"The Raleigh Auxiliary Society for Colonizing the free people of Colour of the United States" states that agents of its parent society, the American Colonization Society, have ascertained that "Sherbro is the most desirable Country for the colony" as it is "in all respects suited to the purposes of the Society" and interior land in great abundance "can be obtained for a mere trifle." In addition, the agents report that the numbers of free people of color in this country that "are willing & even anxious to go & make the experiment, are far greater than the Society, with their limited means, can accommodate." Even with this promising outlook and the support of the President of the United States, the petitioner puts forth that said society "needs more patronage & resources ... than can be drawn from individual benevolence." He therefore solicits "the patronage of your Honorable body, to the 'American Society for colonizing the free people of colour of the United States' and asks that "you request our Senators & Representatives in Congress, to use their influence & exertions to obtain from the General Government, the aid necessary for the Society to effect its great object."
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
