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8 Things You Should Know About Martin R. Delany​, the Father of Black Nationalism

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After his experience at Harvard, Delany was steadfast in his belief that Black people should return to Africa. In the mid-1850s, he went to Nigeria to buy land for possible settlement. This was around the time the American Colonization Society was doing the exact same thing. Delany’s expedition is different because slave owners and white abolitionists are not leading the charge. He truly believed that America would not be a viable option for Black people, so he also looked into land options in Central America and Canada. During this time he wrote about his travels in the book, Blake or the Huts of America in 1859.

 

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By 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 made Delany soften his stance on emigration. When the idea of Black soldiers joining the fight as Union soldiers arose, Douglass and Delany both agreed and advocated for the chance to fight for freedom. “The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the first military unit consisting of Black soldiers to be raised in the North during the Civil War,” Masshist.org explains. “Prior to 1863, no concerted effort was made to recruit black troops as Union soldiers.” Delany was so committed to the regiment that his own son Toussaint L’Ouverture Delany, was recruited.

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