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7 “the land of black men” “If we are as vile and degraded as they represent us, and they wish the Africans to be rendered virtuous, enlightened and happy people, they should not think of sending us among them, lest we should make them worse instead of better.” Reverend Peter Williams Jr., addressing blacks in New York City, July 4, 1830 On the morning of March 1, 1811, a single-decked, two-masted brig flying the American flag dropped anchor in Freetown’s harbor.1 The arrival of any ship was a notable event in the colony’s languid day-to-day existence. The arrival of the Traveller was something more, for she was captained by a black man. “As I am of the African race” On the same day that John Kizell was trying to save a father of fourteen from enslavement , Paul Cuffe was sailing from Philadelphia to fulfill an abiding desire to visit Africa and to serve its people. “As I am of the African race,” he had written two white acquaintances in 1809, “I feel myself interested for them, and, if I am favored with a talent, I think I am willing that they should be benefited thereby.”2 Born on a tiny island off Martha’s Vineyard in 1759, of a Gay Head Wampanoag mother and an emancipated Gold Coast father, Cuffe was possibly the wealthiest American of color.3 He farmed along the Westport River, near New Bedford. His three ships had traded as far as the Baltic and the Caribbean. Prominent whites from Boston to Delaware considered him a friend and business associate. His Quaker neighbors had accepted him into their meeting. Cuffe had come to believe that his purpose in life was to redeem Africa. He had shared his thoughts with leading Quakers. They in turn had alerted Friends in England of his interest in opening legitimate trade with Africa. As Cuffe gave increasingly serious attention to his plan, the founders of the African Institution began to receive intriguing reports from America of a remarkable black ship captain whose preoccupation dovetailed with theirs. Cuffe’s interest in Africa had coincided with sharpening Quaker concerns with slavery. So had his self-identity. For most of his life, he had “vacillated between his “The land of black men” 185 Negro and his Indian origins,” Sheldon Harris writes in a 1972 biography of Cuffe. His conversion to the Quaker faith in 1808 was a turning point. In the context of Quakers’ commitment to service and their focus on abolition, Cuffe knew what he must do. “I am what I am,” he wrote that September to James Pemberton, explaining his newfound devotion “for my brethren the African race.”4 As a prime mover in Pennsylvania ’s abolitionist circles, Pemberton had written earlier to the African Institution of Cuffe’s interest. Pemberton was dead by the time Zachary Macaulay responded the following August that Cuffe would find excellent prospects in Sierra Leone once trade sanctions were lifted.5 Macaulay was referring to the Non-Intercourse Act, passed by Congress in May 1809. The act banned American trade with British and French ports as long as both nations preyed on Yankee shipping. Some American captains nonetheless rushed to trade in West Africa but avoided touching Freetown or other British ports. Cuffe refused to take the risk, knowing that he would need to trade directly at Sierra Leone. Cuffe and other American businessmen monitored political winds at home and abroad, hoping for a clear indication that they could again trade openly with one or both nations. In the fall of 1810, President Madison chose to trust Napoleon’s apparent decision to allow American commerce with British ports. Madison announced on November 2 that the United States would reimpose nonintercourse with Britain in ninety days if it did not also drop its restrictions against neutral shipping.6 Cuffe by now had made up his mind to go. William Allen, a prominent London philanthropist, had been urging him, on behalf of the African Institution, to open trade with Sierra Leone. He thus had this influential body’s blessing. In September he asked the Westport Friends, as he was obliged to do under Quaker discipline, to endorse his plan. They too gave their blessing. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, promised support in the name of the Pennsylvania abolitionists .7 Madison’s pronouncement complicated his decision, however. He risked having his ship and cargo seized...

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