(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Constitution of the African Civilization Society

(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Constitution of the African Civilization Society, including printed minutes, an officer list, and an address on "African Civilization and the Cotton Trade." 39 pages. 8vo, disbound, lacking wrappers; minimal wear. [New York, 1861] The African Civilization Society hoped to defeat slavery by recruiting African-American settlers to raise cotton in the Niger Valley, creating an alternate source of cotton which would undermine the Southern plantation system. The present pamphlet contains more than just the constitution. It also contains a list of officers headed by President Henry Highland Garnet, a leading Black activist; minutes of two meetings held in New York in March and April 1861; and (filling pages 9 to 39) the Rev. J.P. Thompson's "Anniversary Address" on "African Civilization and the Cotton Trade."
None traced at auction, with or without the wrappers, although Swann did sell the original manuscript of the constitution as part of an archive, 27 March 2014, lot 41. See also the preceding lot, an archive containing the Society's manuscript minute book (from another consignor).