Liberia Research Paper

Words: 848
Pages: 4

Liberia started off as a classic case of enlightened slavery. The first batch of 100 free black Americans and freed slaves were transported to West Africa in a tactical move by the American Colonization Society (ACS) to drastically reduce or eliminate blacks from America. The ACS with the support of Congress decided to ‘transplant’ the black people from United States. Henry Clay gave words to the intent when he said:
“can there be a nobler cause than that which, whilst it proposed to rid our country of a useless and pernicious, if not dangerous portion of its population, contemplates the spreading of the arts of civilized life, and the possible redemption from ignorance and barbarism of a benighted quarter of the globe” (referring to Africa).
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This, in addition to the epidemic scale death of the pioneer émigrés made the operation much more tasking than initially anticipated. The ‘African pilgrims’ also had a dream of freedom, economic empowerment, self-governance etc. This people met death by malaria and other tropical diseases in addition to utter rejection by the natives who regarded the new comers as hindrance to their free-flowing slave trade. They called the immigrants ‘Black-white men’
The immigrants where first taken to Sierra Leone, Britain’s version of America’s Liberia. But the rivalry between the two super-powers drove the ACS to negotiate the neighboring Cape Mesurado (modern day Monrovia) for the black Americans.
After a diplomatic tug of war between the ‘Pilgrims’ and the ACS which still wanted to be in control of the out-post for economic and political reasons, the immigrants eventually declared their independence on July 16, 1847. The new nation was ruled by the enlightened immigrants who were called Americo-Liberians. The preamble to Liberia’s declaration of independence, is a pointer to the checkered foundation and history of this new