TOPIC 16: THE COLONY OF LIBERIA

Liberia like Sierra Leone was founded as a state for the freed Negro slaves from America.

By 1790 over 60,000 Negro slaves had lived in America and by 1800 the number had risen and it was therefore the social conditions of these slaves characterized by poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and generally social discrimination in the American society that provoked the sympathy of the humanitarians.

These humanitarians as far back as 1816 had formed themselves into the American colonization society (ACS) and these later embarked on a scheme of founding a settlement for the freed slaves.

This is what Rev. Robert Gurley named as Liberia which is derived from Liberal meaning "A land of the free" whose capital became Monrovia named after the then American president Monroe.

its however argued that this project was undertaken for the benefit of both Africa and the American for partly it aimed at being used as a ground for christianisation of the Africans, civilisation and suppression of slave trade in Africa.

It's therefore under these circumstances that Liberia was founded as a mufti-purpose settlement that is for humanitarian, religious, political and economic reasons,

Therefore in 1820-21 the first batch of the immigrants was settled on the island of Sherbo but due-to a number of problems, the settlement was later moved to Cape Mesurado however 4ven in this place problems continued to affect the earlier settlers.

In fact, in the beginning Liberia was referred to as "a lone star" A title that seemed to have been derived from the fact that her flag was identified with a Single star.

But the most important was that this description was largely derived from the initial problems faced by the earlier settlers (Creoles of Liberia).

PROBLEMS

Among these problems included: climatic conditions characterized by diseases, deaths, difficult geographical conditions such as forests which largely affected the lives of earlier settlers notably the Negro Americans.

Furthermore the Liberians were affected by the limited supply in terms of finances and to her resources for the assistance from the American colonisation society and other humanitarian organisations became very inadequate which made it very difficult for the earlier settlers to survive.

In addition, the Afro-Americans were also faced with the problem of hostile reception from the local indigenous natives notably the Grebo, Vai, Gola and the Kru. These greatly clashed with earlier settlers largely as a result of the cultural differences between the new Creoles and the indigenous people who kept as attacking them from time to time thus making their lives very difficult as new comers in the area.

It's also argued that the new settlers were also faced with the hostilities and harsh administration of the white officials who were sent to govern them by imposing the American constitution which entailed them to swear allegiance to the white officials who had the powers to appoint or dismiss them and it was as oppression of the white officials that J.B Webster (1981) described as

"The arrogance and despotism of the white officials".

It's therefore partly from this basis that the Negroes begun to fight for their independence by trying to call a conference for constitutional reform which traced its way as far back as 1839 when the Negroes begun to fight for their own leadership and indeed it was in 1841 that J.J. Roberts was appointed as the first non-white governor and this begun the roots towards Liberia independence which became a reality in 1847 when Liberia was finally given her independent from a humanitarian society and thus becoming an independence republic under J.J. Roberts as the first president. Right from the beginning the Liberians had come up with their motto

"The love of liberty brought us here" which is a manifestation of their desire to maintain their independence which they won on the 26th of June 1847. The concern therefore is the extent to which the Liberian succeeded in living up to their motto "the love of liberty brought us here."

Following their motto, the Liberians begun to find means of how they would maintain their liberty and this was evident in their local administration which was characterised by the struggle for the development of national loyalty and unity through creating amicable relationships with the local people who were initially hostile to them- J.J. Roberts employed the rnethod of assimilation in which the local people were absorbed into the new America- Liberians which brought unity and harmony between the two groups which were not easy to penetrate thus their ability to live up to their motto "The love of liberty brought us here".

Hence, one can rightly argue that one of the ways through which the Liberians preserved their motto was the abolition of colour prejudice which was inherited from America in favour of the policy of cultural assimilation.

Furthermore, at the eve of their independence, the Afro-Americans had two political powers notably the Republican party led by J.J. Roberts and represented the interests of the white Negroes or Mulattos and the True wigs party founded by Edwards Roye representing the interests of the fully blooded Negroes. The existence of these two Negro parties begun to bring conflicts in Liberia such that there was a high likelihood that this would breed disunity that would be easily be exploited by the colonialists to make them lose their independence this however was solved through the introduction of the one party system which finally brought unity in Liberia subsequently able to maintain her independence and indeed live up to their motto

"The love of liberty brought us here."

Economically, the loss of Liberians independence was to begin within the economic sphere for the attempts by J.J. Roberts to earn revenue for the administration of Liberia by imposing customs duty on traders met a lot of resistance from notably the French and British who argued that "Liberia was neither a colony of the Americans nor an independent colony", and therefore she didn't have the international status of imposing customs duties. This however continued until 1847 when Liberia identified herself as an independent colony thus begun to economically sustain her own attacks although in the 1880's Liberia begun to suffer economically decline partly as a result of the economic depression 1929 and the competition from European countries such as Britain and France which had developed palm oil, Raphia palm fibres, coffee especially in Brazil all of which isolated Liberia from the world trade.

This economic decline greatly exposed Liberia to the chance of losing her independence to the extent that by 1900 German traders had begun to move into Liberia but it was the out break of the first world war in 1914 that helped Liberia escape the German arm of colonialism as the British navy cut off Liberia's trade thus saving her independence and therefore maintaining their motto "The love of liberty brought us here".  

As far back as 1906, a British firm known as the Liberia rubber corporation begun to work in the region and indeed Britain had invested a,!6t of its capital in Liberia and wanted to exploit this opportunity by taking over the supervising the finances of Liberia which had been in a depression and the leadership of Liberia obtained a war from America paid off a British debt and therefore managed to escape British colonialism.

It can also be argued that the escape of Liberia's independence was also .largely facilitated by America which was by this time uninterested in colonialism and had partly founded this settlement not as an American colony but as a humanitarian venture for the settlement of freed slaves.

The -j above view can rightly be supported by the fact that when the European powers notably France, Germany, Great Britain wanted to take over the independence "of Liberia, Brooker T. Washington an influential black American addressed the attention of America to the imperialistic designs especially of Britain on Liberia which forced President Theodore Roosevelt to bring diplomatic pressure upon the governments of London, Paris and Berlin thus saving Liberia from c6loniallsm. -    -

It's therefore partly from this basis notably the influence of America, her position in Liberia, able leadership notably that of J.J. Roberts that Liberians were able to escape the arm of European colonialism thus living up to their motto "The love of liberty brought us here".

Liberia therefore like Sierra Leone were both founded as settlements for the freed Slaves as denoted in their naming i.e. Liberia which means a land of the free and Freetown to symbolize the purpose to which it had been founded.

In the same way, both Sierra Leone and Liberia were founded under similar circumstances i.e. the pathetic conditions of the freed Slaves both in Britain and America that later provoked the sympathy of the humanitarians to found the settlements for the freed slaves.

It's has also been argued that both the America-Liberians and the Creoles found almost similar difficulties in the new homes the most outstanding of which being hostility from indigenous tribes notably the Temne-Mende for the Creoles and the Vai, Kru and Grebo for the Liberians.

The above state of affairs largely came as a result of the cultural conflict between the indigenous people and the new breeds

Lastly, both states became very significant in the history of 19th Century for they marked the beginning of a new relationship between West Africa and the outsideworld notably Europe and America and indeed its title wonder that both Sierra Leone and Liberia became the centres or seed beds of West African civilisation.

Problems faced by settlers

Like in Sierra Leone, the rainy season disturbed them. It interrupted setting up of buildings, clearing the forest and construction of roads.

Unhealthy conditions led to diseases and deaths, among the settlers.

There was also scarcity of supplies.

Money for running the colony was insufficient. The colony on aid from the government and other humanitarian organizations channeled through the American colonization society. This, had lessened as support for the weakened among the white and Negro Americans.

The colony was also attacked by hostile tribes around, who resented the permanency of the colony. The attacks were made mainly between 1822 - 1842.

The settlers met with problems with the slave traders who wanted to continue with the trade.

In fact by 1830, Jehudi Ashmun had destroyed the slave markets and the African chiefs became very hostile.

The colony also faced political problems concerning a struggle for power among the leaders of the settlers. Dr. Ayres and Jehudi Ashmun were involved in a crisis that split the colonist into factions. In 1825, a new constitution society was the one to appoint governors for the colony"

The economy also lost venue, as the British and French merchants resisted paying customs duty on ships trading in Liberian ports. They claimed that Liberia lacked status in international law, it was not an independent state, and it could not therefore impose customs duties.

The Liberia leaders then negotiated and won independence from the American colonization society on 26th July-1847, Joseph Roberts was her first president. The state had a President; a Senate and the House of Representatives and it was therefore a Republic. It had a Supreme Court also like America, The Republic was divided into five counties, it was a system of indirect rule whereby the traditional rulers governed in the counties under the supervision of commissioners appointed by the Monrovia government.

After independence, the colony was economically strong. Agriculture proved to be more successful than Sierra Leone, because the American Negroes were very hardworking.

There was a lot of foreign assistance especially from the American government which provided equipment and money. With the death of many pioneer settlers, most of the settlers tumed to trade They traded in palm oil, camwood, rabai palm and fibres.

They also cultivated sugar and coffee, and Liberia coffee is considered among the best in the world. Merchants like Joseph Kenking, Roberts, became especially rich, and many enjoyed economic prosperity as they extended trade links overseas and in the interior. Many schools and. institutions were established such as Liberian college (1962) which was second only to Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone.

By 1880, the economic prosperity enjoyed by Liberians declined because:

Of the worldwide depression, which occurred in the last decades of the 19th Century. It particularly affected the Liberian merchants princes as trade in Europe generally slumped and the merchants lost their connections.

The Liberian merchants were out - competed by large commercial enterprises of the great imperialist powers of Europe.

The colonizing powers adopted inward - looking policies towards their various colonies and traders traded exclusively with their respective colonies, Liberia which had no colonizing power was left in the cold.

United States - surrendered the trade with Liberia and concentrated on trade with Latin America. Brazilian coffee replaced Liberian coffee in America.

Sugar cane lost market as beet sugar was introduced.

Camwood trade also suffered as man - made substitutes were developed in place of natural dyes.

As a result, Liberia declined economically, it lost a great deal of her territory to the British and French and it remained a backward nation even up to the 20th century

THE POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN LIBERIA UP TO 1883

1.    The circumstances that led to the establishment of Liberia are similar to those that led to establishment of Sierra Leone.

2.    The colony was founded by the American colonization society in 1816.

3.    Land was bought at Cape Mesurado.

4.    86 Negroes and 3 officials of the American colonization society settled and founded a colony name Liberia" or land of the free"

5.    The first site was Monrovia name after President Monroe, President of the U.S.A at that time.

6.    Immediately after their settlement, the question leadership arose, in 1823, there was power struggle between Dr. Ayres and Jehudi Ashmun leading to a crisis which split the colonists into two factions.

7.    In 1825, a new, constitution society was the one to appoint governors for the colony.

8.    But this did not improve matters. The Society's officials were arrogant and discriminated against the Negroes in favour of the Mulattos especially in matters concerning land sharing.

9.    This racial discrimination was inherited from USA itself where it was at a high level. This was later to continue influencing Liberia's politics.

10. It was also to be reflected in the relationship between the Negroes and the indigenous Africans in the interior especially the Kru, Grebo, Goia, and Vai.

11. This resulted into serious frequent African revolts against the Liberian government.

12. As more territory was being added to the colonists, Monrovia became a well-known centre of administration and capital city. It was directly under Colonization Society in 1821.

13. In 1828, agents and vice agents were appointed while others were directly elected under universal adult male suffrage.

14. In 1636, various settlements along the coast with the exception of Maryland Country, merged to form the Commonwealth of Liberia with Thomas Buchanan as its first Governor and the Society's last White agent.

15. 1841, due to growing political agitation in the colony, the first Negro, Joseph J. Roberts was appointed. He also had difficulties with raising the economy because in most cases people refused to pay taxes.

16. On July, 26 1847, Liberia was declared an independent Republic and was soon recognized by Britain and European countries.

17. But American recognition only came in 1882. The constitution of the Republic was modeled on that of USA.

18. The Liberia leaders then negotiated and won independence from the American colonization society on 26th July 1847, Joseph Roberts was her first president.

19. The state had a President, a Senate and the house of Representatives and it was therefore a Republic-

20. It had a Supreme Court also like America. The Republic was divided into five counties.

21. It was a system of indirect rule whereby the traditional rulers governed in the counties under the supervision of commissioners appointed by the Monrovia government.