EC0646

War poem that mentions the A.C.S., which is probably the American Colonization Society. Written in blue ink.

The American Colonization Society (ACS; in full, "The Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America"), established in 1816 by Robert Finley of New Jersey, an attempt to satisfy two groups in America. Ironically, these groups were on opposite ends of the spectrum involving slavery in the early 1800s,[4] as well as the primary vehicle to support the colonization of free African Americans because their presence served as "a perpetual excitement" to the enslaved blacks. All of the early organizers of the Society were slaveowners, who hoped thereby to strengthen the institution of slavery, according to the annual reports of the Society. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for free-born blacks. Among its supporters were Charles Fenton Mercer, Henry Clay, John Randolph, and Richard Bland Lee.