Liberian Studies Journal

VOLUME IX 1980-1981 NUMBER 2 LIBERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL Edited by: Jo Sullivan Boston University PUBLISHED AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor VOLUME IX 1980 -1981 NUMBER 2 LIBERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL EDITED BY Jo Sullivan Boston University EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Igolima T. D. Amachree Warren L. d'Azevedo Western Illinois University University of Nevada James L. Gibbs, Jr. Thomas E. Hayden Stanford University Society of African Missions Svend E. Holsoe J. Gus Liebenow University of Delaware Indiana University Bai T. Moore Ministry of Information Republic of Liberia Elizabeth Tonkin University of Birmingham Published at the Department of Anthropology, University of Delaware PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor CONTENTS page SIMON GREENLEAF AND THE LIBERIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1847, 51 by Robert T. Brown TUSKEGEE IN LIBERIA: THE POLITICS OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION, 1927 -1935, 61 by Louise Johnston LIBERIAN DRAMA, 69 by Steven H. Gale CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN LIBERIA, 75 by Gerald M. Erchak A BRIEF NOTE ON THE URBAN ETHNIC BASIS OF KRU LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY, 83 by L. B. Breitborde A POST -COUP COURT IN NIMBA, 93 by Peter Sevareid BOOK REVIEWS Andreas Massing, The Economic Anthropology of the Kru (West- Africa), 109 by David Brown Marie Jeanne Adams et.al., eds., Ethnologische Zeitschrift, 112 by Edward Lifschitz Robert Kappel, Liberia, wirtschaftliche und politische Entwicklung 116 1971 -80, by Stefan von Gnielinski Response to Stefan von Gnielinski, and summary of Liberia, wirt- 120 schaftliche und politische Entwicklung 1971 -80, by Robert Kappel John Gay, The Brightening Shadow, 124 by Ruth Stone Emphasizing the social sciences and humanities, the LIBERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL is a semiannual publication devoted to studies of Africa's oldest republic. The annual subscription rate is $20.00, $12.00 for students and $15.00 for institutions, and includes membership in the Liberian Studies Association, Inc. Manuscripts, correspondence and subscriptions should be sent to Liberian Studies, Department of Anthropology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711. The views expressed herein are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the Liberian Studies Association, Inc. Copyright 1982 by the Liberian Studies Association, Inc. ISSN 0024 -1989 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor SIMON GREENLEAF AND THE LIBERIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1847 Robert T. Brown Westfield State College Nineteenth century Liberia was more than a geographical entity, it was also an idea, a symbolic expression of the racial, religious, political and psychological views of the population of the United States. The most thorough and widely respected of the historical works documenting this foundation era was Charles Huberich's THE POLITICAL AND LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF LIBERIA.1 Pub- lished in 1947, this massive work was closely tied to the post war political interests of Liberia and the United States. As a result, the first of the two volumes was entirely devoted to the thirty year period leading to Liberian independence. In the process of stressing American ties and American interests in the foundation period, Huberich succeeded in creating a new legend, that a white American had written the Liberian constitution. This assertion was accepted without hesitation for Huberich was the acknowledged expert and his eight hundred pages of text were a running history of constitutional development. Furthermore, for many people, the idea was comfortable. It made continued American involve- ment in Liberia during the second century of its freedom seem natural and it helped justify privately held feelings about the inadequacies of the Americo - Liberians. While checking the accuracy of the Huberich version does not require redoing his history, a brief summary is in order. The general collapse of the American Colonization Society twenty years after its founding brought a restructuring of that organization under northern control.2 Included in this restructuring was a constitution for the scattered African settlements now consolidated into Liberia. This 1839 "Buchanan Constitu- tion," named for the leader of the Pennsylvania Society who had written it, had no Liberian input.3 The settlers, however, had been aware that change was in the wind and were hurrying to complete their own constitution. Their document greatly increased Americo- Liberian political power but it preserved the ultimate authority of the Society. It was written by a committee which included Colin and Hilary Teage, Nicholas Brander and Beverly Wilson. Unfortunately, their effort was too late to affect events in the United States.4 The subsequent administration of Governor Buchanan was stormy for it saw increased troubles with Great Britain and sharp splits in the Americo- Liberian community.5 The accession of the respected and diplomatic Joseph Roberts to the governorship in 1841 temporily papered over the internal tensions but interna- tional problems increased. No adequate help was forthcoming from the United States because the American Colonization Society was still on the verge of collapse. In 1843 the Pennsylvania Society suggested that the solution to everyone's problems was to cut Liberia completely free from the American connection.6 This idea was also circulating in Liberia and, in December 1844, Governor Roberts brought the matter before the Liberian legislative council. Hilary Teage chaired a committee of the council which reported to the Board of Directors of the Society on the "vexed question" without ever directly using the word independence.7 While parties on both sides of the Atlantic recognized the direction events were moving, each tried to carefully channel the course to satisfy its 51 Liberian Studies Journal, IX, 2 (1980 -81) PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor 52 ROBERT T. BROWN own needs. The Society was primarily concerned with preserving its economic in- vestment in Liberia as well as its freedom to continue the transportation and care for American emigrants. Although Americo- Liberians could argue that they were already independent, a point that members of the Society agreed with, they needed some formal process to bring that status to the attention of the world and they needed to participate in the process for their own dignity.8 Both sides then proceeded to move in parallel to create legal steps necessary to bring the grand cause to culmination. Joseph Tracy, the Congregationalist minister who was the Secretary of the Massachusetts Colonization Society, turned to Simon Greenleaf, the famous Harvard Law professor, and asked him to "study" how the Society could "keep our hold on public confidence," when it could "no longer be responsible for the character of the laws of Liberia. "9 Tracy and J.B. Phinney of the Pennsylvania Society then proceeded to push for changes in the constitution of the American Colonization Society in preparation for Liberian independence. At the Board of Directors meeting of January 1846, it was moved that the Society ask some "legal gentlemen" for suggestions for the impending Liberian constitution.10 As a result of this motion, Tracy apparently contacted Greenleaf again.11 It was months before any of this was communicated to Liberia but events there had proceeded on their own. Teage had been leading political agitation with editorials in the LIBERIA HERALD and with speeches before the members of the Liberia Lyceum.12 Political debate on the independence question had gotten so strong that a counter movement arose in Bassa County where there was a greater fear of domination by Monrovian merchants than there was of a distant white society. In June 1846 Governor Roberts received a letter from Tracy which con- tained Professor Greenleaf's proposals for a Liberian constitution. Roberts sent a copy of the document back to the American Colonization Society, which had not been aware of its existence, and, according to Judge Samuel Benedict, another to the Liberian legislature.13 With some concern, the Secretary of the Society assured Roberts that the Greenleaf proposal was not a product of the Society's plans and was not meant to be adopted, although it might be useful as a guide for their deliberations.14 In November 1846, a referendum on the question of calling a constitutional convention showed that the Liberian population was badly split. Although Governor Roberts claimed that the "majority, however small that majority may be, has an in- dubitable, unalienable and indefeasible(sic) right to reform,alter or abolish" the constitution, the facts were that the voter turnout had been disajpointingly low and only a small majority had voted favorably.15 Public hesitance did nothing to slow down the political process and a constitutional convention was called for July 1847. At its annual meeting in Washington in January 1847, the Board of Direc- tors of the ACS showed increasing concern with the tone of political agitation in Liberia. Since it now appeared that they could do nothing to stop the independence movement, it was instead decided to concentrate all efforts on preserving the rights of the

Load more