New Directions in the Study of African American Recolonization

Surveying the field of colonization studies in this volume's opening essay, Beverly C. Tomek contends that “African colonization was intimately tied to every important issue in American history: slavery, politics, religion, economics, culture, race, national identity” (p. 24). This well-curated collection decisively proves Tomek's point. The four essays in the book's first part focus on religion, ranging from the missionary enthusiasm that bolstered colonizationist sentiment in the United States to the efforts of American missionaries, black and white, to establish Christianity in Liberia. While these essays effectively bridge colonizationism with broader histories of missions (a thriving field within early republic historiography), the volume's twelve remaining essays make curiously little reference to religion—an indication, perhaps, of an odd separation between political and religious questions within colonization studies. Nevertheless, the six essays in the book's second part, on politics and diplomacy, speak effectively to one another. A major theme is the relationship between the American Colonization Society (Acs) and the federal government. The authors' different areas of emphasis point to distinct, though not necessarily contradictory, conclusions about that relationship. For instance, David F. Ericson highlights the considerable financial support the Acs received from the federal government, making it one of the antebellum era's most significant public-private partnerships. Meanwhile, Nicholas P. Wood contends that “African colonization never became a government program to the extent the Acs leadership had hoped” (p. 146). This section also highlights the connections between colonizationism and broader histories of U.S. expansionism, colonialism, and imperialism. The six essays in the book's final section point to exciting avenues for further inquiry. It is here, via essays by Eric Burin and Robert Murray, that the volume gives its most sustained attention to indigenous Africans' responses to colonization projects in Liberia

Colonialism · Diplomacy · Government (linguistics · Historiography · Manifest destiny · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Law · Race, History, and American Society