Book contents
- American Literature in Transition, 1851–1877
- Nineteenth-Century American Literature in Transition
- American Literature in Transition, 1851–1877
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Series Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Careers
- Part II Networks
- Part III Exchanges
- Chapter 13 Literature and/as Philosophy
- Chapter 14 Literature and/as Science
- Chapter 15 Literature and/as Ecology
- Chapter 16 Literature and/as Economics
- Part IV The Long Civil War
- Index
Chapter 14 - Literature and/as Science
from Part III - Exchanges
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 June 2022
- American Literature in Transition, 1851–1877
- Nineteenth-Century American Literature in Transition
- American Literature in Transition, 1851–1877
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Series Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Careers
- Part II Networks
- Part III Exchanges
- Chapter 13 Literature and/as Philosophy
- Chapter 14 Literature and/as Science
- Chapter 15 Literature and/as Ecology
- Chapter 16 Literature and/as Economics
- Part IV The Long Civil War
- Index
Summary
Even by Martin Delany’s uncommon standard, 1859 was an eventful year. In early May, Delany departed New York on the Mendi, a ship owned by three Liberian merchants supportive of his efforts to resettle American slaves in West Africa. In early July, he arrived with a small company in Cape Palmas and immediately began addressing crowds of Monrovians who, according to the local newspaper, packed the Methodist Episcopal Church on at least two occasions to hear him advertise “the desire of an African nationality that has brought me to these shores.”1 After one month in Liberia, Delany led an expedition some twelve hundred miles to Yoruba, searching for land in the Niger Valley on which to build a new community. By December, he had negotiated a treaty with the Alake (chief) of Abeokuta designed to establish a settlement for African American emigrants in cooperation with Egba inhabitants of the region.2 In early 1860, he departed for England to lecture and raise funds for the project.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- American Literature in Transition, 1851–1877 , pp. 230 - 240Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022