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Ravaged by years of civil war, the West African country of Liberia has been the subject of quite a few news stories recently. But the story of Liberia's creation by former U.S. slaves is also newsworthy. In late 1816, the American Colonization Society (ACS) was assembled with the purpose of returning black slaves of African descent to Africa itself. Members of the Quakers religious group were heavily involved in this effort. They believed that blacks would have a better chance at freedom and self-determination in Africa, rather than in the U.S. A number of slave owners were also part of this effort to repatriate Africans, but for very
different reasons. Fearing rebellion and the consequences of living with freed slaves, they preferred to rid the U.S. entirely of Africans. The ACS was controversial among both whites and blacks, but it gained enough support to send a small ship of black immigrants along with a few white ACS agents to begin a settlement in Sierra Leone, Africa, in 1820. That first attempt proved unsuccessful due to yellow fever, malaria, and harsh conditions. But the ACS sent more ships in the following years and negotiated with tribal leaders for land in the Cape Mesurado area of modern Liberia. The African tribes who already lived on this land were not happy to be uprooted, and according to some accounts, had to be "persuaded" to
leave at gunpoint. Unfortunately, this would prove to be a long-standing source of conflict. By 1825, a preliminary government run by the ACS oversaw the new settlement, and the colony was named Liberia, "the land of freedom." The main town was called Monrovia after the U.S. president, James Monroe, an ACS supporter. Throughout the next few decades, American slave states formed their own colonization societies or worked with the ACS to send former slaves and free blacks to Liberia. By 1867, over 13,000 black Americans had immigrated to Liberia. On July 26, 1847, the people of Liberia declared their independence from the U.S. Liberia's government was modeled on that of the United States,
and it became the first republic in Africa. Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a free black man born in Virginia, became the country's first president, and his cabinet was composed entirely of American-born men. Ironically, the former American slaves became a ruling class in Liberia and denied rights and equal participation in government to the indigenous peoples of the country. The descendants of these Americans became known as Americo-Liberians and currently make up only 5% of the population. The country's indigenous people come from 16 different ethnic groups, which have struggled with the government and among themselves throughout Liberia's existence. The nation has always had limited economic success, and the government's increasingly
authoritarian stance in the 20th century heightened instability in the country. This lead to a military coup in 1980 and another uprising in 1990, followed by a civil war that has lasted off and on until the present.
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