The Society having been organized, immediate steps were taken to
acquire land upon the coast of Africa upon which to establish the
colony. For this purpose Samuel J. Mills, so well known and venerated
for his missionary labors, and Ebenezer Burgess were sent to Africa,
the money to defray their expenses being raised by Charles Fenton
Mercer and Bishop Meade, of Virginia.[82] The report of these
commissioners established the practicability of securing the necessary
land on the coast of Africa and establishing the emigrants in their
new home. The Society, however, was without sufficient means for the
successful initiation of its great work and possessed no relation to
the government, state or National. By a fortuitous train of
circumstances and the zeal of certain of its members, among whom
Virginians bore an active part, all of these objects were in a measure
attained.
Under the terms of the Federal statute prohibiting the foreign slave
trade it was provided that any slave whose importation was attempted
in violation of the act should be seized by the authorities of the
state where the importation occurred, and disposed of at its pleasure.
The State of Georgia had, accordingly, acquired possession of a number
of imported negroes and had advertised them for sale at Milledgeville,
May 4, 1819. Such an event and such a policy would have defeated the
statute, one of whose objects was to prevent the increase of the slave
population. Learning of these facts, Bishop Meade, of Virginia, was
sent as the representative of the Colonization Society, to Georgia,
where he secured the release of the negroes advertised to be sold,
upon condition that the Society would reimburse the state for the
costs incurred in their maintenance.[83] George Washington Parke
Custis, of Virginia, offered an island near Cape Charles, Virginia, as
a place of refuge until they could be transported to Africa.[84]
Knowledge of the foregoing facts induced Charles Fenton Mercer and
John Floyd, of Virginia, to present to Congress, of which they were
members, a bill which became a law in 1819, whereby all negroes
imported since the passage of the act should be returned to their own
country, appointing agents upon the coast of Africa to receive them;
and appropriating $100,000.00 to carry this law into effect. President
Monroe was zealous in enforcing the provisions of this law, and acted
in cordial co-operation with the Colonization Society to effectuate
its purposes. Under the provisions of the act, territory was acquired
upon the coast of Africa, and there the colony of Liberia was
established. In 1824, in recognition of Mr. Monroe's services, the
inhabitants of the colony named their capital Monrovia.