A Brief History of the Republic of Liberia

In the mid-1400s the Portuguese traders discovered the land between Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast along the Atlantic Ocean. Due to the virgin green and vegetation, they name this area the Green Coast, which is today call Liberia. The American Colonization Society, which migrated the free black people to Africa from the United States of America was founded in 1816, with the mandate to repatriate all black people to Africa. The American Colonization Society established a commonwealth settlement January 7, 1822 with the hope of maintaining a colony in Africa. 

 

The name of the colony was changed from the Green Coast to Liberia.  

The American Colonization Society sent its first group of immigrants to Sherbro Island in Sierra Leone. The island’s swampy, unhealthy conditions resulted in a high death rate among the settlers as well as the society’s representatives. The British governor allowed the immigrants to relocate to a safer area temporarily while the ACS worked to save its colonization project from complete disaster.

 

The American Colonization Society sent a representative called Dr. Eli Ayres, to purchase land north up the coast away from Sierra Leone. With the aid of a U.S. naval officer, Lieutenant Robert F. Stockton, Ayres cruised the coastal waters west of Grand Bassa seeking out appropriate lands for the colony. Stockton took charge of the negotiations with leaders of the Dey and Bassa peoples who lived in the area of Cape Mesurado. At first, the local leaders were reluctant to surrender their peoples’ land to the strangers, but were forcefully persuaded — some accounts say at gun-point — to part with a “36 mile long and 3 mile wide” strip of coastal land for trade goods, supplies, weapons, and rum worth approximately $300.

On April 25 – The survivors of Sherbro Island arrived at Cape Mesurado and began to build their settlement. With the wavering consent of the new immigrants, the American Colonization Society governed the colony through its representative. In time, however, some colonists objected strenuously to the authoritarian policies instituted by Jehudi Ashmun, a Methodist missionary who replaced Ayres as the ACS governing representative. Such disagreements created tensions within the struggling settlement. The commonwealth received most of its revenue from custom duties which angered the indigenous traders and British merchants on whom they were levied. The British government advised Liberian authorities that it did not recognize the right of the American Colonization Society, a private organization, to levy these taxes. Britain’s refusal to recognize Liberian sovereignty convinced many colonists that independence with full taxing authority was necessary for the survival of the colony and its immigrant population. Over few decades after the establishment ACS, about 19,900 of blacks were repatriated to the continent of their hope.

On July 26, 1847 the settlers in the American colony declared independence from the United States of America. Unfortunately, the American Government at the time refused to acknowledge Liberia’s Independence (for 14 complete years) until 1862 when the United States Government ended the slave trade. Interestingly, Great Britain recognized the Liberian Independent proclamation. Originally Liberia had 9 counties,

From the independence July 26, 1847 the free blacks from America rule the country and had absolute power of everything. On April 12, 1980, an indigenous son called Samuel Kayon Doe seized power through coupe d’état. He ruled for ten, but under political and economic stabilities. On December 24th, 1990, a civil war was lunched by Major Charles McArthur Taylor, former director of Government Services Agency (GSA) of Samuel Doe Administration. Charles M Taylor government was off-set in 2002 by the War War III sponsor by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who later became two term.

  • Official Name: Republic of Liberia
  • Location: West Africa coast between Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Atlantic Ocean
  • Population: 5,057,681 (as of 2020)
  • Land Area: 43,000 square miles (111,369 square kilometers)
  • Capital: Monrovia
  • National Color: Red, White and Blue (the flag)
  • Official Language: English
  • Form of Government: Unitary presidential constitutional republic
  • Date of Commonwealth Foundation: January 7, 1822
  • Date of Independence: July 26, 1847
  • Current Constitution Adopted: January 6, 1986
  • Main Economic Activity: Mining and agriculture
  • Major Exports: Gold, passenger and cargo ships, cocoa, coffee, crude oil, iron ore, and rubber

 

According to the International Institute of Minnesota

  1. 35,000 Liberian live in the State of Minnesota
  2. 95.9% live in the twin cities
  3. 4.1% live in great Minnesota
  4. 45.4% are male
  5. 54.6% are female
  6. 39.1% are between the ages of 17 and younger
  7. 58.2% are between the ages of 18 to 64
  8. 2.7% are in ages of 65years and older