[BLACK HISTORY]. BUCHANAN, THOMAS, Governor of Liberia. Autograph letter signed "Thos. Buchanan") to Harriet Stryker of Oneida, N.Y.; Bapa[?], [Liberia], 16 July 1836. 3 pages, 4to, 248 x 207mm. (9 3/4 x 8in.), address panel on page 4. A very remarkable letter from the first Governor of the newly founded colony of freed slaves, describing his first seven months' residence there, his illness ("African fever") and other tribulations, sustained by his faith; stating that "My African experience has greatly increased my confidence in the cause of Colonization...the heart of that Abolitionist must be stubborn indeed who could witness the blessed fruits of that heaven born enterprise which here bud and bloom all around and still maintain his opposition [to colonization]. When I came here I found a great deal to do. Our people had been scattered and exposed to many privations....it requiring extra exertion to bring them into harmonious and orderly regulations. I had the government to form, laws to enact and institutions to establish...All this has been done...The people are industrious, contented, pleased and are obedient to the laws and all our affairs appear prosperous....Not a single death has occurred here since the settlement of the place....Our village (laid out by myself) is very beautiful, lying all along the sea break on one side and a fine river on the other....I expect to return to America in about two months...."The American Colonization Society, founded in 1817, purchased the freedom of many slaves and arranged for their resettlement in Liberia; between 1821 and 1867, some 6000 former slaves were settled there. The two principal settlements, called Maryland and Liberia, declared themselves independant in the 1840s.

[BLACK HISTORY]. BUCHANAN, THOMAS, Governor of Liberia. Autograph letter signed "Thos. Buchanan") to Harriet Stryker of Oneida, N.Y.; Bapa[?], [Liberia], 16 July 1836. 3 pages, 4to, 248 x 207mm. (9 3/4 x 8in.), address panel on page 4. A very remarkable letter from the first Governor of the newly founded colony of freed slaves, describing his first seven months' residence there, his illness ("African fever") and other tribulations, sustained by his faith; stating that "My African experience has greatly increased my confidence in the cause of Colonization...the heart of that Abolitionist must be stubborn indeed who could witness the blessed fruits of that heaven born enterprise which here bud and bloom all around and still maintain his opposition [to colonization]. When I came here I found a great deal to do. Our people had been scattered and exposed to many privations....it requiring extra exertion to bring them into harmonious and orderly regulations. I had the government to form, laws to enact and institutions to establish...All this has been done...The people are industrious, contented, pleased and are obedient to the laws and all our affairs appear prosperous....Not a single death has occurred here since the settlement of the place....Our village (laid out by myself) is very beautiful, lying all along the sea break on one side and a fine river on the other....I expect to return to America in about two months...." The American Colonization Society, founded in 1817, purchased the freedom of many slaves and arranged for their resettlement in Liberia; between 1821 and 1867, some 6000 former slaves were settled there. The two principal settlements, called Maryland and Liberia, declared themselves independant in the 1840s.

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[BLACK HISTORY]. BUCHANAN, THOMAS, Governor of Liberia. Autograph letter signed "Thos. Buchanan") to Harriet Stryker of Oneida, N.Y.; Bapa[?], [Liberia], 16 July 1836. 3 pages, 4to, 248 x 207mm. (9 3/4 x 8in.), address panel on page 4. A very remarkable letter from the first Governor of the newly founded colony of freed slaves, describing his first seven months' residence there, his illness ("African fever") and other tribulations, sustained by his faith; stating that "My African experience has greatly increased my confidence in the cause of Colonization...the heart of that Abolitionist must be stubborn indeed who could witness the blessed fruits of that heaven born enterprise which here bud and bloom all around and still maintain his opposition [to colonization]. When I came here I found a great deal to do. Our people had been scattered and exposed to many privations....it requiring extra exertion to bring them into harmonious and orderly regulations. I had the government to form, laws to enact and institutions to establish...All this has been done...The people are industrious, contented, pleased and are obedient to the laws and all our affairs appear prosperous....Not a single death has occurred here since the settlement of the place....Our village (laid out by myself) is very beautiful, lying all along the sea break on one side and a fine river on the other....I expect to return to America in about two months...."

The American Colonization Society, founded in 1817, purchased the freedom of many slaves and arranged for their resettlement in Liberia; between 1821 and 1867, some 6000 former slaves were settled there. The two principal settlements, called Maryland and Liberia, declared themselves independant in the 1840s.