The Maryland State Colonization Society (MSCS) was formed in 1817 as an auxiliary of the American Colonization Society. The goal of these groups was to eradicate slavery in America by inducing free blacks to return to Africa. The MSCS found the black colony "Maryland in Liberia" on the West African coast in 1834, which was incorporated into the Republic of Liberia in 1857. Active colonization efforts ended after the Civil War, and the MSCS finally disbanded in 1902.
The Papers of the Maryland State Colonization Society includes minutes, correspondence, financial records, records of manumission and emigration, reports of colonial agents, pamphlets and books on the colonization movement, copies of the Maryland Colonization Journal (Baltimore, 1835-1861), the Liberia Herald (Monrovia, 1842-1857), and census records of Maryland in Liberia.
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