PAUL CUFFE THE RICHEST BLACK MAN IN THE U.S. DURING SLAVERY..

Told you we were mo

re than slaves!-OK17
Paul Cuffe (1759-1817) was the richest African American in the United States dur
ing the early 1800s, but never stopped championing the cause of better conditions
for his people. At the age of 19, he sued the Massachusetts courts for the righ
t to vote stating that taxation without representation should be illegal. He bui
lt on his own farm, New Bedfords only school for the children of free Negroes and p
ersonally sponsored their teachers. He authored the first document of its kind a
ddressed to the New Jersey Legislature asking that body to petition the Congress
of the United States that every slave be freed and that every Colored man that s
o desired be allowed to leave America. By 1811, Paul Cuffe finally concluded that
if the richest Black person in America was considered a second class citizen, t
hen emigration back to Africa was the only answer for Black social, economic, an
d political self-determination. On December 12, 1815 Cuffe personally sponsored
and transported nine families (38 people) back to Africa in what he hoped would
be the first of many such voyages.
Paul Cuffe was one of ten children born to a slave father, Saiz Kufu (later, Cuf
fe) and an Indian mother. The father was freed by his Quaker master in 1745, and
earned enough money working for ship owners to buy a 116-acre farm in Dartmouth
, Mass. in 1766. Paul left the farming to his siblings and chose a maritime life
and by age 14 was working full time on whaling ships. By age 18, he had become
so thoroughly self-taught in mathematics, navigation, and other seafaring skills
that he decided to built his own boat for self-employment. During the Revolutio
nary War, he made enough money smuggling goods pass British blockade patrol ship
s that he was able to purchase a shipyard and construct three small whaling boat
s between 1787 and 1795.
Paul Cuffes early activity was fraught with danger as he purchased and delivered
freight along the Atlantic seaboard. Pirates were a constant threat and on more
than one occasion his ship was captured and all of his merchandise stolen, but h
e never stopped pursuing his dream. The Fugitive Slave Act was also a constant t
hreat, especially since Cuffe exclusively staffed his businesses and ships with
Blacks to demonstrate their equally and to reinforce their self-confidence and s
ense of racial pride. The Fugitive Slave Act legalized the seizure of any Black
person suspected of escape from slavery by any White person. Since African Ameri
cans could not testify in court, the Black accused would have to find and persuad
e a White person to appear at his trial and convince the authorities that the ac
cused was free or risk being resold into slavery.
As the Cuffe commercial enterprises continued to prosper, he expanded by purchas
ing a 200-acre farm, a gristmill, and by building ships large enough to enable h
im to purchase and deliver freight internationally. In 1800 Cuffe built the 162-
ton Hero which sailed around Africas Cape of Good Hope eight times while delivering
merchandise from Portuguese East Africa to Europe. Paul Cuffes largest ship was
the 268-ton Alpha which Cuffe and nine Black crewmembers sailed from Savannah, Geo
rgia to Gothenburg, Sweden with a large cargo in 1806.
Despite the fact that Paul Cuffe was the richest Black man and largest Black emp
loyer in America, he was convinced that no amount of wealth would make a Black m
an socially acceptable in America and that Blacks would always be resident aliens
. He felt the only answer was to develop a strong Black African nation. Paul Cuff
es legacy is not as a wealthy Black man but as a wealthy Black man who fought for
the betterment of his people and was always willing to back his convictions wit
h self-sacrifice, discipline, determination, and financial resources.