Haitian emigration was a movement to describe the emigration of free blacks from the United States to settle in Haiti in the early 19th century. In an attempt to break out from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

’ racist filled society,

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ...

free blacks immigrated to Haiti. Although a few emigrants left for Haiti during the 1810s, it was not until 1824 that with the support of the Haitian President

Jean-Pierre Boyer Jean-Pierre Boyer (15 February 1776 – 9 July 1850) was one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution, and President of Haiti from 1818 to 1843. He reunited the north and south of the country into the Republic of Haiti in 1820 and also annexed ...

that the emigration began in earnest. The Haitian emigration project ran against the wishes of the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

, which attempted to remove free blacks as far as

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and dreaded the idea of strengthening the black state of Haiti. Several thousand blacks departed towards Haiti in the summer of 1824 and the flow continued until 1826 when the Haitian government stopped paying and defraying the transportation costs. U.S. blacks continued moving to Haiti after this, but the numbers were never as high as those that left between the years of 1824–1826. Another Haitian emigration scheme began in 1859 and lasted for about three years. Even though this project had the support of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and other political figures, the frustrations of the 1820s and an increasing black identification with the U.S. substantially hindered the enthusiasm this time.

References

Sources

* Dean, David McEwen. ''Defender of the Race: James Theodore Holly, Black Nationalist Bishop'' (Boston: Lambeth Press, 1979). * Dixon, Chris. ''African America and Haiti: Emigration and Black Nationalism in the Nineteenth Century'' (Westport, Connecticut, & London: Greenwood Press, 2000). * Miller, Floyd J. ''The Search for a Black Nationality: Black Emigration and Colonization, 1787-1863'' (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975).

External links

* https://www.cairn.info/revue-francaise-d-etudes-americaines-2015-1-page-6.htm * http://islandluminous.fiu.edu/part05-slide09.html
American Free Blacks and Emigration to Haiti
African-American diaspora in the Caribbean American emigrants to Haiti Ethnic groups in Haiti American colonization movement {{African-American-stub

See also

References

Sources

External links