The first organized immigration of freed slaves to Africa from the United States departs New York harbor on a journey to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. ... appropriated $100,000 to be used in returning displaced Africans, illegally brought to the United States after the abolishment of the slave trade in 1808, to Africa. read more
Several reasons: They were free and so it would be ridiculous to FORCE them to return to Africa, a place they literally knew nothing about. read more
The program was modeled after British’s efforts to resettle freed slaves in Africa following England’s abolishment of the slave trade in 1772. In 1787, the British government settled 300 former slaves and 70 white prostitutes on the Sierra Leone peninsula in West Africa. read more
Most blacks of that time couldn't afford the fee it would cost to outrun the racism of that day; In the south, even after slavery, many blacks were forced to stay on the land they were sharecropping. Many blacks were stuck in that and other forms of post Civil War slave systems. They couldn't leave if they wanted to. read more