Colonization Rejection Timelines: Setting the Stage for Catto’s Life

In January, James Forten, along with Bishop Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and James Gloucester held a meeting on colonization of blacks to Liberia at Mother Bethel Church . The meeting draws 3,000 attendees, who resoundingly disapproved of the idea. This meeting forced a dramatic turning point for these leaders. They no longer put support to colonization efforts. It was clear by this time that most free blacks and enslaved had been born in the United States and claimed it as their own.