The man who inspired and was copied by Marcus Garvey

[zarahan]

<<snip- excerpt>>

CHIEF ALFRED CHARLES SAM (CA. 1880 -1930s)

Chief Alfred Charles Sam, a shadowy figure in Oklahoma history, inspired the emigration of hundreds of African American Oklahomans back to Africa in the second decade of the 20th century. Those who completed the first journey to Africa endured physical and financial hardships, with some choosing to return to Oklahoma. Those awaiting to make the second voyage lost most of their savings and possessions when the venture dissolved.

Born in the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) around 1880, Alfred Charles Sam claimed to have inherited the position of local chieftainship from his uncle. After a trip to North America, Sam decided to pursue a career in business entrepreneurship as a trader. He also saw an opportunity to form a commercial sea venture leading black Americans back to Africa and then making a round trip return to North America stocked with trading commodities like cocoa, coffee and mahogany. In 1913, he began preaching to black Oklahomans of the African coast as a haven where African Americans could live a life of freedom on the 45-square miles of fertile land that Sam had purchased. He urged his listeners to buy passage to west Africa by purchasing $25 worth of stock in Sam’s Akim Trading Company.

Chief Sam’s scheme was criticized by the local black businessmen and most African American newspapers as well as U.S. and British authorities. Although he was investigated for fraud by both governments, no clear criminal charges were found, and Sam was able to convince hundreds of Oklahoma families to invest in his stock and sell most or all of their possessions in order to make this journey.

Around 600 African Americans bound for the Gold Coast waited in the spring of 1914 while Sam went to New York to purchase the S.S. Liberia, which would take these would-be emigrants to Africa. After some legal and economic delays Sam was able to meet his followers in Galveston, Texas on June 14, 1914. Finally on August 20th Sam and 60 African Americans started their voyage to the Gold Coast while over 500 others anxiously awaited his return.

When the emigrants finally arrived on the Gold Coast, they were initially welcomed by the local population, but many hardships followed. Some newcomers succumbed to malaria, and Sam’s promises of free land for colonization were challenged by the African rulers who prohibited foreign ownership of their land. Soon a number of Sam’s followers became disillusioned with the Gold Coast and left to find work elsewhere. A handful of Sam’s followers found a way back to Oklahoma.

Sam sold the Liberia, abandoning the remaining investors who were awaiting their voyage to Africa. Some accounts indicate that Sam continued his career as a trader, returning to North America and dying sometime in the 1930s.

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www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/chief-alfred-charles-sam-c-1880-c-1930s/

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[zarahan]

Wikipedia version bio

Alfred Sam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Alfred Charles Sam (c.1880 – 1930s?), known as Chief Alfred Sam, was a Gold Coast-born merchant and pioneer pan-Africanist who in 1913-15 encouraged the resettlement of African Americans as part of the Back-to-Africa movement.

Biography[edit]
He was born at Apaso (Appasu) in the West Akim district of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), and was educated at a mission school in Kyebi. He became a trader in rubber and other goods, and acquired the title of Chief either from an uncle (as he claimed),[1][2] or as an honor to recognise that he had traveled to the US or the UK.[3]

In May 1913, after corresponding with Herbert Macaulay in Nigeria and traveling to the US, he began holding large camp-style meetings in Oklahoma and elsewhere,[1] encouraging African-Americans to buy $25 worth of stock in his Akim Trading Company, join a voyage to their "ancestral home", settle on fertile land that he claimed to have purchased there, reject America and live a life of freedom.[2] His stated intentions were to help develop trade between West Africa and the United States, by selling commodities such as cocoa, coffee and mahogany to the US, and encouraging black American farmers and mechanics to settle in Africa and so develop the economy there.[3] Among his claims were stories of "diamonds lying on the ground after a rain, trees that produced bread, and sugar cane as large as stove pipes".[4] Although his scheme was criticized by black businesses and newspapers, and by the authorities, he was cleared of fraud.[1] He was supported by the African Pioneer, a journal of the Back-to-Africa movement, and persuaded hundreds of families to sell their possessions and invest in his scheme.[2][4]

By early 1914, some 500 black Americans were prepared to sail to Africa on Sam's ship, the former German steamer Curityba which he renamed the S.S. Liberia,[1][4] and assembled at Galveston, Texas. An initial group of some sixty trained and selected men and women were eventually taken on board and left with Sam in August 1914,[2] together with a cargo of lumber, cement, lime, flour, agricultural implements, and household goods with which to establish a settlement. They arrived in Bathurst (now Banjul), Gambia, in December 1914, and both there and in Freetown, Sierra Leone, received considerable publicity. After a long delay in Freetown while British authorities checked the ship's ownership,[4] they eventually reached their destination, Saltpond, in January 1915, and were initially given a warm reception. However, their attempt to settle at Akim failed as local leaders refused to allow Americans to own the necessary land, and because of official restrictions, shortages of materials,[3] and malaria.[2] Many of the intending settlers suffered physical and financial hardships, were discouraged, and felt misled by Sam's claims.[4] Some eventually returned to Oklahoma, while others settled in African cities or Liberia.[2]

By September 1915, before a second voyage could take place, Sam's venture collapsed, with most of those still intending to make the voyage losing their possessions and savings.[2] Sam sold the Liberia, and returned to work as a trader. Sources give differing accounts of his later life, with one stating that he also moved to Liberia,[4] while others indicate that he returned to live in the US.[2][3] It is thought that he died some time during the 1930s.

References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d Robert E. Hill (ed.), The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: 1826-August 1919, University of California Press, 1983, pp.536-547
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Semhar Negassa, "Chief Alfred Charles Sam", BlackPast.org. Retrieved August 8, 2016
^ Jump up to: a b c d S. K. B. Asante, "Sam, Alfred", Dictionary of African Christian Biography, reprinted from The Encyclopedia Africana Dictionary of African Biography, 1977. Retrieved August 8, 2016
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Larry O'Dell, "Chief Alfred Sam", Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2016

[zarahan]

That there might be some local opposition to the settlers is certainly plausible, but given
official American and British disapproval of Sam's scheme, how much of that was engineered
behind the scenes to blockade a local negotiated deal that might have enabled things to move forward?
The Afro Americans were not conquerors pushing natives off their lands., They came with Sam, himself a native
and were prepared to compromise.
In similar manner, Marcus Garvey's Liberian initiative settlement was torpedoed behind the scenes by
the US govt, with the assistance of WEB Dubois, Garvey's arch enemy.

[anansi]

So many layers to Africana studies , thank you for this, stuff that I should’ve known but didn’t.

[zarahan]

I didn't know much about him either until recently. Unfortunately some accounts say,
so to speak, that he "jumped ship" and abandoned the black settlers when his project
ran into difficulties.