McCoy says (p.316) that it is "difficult to tell just when Coles became an ardent colonizationist, but he later asserted that he had been 'among the first to advocate the establishment of a colony on the coast of Africa for the removal to & settlement of our Negro population.'" He had tried to persuade his own former slaves to move to Liberia, but they refused. See, on these and related issues, pp.310-318 of The Last of the Fathers. I think it's likely that his project of emancipation took shape before he became enthused about colonization, even though the ACS existed by the time (1819) Coles actually made his journey to Illinois and freed his slaves. Douglas Deal Professor of History and Chair of History Department State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, NY 13126 [log in to unmask] (315)-312-5632 On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 [log in to unmask] wrote: > Thanks, Douglas. What I don't understand is how Coles could have taken > his own slaves to Illinois to free them on American soil if he believed in > colonization. That seems a contradiction to me. I wonder if he embraced > the idea of colonization later. Thanks for the reference. > > HW > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html