of colonization, who visited Baltimore in that year, to awaken
enthusiasm. The Society had hardly been formed when ample funds were
provided in an unexpected way. In August, 1831, a tragic Negro uprising
took place in Virginia, in which some sixty-five white men, women and
children were murdered. The Southampton Massacres were attributed
largely to the instigation of the troublesome free-Negro element, and
the growing sentiment in favor of emancipation was abruptly checked. The
Maryland Legislature, sharing the general excitement, passed in December
a resolution which became law in March, and proved to the State Society
what the Act of March 3, 1819, was to the main organization. The
connection was more explicit. Three members of the Society were to be
appointed Commissioners to remove _all_ free Negroes to Liberia. The sum
of $20,000 in the current year, and of $10,000 in each succeeding year,
for a period of twenty years, was devoted to the purpose. Any free Negro
refusing to emigrate was to be summarily ejected from the State by the
sheriff. The wave of feeling which dictated this monstrous piece of
legislation passed away before any of its harsh provisions were carried
out. But the beneficent portion remained in force. The Society was left
in the enjoyment of the liberal annuity of $10,000.

In October, 1831, and December, 1832, expeditions were sent out which
landed emigrants at Monrovia. The difficulty of arriving at an agreement
with the parent Society regarding the rights and status of these people,
together with other considerations, led to the adoption of the idea of
founding a separate colony. The plan was adopted largely through the
support of Mr. John H.B. Latrobe, throughout his life one of the most
active and efficient friends of colonization. The motives of the
undertaking were distinctly announced to be the gradual extirpation of
slavery in Maryland, and the spread of civilization and Christianity in
Africa. Cape Palmas, a bold promontory marking the point where the coast