Coles was an abolitionist and a staunch colonizationist for most of his
adult life--like many of his generation (and the next--don't forget
Lincoln). See the fine summary of Coles' views and his relations with
madison in Drew McCoy's book, The Last of the Fathers.


Douglas Deal
Professor of History and Chair of History Department
State University of New York at Oswego
Oswego, NY 13126
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(315)-312-5632




On Fri, 19 Dec 2003, Henry Wiencek wrote:

> Jefferson's friend Edward Coles is known as a staunch abolitionist,
> however I have seen an 1832 letter from Coles to Madison saying that
> blacks and whites could not live together and that freed blacks must be
> colonized to Africa.  Has anyone on the list studied Coles enough to say
> whether this expresses his actual opinions or was he tailoring his
> remarks for Madison?  Did Coles have a change of heart?
>
> Henry Wiencek
>
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