AUTOGRAPHS

Liberia: a Country of People ‘Repatriated’ from ‘Freedom’

Liberia: a Country of People ‘Repatriated’ from ‘Freedom’

By

Chandrasekharan Kunnath

Introduction

The early history of Liberia is composed of several conquests and migrations among the tribes who lived there.

Between 1461 and late 17th century, Portuguese, Dutch and British traders had contacts and trading posts in what became Liberia. The Portuguese had named the area Costa da Pimenta (meaning Pepper Coast), later translated as Grain Coast, because of the abundance of grains of melegueta pepper.

In 1822, the American Colonization Society (A.C.S.), working to “repatriate” black Americans to greater freedom in Africa, established Liberia as a place to send people who were formerly enslaved. This movement of black people by the A.C.S. had broad support nationwide among white people in the United States, including politicians such as Henry Clay and James Monroe. They believed this was preferable to emancipation of slaves in the United States. Clay said, because of “unconquerable prejudice resulting from their color, they never could amalgamate with the free whites of this country. It was desirable, therefore, as it respected them, and the residue of the population of the country, to drain them off.” The institution of slavery in the U.S. had grown, reaching almost four million slaves by the mid 19th century.  Some free African Americans chose to emigrate to Liberia. The immigrants became known as Americo-Liberians. Many present-day Liberians trace their ancestry to them. On July 26, 1847, Americo-Liberian settlers declared independence of the Republic of Liberia.

Geography

Liberia is situated in West Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean to the country’s southwest. The landscape is characterized by mostly flat to rolling coastal plains that contain mangroves and swamps, which rise to a rolling plateau and low mountains in the northeast. Tropical rainforests cover the hills, while elephant grass and semi-deciduous forests make up the dominant vegetation in the northern sections. The equatorial climate is hot year-round with heavy rainfall from May to October with a short interlude in mid-July to August. During the winter months of November to March, dry dust-laden harmattan winds blow inland, causing many problems for residents.

Source: Wikipedia

The Promised Land

Although the settlers regarded Africa as the ‘Promised Land’ it was a strange contradiction that they did not accept local African society and never integrated themselves into it. Perhaps, they considered themselves superior and called themselves Americans apparently forgetting their origin. The local Africans as well as the British Colonial Authorities in neighbouring Sierra Leone also treated them as such.

The religious practices, social customs and culture of the Americo-Liberians had their roots in the Southern States of U.S.A. These ideals strongly influenced the attitudes of the settlers toward the indigenous African people. The new nation, as they perceived it, was exclusive: it consisted of the settler community and with those Africans who were assimilated into it. Mutual mistrust and hostility between the “Americans” along the coast and the “Natives” of the interior was a recurrent theme in the country’s history. The Americo-Liberian minority strove to dominate the native people, whom they considered inferior. Immigrants named the land “Liberia”, which in Latin roughly means “Land of the Free” suggesting freedom from slavery.

Liberia

Historically, Liberia has enjoyed the support and unofficial cooperation of the United States government. Liberia’s government, modelled after that of the U.S., was democratic in structure, if not always in substance. In 1877, the True Whig Party monopolized political power in the country. Competition for office was usually contained within the party, whose nomination virtually ensured election. Two problems confronting successive administrations were pressure from neighboring colonial powers, Britain and France, and the threat of financial insolvency, both of which challenged the country’s sovereignty. However, Liberia retained its independence but lost its claim to extensive territories that were annexed by Britain and France. Economic development was hindered by the decline of markets for Liberian goods in the late 19th century and by indebtedness on a series of loans, payments on which drained the economy.

Economic Development

Two events mark an important phase in the modernization and economic development of Liberia.

In 1926, a large concession was granted to the Firestone Plantation Company.

During World War II, the United States began providing technical and economic assistance that enabled Liberia to make economic progress and introduce social change. Both the Freeport of Monrovia and Roberts International Airport were built by US personnel.

Military Coup

On April 12, 1980, a military coup was brought off by a group of non-commissioned army officers led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe. The soldiers were a mixture of the various ethnic groups that claimed marginalization at the hands of the minority Americo-Liberian settlers. In a late-night raid on the Executive Mansion in Monrovia, they killed the President, who had been holding office for nine years, and later executed a majority of his cabinet. Calling themselves the People’s Redemption Council, Doe and his associates seized control of the government and brought an end to Africa’s first Republic.

Significantly, Doe was the first Liberian Head of State who was not a member of the Americo-Liberian elite.

Civil War & Bloodshed

In October 1985, the first post-coup elections sponsored by Samuel Doe were held although the Liberia Action Party led by Jackson Doe had already had won the election by a clear margin. The election was rigged by Samuel Doe and his supporters and it was announced that Samuel Doe’s ruling National Democratic Party of Liberia had won with 50.9% of the vote. In retaliation, on November 12, a counter-coup was launched by Thomas Quiwonkpa, whose soldiers briefly occupied the Executive Mansion and the national radio station, with widespread support throughout the country. Three days later, Quiwonkpa’s coup was overthrown. Government repression intensified, as Doe’s troops killed more than 2,000 civilians and imprisoned more than 100 opposing politicians, including Jackson Doe and BBC journalist Isaac Bantu.

After that Liberia’s history is beset with civil war and bloodshed with rival factions striving for power. More than 200000 people are estimated to have been killed in the civil wars.

End of hostilities

A peace movement called Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace was instrumental to the end of hostilities. Organized by social worker Leymah Gbowee thousands of women staged silent protests and forced a meeting with President Charles Taylor and extracted a promise from him to attend peace talks in Ghana. Gbowee then led a delegation of Liberian women to Ghana to continue to apply pressure on the warring factions during the peace process. They staged a demonstration outside the Presidential Palace, blocking all the doors and windows and preventing anyone from leaving the peace talks without a resolution. The women of Liberia became a political force against violence and against their government. Their actions brought about an agreement during the unsuccessful peace talks. As a result, the women were able to achieve peace in Liberia after a 14-year civil war and later helped bring to power the country’s first female head of state. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard economist and former Minister of Finance who had been jailed twice during the Doe administration before escaping and going into exile, became Liberia’s first female President.

Conclusion

Liberia represents an attempt by the U.S. government to ‘liberate’ and ‘repatriate’ African slaves who had gained their freedom in America. The U.S. government did this fearing racialism and ostracization of black Americans by white Americans. However, history shows that the U.S. government’s decision was unwise, in retrospect. Today, black and white Americans live together as equals without the slightest animosity whereas the black Americans sent to live in Liberia have seen years of civil war and bloodshed. Had they remained in America, they might have been much better off!

About the Author

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