African American Settlements in West Africa (PDF)

AMOS BEYAN is Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at Western Michigan University, USA.

"Authoritative and approachable. A significant contribution to the literature." - Katherine Bankole, West Virginia University "John Brown Russwurm analyzes the relationship between nineteenth-century colonization societies interested in Africa, which were dominated by whites and advocated Christian morals and American values; African-American settler communities, comprised of persons with varying levels of dedication to these Western codes; and indigenous Africans, who clung to their own beliefs and cultures. At the center of this multifaceted situation stood the African-American John Brown Russwurm. By exploring Russwurm s unique biography, Amos Beyan offers a fresh approach to the historical narrative of Liberia and Maryland in Liberia. This important book is highly recommend for those interested in the history of nineteenth-century African-Americans, the colonization movement, and the African-American settler movement in West Africa." - Yekutiel Gershoni, University of Indiana

"Study of major 19th century black figures straddling Liberia and the New World has been enriched by Beyan's work on John Brown Russrum. Along with the biographies of Edward Wilmot Blyden and Alexander Crummell, two 19th century intellectuals who left their imprints on both sides of the Atlantic, we now have a competent articulation of the thoughts and actions of a third intellectual of that era." - D. Elwood Dunn, Sewanee-The University of The South