This Day in History: First Organized Black Migration to Africa Begins in 1820

by

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "Map of the west coast of Africa : comprising Guinea, and the British possessions at Sierra Leone, on the Gambia and the Gold Coast, together with the countries within the courses of the rivers Senegal, Gambia, & Kowara" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1843.
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On February 6, 1820, 88 free Black men and women set sail for Sierra Leone aboard the Mayflower of Liberia, marking the first organized Black migration to . Funded by Congress and led by the American Colonization Society, the voyage was driven by the belief that African Americans could not fully integrate into American society.

In 1821, a U.S. Navy mission sought land for a permanent settlement, leading to the establishment of Liberia in 1824. Over the next 40 years, up to 20,000 freed Blacks and rescued Africans arrived, facing hardships and conflicts with local communities.


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