A Return Home pt. 2

A Brief Understanding of Libera's History

 

Photo credits: Glenna Gourdon

As we discussed in the last post, life in Liberia was not easy in the beginning: Malaria, Yellow Fever, and hostility from the natives made it difficult to settle. Fast forward to 1824, the colony gains its independence and is named the Republic of Liberia.  Over the course of forty years, 19,000 Americo-Liberians (repatriated African-Americans), 5,000 recaptured Africans, and a small amount of West Indians came to call this nation home. 

By 1847, the colony grew and they began to mimic America to the best of their ability. The settlers spoke English, built southern-style plantations, churches, schools, ships, and even developed their trade economy.  Some settlers discriminated against the indigenous population while others were attracted to them (it's not clear if the attrations were mutual or forced). Either way, the objective was to "civilize" the indigenous people, especially as the settlers began to move into the interior of Liberia. 

It was crucial for the settlers to gain control of the interior. The exporting of palm oil, sugarcane, rice, coffee, and were not sufficient enough. And because of the poor export sales, the ACS withdrew its support and left the settlers to fend for themselves. This led for the expansion into the interior so that the settlers could start leasing land to Firestone for rubber tapping.  This eventually led to a clash with the indigenous people and all at civil war followed suit. 

And as much as I would like to discuss this, the reasons behind the civil war becomes more complicated. Thus, I hope you enjoyed or at least learned something about Liberia. 

Source(s): http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/liberia/essays/history/