[Ads-l] "Promised Land" (Refuge for Black Americans, Not in OED): Possible Evidence from Unexpected Source

[Shapiro, Fred]

Lesson learned !

I have found chatgpt to be somewhat useful when I ask it questions like, "What are some important terms coined by Black legal scholars ?"  I don't accept its answers as the truth but rather I consider them suggestions that I then research in reputable sources.

I am not at all an unabashed enthusiast for AI, as will be evident when my list of 10 notable quotations of the year is released by the Associated Press next week.  In fact I regard AI as probably the most deplorable societal development of all time.

Fred Shapiro

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Ben Zimmer <00001aae0710f4b7-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 12:18 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: "Promised Land" (Refuge for Black Americans, Not in OED): Possible Evidence from Unexpected Source

Please, please, please do not use ChatGPT or other LLM for this type of
research, as hallucinations are extremely common. None of these citations
are legitimate, as a quick Googling confirms. There's nothing to be gained
from posting spurious results, except as a cautionary tale about the state
of generative AI.

--bgz


On Wed, Dec 10, 2025 at 7:32 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> OED does not have a specific entry for the term "Promised Land" meaning a
> refuge for Black Americans.  I have possible early evidence for this term,
> from an unexpected source.  I asked chatgpt for earliest evidence that it
> could summon up.  I did not have any expectations of getting good info for
> this kind of query from chatgpt.  Below is what it sent me.  This could all
> be hallucination, but it looks pretty good.  I have not attempted any
> verification.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ________________________________
> ✅ 1. The African Repository and Colonial Journal (the official publication
> of the American Colonization Society), 1825
> In early ACS promotional writing, Liberia was repeatedly framed as a “Land
> of Promise.”
> A recorded example appears in The African Repository, Vol. 1 (1825), p.
> 14, describing Liberia as a destination for free Black Americans:
> “To the people of color of the United States, Liberia opens as a land of
> promise, where the oppressions of this country are unknown.”
> This is one of the earliest printed uses of the phrase connected
> specifically to Liberia.
> ________________________________
> ✅ 2. The African Repository, 1827 – Sermon by Rev. R. R. Gurley
> A sermon reprinted in the 1827 volume (Vol. 3) includes this passage
> urging Black Americans to consider Liberia:
> “We call upon them to look to Africa, that promised land prepared for the
> redemption of her scattered children.”
> This shows clear religious framing—Liberia as a divinely prepared
> destination.
> ________________________________
> ✅ 3. Letters from early settlers (1820s)
> Several emigrant letters published by the ACS use similar language. One
> example is from a settler letter printed in The African Repository (1824,
> Vol. 1, p. 196):
> “We have reached this land of promise, and though trials surround us, we
> believe God has led us here.”
> Though individual letters vary in tone, this theological metaphor appears
> multiple times in emigrant correspondence.
>
>
>

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