ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by separation anxiety,

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every pea pod's greatest fear.

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All right, take a look at this excerpt.

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All right. No argument is necessary... [ mumbles ]

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All right, and the question:

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The separation that the American Colonization Society

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advocates for is... what?

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ mumbles ]

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All right. Well, what exactly is the separation...

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mentioned in the question? Hmm?

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Well, if you look at the last of the excerpt - right here -

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it says that "those who are now free

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should be provided with the means of attaining... happiness,

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which... they can never be likely to reach in this country."

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Hmm.

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So the American Colonization Society

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was basically saying

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that, should slaves be freed,

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people had a responsibility to help them adjust to their new life.

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Well, let's see which answer points to what exactly their plan was.

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So was the separation referring to A -

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freeing all slaves from the bonds of servitude?

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Well, it definitely seems like the American Colonization Society

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is advocating for the end of slavery.

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But by saying that slaves can never be likely

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to achieve happiness in this country, it seems like

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racial discrimination was influencing their thinking.

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[ oh, snap! ]

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So, it probably isn't A.

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And, in fact, that kind of discriminatory thought would also

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B - establish sanctuaries

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in the North for escaped slaves.

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So let's keep looking.

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Did the separation refer to C -

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giving slaves reparations

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including arable land?

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Well, remember that piece of the excerpt,

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"can never be likely to achieve happiness in this country"?

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Well, it seems like the American Colonization Society

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wouldn't want to grant land to freed slaves in America.

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So that knocks out C, as well.

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Which must mean that it referred to D -

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repatriating slaves back to Africa.

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Unfortunately, one of the major problems with slavery was

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what would happen to the nearly four million African Americans

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if they were freed.

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Because slaves were largely illiterate,

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some abolitionists were concerned with what

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kinds of jobs and opportunities would be available

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to a large population suddenly flooding the work force.

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One of those abolitionist groups,

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the American Colonization Society,

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advocated a return to Africa,

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so they recruited and funded Black colonists

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to colonize Liberia.

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Yeah. So the correct answer is D.

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And actually, Liberia's capital,

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Monrovia, is named after our fifth president, James Monroe,

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who was in office when the country was founded.

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Good thing it wasn't our sixth president.

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QuincyAdamsovia is a bit of a mouthful.

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[ cow moos ]

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