Colony of Liberia
Liberia, 1822–1847. Draft, not yet reviewed
Liberia, officially the Colony of Liberia, later the Commonwealth of Liberia, was a private colony of the American Colonization Society until 1847, when it declared independence and became the Republic of Liberia. In 1816, leaders like Henry Clay, Robert Finley, and Francis Scott Key, formed the American Colonization Society, with the purpose of relocating freedmen to the Pepper Coast. Under the terms of the Ducor Contract, signed by local chiefs, the Society acquired Cape Mesurado and land on Dozoa Island in the bay. In 1847, the legislature of Liberia declared Liberia an independent state, with Roberts as its first President.
Seat of power: Monrovia
Rulers
Thomas Buchanan
Governor of Liberia, 1839–1841
He was an American politician and diplomat who served as the first official governor of Liberia for the American Colonization Society. He worked first as an administrator in Grand Bassa before moving to Monrovia in 1839. On April 1, Buchanan was appointed as the first governor of the colony, serving until his death on September 3, 1841.
Portrait of Thomas Buchanan: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Joseph Jenkins Roberts
Governor of Liberia, 1841–1848
He was the first man of African descent to govern the country, serving as governor from 1841 to 1848. Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, he emigrated as a young man to the young West African colony.
Portrait of Joseph Jenkins Roberts: not stated, Public domain, file
Culture
- It is unclear whether Liberia was ever technically a colony. Unlike most other colonies in the 19th century, it had no charter and had no official allegiance to or relationship with a sovereign nation.
- Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a mixed-race, freeborn man from Petersburg, Virginia, became the first non-white governor of Liberia.
- In Liberia, the native Africans resisted the expansion of the colonists, resulting in many armed conflicts between them. Nevertheless, in the next decade 2,638 African Americans migrated to the area.
- Tropical diseases were a major problem for the settlers, and the new immigrants to Liberia suffered the highest mortality rates since accurate record-keeping began.
Picture
The American Colonization Society was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the repatriation of freeborn people of color and emancipated slaves to sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the Grain Coast.
Image: Felipe Fidelis Tobias, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.