The Struggles of John Brown Russwurm: The Life and Writings of a Pan-Africanist Pioneer, 1799-1851

320 Pages·2010·4.508 MB·English

by  Winston James

The Struggles of
John Brown Russwurm
John Brown Russwurm, c. 1848. Courtesy of
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,
New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden
Foundation.
The Struggles of
John Brown Russwurm
The Life and Writings of a
Pan-Africanist Pioneer, 1799(cid:60)1851
Winston James
(cid:4)
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2010 by Winston James
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
James, Winston.
The struggles of John Brown Russwurm : the life and writings of
a pan-Africanist pioneer, 1799–1851 / Winston James.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978–0–8147–4289–1 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–8147–4289–0 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978–0–8147–4290–7 (pb : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–8147–4290–4 (pb : alk. paper)
[etc.]
1. Russwurm, John Brown, 1799–1851. 2. African American intellectuals—
Biography. 3. Pan-Africanism—History—19th century. 4. African Americans—
Colonization—Liberia—History—19th century. 5. Liberia—History—To 1847.
6. Pan-Africanism—History—19th century—Sources. 7. African Americans—
Colonization—Liberia—History—19th century—Sources. 8. Liberia—History—
To 1847—Sources. I. Russwurm, John Brown, 1799–1851. II. Title.
E448.R96J36 2010
966.62’02092—dc22
[B] 2010011993
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
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in memoriam
Lindon Barrett (1961–2008)
Walk good.
We are considered a distinct people, in the midst of the millions around us,
and in the most favoured parts of the country; and it matters not from what
causes this sentence has been passed upon us; the fiat has gone forth, and
should each of us live to the age of Methusalah, at the end of the thousand
years, we should be exactly in our present situation: a proscribed race, how-
ever, unjustly—a degraded people, deprived of all the rights of freemen; and
in the eyes of the community, a race, who had no lot nor portion with them.
We hope none of our readers, will from our remarks think that we approve
in the least of the present prejudices in the way of the man of colour: far
from it, we deplore them as much as any man; but they are not of our creat-
ing, and they are not in our power to remove. They at present exist against
us—and from the length of their existence—from the degraded light in
which we have ever been held—we are bold in saying, that it will never be
in our power to remove or overcome them. So easily are these prejudices
imbibed, that we have often noticed the effects on young children who
could hardly speak plainly, and were we a believer in dreams, charms, &c
we should believe that they imbibed them with their mother’s milk.
Sensible then, as all are of the disadvantages under which we at present
labour, can any consider it a mark of folly, for us to cast our eyes upon some
other portion of the globe where all these inconveniencies are removed
where the Man of Colour freed from the fetters and prejudice, and degrada-
tion, under which he labours in this land, may walk forth in all the majesty
of his creation—a new born creature—a Free Man!
John Brown Russwurm (March 1829)
If I know my own heart, I can truly say, that I have not a selfish wish in plac-
ing myself under the patronage of the [American Colonization] Society;
usefulness in my day & generation, is what I principally court.
John Brown Russwurm (February 1829)
You will not be surprised, that sometimes when difficulties & dangers sur-
round us, we despond a little; and think, that do our best, all our efforts will
be in vain. But these are only temporary; as every day’s experience gives us
a better knowledge of our duty, & the practicability of establishing colonies
on this coast, which in process of time, may realize all the fondest anticipa-
tions of their patrons. But such is not the labor of one or five years; time
must pass—difficulties are to be met and overcome; the present generation,
& perhaps the next, must pass away, before we can with justice look for
prosperity to crown our efforts, or the blessing of posterity our labor.
John Brown Russwurm (June 1837)
Men make their own history, but not of their own free will; not under cir-
cumstances they themselves have chosen but under the given and inherited
circumstances with which they are directly confronted.
Karl Marx (1852)
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
A Note on Quotations xiv
Part I John Brown Russwurm 1
Prologue: The Man Out of Place 3
1 From Boy to Man 5
2 Freedom’s Journal:Pleading Our Own Cause 26
3 Quitting America and Its Cost 44
4 “We Have Found a Haven”: In the Land of His Fathers 59
5 Governor Russwurm: The Cape Palmas Years 85
Epilogue: Russwurm in His Rightful Place 108
Part II Selected Writings of John Brown Russwurm 127
Editorial Note 129
1 Early Writings 131
The Condition and Prospects of Hayti 132
2 Writings from Freedom’s Journal 135
Part A. Uplift, Abolitionism, and Opposition to Colonization 135
To Our Patrons 135
Proposals for Publishing the Freedom’s Journal: Prospectus 139
[Raising Us in the Scale of Being] 140
Haytien Revolution 141
| vii
Mutability of Human Affairs 143
People of Colour 150
[A Trip through New England] 157
Betrayed by Our Own Brethren: 177
On Fugitive Slaves, Kidnapping, Man-Stealing, and Action
Self-Interest: [Betrayed by Colored Persons] 177
Self-Interest: [Shaming and Naming Names] 179
Land of Liberty 180
Engaging the Colonizationists 181
[An Exchange with “Wilberforce”] 182
[An Exchange with Dr. Samuel Miller] 187
Travelling Scraps: To Philadelphia, Delaware, 190
Baltimore, and Washington
Part B. Our Views Are Materially Altered: Looking toward Liberia 200
Liberia: [Casting His Eyes Elsewhere] 201
Liberia: [Unanswerable Argument] 202
Our Vindication 204
Colonization 207
To Our Patrons 209
3 Writings from Liberia 213
Part A. First Impressions: Two Early Letters from Liberia 213
Extract of Letter to Rev. A. R. Plumley, 213
Agent of the ACS, November 18, 1829
Extract of Letter to Edward Jones, March 20, 1830 216
Part B. Writings from the Liberia Herald 218
To Our Readers: [Inaugural Editorial] 218
Union 221
[We Have Found a Haven] 222
To Our Readers: [Taking Stock—One Year On] 223
Every Man the Architect of His Own Fortune 225
To Our Readers: [Let the Experiment Be Tried on Africa’s Soil] 229
[Facts Speak Louder Than Words] 230
Part C. Letters Home from Afar to a Brother 231
Letter to Francis Edward Russwurm, March 31, 1834 231
Letter to Francis Edward Russwurm, September 27, 1835 232
Part D. Governor Russwurm: Departing from the Old and Beaten Paths 234
Letter Accepting Appointment as Agent and Governor of 234
Maryland in Liberia
viii | Contents
Part E. Sometimes We Despond a Little: Some Candid and Private 235
Thoughts on the Liberian Project
Letter to Rev. I. A. Easter, June 2, 1837 235
Letter to Judge Samuel Wilkeson, January 4, 1840 236
Part F. Home from Home: A Visit to Maine and After 238
We Are Now Ready to Return to Africa: Letter to Dr. James Hall 238
Back in Our “Free Home” in Liberia: Letter to John H. B. Latrobe 239
The Arrival and Departure of Russwurm:(cid:3)A Contemporary Report 240
Russwurm in Baltimore: A ReminiscencebyJohn H. B. Latrobe 242
Part G. “None in Your Employ Eat the Bread of Idleness in Africa”: 243
A Governor’s Dispatches
Dispatch from Harper, Cape Palmas, ca. December 1838 243
Dispatch from Harper, Cape Palmas, December 8, 1839 246
Dispatch from Cape Palmas, December 30, 1845 250
Notes 255
Index 293
About the Author 305
Contents | ix
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