text:
Chief Justice of the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Chief Justice of the
United States
Incumbent
John Roberts
since September 29, 2005
Style
The Honorable (formal)
Mr. Chief Justice (informal)
Your Honor (when addressed directly in court)
Appointer
Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation
Term length
Life tenure
Constituting instrument
U.S. Constitution
Inaugural holder
John Jay
as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
September 26, 1789
Formation
March 4, 1789
This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the
United States of America
Federal Government[show]
Constitution of the United States
Law
Taxation
Legislature[show]
United States Congress
House of Representatives
Speaker Paul Ryan (R)
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R)
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D)
Congressional districts
United States Senate
President Mike Pence (R)
President Pro Tempore Orrin Hatch (R)
President Pro Tempore Emeritus Patrick Leahy (D)
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R)
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D)
Executive[show]
President of the United States
Donald Trump (R)
Vice President of the United States
Mike Pence (R)
Cabinet
Federal agencies
Executive Office
Judiciary[show]
Supreme Court of the United States
Chief Justice John Roberts
Kennedy
Thomas
Ginsburg
Breyer
Alito
Sotomayor
Kagan
Gorsuch
Courts of Appeals
District Courts (list)
Other tribunals
Elections[show]
Presidential elections
Midterm elections
Off-year elections
Political parties[show]
Democratic
Republican
Third parties
Federalism[show]
State Government
Governors
Legislatures (List)
State courts
Local government
Other countries
Atlas
v
t
e
This article is part of the series on the
United States
Supreme Court
The Court
Decisions
Procedure
History
Court Building
Current membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Anthony Kennedy
Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer
Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch
Retired Associate Justices
John Paul Stevens
Sandra Day O'Connor
David Souter
All members
List of all members
by court
by seat
by time in office
by education
Succession
Timeline
List of Chief Justices
List of Associate Justices
Specialty lists
All nominations
Unsuccessful nominations
Nominations late in presidency
Court demographics
Justices who served in Congress
Ideological leanings of justices
Court functionaries
Clerks
Reporter of Decisions
Supreme Court Police
Other countries
Law Portal
v
t
e
The Chief Justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. As such, he is head of the United States federal court system, which functions as the judicial branch of the nation's federal government. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight have the title Associate Justice.
The Chief Justice, as the highest judicial officer in the country, serves as a spokesperson for the federal government's judicial branch, and acts as a chief administrative officer for the federal courts. He is also head of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and in that capacity appoints the director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. By law, he is also a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and by custom is elected chancellor of the board.
The Chief Justice leads the business of the Supreme Court and presides over oral arguments. When the court renders an opinion, the Chief Justice—when in the majority—decides who writes the court's opinion. The Chief Justice also has significant agenda-setting power over the court's meetings. In the case of an impeachment of a President of the United States, which has occurred twice, the Chief Justice presides over the trial in the U.S. Senate. Additionally, the presidential oath of office is typically administered by the Chief Justice (although the Constitution does not assign this duty to anyone in particular).
Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, 17 persons have served as chief justice. The first was John Jay (1789–1795). The current chief justice is John Roberts (since 2005). Four—Edward Douglass White, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan Fiske Stone, and William Rehnquist—were previously confirmed for associate justice and subsequently confirmed for chief justice separately.
Contents
[hide]
1 Origin, title, and appointment to office
2 Duties
2.1 Impeachment trials
2.2 Seniority
2.3 Oath of office
2.4 Other duties
3 Disability or vacancy
4 List of Chief Justices
4.1 Notes
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Origin, title, and appointment to office[edit]
John Jay, by Gilbert Stuart
The United States Constitution does not explicitly establish an office of Chief Justice, but presupposes its existence with a single reference in Article I, Section 3, Clause 6: "When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside." Nothing more is said in the Constitution regarding the office. Article III, Section 1, which authorizes the establishment of the Supreme Court, refers to all members of the Court simply as "judges." The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the distinctive titles of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 1866, at the urging of Salmon P. Chase, Congress restyled the chief justice's title to the current Chief Justice of the United States. The first person whose Supreme Court commission contained the modified title was Melville Fuller in 1888.[1] The associate justices' title was not altered in 1866, and remains as originally created.
The chief justice, like all federal judges, is nominated by the President and confirmed to office by the U.S. Senate. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution specifies that they "shall hold their Offices during good Behavior". This language means that the appointments are effectively for life, and that, once in office, a justice's tenure ends only when they die, retire, resign, or are removed from office through the impeachment process.
The salary of the chief justice is set by Congress; the current (2017) annual salary is $263,300, which is slightly higher than that of associate justices, which is $251,800.[2] The practice of appointing an individual to serve as chief justice is grounded in tradition; while the Constitution mandates that there be a chief justice, it is silent on the subject of how one is chosen and by whom. There is no specific constitutional prohibition against using another method to select the chief justice from among those justices properly appointed and confirmed to the Supreme Court. Constitutional law scholar Todd Pettys has proposed that presidential appointment of chief justices should be done away with, and replaced by a process that permits the Justices to select their own chief justice.[3]
Three incumbent associate justices have been nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate as chief justice: Edward Douglass White in 1910, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1941, and William Rehnquist in 1986. A fourth, Abe Fortas, was nominated to the position in 1968, but not confirmed. As an associate justice does not have to resign his or her seat on the Court in order to be nominated as chief justice, Fortas remained an associate justice. Similarly, when associate justice William Cushing was nominated and confirmed as chief justice in January 1796, but declined the office, he too remained on the Court. Additionally, two former associate justices subsequently returned to service on the Court as chief justice. John Rutledge was the first. President Washington gave him a recess appointment in 1795. However, his subsequent nomination to the office was not confirmed by the Senate, and he left office and the Court. In 1933, former associate justice Charles Evans Hughes was confirmed as chief justice.
Duties[edit]
Along with his general responsibilities as a member of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice has several unique duties to fulfill.
Impeachment trials[edit]
Article I, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice shall preside over impeachment trials of the President of the United States in the U.S. Senate. Two Chief Justices, Salmon P. Chase and William Rehnquist, have presided over the trial in the Senate that follows an impeachment of the president – Chase in 1868 over the proceedings against President Andrew Johnson and Rehnquist in 1999 over the proceedings against President Bill Clinton. Both presidents were subsequently acquitted.
Seniority[edit]
John Marshall, the fourth and longest serving Chief Justice.
Many of the procedures and inner workings of the Court turn on the seniority of the justices. Traditionally, the chief justice has been regarded as primus inter pares (first among equals)—that is, the chief justice is the highest-ranking and foremost member of the Court, regardless of that officeholder's length of service when compared against that of any associate justice. This seniority and added prestige enables a chief justice to define the Court's culture and norms, and thus influence how it functions. The chief justice sets the agenda for the weekly meetings where the justices review the petitions for certiorari, to decide whether to hear or deny each case. The Supreme Court agrees to hear less than one percent of the cases petitioned to it. While associate justices may append items to the weekly agenda, in practice this initial agenda-setting power of the chief justice has significant influence over the direction of the court. Nonetheless, a chief justice's influence may be limited by circumstances and the associate justices' understanding of legal principles; it is definitely limited by the fact that he has only a single vote of nine on the decision whether to grant or deny certiorari.[4][5]
Despite the chief justice's elevated stature, his vote carries the same legal weight as the vote of each associate justice. Additionally, he has no legal authority to overrule the verdicts or interpretations of the other eight judges or tamper with them.[4] The task of assigning who shall write the opinion for the majority falls to the most senior justice in the majority. Thus, when the chief justice is in the majority, he always assigns the opinion.[6] Early in his tenure, Chief Justice John Marshall insisted upon holdings which the justices could unanimously back as a means to establish and build the Court's national prestige. In doing so, Marshall would often write the opinions himself, and actively discouraged dissenting opinions. Associate Justice William Johnson eventually persuaded Marshall and the rest of the Court to adopt its present practice: one justice writes an opinion for the majority, and the rest are free to write their own separate opinions or not, whether concurring or dissenting.[7]
The chief justice's formal prerogative—when in the majority—to assign which justice will write the Court's opinion is perhaps his most influential power,[5] as this enables him to influence the historical record.[4] He "may assign this task to the individual justice best able to hold together a fragile coalition, to an ideologically amenable colleague, or to himself." Opinion authors can have a big influence on the content of an opinion; two justices in the same majority, given the opportunity, might write very different majority opinions.[5] A chief justice who knows well the associate justices can therefore do much—by the simple act of selecting the justice who writes the opinion of the court—to affect the general character or tone of an opinion, which in turn can affect the interpretation of that opinion in cases before lower courts in the years to come.
Additionally, the chief justice chairs the conferences where cases are discussed and tentatively voted on by the justices. He normally speaks first and so has influence in framing the discussion. Although the chief justice votes first—the Court votes in order of seniority—he may strategically pass in order to ensure membership in the majority if desired.[5] It is reported that:
Chief Justice Warren Burger was renowned, and even vilified in some quarters, for voting strategically during conference discussions on the Supreme Court in order to control the Court’s agenda through opinion assignment. Indeed, Burger is said to have often changed votes to join the majority coalition, cast "phony votes" by voting against his preferred position, and, declined to express a position at conference.[8]
Oath of office[edit]
The Chief Justice typically administers the oath of office at the inauguration of the President of the United States. This is a tradition, rather than a constitutional responsibility of the Chief Justice; the Constitution does not require that the oath be administered by anyone in particular, simply that it be taken by the president. Law empowers any federal and state judge, as well as notaries public (such as John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.), to administer oaths and affirmations.
William Rehnquist (left) takes the oath as Chief Justice from retiring Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in 1986, as his wife, Natalie, holds the Bible and President Ronald Reagan (far right) looks on.
If the Chief Justice is ill or incapacitated, the oath is usually administered by the next senior member of the Supreme Court. Seven times, someone other than the Chief Justice of the United States administered the oath of office to the President.[9] Robert Livingston, as Chancellor of the State of New York (the state's highest ranking judicial office), administered the oath of office to George Washington at his first inauguration; there was no Chief Justice of the United States, nor any other federal judge prior to their appointments by President Washington in the months following his inauguration. William Cushing, an associate justice of the Supreme Court, administered Washington's second oath of office in 1793. Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary public, administered the oath to his son after the death of Warren Harding.[10] This, however, was contested upon Coolidge's return to Washington and his oath was re-administered by Judge Adolph A. Hoehling, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.[11] John Tyler and Millard Fillmore were both sworn in on the death of their predecessors by Chief Justice William Cranch of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia.[12] Chester A. Arthur and Theodore Roosevelt's initial oaths reflected the unexpected nature of their taking office. On November 22, 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Judge Sarah T. Hughes, a federal district court judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, administered the oath of office to then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson aboard the presidential airplane.
In addition, the Chief Justice ordinarily administers the oath of office to newly appointed and confirmed associate justices, whereas the senior associate justice will normally swear in a new Chief Justice or vice president.
Other duties[edit]
Since the tenure of William Howard Taft, the office of the Chief Justice has moved beyond just first among equals.[13] The Chief Justice also:
Serves as the head of the federal judiciary.
Serves as the head of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the chief administrative body of the United States federal courts. The Judicial Conference is empowered by the Rules Enabling Act to propose rules, which are then promulgated by the Supreme Court (subject to disapproval by Congress under the Congressional Review Act), to ensure the smooth operation of the federal courts. Major portions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence have been adopted by most state legislatures and are considered canonical by American law schools.
Appoints sitting federal judges to the membership of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), a "secret court" which oversees requests for surveillance warrants by federal police agencies (primarily the F.B.I.) against suspected foreign intelligence agents inside the United States. (see 50 U.S.C. § 1803).
Appoints the members of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a special tribunal of seven sitting federal judges responsible for selecting the venue for coordinated pretrial proceedings in situations where multiple related federal actions have been filed in different judicial districts.
Serves ex officio as a member of the Board of Regents, and by custom as the Chancellor, of the Smithsonian Institution.
Supervises the acquisition of books for the Law Library of the Library of Congress.[14]
Unlike Senators and Representatives who are constitutionally prohibited from holding any other "office of trust or profit" of the United States or of any state while holding their congressional seats, the Chief Justice and the other members of the federal judiciary are not barred from serving in other positions. Chief Justice John Jay served as a diplomat to negotiate the so-called Jay Treaty (also known as the Treaty of London of 1794), Justice Robert H. Jackson was appointed by President Truman to be the U.S. Prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials of leading Nazis, and Chief Justice Earl Warren chaired The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. As described above, the Chief Justice holds office in the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress.
Disability or vacancy[edit]
Under 28 USC,[15] when the Chief Justice is unable to discharge his functions, or that office is vacant, his duties are carried out by the most senior associate justice who is able to act, until the disability or vacancy ends, as chief justice.[3] As of February 13, 2016, Anthony Kennedy is the most senior associate justice.
List of Chief Justices[edit]
Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, the following 17 persons have served as Chief Justice:[16]
Chief Justice
Date confirmed
(Vote)
Tenure
Length of tenure
Appointed by
Prior position[a]
1 John Jay
(1745–1829) September 26, 1789
(Acclamation) 01 !September 26, 1789
–
June 29, 1795
(Resigned) 14 !7003210200000000000♠5 years, 276 days George Washington Acting
United States Secretary of State
(1789–1790)
2 John Rutledge
(1739–1800) December 15, 1795
(10–14)[b] 02 !June 30, 1795[c]
–
December 28, 1795
(Resigned) 17 !7002181000000000000♠181 days Chief Justice of the
South Carolina Court of
Common Pleas and Sessions
(1791–1795)
Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
(1789–1791)
3 Oliver Ellsworth
(1745–1807) March 4, 1796
(21–1) 03 !March 8, 1796
–
December 15, 1800
(Resigned) 16 !7003174200000000000♠4 years, 282 days United States Senator
from Connecticut
(1789–1796)
4 John Marshall
(1755–1835) January 27, 1801
(Acclamation) 04 !February 4, 1801
–
July 6, 1835
(Died) 01 !7004125700000000000♠34 years, 152 days John Adams 4th
United States Secretary of State
(1800–1801)
5 Roger B. Taney
(1777–1864) March 15, 1836
(29–15) 05 !March 28, 1836
–
October 12, 1864
(Died) 02 !7004104250000000000♠28 years, 198 days Andrew Jackson 12th
United States Secretary
of the Treasury
(1833–1834)
6 Salmon P. Chase
(1808–1873) December 6, 1864
(Acclamation) 06 !December 15, 1864
–
May 7, 1873
(Died) 12 !7003307400000000000♠8 years, 152 days Abraham Lincoln 25th
United States Secretary
of the Treasury
(1861–1864)
7 Morrison Waite
(1816–1888) January 21, 1874
(63–0) 07 !March 4, 1874
–
March 23, 1888
(Died) 07 !7003513300000000000♠14 years, 19 days Ulysses S. Grant Ohio State Senator
(1849–1850)
Presiding officer,
Ohio constitutional convention
(1873)
8 Melville Fuller
(1833–1910) July 20, 1888
(41–20) 08 !October 8, 1888
–
July 4, 1910
(Died) 03 !7003793800000000000♠21 years, 269 days Grover Cleveland President,
Illinois State Bar Association
(1886)
Illinois State Representative
(1863–1865)
9 Edward Douglass White
(1845–1921) December 12, 1910[d]
(Acclamation) 09 !December 19, 1910
–
May 19, 1921
(Died) 10 !7003380400000000000♠10 years, 151 days William Howard Taft Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
(1894–1910)
10 William Howard Taft
(1857–1930) June 30, 1921
(Acclamation) 10 !July 11, 1921
–
February 3, 1930
(Retired) 11 !7003312900000000000♠8 years, 207 days Warren G. Harding 27th
President of the United States
(1909–1913)
11 Charles Evans Hughes
(1862–1948) February 13, 1930
(52–26) 11 !February 24, 1930
–
June 30, 1941
(Retired) 09 !7003414400000000000♠11 years, 126 days Herbert Hoover 44th
United States Secretary of State
(1921–1925)
Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
(1910–1916)
12 Harlan F. Stone
(1872–1946) June 27, 1941[d]
(Acclamation) 12 !July 3, 1941
–
April 22, 1946
(Died) 15 !7003175400000000000♠4 years, 293 days Franklin D. Roosevelt Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
(1925–1941)
13 Fred M. Vinson
(1890–1953) June 20, 1946
(Acclamation) 13 !June 24, 1946
–
September 8, 1953
(Died) 13 !7003263300000000000♠7 years, 76 days Harry S. Truman 53rd
United States Secretary
of the Treasury
(1945–1946)
14 Earl Warren
(1891–1974) March 1, 1954
(Acclamation) 14 !October 5, 1953[c]
–
June 23, 1969
(Retired) 06 !7003574000000000000♠15 years, 261 days Dwight D. Eisenhower 30th
Governor of California
(1943–1953)
15 Warren E. Burger
(1907–1995) June 9, 1969
(74–3) 15 !June 23, 1969
–
September 26, 1986
(Retired) 05 !7003630400000000000♠17 years, 95 days Richard Nixon Judge of the
United States Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit
(1956–1969)
16 William Rehnquist
(1924–2005) September 17, 1986[d]
(65–33) 16 !September 26, 1986
–
September 3, 2005
(Died) 04 !7003691700000000000♠18 years, 342 days Ronald Reagan Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court
(1972–1986)
17 John Roberts
(born 1955) September 29, 2005
(78–22) 17 !September 29, 2005
–
Incumbent 08 !7003448500000000000♠12 years, 102 days George W. Bush Judge of the
United States Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit
(2003–2005)
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Listed here (unless otherwise noted) is the position—either with a U.S. state or the federal government—held by the individual immediately prior to becoming Chief Justice of the United States.
Jump up ^ This was the first Supreme Court nomination to be rejected by the United States Senate. Rutledge remains the only "recess appointed" justice not to be subsequently confirmed by the Senate.
^ Jump up to: a b Recess appointment
^ Jump up to: a b c Elevated from associate justice to chief justice while serving on the Supreme Court. The nomination of a sitting associate justice to be chief justice is subject to a separate confirmation process.
See also[edit]
Lists of United States Supreme Court cases
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Administrative Agencies: Office of the Chief Justice, 1789–present". Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Judicial Compensation". Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b Pettys, Todd E. (2006). "Choosing a Chief Justice: Presidential Prerogative or a Job for the Court?". Journal of Law & Politics. The University of Iowa College of Law. 22 (3): 231–281. SSRN 958829  .
^ Jump up to: a b c "Judiciary". Ithaca, New York: Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Cross, Frank B.; Lindquist, Stefanie (June 2006). "The decisional significance of the Chief Justice" (PDF). University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Law School. 154 (6): 1665–1707.
Jump up ^ O'Brien, David M. (2008). Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics (8th ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-393-93218-8.
Jump up ^ O'Brien, David M. (2008). Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics (8th ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-393-93218-8.
Jump up ^ Johnson, Timothy R.; Spriggs II, James F.; Wahlbeck, Paul J. (June 2005). "Passing and Strategic Voting on the U.S. Supreme Court". Law & Society Review. Law and Society Association, through Wiley. 39 (2): 349–377. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Presidential Inaugurations: Presidential Oaths of Office". Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Excerpt from Coolidge's autobiography". Historicvermont.org. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
Jump up ^ "Prologue: Selected Articles". Archives.gov. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
Jump up ^ "Presidential Swearing-In Ceremony, Part 5 of 6". Inaugural.senate.gov. Archived from the original on February 3, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
Jump up ^ O'Brien, David M. (2008). Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics (8th ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-393-93218-8.
Jump up ^ "Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress". Library of Congress. March 6, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
Jump up ^ "28 U.S. Code § 3 – Vacancy in office of Chief Justice; disability | LII / Legal Information Institute". Law.cornell.edu. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
Jump up ^ "U.S. Senate: Supreme Court Nominations: 1789–Present". www.senate.gov. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
Further reading[edit]
Abraham, Henry J. (1992). Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506557-3.
Cushman, Clare (2001). The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–1995 (2nd ed.). (Supreme Court Historical Society, Congressional Quarterly Books). ISBN 1-56802-126-7.
Flanders, Henry. The Lives and Times of the Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1874 at Google Books.
Frank, John P. (1995). Friedman, Leon; Israel, Fred L., eds. The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions. Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 0-7910-1377-4.
Hall, Kermit L., ed. (1992). The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505835-6.
Martin, Fenton S.; Goehlert, Robert U. (1990). The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Books. ISBN 0-87187-554-3.
Urofsky, Melvin I. (1994). The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Garland Publishing. p. 590. ISBN 0-8153-1176-1.
External links[edit]
Media related to Chief Justice of the United States at Wikimedia Commons
[show]
v
t
e
Chief Justices of the United States
John Jay (1789–1795)
John Rutledge (1795)
Oliver Ellsworth (1796–1800)
John Marshall (1801–1835)
Roger B. Taney (1836–1864)
Salmon P. Chase (1864–1873)
Morrison Waite (1874–1888)
Melville Fuller (1888–1910)
Edward Douglass White (1910–1921)
William Howard Taft (1921–1930)
Charles Evans Hughes (1930–1941)
Harlan F. Stone (1941–1946)
Fred M. Vinson (1946–1953)
Earl Warren (1953–1969)
Warren E. Burger (1969–1986)
William Rehnquist (1986–2005)
John Roberts (2005–present)
[show]
v
t
e
History of the Supreme Court of the United States by Chief Justice
Jay Court (1789–1795; cases)
Rutledge Court (1795; cases)
Ellsworth Court (1796–1800; cases)
Marshall Court (1801–1835; cases)
Taney Court (1836–1864; cases)
Chase Court (1864–1873; cases)
Waite Court (1874–1888; cases)
Fuller Court (1888–1910; cases)
White Court (1910–1921; cases)
Taft Court (1921–1930; cases)
Hughes Court (1930–1941; cases)
Stone Court (1941–1946; cases)
Vinson Court (1946–1953; cases)
Warren Court (1953–1969; cases)
Burger Court (1969–1986; cases)
Rehnquist Court (1986–2005; cases)
Roberts Court (2005–present; cases)
[show]
v
t
e
Supreme Court of the United States
The Court
Decisions
Procedures
History
Supreme Court Building
Old City Hall, Philadelphia 1791–1800
U.S. Capitol Chamber 1819–1860
U.S. Capitol Chamber 1860–1935
Original jurisdiction
Current members
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Anthony Kennedy
Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer
Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch
Retired Associate Justices
John Paul Stevens
Sandra Day O'Connor
David Souter
Current nominations
No Vacancies
All members
List of all members
by court
by seat
by education
succession
timelines
List of Chief Justices
List of Associate Justices
All nominations
Unsuccessful nominations
Nominations near end of presidency
Court demographics
Justices who served in Congress
Ideological leanings
Court functionaries
Clerk
Reporter of Decisions
Supreme Court Police
Law clerks
Chief Justice
Seat 1
Seat 2
Seat 3
Seat 4
Seat 6
Seat 8
Seat 9
Seat 10
All
Related
United States Solicitor General
United States Reports
Lawyers' Edition
Amicus curiae
Other countries
Law Portal
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chief_Justice_of_the_United_States&oldid=817874325"
Categories:
Chief Justices of the United States
Legal professions
Supreme Court of the United States people
1789 establishments in the United States
Hidden categories:
Use mdy dates from December 2017
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Languages
Ænglisc
Català
Čeština
Dansk
Deutsch
Español
فارسی
Français
한국어
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
Latina
Magyar
Bahasa Melayu
Nederlands
日本語
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Simple English
Slovenčina
Suomi
Svenska
ไทย
中文
Edit links
This page was last edited on 31 December 2017, at 02:20.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

values: Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg

values: text-align:center;padding-bottom:0.4em; border-bottom:solid 1px #ccd2d9;

values: padding-bottom:0.4em; border-bottom:solid 1px #ccd2d9; line-height:1.4em;

values:
/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States
mw-redirect
Constitution of the United States

values: Greater coat of arms of the United States.svg

values: font-size: 105%; padding: 0.2em 0px 0.4em; text-align: center; display: none;

values: United States House of Representatives 194-1-240.svg

values: Seal of the United States House of Representatives.svg

values: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

values: Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives

values: List of United States congressional districts

values: President pro tempore of the United States Senate

values: Party leaders of the United States Senate

values: Seal of the President of the United States.svg

values: Seal of the Vice President of the United States.svg

values: List of federal agencies in the United States

values:
/wiki/Executive_Office_of_the_President
mw-redirect
Executive Office of the President

values: List of United States district and territorial courts

values: List of United States state legislatures

values: padding:0.3em 0.4em 0.3em;font-weight:bold;border-top: 1px solid #aaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;

values: Template talk:Politics of the United States

values: float:right;clear:right;width:22.0em;margin:0 0 1.0em 1.0em;background:#f9f9f9;border:1px solid #aaa;padding:0.2em;border-spacing:0.4em 0;text-align:center;line-height:1.4em;font-size:88%

values: Lists of United States Supreme Court cases

values: Procedures of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: History of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

values:
plainlist
padding:0 0.1em 0.4em;text-align:left

values: List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by court composition

values: List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by seat

values: List of United States Supreme Court Justices by time in office

values: List of law schools attended by United States Supreme Court Justices

values: Succession of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: Timeline of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: List of nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States

values: Unsuccessful nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States

values: List of people nominated to U.S. Supreme Court in last year of presidency

values: Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: List of United States Supreme Court Justices who also served in Congress

values: Ideological leanings of U.S. Supreme Court justices

values: Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: padding:0.3em 0.4em 0.3em;font-weight:bold;border-top: thin solid #aaa

values:
/wiki/United_States_federal_courts
mw-redirect
United States federal courts

values: Judicial Conference of the United States

values: Administrative Office of the United States Courts

values:
/wiki/Oral_arguments
mw-redirect
Oral arguments

values: Oath of office of the President of the United States

values:
/wiki/Harlan_Fiske_Stone
mw-redirect
Harlan Fiske Stone

values: Edit section: Origin, title, and appointment to office

values: Article One of the United States Constitution

values: Article Three of the United States Constitution

values: Appointment and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States

values:
/wiki/Warren_Burger
mw-redirect
Warren Burger

values:
/wiki/Inauguration_Day
mw-redirect
Inauguration Day

values:
/wiki/John_Calvin_Coolidge,_Sr.
mw-redirect
John Calvin Coolidge, Sr.

values:
/wiki/Robert_Livingston_(1746-1813)
mw-redirect
Robert Livingston (1746-1813)

values:
/wiki/Adolph_A._Hoehling,_Jr.
mw-redirect
Adolph A. Hoehling, Jr.

values: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

values:
/wiki/United_States_District_Court
mw-redirect
United States District Court

values: United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

values:
/wiki/Intelligence_agent
mw-redirect
Intelligence agent

values: Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation

values:
headerSort
0
columnheader button
Sort ascending

values: List of United States Secretaries of State

values:
wikitable sortable jquery-tablesorter
text-align: center;

values: -moz-column-width: 40em; -webkit-column-width: 40em; column-width: 40em; list-style-type: lower-alpha;

values:
nofollow
external text
//ssrn.com/abstract=958829

attrs: alt src title width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values:
nofollow
external text
https://www.loc.gov/loc/legacy/loc.html

values:
/wiki/Chelsea_House_Publishers
mw-redirect
Chelsea House Publishers

values:
/wiki/Garland_Publishing
mw-redirect
Garland Publishing

values: commons:Special:Search/Chief Justice of the United States

values: padding:0em 0.25em -moz-column-width: 20em; -webkit-column-width: 20em; column-width: 20em;

values:
navbox-image
1
width:1px;padding:0px 0px 0px 2px

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values:
navigation
navbox
Chief_Justices_of_the_United_States
text-align: left;padding:3px

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Jay Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rutledge Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Ellsworth Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Marshall Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Taney Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Chase Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Waite Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Fuller Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the White Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Taft Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Hughes Court

values:
/wiki/Stone_Court_(1941%E2%80%931946)
mw-redirect
Stone Court (1941–1946)

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Stone Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Vinson Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Warren Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Burger Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court

values: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Roberts Court

values: Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States (page does not exist)

values:
navbox-image
7
width:1px;padding:0px 0px 0px 2px

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Chief Justice)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 1)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 2)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 3)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 4)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 6)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 8)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 9)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 10)

values: List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States

values: Category:Chief Justices of the United States

values: Category:Supreme Court of the United States people

values: Category:1789 establishments in the United States

values: Category:Use mdy dates from December 2017

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values:
uls-settings-trigger
Language settings
0
button
true

values: Hēahdēmere þāra Geāndena Rīca American – Old English

values: Cap de la Justícia dels Estats Units – Catalan

values: Seznam předsedů Nejvyššího soudu Spojených států amerických – Czech

values: Chief Justice of the United States – German

values: Presidente de la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos – Spanish

values: قاضی ارشد ایالات متحده آمریکا – Persian

values: 미국의 연방 대법원장 – Korean

values: Ketua Mahkamah Agung Amerika Serikat – Indonesian

values: Presidente della Corte suprema degli Stati Uniti d'America – Italian

values: נשיא בית המשפט העליון של ארצות הברית – Hebrew

values: Iudex Maximus Civitatum Foederatarum – Latin

values: Az Amerikai Egyesült Államok Legfelsőbb Bíróságának főbíráinak listája – Hungarian

values: Ketua Hakim Mahkamah Agung Amerika Syarikat – Malay

values: Opperrechter van de Verenigde Staten – Dutch

values: アメリカ合衆国最高裁判所長官 – Japanese

values: Prezesi Sądu Najwyższego Stanów Zjednoczonych – Polish

values: Chefe de Justiça dos Estados Unidos – Portuguese

values: Lista Șefilor Curții Supreme de Justiție a Statelor Unite ale Americii – Romanian

values: Председатель Верховного суда США – Russian

values: Chief Justice of the United States – Simple English

values: Zoznam predsedov Najvyššieho súdu USA – Slovak

values: Yhdysvaltain korkeimman oikeuden puheenjohtaja – Finnish

values: Chefsdomare i USA:s högsta domstol – Swedish

values: ประธานศาลสูงสุดสหรัฐ – Thai

values: 美国首席大法官 – Chinese

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Chief_Justice_of_the_United_States rootpage-Chief_Justice_of_the_United_States skin-vector action-view


text:
Back-to-Africa movement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Not to be confused with American Colonization Society.
This article is part of a series about
Black Power
History[show]
Black Arts Movement
Black is beautiful
Black Power movement
Black Power Revolution
Kwanzaa
Raised fist events of 1968 and 1972
Ideologies[show]
Africana womanism
Afrocentrism
Black anarchism
Black feminism
Black leftism
Black nationalism
Black pride
Black separatism
New Left
Pan-Africanism
Organizations[show]
Black Liberation Army
Black Panther Party
Black Radical Congress
Black Revolutionary Assault Team
George Jackson Brigade
Huey P. Newton Gun Club
League of Revolutionary Black Workers
May 19th Communist Organization
MOVE
New Black Panther Party
Republic of New Afrika
Revolutionary Action Movement
SNCC
SDS
US Organization
Weather Underground
White Panther Party
People[show]
Angela Davis
Assata Shakur
Donald DeFreeze
Elaine Brown
Eldridge Cleaver
Fay Bellamy Powell
Fred Hampton
Gloria Richardson
Huey P. Newton
John Africa
Malcolm X
Marcus Garvey
Maulana Karenga
Malik Zulu Shabazz
Obi Egbuna
Robert F. Williams
Rosa Parks
Stokely Carmichael
Wadsworth Jarrell
Works[show]
A Taste of Power
Black Power and the American Myth
Ten-Point Program
The Diary of Malcolm X
Revolutionary Suicide
Related[show]
Black Lives Matter
Chicano Movement
Civil Rights Movement
Feminism
Political hip hop
Red Power movement
Socialism
The Troubles
White Power
Youth rights
African American portal
Politics portal
v
t
e
The Back-to-Africa movement, also known as the Colonization movement or After slave act, originated in the United States in the 19th century. It encouraged those of African descent to return to the African homelands of their ancestors. This movement would eventually inspire other movements ranging from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafari movement and proved to be popular among African-Americans.
Contents
[hide]
1 United States
1.1 Religious motivations for colonization
1.2 American Colonization Society
1.3 Other pre-Civil War attempts
1.4 Post-Emancipation
2 Liberia
3 Ex-slave repatriation
3.1 Sierra Leone
4 Notable repatriated people
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
8 Bibliography
United States[edit]
In the early 19th century, the black population in the United States increased dramatically. Many of these African Americans were freed people seeking a better life. Many Southern freed blacks migrated to the industrial North to seek employment while others moved to surrounding Southern states.[1] Their progress was met with hostility as many whites were not used to sharing space with blacks in a context outside of chattel slavery. Many did not believe that free Africans had a place in America and thought the very existence of free blacks undermined the system of slavery and encouraged slaves to revolt.[2] In the North, whites feared that they would lose jobs to free African Americans, while other whites did not like the idea of blacks integrating with whites, but such sentiment was not exclusive to northerners. In Virginia, for example, one proponent of the Colonization movement, Solomon Parker of Hampshire County, was quoted as having said: “I am not willing that the Man or any of my Blacks shall ever be freed to remain in the United States.... Am opposed to slavery and also opposed to freeing blacks to stay in our Country and do sincerely hope that the time is approaching when our Land shall be rid of them."[3] Riots swept the nation in waves, usually in urban areas where there had been recent migration of blacks from the South. During the height of these riots in 1819, there were 25 recorded riots, with many killed and injured.[4] The back-to-Africa movement was seen as the solution to these problems by both groups, but more so with the white population than the blacks. Blacks often viewed the project with suspicion, especially among the middle-class, and worried that the Colonization movement was a ploy to deport freed African-Americans to keep them from making efforts against slavery. For example, shortly after the foundation of the American Colonization Society, 3,000 free blacks gathered in a church in Philadelphia and issued forth a declaration stating that they "will never separate ourselves voluntarily from the slave population of the country." Similarly, black leaders, such as James Forten, who had previously supported the Colonization Movement, changed their minds as a result of widespread black resistance to the idea.[5]
Religious motivations for colonization[edit]
Following the Great Awakening, during which America was swept by a wave of religious fervor which caused many enslaved African Americans to convert to Christianity, many religious people in America struggled with reconciling slavery with their beliefs. When the enslaved population of America was mostly Muslim or practiced indigenous African religions, it was easy for them to justify slavery on Christian evangelical grounds, but in the 19th century, many religious Americans found it difficult to continue supporting the enslavement of their brothers in Christ, especially the Quakers.[5] Two examples of such Christians can be found in Reverend Moses Tichnell and Reverend Samuel R. Houston, who freed slaves and sent them to Liberia in 1855 and 1856 respectively.[3] These wealthy Christians who felt morally obligated to finance such voyages were indeed an important aspect of the colonization movement, and without them far fewer African Americans could have made the expensive journey back to the homeland of their ancestors, as it was much harder for a free black to achieve financial success in that time.
American Colonization Society[edit]
The American Colonization Society (ACS) was an early advocate of the idea of resettling American-born blacks in Africa. Founded in 1816 by Charles Fenton Mercer, it was made up of two groups: "philanthropists, clergy and abolitionist who wanted to free African slaves and their descendants and provide them with the opportunity to return to Africa. The other group was the slave owners who feared free people of color and wanted to expel them from America."[6] Since its inception, the American Colonization Society struggled to garner support from within free black communities; however, during the late 1840s and early 1850s, the creation of an independent Liberian state splintered the nearly uniform voice against colonization. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which provided the United States government ample power to recapture fugitive slaves, many black leaders promoted immigration and colonization to a nation that would provide and protect their rights.[7] Still in despite of this, several black critics were outspoken against the Back-to-Africa movement and the activities of the American Colonization Society. A report from a free black political conference in New York warned: "all kinds of chicanery and stratagem will be employed to allure the people [to the colony]...the independence of its inhabitants; the enjoyment and privileges of its citizens, will be pictured forth in glowing colors, to deceive you."[8] The discussion between ACS proponents and anticolonizationists did not stop blacks from migrating to Liberia despite numerous challenges.
According to the Encyclopedia of Georgia History and Culture, "as early as 1820, black Americans had begun to return to their ancestral homeland through the auspices of the American Colonization Society" and by 1847, the American Colonization Society founded Liberia and designated it as the land to be colonized by all black people returning from the United States of America.[9] By the decline of the Back to Africa Movement, the American Colonization Society migrated over 13,000 blacks back to Africa.
Notable members of the American Colonization Society included Thomas Buchanan, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, Daniel Webster, John Marshall, and Francis Scott Key.[10]
Other pre-Civil War attempts[edit]
In 1811, Paul Cuffee, "a black man who was a wealthy man of property, a petitioner for equal rights for blacks"[11] began to explore the idea of black people returning to their native land as he was convinced that "opportunities for the advancement of black people were limited in America, and he became interested in African colonization."[12] With the help of some Quakers in Philadelphia he was able to transport 38 blacks to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1815.[13]
Post-Emancipation[edit]
The back-to-Africa movement began to decline but revived again in 1877 at the end of the Reconstruction era as many blacks in the South faced violence from groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.[14] Interest among the South's black population in African emigration peaked during the 1890s, a time when racism reached its peak and the greatest number of lynchings in American history took place.[15]
The continued experience of segregation and discrimination of African Americans after emancipation, and the belief that they would never achieve true equality, attracted many of them to a Pan-African emancipation in their motherland.
Soon thereafter, the movement declined following many hoaxes and fraudulent activities associated with the movement. According to Crumrin, however, the most important reason for the decline in the back-to-Africa movement was that the "vast majority of those who were meant to colonize did not wish to leave. Most free blacks simply did not want to go "home" to a place from which they were generations removed. America, not Africa, was their home and they had little desire to migrate to a strange and forbidding land not their own."[16]
Florida Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward (1905-1909) called for blacks to be moved permanently to a large piece of land the federal government would purchase, after buying their present properties, a territory the blacks could not leave and whites could not enter. So far as is known, this never went beyond an idea, and there is no known evidence of where this territory was intended to be.[17]
The eventual disillusionment of those who migrated to the North and frustrations of struggling to cope with urban life set the scene for the back-to-Africa movement of the 1920s, established by Marcus Garvey[18] although there were earlier attempts at resettlement such as that by Chief Alfred Sam in 1913-15.[19] Those who migrated to the Northern States from the South found that, although they were financially better off, they remained at the bottom both economically and socially.[20]
Liberia[edit]
African Americans depart for Liberia, 1896
The history of Liberia (after the arrival of Europeans) is unique in Africa as it started neither as a native state nor as a European colony, but began in 1821 when private societies began founding colonies for free blacks from the United States on the coast of West Africa. The first American ships were very uncertain of where they were heading. Their plan was to follow the paths that the British had taken hand, or simply take a chance on where they would land. At first, they followed the previous routes of the British and reached the coast of Sierra Leone. After leaving Sierra Leone, the Americans slowly reached the southern part of the African coastline. Eventually, the Americans found what they were looking for, what the British called the Grain Coast. This region was called the Grain Coast because of the type of ginger spice used for medicine flavoring that it provided, which was called aframomum meleguete. In the Grain Coast, local African chiefs willingly gave the Americans tracts of land. It took the Americans the next 20 years to gain a series of fragmented settlements across Liberia's barely settled beach. Along with the difficulty of gaining enough land, life was not easy for these early settlers. Disease was rampant, along with the lack of food. Hostile tribes presented the settlers with great struggle, destroying some of their new land settlements. Almost half of the new settlers had died over the first 20 years since their arrival in Liberia.[21] Liberia gained independence on 26 July 1847.[22]:5 With an elected black government and the offer of free land to African American settlers, Liberia became the most common destination of emigrating African Americans during the 19th century.[22]:2[23] Once African Americans arrived in Liberia, they faced a whole host of challenges, which included broken family ties, high mortality rates, and a difficult adjustment period. A group of 43 African Americans from Christiansburg, Virginia, left for Liberia in 1830 and suffered high mortality rates. "Eighty percent of the emigrants were dead within ten years of landing there, most of them victims of malaria; another ten percent quit the colony, with the majority fleeing to Sierra Leone.[24] African Americans who survived this period of adjustment in Liberia usually ended up liking the country.[25]
Blacks' interest in Liberia emigration emerged when the Civil War promised the end of slavery and meaningful change to the status of Black Americans. Some 7,000 enslaved people were freed by their masters, so at that point those free African Americans left the U.S. to escape racism and have more opportunities (mainly because they had lost all hope of achievement). In the 1830s, the movement became increasingly dominated by slave owners who wanted Liberia to absorb the free blacks of the South. Slaves freed from slave ships were sent here instead of their country of origin. The emigration of free blacks to Liberia particularly increased after the Nat Turner rebellion in 1831. Middle-class blacks were more resolved to live as black Americans, many rural poor folks gave up on the United States and looked to Liberia to construct a better life. Liberia provided freedom and equality; it also represented a chance for a better life for the South's black farmers. The Liberian government promised 25 acres of free land for each immigrant family, 10 acres for a single adult, who came to the Black Republic. In the early 19th century, Liberia evoked mixed images in the minds of black Americans. They viewed Liberia as a destination for black families who left the United States in search of a better way of life, returning to their ancestral homeland of Africa.[22]:2–9
As noted by researcher Washington Hyde, "Black Americans - who in the time of slavery lost their original languages and much of their original culture, gained a distinctly American, English-speaking Christian identity, and had no clear idea of precisely where in the wide continent of Africa their ancestors had come from - were perceived by the natives of Liberia as foreign settlers. Having an African ancestry and a black skin color were definitely not enough. Indeed, their settlement in Liberia had much in common with the contemporary white settlement of the American Frontier and these settlers' struggle with Native American tribes (...). The Liberian experience can also be considered as anticipating that of Zionism and Israel - with Jews similarly seeking redemption through a return to an ancestral land and similarly being regarded as foreign interlopers by the local Arab tribes. It would take Americo-Liberians a century and more to become truly accepted as one of Liberia's ethnic groups(...). All of which certainly contributed to most Black Americans rejecting the Back-to-Africa option and opting instead for seeking equal rights in America."[26]
Ex-slave repatriation[edit]
Ex-slave repatriation or the immigration of African American, Caribbean, and Black British slaves to Africa occurred mainly during the late 18th century to mid-19th century. In the cases of Liberia and Sierra Leone both were established by former slaves who were repatriated to Africa within a 28-year period.
Sierra Leone[edit]
The first attempt by the British government to settle people in Sierra Leone in 1787 sent 300 former slaves on the Sierra Leone peninsula in West Africa. Two years later most members of the settlement were killed off by disease and complications with the local Temne people. In 1792, a second attempt was made when 1,100 freed slaves established Freetown behind the British abolitionist Thomas Clarkson. Many of these inhabitants were unhappy with where they were resettled in Canada after the American Revolution and were eager to return to their homeland.
In 1815 the first freed slaves from the United States arrived in Sierra Leone, when Paul Cuffe brought the first group of thirty-eight migrants. Five years later, in 1820, minister Daniel Coker lead a group of ninety free blacks in hopes of founding a new colony in Sierra Leone. He intended to proselytize Christianity among the Africans. After leaving New York on the ship Elizabeth, his voyage ended on an island just off the coast of Sierra Leone. Arriving just before the rains of spring, the group of immigrants were soon stricken with fever. The survivors soon fled to Freetown, and the settlement disintegrated.
The American Colonization Society came under attack from American abolitionists, who insisted that the removal of the freed slaves from the United States strengthened the institution of slavery.
The repatriation of slaves to Africa from the United Kingdom, and its dependencies, was initiated by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, and was later on taken up by the Sierra Leone Company. In time, African American Black Loyalists and West Indians would immigrate to the colony of Freetown, Sierra Leone, in smaller numbers in efforts led by black merchants or beneficiaries such as Paul Cuffe.
More recently the African-American actor Isaiah Washington, a titled chief of the Mende people, has received Sierra Leonean citizenship due to his ancestral descent from the Mendes. Due to this, other members of the African diaspora that are also of Sierra Leonean descent can apply for citizenship as well if their descent is verified by a DNA test, as Mr. Washington's was.
Notable repatriated people[edit]
Joseph Jenkins Roberts – first President of Liberia and founding father
Thomas Peters (black leader) – African-American Black Loyalist leader and founder of Freetown, Sierra Leone
William Coleman – President of Liberia
Stephen Allen Benson – President of Liberia
David George – African-American Baptist preacher
Boston King – African-American Methodist missionary
Henry Washington (or Harry Washington) – African-born slave to first U.S. President George Washington
Daniel Coker – African-American missionary to Sierra Leone
Edward Jones (missionary) – American missionary to Sierra Leone
Edward J. Roye – President of Liberia, and first president from the True Whig Party
John Russwurm – founder of Freedom's Journal, the first black newspaper in the United States
See also[edit]
Afro-American settlement in Africa
Scipio Vaughan
References[edit]
Jump up ^ David Jenkins, Black Zion: The Return of Afro-Americans and West Indians to Africa (London: Wildwood House, 1975), pp. 41-3.
Jump up ^ Kenneth C. Barnes, Journey of Hope: The Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkan (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 3.
^ Jump up to: a b Ailes, Jane, and Marie Tyler-McGraw. "Leaving Virginia for Liberia: Western Virginia Emigrants and Emancipators." West Virginia History 6, no. 2 (Fall 2012): 1-34. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost.
Jump up ^ Ronald L. F. Davis, "Creating Jim Crow" Archived 2002-06-14 at the Wayback Machine., The History of Jim Crow. Accessed 14 October 2007.
^ Jump up to: a b White, Deborah Gray. "Slavery and Freedom in the New Republic." In ''Freedom on my mind''. S.l.: Bedford Bks St Martin's, 2012, pp. 186-188.
Jump up ^ Waite, P. The American Colonization Society.
Jump up ^ Mills, Brandon (2014). "The United States of Africa". Journal of the Early Republic. 34 (1): 98. doi:10.1353/jer.2014.0012.
Jump up ^ Mills, Brandon (Spring 2014). "The United States of Africa". Journal of the Early Republic. 34 (1): 101. doi:10.1353/jer.2014.0012.
Jump up ^ "Back-to-Africa Movement", The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. 2007. The Central Arkansas Library System.
Jump up ^ Cox, Earnest (1938). Lincoln's Negro Policy. Richmond, VA: William Byrd Press. p. 13.
Jump up ^ Campbell, M. Back to Africa: George Ross & The Maroons, From Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 1993.
Jump up ^ Lapsanskey-Werner, E., and M. Bacon (eds), Back to Africa: Benjamin Coates and the Colonization Movement in America 1848–1880, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania University Press, 2005.
Jump up ^ Stewart, J. 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About African American History, New York: Doubleday, 1996.
Jump up ^ "The Ending of Reconstruction", America's Reconstruction, People and Politics After the Civil War. University of Houston Digital History.
Jump up ^ Kenneth C. Barnes, Journey of Hope: The Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800s (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004), p. 2.
Jump up ^ Timothy Crumrin, "'Back to Africa?' The Colonization Movement in Early America". 2007.
Jump up ^ Olmeda, Rafael (29 September 2017). "Is Broward named for a racist? Courthouse statue controversy raises question". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
Jump up ^ Daniel M. Johnson and Rex R. Campbell, Black Migration in America: A Social Demographic History (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1981), p. 62.
Jump up ^ S. K. B. Asante, "Sam, Alfred", Dictionary of African Christian Biography, reprinted from The Encyclopedia Africana Dictionary of African Biography, 1977. Retrieved August 8, 2016
Jump up ^ David Jenkins, Black Zion (1975), p. 43.
Jump up ^ Butcher, Tim (2010). "Our Man In Liberia". History Today. 60 (10): 10–17. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^ Jump up to: a b c Kenneth C. Barnes, Journey of Hope: The Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800s (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004).
Jump up ^ James Campbell, Middle Passage: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787–2005. (New York: Penguin Press, 2006), xxiii.
Jump up ^ Burin, Eric (Winter 2006). "A Manumission in the Mountains: Slavery and the African Colonization Movement in Southwestern Virginia". Appalachian Journal. 33 (2): 171.
Jump up ^ Rommel-Ruiz, Bryan (Spring 2007). "Slavery and the Peculiar Solution: A History of the American Colonization Society". Journal of the Early Republic. 27 (1): 187–188. doi:10.1353/jer.2007.0013.
Jump up ^ Dr. Washington Hyde, The Tortuous Route of Black American History, Ch. 3, 5.
External links[edit]
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/march1/colonize-030106.html
Back to Africa: The Colonization Movement
African American Nation Radio
The Black Church in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Turner Chapel
Bibliography[edit]
Barnes, Kenneth C. Journey of Hope: The Back-to-Africa Movement in Arkansas in the Late 1800s. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
Campbell, James. Middle Passage: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787–2005. New York: Penguin Press, 2006.
Clegg III, Claude A. The Price of Liberty: African Americans and the Making of Liberia. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
Jenkins, David. Black Zion: The Return of Afro-Americans and West Indians to Africa. London: Wildwood House, 1975.
Weisbord, Robert G. Ebony Kinship: Africa, Africans, and the Afro-American. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1973.
[show]
v
t
e
African American topics
History
Atlantic slave trade
Maafa
Slavery in the United States
Partus sequitur ventrem
Free negro
Reconstruction era
Military history of African Americans
Jim Crow laws
Nadir of American race relations
Redlining
Great Migration
Civil rights movement 1865–1896 / 1896–1954 / 1954–68
Black Power movement
Second Great Migration
Afrocentrism
New Great Migration
Post–civil rights era
Inauguration of Barack Obama 2009 / Inauguration of Barack Obama 2013
Black Lives Matter
Culture
Art
African-American names
Afrofuturism
Black mecca
Dance
Film
Juneteenth
Kwanzaa
Literature
Music
Musical theater
Neighborhoods
Sexual orientation
Soul food
Education, science
and technology
Black schools
Black colleges and universities
Museums
African-American studies
Inventors and scientists
Women
in computer science
in medicine
in STEM fields
Religion
Black church
Black theology
Doctrine of Father Divine
American Society of Muslims
Nation of Islam
Black Hebrew Israelites
Political movements
Pan-Africanism
Self-determination
Nationalism
Black Power
Black fist
Anarchism
Capitalism
Conservatism
Populism
Leftism
Garveyism
Back-to-Africa movement
Civic and economic
groups
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Black Panther Party
National Urban League (NUL)
Rights organizations
Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)
Thurgood Marshall College Fund
United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC)
National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC)
National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)
Sports
Negro league baseball
Baseball color line
Black players in professional American football
African Americans in the Canadian Football League
Black players in ice hockey
Athletic associations
and conferences
Central (CIAA)
Southern (SIAC)
Mid-Eastern (MEAC)
Southwestern (SWAC)
Ethnic subdivisions
Black Indians
Gullah
Fula
Igbo
Louisiana Creole (of color)
Melungeon
Yoruba
Demographics
Neighborhoods
list
U.S. cities with large populations
2000 majorities
2010 majorities
Metropolitan areas
Black Belt
Languages
English
American English
African-American English
Gullah
Louisiana Creole French
By state/city
Alabama
Florida
Georgia (Atlanta)
Illinois (Chicago)
Iowa (Davenport)
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts (Boston)
Michigan (Detroit)
Mississippi
Nebraska (Omaha)
New York
New York City
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
Puerto Rico
Tennessee
Texas (Houston)
Diaspora
Africa
Gambia
Ghana
Liberia
Sierra Leone
Back-to-Africa movement
Americas
Caribbean history
Canada
Nova Scotia
Dominican Republic
Haiti
Mexico
Trinidad and Tobago
Other
France
Israel
Lists
African Americans
visual artists
Republicans
US senators
African-American firsts
mayors
US state firsts
Neighborhoods
Landmark African-American legislation
African American-related articles
Topics related to the African diaspora
Category
Portal
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Back-to-Africa_movement&oldid=842479610"
Categories:
African diaspora
African diaspora history
African and Black nationalism
Repatriated Africans
Repatriated slaves
People of Liberated African descent
Pre-emancipation African-American history
African-American repatriation organizations
Hidden categories:
Webarchive template wayback links
Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Français
עברית
Edit links
This page was last edited on 22 May 2018, at 18:39.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

key: html

type: local

value: div

attrs: id class

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

value: a

attrs: id class lang

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attrs: href title

attrs: role class

values:
note
hatnote navigation-not-searchable

value: td

value: tr

value: th

value: img

attrs: alt src width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

attrs: href class

attrs: class id href

values: NavToggle NavToggle1 #

attrs: class style

values: font-size: 105%; padding: 0px 0px 0.4em; text-align: center; display: none;

values: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

values:
/wiki/Civil_Rights_Movement
mw-redirect
Civil Rights Movement

values: padding:0.3em 0.4em 0.3em;font-weight:bold;border-top: 1px solid #aaa; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;text-align:center;

values: float:right;clear:right;width:22.0em;margin:0 0 1.0em 1.0em;background:#f9f9f9;border:1px solid #aaa;padding:0.2em;border-spacing:0.4em 0;text-align:center;line-height:1.4em;font-size:88%

values:
/wiki/Ethnic_groups_of_Africa
mw-redirect
Ethnic groups of Africa

values:
/wiki/Rastafari_movement
mw-redirect
Rastafari movement

values: Edit section: Religious motivations for colonization

values: Edit section: American Colonization Society

values:
/wiki/Charles_Fenton_Mercer
mw-redirect
Charles Fenton Mercer

values: Edit section: Other pre-Civil War attempts

values:
/wiki/Freetown,_Sierra_Leone
mw-redirect
Freetown, Sierra Leone

values:
/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte_Broward
mw-redirect
Napoleon Bonaparte Broward

values:
/wiki/Chief_Alfred_Sam
mw-redirect
Chief Alfred Sam

attrs: alt src width height class srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values:
/wiki/American_Frontier
mw-redirect
American Frontier

values:
/wiki/African_American
mw-redirect
African American

values: Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor

values:
/wiki/Black_Loyalists
mw-redirect
Black Loyalists

values:
/wiki/West_Indians
mw-redirect
West Indians

values: Edit section: Notable repatriated people

values:
/wiki/Thomas_Peters_(black_leader)
mw-redirect
Thomas Peters (black leader)

values:
/wiki/Edward_J._Roye
mw-redirect
Edward J. Roye

values:
/wiki/John_Russwurm
mw-redirect
John Russwurm

values:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1353%2Fjer.2014.0012

values:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1353%2Fjer.2007.0013

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values: African-American civil rights movement (1865–1896)

values: African-American civil rights movement (1896–1954)

values: Second Great Migration (African American)

values: Post–civil rights era in African-American history

values: African-American culture and sexual orientation

values: Historically black colleges and universities

values: List of museums focused on African Americans

values: List of African-American inventors and scientists

values: African American women in computer science

values: List of African-American women in STEM fields

values:
/wiki/Doctrine_of_Father_Divine
mw-redirect
Doctrine of Father Divine

values: Southern Christian Leadership Conference

values: Category:African Americans' rights organizations

values:
/wiki/United_Negro_College_Fund
mw-redirect
United Negro College Fund

values: Black players in professional American football

values: History of African Americans in the Canadian Football League

values: Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association

values: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

values: List of U.S. cities with large African-American populations

values: List of U.S. communities with African-American majority populations in 2000

values: List of U.S. metropolitan areas with large African-American populations

values:
/wiki/Louisiana_Creole_French
mw-redirect
Louisiana Creole French

values: African Americans in Georgia (U.S. state)

values: History of the African-Americans in Philadelphia

values:
/wiki/Afro-Puerto_Rican
mw-redirect
Afro-Puerto Rican

values: History of the African Americans in Houston

values:
/wiki/African-Americans_in_Ghana
mw-redirect
African-Americans in Ghana

values:
/wiki/Haitian_emigration
mw-redirect
Haitian emigration

values: List of African-American United States Senators

values: List of African-American U.S. state firsts

values: List of landmark African-American legislation

values: Index of articles related to African Americans

values: List of topics related to the African diaspora

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

values: Category:People of Liberated African descent

values: Category:Webarchive template wayback links

values: Category:Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Back-to-Africa_movement
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: תנועת החזרה לאפריקה – Hebrew

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Back-to-Africa_movement rootpage-Back-to-Africa_movement skin-vector action-view