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Liberia
Cahuita
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History of Liberia

The history of Liberia is unique in Africa as it started neither as a native state nor as a European colony, but began in 1821 when private societies began founding colonies for free blacks from the United States on the coast of West Africa.

Indigenous peoples of West Africa

It is believed that many of the indigenous peoples of Liberia migrated there from the north and east between the 12th and 16th centuries AD. The area of West Africa which later became Liberia was invaded in the sixteenth century by Mane, Malian Soldiers tribes from what is now the interior of Ivory Coast and Ghana. The Manes partitioned the conquered territories and their peoples among Mane leaders with one chieftain over all. The supreme chief resided in the Grand Cape Mount region.

Shortly after the Manes conquered the region there was a migration of the Vai people into the region of Grand Cape Mount. The Vai were part of the Mali Empire that were forced to migrate when the empire collapsed in the fourteenth century. The Vai chose to migrate to the coastal region.

The Kru opposed the migration of the Vai into their region. An alliance of the Manes and Kru were able to stop the further migration of the Vai but the Vai remained in the Grand Cape Mount region (where the city of Robertsport is now located).

The Kru became involved with trading with Europeans. Initially the Kru traded in non-slave commodities but later became active participants in the slave trade. Kru traders also engaged in a surprising form of trade. Kru traders and their canoes would be taken on board European ships and would engage in trade along the coast. At some agreed upon point the Kru traders and their canoes would be put off the ship and the traders would paddle back to their home territory.

Kru laborers left their territory to work on plantations and in construction as paid laborers, some even worked building the Suez and Panama Canals.

Another tribal group in the area was the Glebo. The Glebo were driven, as a result of the Manes invasion, to migrate to the coast of what later became Liberia.

Contact with European explorers and traders

Portuguese explorers established contacts with the land later known as "Liberia" as early as 1461 and named the area the Grain Coast because of the abundance of grains of malegueta pepper. In 1602 the Dutch established a trading port at Grand Cape Mount but destroyed the posts a year later. In 1663 the British installed trading posts on the Grain Coast. No further known settlements by non-African colonists occurred along the Grain Coast until the arrival of freed American slaves starting in 1817.

Settlement by the American Colonization Society

Modern Liberia was founded in 1822 by freed slaves from the United States. They were sent to Africa under the auspices of the American Colonization Society, a private organization whose purpose was "to promote and execute a plan for colonizing in Africa, with their own consent, the free people of color residing in the US."

Motives of the ACS

The American Colonization Society was a group of white Americans — including some slaveholders — that had a variety of motives. Free blacks, freedmen and their descendants, encountered widespread discrimination in the United States of the early 19th century. They were generally perceived as a burden on society, and a threat to white workers because they undercut wages. Some abolitionists believed that blacks could not achieve equality in the United States and would be better off in Africa. Many slaveholders were worried that the presence of free blacks would encourage slaves to rebel. Other supporters of removal to Africa wanted to prevent racial mixing, to promote the spread of Christianity in Africa, or to develop trade with Africa.^{[1] [2]}

First colony - Cape Mesurado

In 1818 the Society sent two representatives to West Africa to find a suitable location but they were unable to persuade local tribal leaders to sell territory. In 1820, 88 free black settlers and 3 society members sailed for Sierra Leone on the Elizabeth. Before departing they had signed a constitution requiring that an agent of the Society administer the settlement according to U.S. laws. They found shelter on Scherbo Island off the west coast of Africa.

The new immigrants immediately began to construct their new settlement. But after three weeks, twenty-two of the African-Americans and all three white officials died of yellow fever. The second ship, the Nautilus, soon arrived with new passengers and fresh supplies ^[3].

In 1821, Captain Richard Field Stockton of the USS Alligator skimmed the coastline of West Africa, resuming the search for a suitable site. Accounts differ, but it is quite possible that the threat of force caused the indigenous leaders to agree to sell a 36-mile long strip of coastline to the Society in exchange for $300 worth of rum, weapons and other goods. The Scherbo Island group moved to this new location and other blacks from the United States joined them.

The first settlement was on Providence Island near where the present capital city, Monrovia, is located. Although the Society had arranged with local chiefs for a settlement, the colonists were attacked by indigenous peoples, disease, and barely maintained their foothold. In 1824, the settlers built fortifications for protection. In that same year, the settlement was named Liberia, with its capital at Monrovia, named for President James Monroe.

In 1824 the Cape Mesurado Colony expanded and became the Liberia Colony, and the United States government settled New Georgia with "Congo" recaptives (slaves rescued by Americans in mid-ocean). Other colonies soon followed.

Criticism of the ACS

When the first settlers were relocated to Liberia in 1822, the plan drew immediate criticism on several fronts. Many leaders in the black community publicly attacked it, asking why free blacks should have to emigrate from the country where they, their parents, and even their grandparents were born. Meanwhile, slave owners in the South vigorously denounced the plan as an assault on their slave economy. However, other prominent leaders in the black community supported the plan, believing that discrimination would prevent African-Americans from prospering in the United States.

Despite the growing resistance to colonization, in 1832, as the ACS began to send agents to England to raise funds for what they touted as a benevolent plan, William Lloyd Garrison helped instigate opposition to the plan with a 236-page book on the evils of colonization and sent abolitionists to England to track down and counter ACS supporters.

Life in the new colonies

The settlers recreated American society, building churches and homes that resembled Southern plantations. And they continued to speak English. They also entered into a complex relationship with the indigenous people -- marrying them in some cases, discriminating against them in others, (and enslaving them in the worst of cases) but all the time attempting to "civilize" them and impose Western values on the traditional communities.

The new colonies adopted other American styles of life, including southern plantation-style houses with deep verandahs, and established thriving trade links with other West Africans. The Americo-Liberians distinguished themselves from the local people, characterized as 'natives,' by the universal appellation of "Mr."

The struggle to survive

The formation of the colony did not occur altogether without difficulty. The severe conditions (which included harsh climate and deadly diseases) took a high toll on both settlers and missionaries. Census records indicate that only about half of the 4,571 persons who emigrated under the aegis of the ACS survived during the first 23 years after the first colony was established.^[4]

In addition, the land occupied by the American Colonization Society in Liberia was not void of native inhabitants when the emigrants arrived. Much of the area was under the control of the Malinké tribes who resented the incursion of these settlers upon their lands. In addition to disease, poor housing conditions and lack of food and medicine, these new emigrants found themselves engaged in sporadic armed combat with the natives.

At the same time, colonial expansionists from Europe encroached on the newly-independent Liberia and took over much of the original territory of independent Liberia by force.

Creation of other colonies

The Maryland State Colonization Society withdrew her support from the American Colonization Society and resolved to establish a colony in Liberia to send free people of color, of that State, that wished to emigrate. Soon after, the Young Men's Colonization Society of Pennsylvania, were induced to establish a separate colony at Port Cresson.

The New York City Colonization Society united with the latter, under the active agency of Dr. Proudfit, the funds of the State were brought to their aid. In 1834, the Mississippi State Colonization Society established a colony independent of the American Colonization Society.

In 1832, the Edina and Port Cresson colonies were formed by the New York and Pennsylvania Colonization Societies. In 1834, the Maryland in Liberia colony was created by the Maryland State Colonization Society. The Mississippi-in-Africa colony was created by the Mississippi and Louisiana State Colonization Societies in 1835. In 1835, the Port Cresson Colony was destroyed by natives of the area. The Bassa Cove Colony was founded on the ruins of the Port Cresson Colony a month later.^[5][6]

A period of consolidation followed. The Bassa Cove Colony absorbed the Edina Colony in 1837. Bassa Cove in turn was incorporated into Liberia in 1839, as was New Georgia. Maryland in Africa became the State of Maryland in Liberia in 1841. Mississippi-in-Africa was incorporated into Liberia as Sinoe County in 1842. Maryland in Liberia declared independence from Liberia in 1854 and had a brief life as the independent state of Maryland in Liberia. It was annexed into Liberia as Maryland County in 1857.^[5][6]

Bankruptcy of the ACS

The American Colonization Society closely controlled the development of Liberia until 1847. However, by the 1840s, Liberia had become a financial burden on the American Colonization Society which was effectively bankrupt. The transported Liberians were demoralized by hostile local tribes, bad management, and deadly diseases. In addition, Liberia faced political threats, chiefly from Britain, because it was neither a sovereign power nor a bona fide colony of any sovereign nation.

Because the United States refused to claim sovereignty over Liberia, in 1846 the ACS directed the Liberians to proclaim their independence. In 1847, the colony became the independent nation of Liberia. By 1867, the society had sent more than 13,000 emigrants.

Independence

During the formative years of the colony, white administrators from the American Colonization Society ran the Liberian colony. But as the colony expanded and became more self-sufficient, colonists were given more and more control in running the colony. The colony was renamed the Commonwealth of Liberia in 1839. In 1841, Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first black governor of the colony. With the encouragement of the American Colonization Society which was almost bankrupt, he proclaimed Liberia a free republic in 1847. A Constitution was drawn up along the lines of the United States'. The state seal shows a ship at anchor in a tropical harbor, and bears the inscription, "The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here."

The country was recognized by the United Kingdom in 1848 and by France in 1852. The United States delayed its recognition of Liberia until 1862 over concerns by southern states of a black ambassador from Liberia residing in Washington. The boundaries of the country were not officially established until after 1892.^[5]

However, attempts to found a state based upon some 3000 settlers proved difficult. Some coastal tribes became Protestants and learned English, but most of the indigenous Africans retained their traditional religion and language. Even the slave trade continued illicitly from Liberian ports, but this was ended by the British Navy in the 1850s.

The Americo-Liberians have never constituted above five percent of the population of Liberia; however, for over one hundred years, the Americo-Liberians reserved within the group all political and economic leadership. Under the name of the True Whig Party (TWP), the Americo-Liberians subdued indigenous tribes in Liberia and permitted no organized political opposition thus making Liberia a one-party state.