction, by which he (the African)
received 35001. And the amount of cotton received at
Manchester had risen, hand over hand, till in 1856 it
came to 35,000 lbs., and last year to nearly 100,000 lbs.
Well might Mr. Clegg say, that this was "a rare instance of the rapid development of a particular trade,
and the more so because every ounce of cotton had been
collected, all the labor performed, and the responsibility
borne by native Africans alone." The fact was, that
the West African natives were not mere savages. In
trade no men could show more energy and quickness.
And a considerable degree of social organization existed. He could give a thousand proofs of this, but he
would only quote a word or two from Lieutenant May's
despatch to Lord Clarendon, dated the 24th of November, 1857. Lieutenant May crossed overland from the
Niger to Lagos, and he says:
"A very pleasing and hopeful part of my report lies
in the fact, that certainly three-quarters of the country
was under cultivation. Nor was this the only evidence
of the industry and peace of the country; in every hut
is cotton spinning; in every town is weaving, dyeing;
often iron smelting, pottery works, and other useful
employments are to be witnessed; while from town to
town, for many miles, the entire road presents a conti



37
nuous file of men, women, and children carrying these
articles of their production for sale. I entertain feelings
of much increased respect for the industry and intellect
of these people, and admiration for their laws and manners."
LORD PALMERSTON said:
I venture to say that you will find on the West Coast
of Africa a most valuable supply of cotton, so essential
to the manufactures of this country. It has every advantage for the growth of that article. The cotton districts of Africa are more extensive than those of India.
The access to them is more easy than to the Indian
cotton districts; and I venture to say that your commerce with the Western Coast of Africa, in the article
of cotton, will, in a few years, prove to be far more
valuable than that of any other portion of the world,
the United States alone excepted.
THE CULTIVATION OF COTTON IN AFRICA.
PAPERS relative to the cultivation of cotton in Africa
have been presented to the British House of Lords by
command of the Queen. They include two reports on
the subject from Mr. Consul Campbell (of Lagos) to the
Earl of Clarendon, dated respectively the 5th of January
and the 14th of March, 1857. An account is also given
of the trade of the Bight of Benin for the year 1856, and
it hence appears that the whole of the Yoruba and other
countries south of the Niger, with the Houssa and Nuffee
countries on the north side of the same river, have been
from all time cotton-growing countries; and that, notwithstanding the civil wars, ravages, disorders, and disruptions caused by the slave-trade, more than sufficient




38
cotton to clothe their population has always been cultivated, and their fabrics have found markets and a ready
sale in those lands where the cotton plant is not cultivated, and into which the fabrics of Manchester and
Glasgow have not yet penetrated. The cultivation of
cotton, therefore, in the countries already named is not
new to the inhabitants; all that is required is to offer
them a market for the sale of as much as they can cultivate, and by preventing the export of slaves from the
seaboard, to render some security to life, freedom, property, and labor. It is estimated that the annual cultivation of cotton in Yoruba and the adjacent states, is
equal to 7,200,000 pounds. Whenever the cotton fabrics
of England are introduced, via the Niger, to the upper
part of the Yoruba and the circumjacent districts, the
natives will probably sell their own cotton and clothe
themselves with the lighter and cheaper cloths of Manchester and Glasgow. There is no hope of inducing the
natives to cultivate coffee, because it is a "new thing,"
(the Africans being obstinately conservative,) and would
require care, attention, intelligence, and, above all, patience. Cotton alone, therefore, can be looked to as an
agricultural marketable production, obtainable from the
interior of Africa. Meanwhile English cotton fabrics
are gradually working their way into Africa and superseding the native manufacture. The two greater staples
of the trade of the Bight of Benin are palm-oil and ivory,
cotton ranking as the third.-London Times.
CAPE COAST CASTLE COTTON.
A LETTER received by the Cotton Supply Association
from Mr. R. D. Ross, Cape Coast Castle, Gold Coast,
states emphatically that cotton, which is indigenous to




39
Africa, and grows abundantly in Ashantee, might be
obtained equal to that of Georgia, both in quantity and
quality. The natives have from time immemorial woven
their own clothes, but now prefer those of Manchester.
Mr. Ross thinks the Africans would readily profit by instruction, and that Africa would ere long compete with
the slave states of America, if capitalists would establish
an organization in central districts to purchase and prepare for export all the cotton which the natives- should
be left to grow themselves.-London Anti-Slavery. Reporter.
LETTER FROM THE REV. ALEXANDER CRUMMELL.
EFFORTS are being made by the Liberian Government
and citizens to foster and induce the cultivation of cotton. The extent of the present attempt may be perceived from the subjoined extract from a letter to the
author, dated Monrovia, April 10th, 1858, from the Rev.
Alex. Crummell:
I am much interested by a new movement in our
rural districts this farming season; and, as I am aware
of a like interest on your part, I cannot let the next
American mail depart without dropping you a few lines
concerning it.
During the last rainy season, some few of us spent
a portion of our time in speechifying and lecturing upon
agriculture. During the recent fair, likewise, the same
subject, in general, came prominently before-the public.
As my share in this matter, I have dwelt much upon
roads and cotton planting. I have reason to believe
that some of my hopes and desires, in both:these respects, are in the way of being fulfilled and gratified.
1. During the last six months there has been one
almost universal inquiry for cotton seed. Men have




40
been despatched to the country for it; the British consul has been applied to, and the few citizens who have
had small patches, have been beset by their neighbors
for even the smallest contributions.
2. At the commencement of the year, I took occasion to visit nearly every farmer on the St. Paul's
River, to ascertain whether there was likely to be any
real result from the inquiry and interest I had' observed
in our communities. In answer to my questions I obtained, not the pledge, but the declaration from many
farmers, from Millsburg to Caldwell, that they intended
to plant cotton this season; some spoke of one acre,
others of two, and several of more. Such was the interest exhibited, that I called upon the President, to see
whether I could not get a'Convention' on the river,
and the pledge of some twenty or thirty men, that they
would each plant this season, three or five acres-have
gins prepared for the cotton-and a press at hand, so
that the cotton might not lie unused upon the soil for
months, or perhaps a year or two. For in this little point
lies the whole question of success or non-success of cottonplanting in Liberia. If the man who plants one or two
acres, can sell his picked cotton at once, he will plant
more next year. If it lies upon his hand a year unused
and unproductive, then it is a point of demonstration
to him that cotton-planting is a failure in Liberia.
Some little has been done; one of my friends has
planted ten acres, another three, another two, several
one; Mr. Warner five. As far as I can get returns,
there are about fifty acres of land now planted with cotton in this, Montserrado County, and perhaps twenty
more will be added.
P. S. April 19th.-Since I wrote the above, I have
heard of eight more acres of cotton: some on the Junk
River, in a new farming region, just opened.




41
COTTON FROM LIBERIA.
IN May, 1850, John Pender, of London, with S. Gurney, the London banker, and some gentlemen of this
neighborhood, entered into an undertaking for the purpose of endeavoring to ascertain the possibility or otherwise of procuring a supply of cotton from the African
coast. Having obtained letters of introduction from
Lord Palmerston for Mr. J. K. Straw, to whom the
charge of the expedition was intrusted, to the admiral
of the station, Mr. Beacroft, and to President Roberts,
of Liberia, they purchased two small ships, and freighted
them with general merchandise, sending out, at the
same time, a quantity of iNew Orleans cotton seed.
Eight small bags of cotton, the fruit of this experiment,
have recently arrived in Manchester, consigned to Mr.
Fleming, of the Manchester Commercial Association,
by Mr. Pender, who is a member of this body. The
cotton is white and good, and is valued at 5d. per
pound. In every way it is suitable to the wants of the
manufacturers.  The experiment has shown to a demonstration that good cotton can be grown in Liberia without any difficulty, and it is the intention of
the conductors of the enterprise to persevere in it.
London Times.
EFFORTS MADE BY PRESIDENT BENSON.
So very certain am I, that this can be demonstrated
to be one of the most advantageous cotton-growing
countries in the world, as that I feel impatient that its
capacity in that be properly tested, and though we are
in the midst of a severe pecuniary pressure, yet I can



42
not forego the idea of recommending that this government offer and pay a premium of one hundred dollars
annually, for the next four years, to the person who will
in Liberia produce from one acre of land, in each successive year, the largest quantity of the best quality of
cotton; the sum of sixty dollars for the largest quantity
of second quality of cotton, and forty dollars for the
largest quantity of third quality of cotton, each quality
of the produce of a single acre. The extending of the
time to four successive years of annual competition, will
be a great inducement for competitors to plant the first
year, from the fact that the cotton plant being perennial
with us multiplies and extends its branches so rapidly,
as that in a well-cultivated field, each plant will increase
not much less than a hundred per cent. in its annual
yield, at least for the first four years; which fact will
evidently give the advantage in the fourth to those who
will have been diligent to plant the first year.
The very commendable interest that is being manifested by a respectable number of our citizens of both
sexes from the several counties of this Republic, who
design being exhibiters and competitors at the national
fair to commence in this city on the 14th inst., fully
satisfies my mind that such a measure would prove a
great stimulus to a number of our citizens to test the
cotton-growing capacity of this country, by actual experiment of systematic cultivation; which I doubt not
would demonstrate to us facts far surpassing our most
sanguine expectations; thus directing the attention of
our citizens to a rich and inexhaustible source of wealth
as yet untouched, which by a proper manly development would greatly augment the interest between this
State and Europe, and would perhaps more than anything else affect for good the future condition of millions
of our race, as well as rapidly elevate us as a nation in
the estimation of the civilized world.
It affords me pleasure to be able to say that H. B. M.




43
Consul residing here will, from the very lively interest
he feels in this matter, engage to furnish seed of the
best quality to as many as may wish to try the experiment with foreign cotton seed. He has received from
the Manchester Cotton Supply Association, within the
past few weeks, a series of pertinent questions relative
to the mode of cotton cultivation in Liberia, and the
capacity of the country to produce that article on an extensive scale, which questions, for aught we know, may
lead to the most happy results in the future, mutually
beneficial to both countries.
I deny that a fair trial has ever been made at cottongrowing to any extent in Liberia by the Americo-Liberians. Those who have tried it on a small scale in their
yards and gardens well know that it so far exceeded
their highest expectations in yield and quality as to have
astonished them. In like manner, if a fair trial was
given to it on a large scale, properly cultivated in suitable soil which abounds with us, would far transcend any
idea we had formed of its profitableness.-Annual Message, Dec., 1857, of President Benson of Liberia.
(From the Philadelphia North American of September 27th, 1858.)
COTTON CULTIVATION IN AFRICA.
DURING the last ten years, Western Africa has been
making the most rapid progress. Trade has been striking
root, and promises in a short time to become of immense
value. It has been demonstrated that the forty or fifty
millions of inhabitants of that region are an industrious
race. Some of them are noted for their mercantile intelligence, enterprise, and success.  Instances have been
given in which a native merchant laid out fifty thousand




44
dollars in the course of a single year, in the purchase of
goods, the money having been remitted before the goods
were sent, while another had spent thirty thousand dollars.
It has been calculated that, between 1830 and 1850,
the increase of the exports of British manufactures to
that part of the coast lying between the Senegal and the
Portuguese colony of Loando, amounted to one hundred
per cent., and since that time the progress made has
been much more rapid. Between 1850 and 1856, the
total exports from Great Britain increased forty per cent.,
and during the same six years the imports of African
produce into England have increased sixty per cent.
Palm-oil, timber of valuable kinds, ivory, gold, groundnuts, indigo, pepper, rice, coffee, sugar, and a multitude
of other articles, are only waiting a market to be produced in any quantities. The trade in palm-oil is already
valued at ten millions of dollars per annum. But the
most important prospect is that of the supply of cotton.
It is already manufactured there to a considerable extent.
Brazil is reported to have imported last year a quantity
of African made cloths, which it would require upwards
of seven million pounds of cotton to produce. In 1856,
33,495 pounds of cotton were sent from Abbeokuta.
This amount increased in 1857 to 55,400 pounds; and
in the first six months of the present year, it reached
upwards of 100,000 pounds. " The whole of this has been
collected, all the labor performed, and the responsibility
borne by native Africans alone."
The American portion of the population of Liberia
have commenced, with much spirit, the cultivation of
cotton. About seventy acres of land, in patches of from
one to ten acres, are planted in Montserrado County.
One of a party of emigrants, belonging to Columbus,
Georgia, sent home lately from Liberia a sample of cotton, of a species which heads all the time, and he says,
good sea-island cotton can be grown there. Native labor
is cheap and abundant.




45
The subjoined extract, from a recent letter from President Benson, will tend to show what is doing, and that
it is the intention of the Liberians to persevere in the
cultivation of our great staple:
MONROVIA, July 13th, 1858.
MY DEAR SIR:
You have the cordial thanks of Liberians for the interest you have manifested for the development of the
agricultural resources of this country, especially cotton
cultivation. Anything like premiums from the Manchester Cotton Supply Association would prove a great
stimulus to that department of industry. I fully indorse
your every sentiment on the policy of Liberia exerting
herself to become a cotton-producing country. Nothing
will tend mdre to strengthen the bonds between Great
Britain and our republic, and raise it in the scale of respectability. I have been laboring industriously, ever
since I have been in office, to secure this object. I have
striven to keep the subject constantly before our people.
I encourage them by all possible justifiable means; and
I am happy to say that I now feel encouraged. The inhabitants of the four counties of this Republic have gone
earnestly to work at it. There has been twenty times
more cotton planted by Americo-Liberians this year than
ever before, of both native and foreign seed, and I feel
sanguine that its cultivation will increase each succeeding year.
We received by the May steamer one half ton of cotton from England from the Manchester Cotton Supply
Association. Notwithstanding it arrived two months
after the proper season, yet I have distributed it to each
county long since, and the inhabitants have planted
somewhat extensively, but nothing to compare with
what they will do next year, when they will have plenty
of seed at the proper planting season. I repeat that
whatever comes from England in the way of premiums




46
will be highly appreciated, and will, in my opinion, have
the desired effect.  *     *      *      *
Most respectfully, your obedient servant,
STEPHEN A. BENSON.
LIBERIAN MARINE.
THE brig George C. Ackerly is expected to sail from
New York on the 10th of August, for the West Coast
of Africa. The Ackerly is the property of Mr. E. J.
Roye, colored, of Monrovia, and is engaged as a trader
along the African seaboard. This is another indication
of the growth of the commerce of Africa, and of the
enterprise of the Liberians. There are some forty small
vessels engaged in the coast trade of Liberia, built and
owned in that Republic. Besides these, the firm of McGill Brothers (colored men), own and run two schooners
of some hundred tons each. One of these, the "President Benson," has recently sailed from Baltimore, homeward bound, with a valuable cargo.-Public Ledger.
OPENING OF AFRICA.
WHILE England is seeking to reach the head waters
of the Niger, by steaming up that stream, the people of
Liberia are about to send an exploring party overland
interiorward, into the valley of that mighty river. This
region of the continent is the great native caravan route.
Two of these were recently seen, one of which could not
have contained less than five thousand persons and one
thousand beasts of burden. The Government of Algeria is striving to establish a direct and constant intercourse with Central Africa. The French calculate, that
under advantageous circumstances, the trade with that




region would be worth sixty millions of francs annually,
or ten millions of dollars, the bulk of which would consist of actual barter.
It is computed that there are in Africa five hundred
missionaries, one thousand native helpers, fifty thousand
church members, and thirty-five thousand children in
mission schools. The slave-trade has been almost entirely suppressed along the West Coast for two thousand
miles. Those busy hives of industry, Senegal, Gambia,
Sierra Leone, the Republic of Liberia, the Gold Coast
settlements, Lagos, Abbeokuta, Fernando Po, Bonny,
Calabar, the Bights of Benin and Biafra, the Cape of
Good Hope, Natal, Mozambique, and the results that
must ensue from the Zambesi exploration under Livingstone, will contribute their share to the regeneration of
Africa. These powerful agencies are rapidly building
upon the soil an independent negro nationality. They
are opening up the hitherto unknown land to commerce, through which untold material wealth will be
poured into the lap of Christendom, by the exchange of
the products of human industry.-Public Ledger.
SLAVE POLICY IN AFRICA.
THE leading men of the Southern States of America
are gradually being convinced that cotton can be successfully and profitably raised in Africa, and are advocating the organization, with white masters, of the institution of slavery in that country. This course is boldly
proclaimed in the course of a series of letters lately published by the celebrated General Duff Green. From
these the following extracts are taken:
"Who can read the account of the explorations of
Central Africa, by Livingstone, and note the imposing
manner in which he has been sent back, with an extra



48
ordinary outfit and escort, and hesitate to believe that
extraordinary efforts will be made to get a supply of
cotton from Africa, at less cost than it can be obtained
from us? How can that be done? By maintaining the
status of African slavery in Africa; and sending the white
master to the black slave, instead of bringing the black slave
to the white master.
Who so ignorant of European policy as not to see
that England is apprehensive that France will absorb the
African states, and by conquests in Central Africa, build
up an African empire, and that the question between
-France and England is soon to be which is to become
the largest owner of African slaves, and the boldest
advocate of African slavery? Who cannot see that their
purpose is to colonize Africa, and that if South Carolina
does re-open the slave-trade, she must purchase French
or British subjects, under a French or a British license?
Let no one be startled at these anticipations of the
future. It is the duty of statesmen to foresee that which
is to be, by a careful analysis of the present and the
past. In confirmation of this I refer to Mr. Bowen, a
native of Georgia, and altogether reliable, who, as a
missionary, has penetrated the interior of Africa. He
tells me that there are millions of slaves, some of them
held by semi-civilized masters; that the climate and soil
are suited to the culture of sugar and cotton, and that
the price of slaves is from twelve to fifty dollars! I
refer, also, to the late proceedings of the Manchester
Cotton Supply Association, which show that they.look
with much hope and confidence to that quarter, and
especially to the country in the rear of Sierra Leone and
Lagos.
Is it not, therefore, apparent that the real question is
who shall command the market? Our planters in the
South, or French or British planters in Africa-our
planters, with lands at twenty dollars per acre and slaves
at one thousand dollars per head, or French or British




49
masters in Africa, with lands as a gratuity and slaves at
fifty dollars each? The fact is new, but it is no less
true because it is new."
CULTIVATION OF COTTON IN AFRICA.
To THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES:
It is no longer a matter of doubt that cotton can be
largely cultivated in Central Africa. The Rev. T. J.
Bowen, the indefatigable missionary and explorer of that
region, has set this question at rest. Not only is cotton of a superior quality grown there, but it is so well
adapted to that soil that it springs up spontaneously.
It is also a perennial, and requires much less labor than
it does in our own country. From the accounts which
have recently been published, it appears that it has become an article of export to Great Britain. If this culture should be greatly enlarged there, we see no reason
why the slave-trade may not thus be peacefully extinguished.  If this result can be thus reached, the
civilized world will rejoice. It seems that already the
cultivation of cotton and the trade in palm-oil have extirpated the slave-trade from many districts in Central
Africa. The exports of palm-oil from the Bight of Benin
last year were to the value of $10,000,000. It is, then,
by the development of lawful commerce that the traffic
in slaves will cease.
This truth is gaining access to the minds of intelligent
colored men at the North, and an organization has been
already formed to carry out their views. An expedition
to explore Yoruba will start this fall, and it is hoped that
ere long a civilized community of enterprising colored
Americans will be engaged in the cultivation of cotton,
sugar, rice, coffee, &c., and the production of palm-oil,
4




50
in that healthful and fertile country. All will rejoice at
such manifestations of enterprise among our colored
population. Yoruba is situated west of the Niger and
north of the Bight of Benin.
A description given by the Rev. Mr. Bowen, who has
been five years a resident and Baptist missionary in
Yoruba, is as follows: "Between Abbeokuta and the
Niger, that is within a distance of 160 miles, there are
more than a dozen large towns, some of which are more
populous than Abbeokuta. Central African houses are
built in Moorish style, large and low, with many rooms
opening into an interior court. The walls are made of
clay, which bakes hard in the sun, and the roofs are
generally thatched with grass. In some respects, the
Soudanese are considerably advanced from mere barbarism. Whether heathens or Mohammedans, they are
clad in trowsers and tunics. They are remarkably courteous in their social intercourse. Several rude arts are
commonly practised, as the smelting of iron, and in
some places of copper and lead; the manufacture of
hoes, axes, adzes, knives, and swords; the spinning of
cotton and silk; weaving and tailoring, both of which
are regular professions; dyeing blue, yellow, and red;
soapmaking; brewing corn and millet; making palm
and grass hats, also saddles, bridles, and sandals, and a
sort of shoes and boots. Three towns in Nufe have the
art of working in glass. But the great business of the
people is agriculture, in which they are far more skilful
and industrious-than we have supposed. The principal
crops are Indian corn, the same as our own, and the
tropical yam. But they also plant cotton, sugar-cane,
beans and peas, sweet potatoes, cassava, ground peas,
ginger, red pepper, &c., and the country is admirably
adapted to coffee and other tropical productions of great
value to the civilized world.
"Yoruba is a healthy and fertile region; that it is
well adapted to the cotton and sugar culture; that it is




51
the key to Central Africa, and the yet unvisited gold
regions of Soudan; that it is wide open to missionary influences; and that there is room for hundreds of thousands of enterprising colonists. The mere enunciation
of these facts opens out a vast field for contemplation.
We wonder that enterprising men of color do not perceive the directing hand of Providence in all this. Here
is a field for the development of Anglo-African energy
and talent. Why should not the inexhaustible riches of
Soudan be brought into use at some future time? The
natives would soon supply any demand which a legitimate commerce would create. Untold wealth exists
but a few hundred miles in the interior of Africa, which
can be developed upon the introduction of a Christian
civilization."
HIOPE FOR AFRICA.
THE recent discoveries that have been made of the
fertile resources of Africa, her vegetable products and
gold deposits, and the almost impossibility of the available development of these by the white race, give presage of an extensive colonization of the colored race at
no very distant day. This will not probably be so much
a benevolent as commercial movement, The subjects
of it will be the free colored population of America;
the agents of it will be chartered or voluntary companies; the object of it will be more gain upon the part
of man; but the end of it, under the controlling hand
of God, will be the civilization of Africa. "The Philadelphia Bulletin, in an interesting article on this prospective African exodus, says:
"There is every inducement for it. Recent works on
Africa show that the country is of inexhaustible vege.




52
table wealth, that common industry is there repaid as it
is nowhere else, and the free black, depressed by white
European rivalry in this country, may there become a
man of standing and authority.
There is one thing, however, which will impel such
an exodus towards Africa, as we have long waited for
and hoped to see. In Africa, the richest gold deposits
in the world await the miner. We have been assured
by a gentleman whose integrity we are willing to vouch
for, and who has been eighteen years in the Guinea
trade, that the amount of gold which abounds in some
places, and which is protected by superstitious taboo
and by "fetish" notions from being gathered, is literally
incredible. All that has been found in California or
Australia is as nothing, compared to what will yet be
gathered from the obscure regions of Africa. A thousand facts confirm our assertion; anecdotes and hints
in a score of books, old and new, as well as geological
proof, tend to show that gold is there in immense
quantities.
We may remark, in conclusion, on the vast amount
of good which gold is doing towards settling the world.
Regions most inaccessible and remote are becoming
peopled, and opening markets to the earlier world.
What if gold, that is called the root of all evil, should be
the destined agent to civilize Africa, induce an emigration of free blacks from this'country, and improve the
whole race! What is impossible in the nineteenth century?"
In republishing the above article from the " Evening
Bulletin," of this city, for the purpose of making known
all the available wealth of Africa, the author desires expressly to object to the idea of any necessity for an
exodus of our colored population.