The Colonization Society, formally known as the American Colonization Society (ACS), was founded in 1816 in the United States. Its primary goal was to resettle free African Americans in Africa, particularly in a region that would later become Liberia. The society believed that this would provide a solution to the perceived problems of slavery and racial tensions in America. The ACS received support from various groups, including some abolitionists and slaveholders, who had differing motivations. While some aimed to improve the lives of free blacks, others sought to remove them from American society. Over the years, the society facilitated the migration of thousands of African Americans to Liberia, where they established a colony and eventually declared independence in 1847.