The Maryland Colonization Society is formed statewide in 1827 as an independent branch of the American Colonization Society (1816). Its mission is to encourage free Black people to emigrate to West Africa.
Free Blacks are divided on the opportunity. Many choose to go, but Frederick Douglass refuses, insisting that the U.S. is already his country. White groups initially regard colonization as a solution to a social problem they foresee as intractable.
By 1834, the Maryland Society is supported by annual grants from the Maryland General Assembly. It forms a separate republic in Cape Palmas called Maryland in Africa. After 20 years of independence, this colony is annexed by Liberia.
