The History Of Liberia

By Pablo Ruiz

The Liberian colony was established in 1822 when freed slaves from the Americas returned to their homeland. A colony then developed into a federation, then a commonwealth, and it achieved independence in 1847 with a helping hand from the American Colonization Society (an organization based in the United States). Up until 1980, Americo-Liberians, generally known as descendants of the freed slaves, controlled the social and political structure in the country. Conflicts in Liberia have largely been caused by an unequal distribution of wealth and power resulting from the country's social structure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pablo Ruiz
• Release date: Oct 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201458645

Book preview

The history of Liberia

The Liberian colony was established in 1822 when freed slaves from the Americas returned to their homeland. A colony then developed into a federation, then a commonwealth, and it achieved independence in 1847 with a helping hand from the American Colonization Society (an organization based in the United States). Up until 1980, Americo-Liberians, generally known as descendants of the freed slaves, controlled the social and political structure in the country. Conflicts in Liberia have largely been caused by an unequal distribution of wealth and power resulting from the country's social structure:

In 1923, a scholar and politician of capture parentage named Abayomi Karnga observed that the status divisions of the Liberians eventually evolved into an hierarchical caste hierarchy with four distinct orders. Its top executive decision-makers were the Americo-Liberian officials, who were mainly light-complexioned people of mixed race [also known as Mulattos]. Later there was the movement of recaptives [also known as Congos] in Liberia. These were Africans (also known as Congolese or Congolese) saved by the Americans while aboard slave ships bound to the United States. Indigenous African Liberians occupied the lowest positions in the hierarchy.

As time passed, the differences between Mulattos and other freed slaves softened, and they came to be known collectively as Congos or Americo-Liberians. The group, composed of less than 3 percent of the population, dominated the country's economy, society, and politics until the 1980 coup d'etat.

1980: End of Americo-Liberian rule

It was during the 1970s that Liberia started to change. The former Liberian president, William Tubman, died in office after serving 27 years in office. During Tubman's term, the Open Door policy allowed significant foreign investment, but at a heavy price, as the gap between the prosperous Americo-Liberians (benefitting from this investment) and the rest of the population expanded. The presidency of the organization was put in the hands of William Tolbert, Tubman's long-time vice president. Including cabinet appointments and economic policy, everything from Tolbert's cabinet to his economic policies was tainted with allegations of nepotism since he was a member of one of the most influential families of the Americo-Liberian nation.

Tolbert was also the first president to speak a native language, and he supported the federal government's efforts to promote more Indigenous people in government. The initiative was not supported internally in Tolbert's administration, and while a majority of Americans felt the change was happening too slowly, many Americo-Liberians thought it was happening too quickly. Violence ensued in April 1979, when the Tolbert administration proposed raising rice prices (which were subsidized by the Tolbert government). Several government officials have claimed that the price increase will reduce dependence on imported rice, encourage more local agriculture, and slow down urban migration. The opposition has also highlighted the fact that Tolbert owned the rice monopoly in Liberia and enjoyed its benefits. In the aftermath of these rice riots, Tolbert's credibility was severely damaged, and the administration was rendered more vulnerable. Tolbert was killed and 13 of his cabinet members were publicly executed in April 1980, when an ethnic Krahn led a coup