whether he could help them. He concluded that efforts should be made to increase the local production of exportable commodities and develop their own shipping capabilities rather than continuing to export freed slaves. Cuffe sailed to England to meet with members of The African Institution, who were also leading abolitionists. He offered his recommendations to improve the lives of all the people in Sierra Leone. His recommendations were well received in London and he subsequently made two more trips to Sierra Leone to try to implement them. On his last trip in 1815–16, he transported nine families of free blacks from Massachusetts to Sierra Leone to assist and work with the former slaves and other local residents to develop their economy. Some historians relate Cuffe's work to the "Back to Africa" movement being promoted by the newly organized American Colonization Society (ACS). A group made up of both Northerners and Southerners, it was focused on resettling free blacks from the United States to Africa - eventually resulting in development of Liberia. The leaders of the ACS had sought Paul Cuffe's advice and support for their effort. After some hesitation, and given the strong objections by free blacks in Philadelphia and New York City to the ACS proposal, Cuffe chose not to support the ACS. He believed his efforts in providing training, machinery and ships to the people of Africa would enable them to improve their lives and rise in the world. Biography Early life Paul Cuffe was born on January 17, 1759, on Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts. He was the youngest son of Coffe (Kofi) Slocum and his wife Ruth Moses. Kofi was an Ashanti slave of Akan heritage. The Ashanti form of slavery was different from American chattel slavery, in a number of ways. Ashanti slaves had legal rights, could own property, inherit property and marry. At around 10 years old Kofi was either seized or sold to Fanti middlemen, the first step in the Atlantic slave trade. On the West African coast he was traded to representatives of the Royal African Company and shipped to Newport, Rhode Island, where he was purchased by Ebenezer Slocum, a Quaker farm owner in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. In 1742, Slocum sold Kofi to his nephew, John Slocum, for 150 pounds. John apparently intended to free Kofi after he had gained his purchase price in labor, and manumitted him around 1745. Kofi took the last