1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:08,640 Speaker 2: Paul Cuffey was born January seventeenth, seventeen fifty nine, or 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 2: two hundred and sixty seven years ago today, on the 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 2: day this episode is coming out. Our episode about him 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 2: came out on February twelfth, twenty twenty, and that is 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 2: today's Saturday Classic Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in 7 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 2: History Class a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and Welcome to 8 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,919 Speaker 2: the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 9 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 2: Today's topic was suggested by a friend of mine who 10 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 2: was raised Quaker and who grew up attending meetings at 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 2: the same meetinghouse that today's subject helped rebuild in the 12 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 2: eighteen teens. A subject is Paul Cuffey. Sometimes you will 13 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 2: see his name spelled with two e's at the end 14 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 2: of Cuffee, and sometimes with just one. I had never 15 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 2: heard of Paul Cuffey before this conversation, and when my 16 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 2: friends told me about him, I sort of took a 17 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:06,400 Speaker 2: cursory look at things. I was like, Oh, yeah, he 18 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 2: does seem pretty interesting. Months later, after finally moving him 19 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 2: up to the top of the list and getting into 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:18,119 Speaker 2: actual research, I became so fascinated that I took a 21 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 2: field trip to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where there is an 22 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 2: exhibit on him at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and 23 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 2: the park next to the museum was named in his honor. 24 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 2: It was not that I needed additional information. I was 25 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 2: just so intrigued by the whole thing. I was like, 26 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 2: I want to go see this exhibit. So we got 27 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 2: in the car we went. 28 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: I love it. Paul Coffey was born on January seventeenth, 29 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: seventeen fifty nine, on Cuddy Hunk Island, which is off 30 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: the coast of Massachusetts in Buzzard's Bay. This is on 31 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: the far western end of the Elizabeth Islands, which are 32 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: south of New Bedford, Massachusetts, on the mainland and northwest 33 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: of the island of Martha's Vineyard. 34 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 2: Paul was the sixth child of ten and the fourth 35 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 2: son born to Kofe Slocum. He was an African man 36 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 2: what's now Ghana and Ruth Moses, who was Wampanog. Koffe 37 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 2: is a name used in the Tweed dialect, which is 38 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 2: spoken by the Akan people for boys born on a Friday, 39 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 2: So if that was the name that was given to 40 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 2: him before he was taken from Africa. He was most 41 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 2: likely from one of the many many subgroups that make 42 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:20,079 Speaker 2: up the Akan people. 43 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: Kofe Slocum was enslaved and transported to North America when 44 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: he was about ten years old, and in the seventeen 45 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: twenties he was purchased by Ebenezer Slocum, a Quaker from Dartmouth, Massachusetts. 46 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: It's not completely clear how Kofe was freed about twenty 47 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: five years later. Ebenezer sold Kofe to his nephew John 48 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: in seventeen forty two, and according to some accounts, John 49 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: freed Kofe about three years later as the religious Society 50 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: of Friends became more opposed to slavery. But in other 51 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: versions of the story, Kofe was given permission to do 52 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: additional work, and he used the money that he earned 53 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: in that work to purchase his own freedom, regardless. 54 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 2: On July seventeenth of seventeen forty six, which was a 55 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 2: year or so after his manumission, Kofe Slocum married Ruth Moses, 56 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 2: and it was relatively common in this part of New 57 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 2: England for African men to marry indigenous women because of 58 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 2: the demographics of slavery in New England, the enslaved and 59 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 2: free African population usually included more men than women. Conversely, 60 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 2: Indigenous communities tended to have more adult women than men 61 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 2: because Indigenous men were more likely to be enslaved or 62 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 2: imprisoned or forced into indentured servitude. This had been the 63 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 2: case for decades by the time Kofe and Ruth married. 64 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 2: For example, after King Philip's War in the late sixteen seventies, 65 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 2: the British enslaved roughly one thousand Indigenous men to Bermuda 66 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 2: and other parts of the Caribbean, while enslaving Indigenous women 67 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 2: and children and keeping them in New England. 68 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: While the Slocum children had both African and Wampanogu ancestry, 69 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: among the white community, they were usually considered to be Black. 70 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: For their own part, Paul and his siblings referred to 71 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: themselves in a number of ways over their lifetimes, referencing 72 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: both their African and their Indigenous heritage. This included the 73 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: term musty, which was a term used for people of 74 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: multi racial ancestry in coastal Massachusetts. It was most often 75 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: used to describe people who were both African and Indigenous. 76 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 1: In seventeen sixty one, Kofe Slocum bought one hundred and 77 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,679 Speaker 1: sixteen acre farm in Dartmouth and the whole family moved there. 78 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: Eleven years later, he died and left the farm to 79 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: Paul and his brother John. It was also around this 80 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: time that most of Kofe's children changed their last name 81 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: from Slocum, which had been the last name of the 82 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: people who had enslaved their father, to Cuffee, which is 83 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: an anglicization of his first name. Paul Cuffey was only 84 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 1: about thirteen when his father died, and even though he 85 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: and his brother had inherited the farm, their father also 86 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: had left some debts, so it was not really as 87 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: though they suddenly had enough to support the whole family. 88 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 1: The children also hadn't had access to any sort of 89 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: formal education on Cuttyhunk Island or in Dartmouth, so Paul, 90 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: with the hope of helping to support his family, decided 91 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: to go to Sea in seventeen seventy three, with his 92 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: brother staying in Dartmouth to manage the farm. 93 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 2: Aside from jobs that mostly involved manual labor, there were 94 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 2: not a lot of occupations open to people of color 95 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 2: in New England at this point, but whaling and other 96 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 2: seafaring work were something of an exception. These were exceptionally 97 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 2: dangerous industries, which meant that shipowners, captains, and others were 98 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 2: usually pretty eager to hire anybody who was willing to 99 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 2: do the work at sea away from society's expectations. Sometimes 100 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 2: crews could be more tolerant. Plus, if members of the 101 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 2: crew could not work together, they put everybody aboard at risk. 102 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: To add to that, the Wampanog people had their own 103 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: maritime traditions that predated the arrival of European colonists in 104 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: New England. This included drift whaling, which is butchering dead 105 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: or dying whales that had washed up on shore, as 106 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: well as fishing with harpoons. In the early seventeen hundreds, 107 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: as English colonists were establishing a whaling industry in New England, 108 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: Wampanog and other indigenous people provided critical knowledge and labor, 109 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: including teaching English colonists how to butcher and prepare whales. 110 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: Indigenous people's involvement in the early whaling industry in New 111 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: England was often at best under coercion. This included things 112 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: like being forced into indentured servitude on whaling ships in 113 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 1: order to pay off debts. This could even extend to 114 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: the indentured man's children, who were obligated to take on 115 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,840 Speaker 1: his indenture if he was killed at sea or if 116 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: he incurred further debt. So the whaling industry was simultaneously exploitive, 117 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: especially of indigenous and African labor, and also an incredibly 118 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: lucrative industry in which it was possible for Indigenous and 119 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: African men to rise to a higher rank than they 120 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: could in any other line of work. And that is 121 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: what eventually happened to Paul Cuffey. 122 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 2: In his first voyages, he spent his free time at 123 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 2: sea teaching himself to read and write and do a rhythmic, 124 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 2: and he also studied navigation with the more experienced members 125 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 2: of the crew. Shortly after the Revolutionary War started, a 126 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 2: ship that Cuffe was on was captured by the British 127 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 2: and he was imprisoned in New York for three months. 128 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 2: Once he got out of prison, he went back to 129 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 2: the family farm for a while, but soon he built 130 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 2: a small open boat of his own and then started 131 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 2: using it to run supplies through the British blockade. He 132 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 2: ran the blockade repeatedly between seventeen seventy seven and seventeen 133 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 2: eighty three, both sides in the Revolutionary War tried to 134 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 2: recruit black soldiers, and by that point Cuffe was about 135 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 2: the right age to join up. But he never took 136 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 2: a side in the war, at least in terms of 137 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 2: active fighting. What he did do was protest taxation, and 138 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 2: we're going to get into that after we first have 139 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 2: a sponsor break. As we've talked about on the show before, 140 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 2: one of the issues involved in the American Revolution was taxation, 141 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 2: including taxes that British colonists in North America found to 142 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 2: be egregious, and the idea that colonists were being taxed 143 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 2: but they didn't have any representation in parliament. And that 144 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 2: second idea had another application to free black people in Massachusetts. 145 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 2: They had to pay taxes, but they did not have 146 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 2: the right to vote at all. 147 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: Paul and John Cuffey were of the opinion that under 148 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: the Constitution of Massachusetts, taxation and the rights of citizenship 149 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: were inextricably connected. If they couldn't vote, they were not 150 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: being treated as citizens, so they also should not be taxed. 151 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: Paul Cuffey stopped paying taxes in seventeen seventy eight. By 152 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty he owed more than one hundred and fifty 153 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: pounds in back taxes. That year, John and Paul Cuffee 154 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: filed a petition along with three other free black men, 155 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: and it read, in part quote, we being chiefly of 156 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: the African extract, and by reason of long bondage and 157 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: hard slavery, we have been deprived of enjoying the profits 158 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: of our labor, or the advantage of inheriting estates from 159 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: our parents. As our neighbors, the white people do. We 160 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: have been and are now taxed, both in our polls 161 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: and that small pittance of a state which, through much 162 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: hard labor and industry, we have got together to sustain 163 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: ourselves and families with all. The petition went on to 164 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: say that without tax relief, these circumstances would reduce them 165 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: to begging and cause them to be a burden on others, 166 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,440 Speaker 1: before saying quote, we apprehend ourselves to be aggrieved in 167 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: that while we are not allowed the privilege of freemen 168 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: of the state, having no vote or influence in the 169 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: election of those that tax us, Yet many of our color, 170 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: as is well known, have cheerfully entered the field of 171 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: battle in the defense of the common cause. 172 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 2: Their petition for tax relief was denied and Paul Cuffey 173 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 2: was briefly jailed. Walter Spooner, who was a member of 174 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 2: a prominent family in Dartmouth, helped arrange the terms of 175 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 2: Cuffey's release and a reduction in the amount of tax 176 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 2: that he owed. So this petition was not immediately successful, 177 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 2: at least in terms of getting some tax relief for them, 178 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 2: but it is credited with the black men getting the 179 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 2: right to vote in Massachusetts under the same terms as 180 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 2: white men in seventeen eighty three. On February twenty fifth, 181 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 2: seventeen eighty three, Paul Cuffey married an Indigenous woman named 182 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 2: Alice Abel Peaquit or Peaquot, who had been previously widowed. 183 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,440 Speaker 2: They went on to have several children together. Sources mentioned 184 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 2: seven or eight, including two sons and four daughters who 185 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,319 Speaker 2: were still living when their father wrote his will. Alice 186 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 2: is normally described as being Wampinogg. Her late husband had 187 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 2: been Peaquot. Also in seventeen eighty three, Paul Cuffey established 188 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 2: a shipping business with his brother in law, Michael Wayner. 189 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 2: Wayner was Wampinogg and was married to Cuffee's sister Mary 190 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 2: in seventeen eighty nine. As their business grew, Wayner bought 191 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 2: some riverfront property and they established a shipyard there. At 192 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 2: this point, Cuffey was wearing a lot of hats, including 193 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 2: bill building, ships, trading, and whaling. He eventually started captaining 194 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 2: his own vessels, and while his first voyages were beset 195 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 2: by hazards like pirates and shipwrecks, he persevered until he 196 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 2: started to turn a profit. He also bought a farm 197 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 2: in Westport, Massachusetts, where he and his family lived, and 198 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 2: over time he bought other homes and farms elsewhere in 199 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 2: New England. Over the next decade or so, Paul Cuffey 200 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 2: became one of the wealthiest people in Westport. He may 201 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 2: have been the wealthiest person of color anywhere in the 202 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 2: United States while he was living, and he consistently used 203 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 2: his wealth to help other people, especially other people of color. 204 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 2: The captains and crews of his ships were always black 205 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 2: and indigenous men, and that was actually something that made 206 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 2: their work even more dangerous because they were trading with 207 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,559 Speaker 2: parts of the world where slavery was still being practiced, 208 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 2: including the American South In seventeen ninety seven, Cuffey proposed 209 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 2: the establishment of an integrated school in Westport. 210 00:11:56,679 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: When the town leadership couldn't come to a consensus about 211 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: it that was probably influenced by racism. Cuffey built the 212 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: school on his own property with his own money, and 213 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: that school opened in seventeen ninety nine, with its students 214 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: including about fifteen children who were part of Cuffee's immedia 215 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: and extended family, as well as any other child who 216 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 1: wanted to attend, regardless of their race. Cuffey also supported 217 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: a smallpox hospital in Westport, and in eighteen hundred he 218 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:25,439 Speaker 1: bought a gristmill. 219 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 2: In eighteen oh eight, Cuffey formally joined the religious Society 220 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:32,319 Speaker 2: of Friends by becoming a member of the Westport Monthly Meeting. 221 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 2: His family had been connected to Quakers ever since he 222 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 2: was a child. The Quakers had enslaved his father like 223 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 2: that's complicated, but like they had been part of the 224 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 2: Quaker community in a lot of ways. This was the 225 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:46,960 Speaker 2: first time that he was documented as actually becoming a 226 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 2: member of a meeting. To be clear, though Quaker meetings 227 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 2: had not been integrated when he was a child, The 228 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 2: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting was the first to formally allow black 229 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 2: members in seventeen ninety six. A few years later, after 230 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 2: joining the meeting, Paul became part of the committee that 231 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 2: planned and oversaw the construction of the new meeting house. Eventually, 232 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 2: he also became the first black person to attend the 233 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 2: New England Yearly Meeting. Throughout all of this, Cuffey was 234 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 2: still working as a sea captain, traveling all around the Atlantic. 235 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 2: Along the way, he made extensive connections among the black, white, 236 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 2: and indigenous communities of New England, as well as with 237 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 2: British abolitionists, and in all of his work he was 238 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 2: focused on providing jobs, support and opportunities for other people 239 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,199 Speaker 2: of color, along with overall philanthropy. He also had a 240 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 2: reputation for being incredibly scrupulous in all of this. In 241 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 2: the words of the Reverend Peter Williams Junior, in a 242 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,319 Speaker 2: tribute to Cuffey that he wrote after his death, quote, 243 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 2: he was so conscientious that he would sooner sacrifice his 244 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 2: private interests than engage in any enterprise, however lawful or profitable, 245 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 2: that might have a tendency, either directly or indirectly, to 246 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:59,079 Speaker 2: injure his fellow men. For instance, he would not deal 247 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 2: in ardent spirit nor enslaves, though he might have done 248 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 2: either without violating the laws of his country and with 249 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 2: great prospects of pecuniary gain. By eighteen oh six, Cuffey's 250 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 2: property was valued at about twenty thousand dollars, which made 251 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 2: him the wealthiest person in Westport. By eighteen oh nine, 252 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 2: when he turned fifty, he owned multiple sailing vessels, including 253 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 2: a ship and two brigs, as well as multiple houses, farms, land, 254 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 2: and the mill, and he turned some of that wealth 255 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 2: to an even more ambitious focus, making it possible for 256 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 2: people of African descent to immigrate to Africa. We'll have 257 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 2: more on that. After another quick sponsor break in the 258 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 2: early eighteen hundreds, Paul Cuffe started thinking about the idea 259 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 2: of making it possible for Africans and people of African 260 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 2: descent and the United States to resettle in Africa, specifically 261 00:14:57,520 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 2: in what was then the British colony of Sierra. 262 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: As a super quick recap, which means we got to 263 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: back up a little bit, there were free and enslaved 264 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: black soldiers on both sides of the American Revolutionary War. 265 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 1: People chose sides for a variety of reasons, but When 266 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: it came to enslaved people, it often involved a promise 267 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: of freedom in exchange for their military service. 268 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 2: For the most part, though this did not work out 269 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 2: as planned. On the patriots side, many enslaved people were 270 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 2: not given their promised freedom after the war ended, and 271 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 2: on the loyalist side, people were free, but they were 272 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 2: also regarded as traders to the United States. They could 273 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 2: not stay in the US and were forced to leave. 274 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 2: Many of them wound up in Nova Scotia or in 275 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 2: British Territory in the Caribbean. At the end of the war, 276 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 2: there were at least fourteen thousand black loyalists seeking refuge 277 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 2: in British Territory, and Britain did not really have a 278 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 2: plan for this. Most black loyalists arrived with nothing. Those 279 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 2: who hadn't been enslaved generally lost all their property due 280 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 2: to confiscation laws. Spread racism also meant that Britain's white 281 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 2: society was not generally open to the idea of integration. 282 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 2: Whether black loyalists wanted to assimily with British society is 283 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 2: a whole other question. Much of this also applied to 284 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 2: enslaved people in Britain who had been freed after Lord 285 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 2: Mansfield's decision in Somerset versus Stuart in seventeen seventy two. 286 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 2: So in seventeen eighty six in Britain, a plan was 287 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 2: proposed to resettle all these people in Africa, under the 288 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 2: idea that it would be removing a burden from the 289 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 2: British public. This plan was approved by the British government 290 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 2: and by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor. 291 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 2: That organization had initially been established to provide relief for 292 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 2: people from the Indian subcontinent, but that work had been 293 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 2: expanded to also include people of African descent. 294 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: The first attempt to establish a colony in Sierra Leone 295 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: failed for many reasons, including illnesses and deaths during transport, 296 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: bad weather once they arrived in West Africa, a lack 297 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: of preparation intos applies, and the fact that the British 298 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,119 Speaker 1: hadn't made any kind of treaty or other arrangement with 299 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,680 Speaker 1: the local people of Sierra Leone regarding this colony. Yeah, 300 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 1: they really were kind of like, we want to remove 301 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: all of you from our society. We're dropping you off 302 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: in Africa. Like that was nearly the extent of it. 303 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:20,360 Speaker 1: Was not planned well. 304 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 2: Even so, though in seventeen ninety one the Sierra Leone 305 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 2: Company was established to try again. This time around, abolitionists 306 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 2: did travel to Sierra Leone to try to establish good 307 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 2: relationships with the local people and then also to mediate 308 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 2: between the locals and the colony. But the British government 309 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,679 Speaker 2: was really viewing this as a chance to make money, 310 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 2: basically to start a plantation that used free Africans and 311 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 2: people of African ancestry as labor, with the Sierra Leone 312 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 2: Company in charge of it. More than one thousand free 313 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,919 Speaker 2: people were transported to Sierra Leone the following year, and 314 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:57,640 Speaker 2: Britain had to offer a lot of incentives to convince 315 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 2: most people to go. Over All, the people that were 316 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 2: being resettled had never been to Africa before, and many 317 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,479 Speaker 2: had justifiable concerns about the possibility of being captured and 318 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:11,679 Speaker 2: sold back into slavery in Africa. At the same time, 319 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 2: there were for sure, some people who either genuinely wanted 320 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 2: to go to Africa or who thought that it was 321 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 2: their best option. This included some people who had been 322 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 2: born somewhere in Africa and wanted the chance to go 323 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,400 Speaker 2: back home. It also included people who thought that racism 324 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,919 Speaker 2: and white supremacy were so entrenched where they were that 325 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 2: they might have a better chance at a good life 326 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 2: somewhere else in the US. 327 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:37,679 Speaker 1: One of the people of color interested in this idea 328 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: was Paul Cuffey. In eighteen ten, he discussed it with 329 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: the Westport Friends Meeting, saying that he had been thinking 330 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: about it for a few years at that point. In 331 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,719 Speaker 1: eighteen eleven, at the encouragement of British abolitionists, he visited 332 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 1: the colony of Sierra Leone for himself to see what 333 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,719 Speaker 1: conditions were like and to make recommendations for how to 334 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: improve it. 335 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 2: By the time Cuffey got to Sierra Leone, the Sierra 336 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 2: Leonned Company had been dissolved to sum it up there 337 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,119 Speaker 2: had been problems. They were removed of that responsibility. The 338 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 2: colony was under British control. It had a population of 339 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 2: about three thousand people. There were nearly a thousand black loyalists, 340 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 2: who were usually referred to as Nova Scotians. There were 341 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:21,919 Speaker 2: more than eight hundred Jamaican Maroons and about one thousand 342 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 2: people who had been taken from captured slave ships, and 343 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 2: there were also about one hundred local Africans living in 344 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 2: the colony. 345 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 1: Although all of these people were African or of African ancestry, 346 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: otherwise many of them didn't have much in common. Black 347 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: Loyalists and Jamaican Maroons had both arrived from the Americas, 348 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: but they had vastly different backgrounds and experiences. People who 349 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,919 Speaker 1: had been on captured slave ships represented a diversity of 350 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 1: African nations and languages, so on top of ongoing issues 351 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: with things like organizations, supplies, weather, and relationships with the 352 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: local people, there was also a big cultural and language 353 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,880 Speaker 1: bear issue among the people being resettled at the colony. 354 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,360 Speaker 2: Some of the descriptions of Cuffey's work in Sierra Leone 355 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 2: really focus on its missionary angle, and the idea of 356 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 2: spreading Christianity in Africa was a factor in all this, 357 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,400 Speaker 2: but a much bigger part of it was Cuffey's very 358 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,439 Speaker 2: consistent focus on trying to elevate and provide opportunities for 359 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 2: other people of color. The Transatlantic slave trade had devastated 360 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 2: the existing social structures and economies of hundreds of African 361 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 2: nations and peoples, and Cuffey thought that through things like agriculture, whaling, lumber, 362 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 2: and other industries, the nations and peoples of Africa could 363 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,680 Speaker 2: try to undo that damage, and that all of them 364 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 2: collectively could become a global economic power. And he thought 365 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 2: that a colony made up of people of African ancestry 366 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 2: could be an important part of that economic system, bringing 367 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 2: in labor and resources to help everyone involved lift each 368 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 2: other up. He spent his time in Sierra Leone talking 369 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 2: to people who were actually affected by immigrating, both the 370 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 2: colonists themselves and the local people. He also did practical 371 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 2: work like surveying sites for a sawmill and figuring out 372 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 2: how the colony could harvest their own salt rather than 373 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,679 Speaker 2: buying it from white merchants. And he also founded the 374 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,920 Speaker 2: Friendly Society of Sierra Leone, which was a mutual aid 375 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 2: society headquartered in Freetown to assist quote the black settlers 376 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 2: of Sierra Leone and the natives of Africa generally in 377 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 2: the cultivation of their soil by the sale of their produce. 378 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 2: He also worked extensively to build connections among all the 379 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,200 Speaker 2: different colonists and the leadership of the local African nations. 380 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,879 Speaker 2: Although Cuffy had the support of British abolitionists in all 381 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 2: this work, British merchants who effectively had a monopoly on 382 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 2: trade with Sierra Leone. Saw it as threatening, they started 383 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 2: spreading false and negative propaganda about him, and when he 384 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 2: arrived in Liverpool from Sierra Leone in August of eighteen eleven, 385 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 2: his apprentice, Aaron Rodgers, was a rested and imprisoned, something 386 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 2: that this same group of merchants had conspired to have done. 387 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: As a side note, before Britain abolished its participation in 388 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: the slave trade, Liverpool had been a major slave poort. 389 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,119 Speaker 1: The arrival of Cuffee's ship, which with its captain and 390 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,720 Speaker 1: crew entirely made up of freemen of African descent, caused 391 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 1: enough comment and curiosity that it was covered in the newspapers. 392 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 2: With the help of prominent British Quakers, Cuffey eventually got 393 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 2: his apprentice released from prison and he returned to the 394 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 2: United States. However, back in eighteen oh seven, President Thomas 395 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 2: Jefferson had signed the Embargo Act into law. This came 396 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 2: out of the Napoleonic Wars, when both Britain and France 397 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 2: had each implemented punitive trade restrictions and were both harassing 398 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 2: American ships at sea. When Cuffee arrived back in the 399 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 2: United States On April nineteenth of eighteen twelve, carrying a 400 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,359 Speaker 2: cargo of goods from Sierra Leone. He was found to 401 00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 2: be in violation of that Act, and his ship and 402 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 2: goods were seized. 403 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: Cuffey's response was to petition President James Madison for its release. 404 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: On May second, eighteen twelve, he met with both Madison 405 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: and the Secretary of the Treasury, making him probably the 406 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: first African American to meet with a sitting president. His 407 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:19,360 Speaker 1: goods were ultimately released, and he also discussed his ideas 408 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: for African colonization with the President while he was there. 409 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,679 Speaker 1: Cuffy's plan at this point was to start arranging a 410 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 1: round trip voyage between New England and Sierra Leone about 411 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: once a year. It would carry Africans and their descendants 412 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,360 Speaker 1: to Sierra Leone, and it would return with African goods 413 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: to trade with North America and Europe. But the War 414 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: of eighteen twelve started not long after that meeting with 415 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,640 Speaker 1: the President and interrupted that plan. Apart from the inherently 416 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,679 Speaker 1: more dangerous sea travel during the war, there was no 417 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: way he could make this three pronged trade route work 418 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: if two of the prongs were at war with each other. 419 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: He tried to get exceptions to the various embargoes that 420 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,439 Speaker 1: were in place and care with this project, but that 421 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: was denied, so for a time he turned his attention 422 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: more toward advocating for colonization from within the United States. 423 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 1: In eighteen twelve, he visited major cities in the US, 424 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City to establish branches 425 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,639 Speaker 1: of the African Institution. This is what had replaced the 426 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: Society for the Abolition of Slave Trade in Britain after 427 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,199 Speaker 1: slavery had been abolished there. He was really focused on 428 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 1: getting a movement for colonization started led by Africans and 429 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: people of African descent for themselves to allow people who 430 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,439 Speaker 1: wanted to emigrate to do so. At first, his efforts 431 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: looked pretty promising. Prominent black leaders in the cities that 432 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,359 Speaker 1: he visited supported his plan and became involved with the 433 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,879 Speaker 1: African Institution. Then, on December tenth, eighteen fifteen, he departed 434 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: for Sierra Leone aboard his brig called the Traveler. On 435 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: board the Traveler were thirty eight people, including two families 436 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:56,879 Speaker 1: that were headed by people who had been enslaved and 437 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:00,040 Speaker 1: taken to the United States from what's now Senegal and 438 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cuffey was supposed to 439 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,399 Speaker 1: have some funding from the African Institution in London for this, 440 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: but that didn't pan out, and only eight of the 441 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,880 Speaker 1: people aboard the Traveler were able to pay their own way, 442 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 1: so Cuffey paid for the rest himself at a cost 443 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: of about five thousand dollars. This is believed to be 444 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,359 Speaker 1: the first time that a group of African Americans emigrated 445 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: from North America to Africa through a venture that was 446 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: run by and for black people. 447 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 2: In spite of this promising start, though, Cuffey's efforts fell 448 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 2: apart pretty quickly, the American Colonization Society was established in 449 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 2: the United States in eighteen sixteen. On its surface, this 450 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 2: organization had some of the same goals as what Cuffey 451 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 2: was doing, But while Cuffey was focused on giving people 452 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:49,159 Speaker 2: choices and on empowering both the colonists and the local 453 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,920 Speaker 2: people of Sierra Leone, a lot of the people who 454 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:56,159 Speaker 2: were involved with the American Colonization Society were not. Some 455 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 2: of the organization's leaders were of a mindset similar to Cuffe's, 456 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 2: but others included people like Henry Clay, who thought that 457 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 2: the colonization movement would quote rid our country of a 458 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,920 Speaker 2: useless and pernicious, if not dangerous, portion of its population. 459 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,959 Speaker 1: There had always been supporters of this colonization idea who 460 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: were motivated by racism. Even among staunch abolitionists, there were 461 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: people who thought that free black people could never be 462 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,680 Speaker 1: part of white society, and so removing them to Africa 463 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,240 Speaker 1: was the best for everyone concerned. But as the colonization 464 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: movement grew, it also drew the attention of slave owners, 465 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 1: who found the free black population to be a threat 466 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: to the institution of slavery. Some in the colonization movement, 467 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 1: including both abolitionists and slave owners, started to advocate for 468 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:47,920 Speaker 1: the idea of freeing people only if they agreed to emigrate. 469 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,920 Speaker 1: Quaker abolitionist Levi Coffin summed the situation up this way, 470 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: quote Many of us were opposed to making colonization a 471 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: condition of freedom, believing it to be an odious plan 472 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: of expatriate concocted by slaveholders to open a drain by 473 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: which they might get rid of free negroes and thus 474 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,920 Speaker 1: remain in more secure position of their slave property. They 475 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,440 Speaker 1: considered free negroes a dangerous element among slaves. 476 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 2: We had no objection to free negroes going to Africa 477 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 2: of their own free will, but to compel them to 478 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,199 Speaker 2: go as a condition of freedom was a movement to 479 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 2: which we were conscientiously opposed and against which we strongly contended. 480 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 2: When the vote was taken, the motion was carried by 481 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,360 Speaker 2: a small majority. We feel that the slave power had 482 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,359 Speaker 2: got the ascendancy in our society and we could no 483 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:38,359 Speaker 2: longer work with it. 484 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: Cuffy really tried to distance his project from the colonization movements, 485 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,920 Speaker 1: racist elements and motivations, but in spite of those efforts, 486 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 1: by eighteen seventeen he had lost a lot of his 487 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 1: support in the black community in the United States. In 488 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: January of eighteen seventeen, attendees at a meeting of the 489 00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:01,159 Speaker 1: African Institute in Philadelphia were nearly unanimous and their opposition 490 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: to the idea of colonization. They issued a resolution that read, 491 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: in part quote, whereas our ancestors, not by choice, were 492 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,359 Speaker 1: the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we 493 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: their descendants feel ourselves entitled to participate in the blessings 494 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,600 Speaker 1: of her luxuriance soil which their blood and sweat manured, 495 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 1: and that any measure or system of measures having tendency 496 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: to banish us from her bosom would not only be cruel, 497 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,880 Speaker 1: but in direct violation of those principles which have been 498 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: the boast of this republic. Philadelphia businessman James Forton, who 499 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: had supported Cuffey's work earlier on and had been part 500 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: of the African Institution there, also withdrew his support. He 501 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: co authored a statement in August of eighteen seventeen which said, quote, 502 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: the plan of colonizing is not asked for by us, 503 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: we renounce and disclaim any connection with it. 504 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,200 Speaker 2: By this point, Cuffey had become seriously ill, and he 505 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 2: knew that he was dying. He gathered his family on 506 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 2: August seven teenth of eighteen seventeen to say goodbye, and 507 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,840 Speaker 2: he died on September seventh of that year. His funeral 508 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 2: was held the following day at Westport Friends Meeting House, 509 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 2: and he was buried in its burial ground. Today there's 510 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 2: a monument to Paul Cuffee at the Westport Meetinghouse which reads, 511 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 2: quote in memory of Captain Paul Cuffey, Patriot, navigator, educator, philanthropist, friend, 512 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 2: A noble character. 513 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 1: Although the idea of colonization had fallen out of favor 514 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: with most of the black community. When Cuffee died, the 515 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: American Colonization Society continued on, and Liberia was established as 516 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: a colony for Black Americans in eighteen forty seven. Some 517 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: of the people who had gone to sier ear Leone 518 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: aboard the Traveler eventually moved there. 519 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 2: Today, Paul Cuffee is often described as a forerunner in 520 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 2: the Pan African movement. This movement is rooted in the 521 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 2: idea that everyone of African descent has some common interests 522 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 2: and is united by their African ancestry, regardless of whether 523 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 2: they're living in Africa or elsewhere. It's not an idea 524 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,680 Speaker 2: that can really be credited to one individual, specific person, 525 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 2: but it's often traced back to people like Henry Sylvester Williams, 526 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 2: who established the Pan African Association at the end of 527 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 2: the nineteenth century, and Web du Bois and his contemporaries 528 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 2: who organized the first Pan African Congress in nineteen hundred, 529 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 2: So he was kind of presaging their ideas by almost 530 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 2: a century. Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. 531 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 2: If you'd like to send us a note our email 532 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 2: addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can 533 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 2: subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 534 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.