Paul Cuffe: Advocate of Afro-American Independence

Paul Cuffe was popularly known for advocacy to support free blacks who wanted to move to Sierra Leone. Cuffe’s exact date of birth was unknown, although it was known that he was born in Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts in 1759.

Cuffe showed political inclinations in his 20s. He, along with a group of free blacks, petitioned the state government of Massachusetts to stop taxing the Native Americans and the Afro-Americans or grant them right to vote. The Massachusetts General Court did not give in to the petition, but the petition was instrumental in the creation of the 1783 Constitution, granting equality to all citizens of Massachusetts.

As a devout member of the evangelical Quaker, Cuffe earned the character as a philanthropist. He helped raise the funds to build a school in Westport, Massachusetts. He supported many other endeavors to uplift the status of education in Massachusetts. Cuffe also opposed slavery and slave trade. In collaboration with the Afro-Americans in the Northern states, Cuffe led abolitionist campaigns with the help of his Quaker connections.

Using his experience as a whaling captain, Cuffe a ship owner and sailed between the ports along the Massachusetts coast. He operated several vessels to become the wealthiest Afro-American in the US and the largest employer of free Afro-Americans. In spite of his successes as a businessman, Cuffe became disillusioned with the status of the Afro-American race to the point of thinking of an independent African state for the returnees from the US.

The British abolitionists that created Sierra Leone gave Cuffe the greatest inspiration for a free black state. He started recruiting fellow blacks to immigrate to Sierra Leone. Cuffe’s first expedition to Sierra Leone took place on January 2, 1811. Along with an all-African crew, Cuffe sailed to Freetown. He used his exposure in business to help create the Afro-American trading organization “The Friendly Society of Sierra Leone.” Cuffe’s greater dreams were to evangelize the Africans, create businesses, and abolish slavery.

Cuffe led a new batch of 38 Afro-Americans in 1815. The group built new homes and integrated them to a small community of refuges and dormer residents of Nova Scotia. However, a larger group and a better funded organization “American Colonization Society also promoted a similar advocacy in 1816 and established Liberia. Cuffe’s efforts were eclipsed by ACS’s larger program.