1820 CAPPED BUST 10C, SMALL 0 MS67

With the passage of the Missouri Compromise in 1820, some people became increasingly worried about the status of the already freed slaves. The American Colonization Society, established in 1816, became increasingly more invested in creating a free state for these freed African Americans. They looked at the Sierra Leone Colony, established several years earlier by the British Committee of the Relief for the Black Poor, as inspiration. The idea of moving freed slaves had been planted as early as 1787 when a mix of abolitionists and anti-mixed race believers considered the future of these now freed slaves. Their idea became a reality when the society officially established the colony and sent several hundred men, women, and children aboard a vessel toward Sierra Leone. By 1820 the United States shared similar worries, especially because free African-Americans faced so much discrimination and their freedom was never really truly free. In an effort to ease the tensions in the U.S. the American Colonization Society tried to mimic the Sierra Leone colony in Liberia, but failed miserably. To begin the leaders in the region would not agree to sell their land to the colonization members, which left them without an actual location. Furthermore, upon their first attempt, several of the settlers ended up dying from Yellow Fever so the rest had to retreat to Sierra Leone. Unfortunately for the United States, an actual colony would not form in Liberia for years so each of the immigrant slaves that left in 1820 were planted in the British Colony. Regardless, these people were truly free for the first time ever, even though some felt hesitant to leave their home behind. In general the freed slave colonies were ultimately successful as Liberia ended up as the first independent democratic republic African country in 1862.