A Case of Double Conciousness Americo-Liberians and Indigenous Liberian Relations 1840-1930
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University of Central Florida STARS HIM 1990-2015 2012 A case of double conciousness americo-liberians and indigenous liberian relations 1840-1930 Genesys Santana University of Central Florida, [email protected] Part of the History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015 University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIM 1990-2015 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Santana, Genesys, "A case of double conciousness americo-liberians and indigenous liberian relations 1840-1930" (2012). HIM 1990-2015. 1797. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015/1797 A CASE OF DOUBLE CONCIOUSNESS: AMERICO-LIBERIANS AND INDIGENOUS LIBERIAN RELATIONS 1840-1930. by GENESYS SANTANA A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Honors in the Major Program in History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2012 Thesis Chair: Dr. Fon Gordon © 2012 Genesys Santana ii ABSTRACT This study argues that the formation of Americo-Liberian identity overwhelmingly relied on White American middle class cultural values despite the founders’ criticisms and rejection of racial oppression and slavery. Americo-Liberians’ previous participation in a culture that downgrades African heritage fostered the internalization of Western notions of civilization and African inferiority that led them to establish an oppressive regime similar to the one they had escaped from, and even enslaved the indigenous population, which they considered “uncivilized.” The study thus investigates how formerly oppressed and enslaved blacks became oppressors and enslavers of other black people in the name of a “civilizing mission.” The relationship that developed between Americo-Liberians and indigenous Liberians provides a case study to explore the impact of White supremacy ideology on enslaved Africans and racial uplift ideology. Building on contributions of social theory and conflict theory my analysis of Americo-Liberians demonstrates how social class and ideology interacted to produce socio- economic developments that led to the Liberian Civil War. This study covers the founding of Liberia as a republic during the 1840’s through the League of Nation’s intervention in 1928. It is during this time period that Americo-Liberians fostered an exploitative and colonizing relationship with the indigenous Liberian population. Previous scholarship regarding Liberia engages in descriptive analysis this study is the first to employ the theoretical framework of double-consciousness to further illuminate the ambivalent positions of the Americo-Liberians vis-à-vis indigenous Liberians iii For the entire village that it took to create the person I am today. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing a thesis is a collective process that is only possible with the guidance and wisdom of extraordinary individuals. I will always be grateful to my thesis chair, Dr. Fon Gordon, for her relentless dedication. Thanks also to my committee member, Dr. Kurt Young and Dr. Ezekiel Walker, whom always nudge me towards new intellectual frontiers. When I first arrived to U.C.F., it had never occurred to me that I could attend graduate school or become an academic, thus it is not an overstatement to state that these scholars changed my life. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: LIBERIAN FOUNDATIONS ........................................................................... 4 American Colonization Society .................................................................................................. 4 Liberia ....................................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER TWO: BLACK NATIONALISM & RACIAL UPLIFT ........................................... 13 American to Americo-Liberian ................................................................................................. 13 Double Consciousness .............................................................................................................. 15 Wages of Whiteness .................................................................................................................. 19 The Impact on Culture .............................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER THREE: BLACK ELITES ........................................................................................ 23 Recreating the United States ..................................................................................................... 23 Differentiation and Segregation ................................................................................................ 24 Masonic lodges ......................................................................................................................... 26 Church and State ....................................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER FOUR: BLACK COLONIALISM ............................................................................ 30 Civilized Settlements ................................................................................................................ 30 Domination of the Hinterland ................................................................................................... 32 Intra-Racial Enslavement in Liberia ......................................................................................... 36 The Arrival of Firestone and the League of Nations ................................................................ 38 DuBois and Liberia ................................................................................................................... 44 CONCLUSION: THE END OF AN ERA .................................................................................... 47 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................................... 49 Primary Resources .................................................................................................................... 49 Secondary Resources ................................................................................................................ 50 vi List of Figures Figure 1 Conflicts between Americo-Liberian settlers and indigenous Liberians prior to 1847. ... 9 Figure 2 Photograph of indigenous laborers on one of the Firestone plantations, Liberia, Africa. Source: University of Southern California Libraries Special Collections. ................................... 42 Figure 3 Photograph of Liberian laborers at the Firestone Plantation Company, in Harbel, Liberia. Source: Africawithin.com ............................................................................................... 43 vii INTRODUCTION In 1989, a civil war broke out in the West African nation of Liberia, the oldest modern republic in the region. Arguably the longest civil war in the modern history of West Africa-from 1989 to 2005 with only a brief interlude-the war not only devastated the nation, with a death toll exceeding two million people, but it also intensified ethnic tensions that had characterized Liberia’s history. The war also probably impacted political stability in the region as Liberia’s immediate neighbors, Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, also became engulfed in protracted civil wars. While the Ivorian and Sierra Leonean civil wars were mostly rooted in postcolonial political dynamics, the Liberian turmoil can be traced directly to the antagonistic relationship that developed between the indigenous population and descendants of American freed enslaved people who established the colony of Liberia. By the end of the 19th century, what is known today as Liberia had been fully formed, with the American expatriates dominating political institutions and controlling the country’s economic resources. The settlers, known as Americo- Liberians, marginalized the indigenous population, and reduced them to the status of servitude. The fact that the freed enslaved who opted to return to Africa where they hoped to enjoy complete liberty would oppress other blacks and transform them into virtual enslaved bodies, is one of the ironies of history. While it is widely acknowledged that the Liberian crisis resulted from the failure of the Americo-Liberians to extend liberty and equality to the indigenous population, historians have not paid adequate attention to the ways American racial oppression experienced by the 1 expatriates shaped their own relationship with the indigenous population. When the oppressed become the oppressor, historians need to pay attention to the ways the psychological impact of oppression affect the type of relationship the victims of oppression establish with a relatively weaker group. This is the subject of my paper. I investigate how formerly oppressed and enslaved blacks became oppressors and enslavers of other black people in the name of a “civilizing mission,” but also as part of their own search for a “superior” cultural identity. I argue that the formation of Americo-Liberian identity in Africa overwhelmingly relied