Emigration vs. assimilation

Between 1827 and 1861, the majority of Africans in America were held in slavery, owned no property, or lacked citizenship. In that same stretch, at least 28 African American newspapers were printed. Across these papers, one argument recurred more often than any other and stirred the most dispute: whether Black Americans should leave for Africa, the Caribbean or Canada, or keep working toward full inclusion in American society. The editors who shaped this press also shaped how many African Americans understood their own place in the nation.