Liberia, a nation on the west coast of Africa, was founded in the early 1800s as a result of various factors, including domestic politics of slavery and race in the United States, and foreign policy interests of the US.
The American Colonization Society (ACS), formed by a group of white Americans in 1816, aimed to tackle the increasing number of free blacks in the US by resettling them in Africa.
This led to the establishment of Liberia, which became the second black republic in the world, after Haiti. The founding of Liberia was therefore a complex historical event, reflecting a combination of political, economic, and social factors.
The American Colonization Society (ACS) gained notable members such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John Randolph, along with public support from former President Thomas Jefferson and funding from President James Madison.
The organization attracted a diverse range of individuals, including abolitionists and slaveholders, who shared its goal of resettling free blacks in Africa.
However, some black and white abolitionists opposed the idea of segregating races and did not support the ACS’s proposal of an African-American colony in Africa.
Despite this, the ACS gained significant momentum and support from influential figures, and its colonization project moved forward.
In 1818, the American Colonization Society (ACS) dispatched two representatives to West Africa to find a suitable location for a colony to resettle free blacks from the US.
However, their efforts to purchase land from local tribal leaders were unsuccessful. In 1820, 88 free black settlers and three society members sailed to Sierra Leone, where they signed a constitution requiring that the settlement be administered under US laws.
They eventually settled on Scherbo Island, but many succumbed to malaria. In 1821, the US Navy resumed the search and, despite resistance from local leaders, Lieutenant Robert Stockton coerced a ruler to sell a strip of land to the Society.
The settlers moved to the new location, which was continuously attacked by local tribes, prompting the construction of fortifications in 1824.
The settlement was later named Liberia, with its capital Monrovia, in honor of President James Monroe, who had secured additional US government funding for the project.
Other colonization societies, sponsored by individual US states, purchased land near Monrovia and sent settlers to Liberia, which also received Africans rescued from slave ships after the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
In 1838, these settlements, with a total population of up to 20,000 people, merged into one organization.
The settlers tried to preserve the culture they brought from the US and largely did not integrate with the local societies, and today, about 5 percent of Liberia’s population is descended from these settlers.
While the US government provided some financial support, it expected Liberia to become self-sufficient. Commerce was the first sector to develop, but French and British traders encroached on Liberian territory.
As a non-sovereign state, Liberia struggled to defend its economic interests, and the US provided some diplomatic support, but Britain and France, with territories in West Africa, were better equipped to act.
Liberia gains independence
Consequently, in 1847, Liberia declared independence from the American Colonization Society to establish a sovereign state with its own commercial laws.
In 1848, London was the first to recognize Liberia as a sovereign state, despite objections from affected British companies, by signing a commerce and friendship treaty with Monrovia.
However, due to concerns about the effect on the issue of slavery in the United States, Washington did not recognize the new republic that it had a role in creating.
Despite President Abraham Lincoln’s openness to promoting the idea, some abolitionists in his cabinet opposed a mass exodus of African-Americans to Liberia, for moral reasons or to maintain a sufficient labor and military force for the future.
Eventually, in 1862, the United States established diplomatic relations with Liberia, and strong ties between the two nations persisted until the 1990s.
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Liberia maintained its sovereignty with support from the United States, even through the turbulence of the 20th century.
However, a costly civil war erupted in 1989 and raged on for nearly a decade until the election of Charles Taylor as the Liberian president in 1997, through a democratic process.
In the late 1990s, Liberia was plunged into a costly civil war that lasted for nearly a decade. While Charles Taylor was elected president in free elections, his government was only able to maintain a tenuous peace with the help of ECOWAS peacekeeping forces.
When those troops left in 1999, rebels began attacking the northern region of the country. The situation was made worse in 2001 when the UN imposed sanctions on Liberia for supporting rebel forces in Sierra Leone.
Taylor was subsequently indicted by a UN-sponsored war crimes tribunal for his alleged role in the Sierra Leone civil war.
The rebel insurgency in Liberia continued to spread, killing and displacing thousands of people. Despite efforts by government troops to stop the rebels, they were unable to do so.
In August 2003, Taylor stepped down as president and went into exile in Nigeria. However, the Liberian government later requested his extradition and Nigeria agreed to comply.
Taylor attempted to flee Nigeria but was quickly captured and charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
His trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone began in 2007. The civil war left Liberia’s economy in shambles and the country struggled to rebuild in the years that followed.
It was a difficult period for the people of Liberia, with many losing their homes, businesses, and loved ones. Nonetheless, the country has made progress in recent years and continues to work toward a more stable and prosperous future.
In 2012, Charles Taylor was found guilty of aiding and abetting the rebels responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war.
Following Taylor’s exile from Liberia, a National Transitional Government was established and supported by UN peacekeeping troops until a new democratically elected administration was put in place.
In late 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman to be elected head of state in Africa, defeating former football star George Weah.
As president, Johnson Sirleaf made rebuilding the country’s economy and infrastructure a priority, both of which had been severely damaged by years of conflict and instability.
With her efforts, Liberia’s considerable debt was cleared by the end of 2010, and she secured millions of dollars of foreign investment in the country.
In addition to promoting unity and reconciliation, Johnson Sirleaf worked to improve the country’s healthcare system and strengthen its education system.
Despite some challenges, Johnson Sirleaf’s presidency is considered a period of progress for Liberia, and her leadership helped pave the way for future advancements.
In order to foster reconciliation and promote accountability, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established by Johnson Sirleaf in 2006.
She also made efforts to combat corruption, firing the entire staff of the Ministry of Finance and pledging to investigate and prosecute any wrongdoing.
The former head of the National Transitional Government, Gyude Bryant, was arrested in December 2007 for failing to appear in court to face corruption charges. He was accused of embezzling over $1 million, a charge he denied.
However, Bryant was ultimately found not guilty in 2009. In October 2008, Charles Taylor’s son, Chuckie Taylor Jr., was sentenced to 97 years in prison by a U.S. court for torture and other war crimes.
The lead-up to Liberia’s 2011 presidential and legislative elections was marked by a number of controversies.
Several proposed constitutional changes, including one that would have reduced the residency requirement for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, were put to a referendum but ultimately failed to pass.
This led to a court challenge to the eligibility of several candidates, including Johnson Sirleaf, who had not lived in Liberia for the required 10 years due to the country’s civil war.
The challenge briefly led to the Supreme Court suspending campaign activities by the candidates. However, on October 5, 2011, the Supreme Court dismissed the challenge, noting that the authors of the 1986 constitution could not have anticipated the effects of years of conflict.
Just two days later, Johnson Sirleaf’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize sparked controversy among other candidates, who accused the Nobel Committee of interfering in Liberian politics so close to the election.
In the 2011 Liberian presidential election, 16 candidates competed, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Winston Tubman emerged as the top two candidates. Since neither won more than 50% of the vote, a runoff was scheduled.
Despite the first round being regarded as fair by international observers, there were allegations of irregularities from some opposition parties.
Tubman eventually withdrew from the runoff and urged his supporters to boycott it. Violence broke out at a CDC rally the day before the runoff election, and at least two people were killed.
However, the election went ahead, and Johnson Sirleaf was re-elected with over 90% of the vote, albeit with a significantly lower voter turnout due to Tubman’s call for a boycott and fear of violence.
During Johnson Sirleaf’s second term as president, corruption, lack of opportunity for youths, and inadequate social policies continued to be issues in Liberia.
The country was also devastated by the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014, resulting in over 4,800 deaths and a decimated healthcare system and economy.
A drop in global prices of rubber and iron ore also highlighted the need for economic diversification. In 2016, UN sanctions and embargoes were lifted, and UN peacekeeping troops were no longer in charge of security concerns, with responsibility handed back to Liberia’s army and police.
However, Weah won the presidential runoff on December 26, 2017, with 61.5 percent of the vote, and was inaugurated as president on January 22, 2018.
His inauguration was significant as it marked the first peaceful transfer of power between democratically elected leaders in Liberia since 1944.
