Official Report of the Niger Valley Exploring Party

MEN AND BRETHREN: The time has fully come when we, as an oppressed people, should do something effectively, and use those means adequate to the attainment of the great and long desired end--do something to meet the actual demands of the present and prospective necessities of the rising generation of our people in this country. To do this, we must occupy a position of entire equality , of unrestricted rights, composing in fact, an acknowledged necessary part of the ruling element of...
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MEN AND BRETHREN: The time has fully come when we, as an oppressed people, should do something effectively, and use those means adequate to the attainment of the great and long desired end--do something to meet the actual demands of the present and prospective necessities of the rising generation of our people in this country. To do this, we must occupy a position of entire equality , of unrestricted rights, composing in fact, an acknowledged necessary part of the ruling element of society in which we live. The policy n ecessary to the preservation of this element must be in our favor , if ever we expect the enjoyment, freedom, sovereignty, and equality of rights anywhere. For this purpose, and to this end, then, all colored men in favor of Emigration out of the United States, and opposed to the American Colonization scheme of leaving the Western Hemisphere, are requested to meet in CLEVELAND, OHIO, TUESDAY, the 24th day of AUGUST, 1854, in a great NATIONAL CONVENTION, then and there to consider and decide upon the great and important subject of Emigration from the United States.