Liberia’s history: A unique case

ost historical accounts of Liberia Ayres, to purchase land further north along the coast In 1946 relate events from the time the land from . Shortly after, a few armed settlers now called Liberia was first colonised expelled Eyres after land and provisions were deemed the right to by freed black slaves from the United to have been unfairly allocated around the settlement StatesM in the early nineteenth century. The early history called Christopolis. He was replaced by the Methodist participate of the Liberian land and its people is little known, missionary Ashmun, who renamed the settlement except that many of the migrated after the American President James Monroe. in elections there from the north and east between the 12th and The entire colony was named Liberia in 1824. 16th centuries. Tribal warfare during this time was Slave states in encouraged the was extended widespread and stronger tribes were increasingly formation of colonisation societies to reduce the free driving the weaker ones towards the coast. Portuguese African American population. Operating independently to Liberia’s explorers established contacts with these coastal tribes of the ACS, they promoted the colonisation of Liberia. in the mid 15th century and named the area Costa da Slaves were emancipated on the condition that they indigenous Pimenta (The Pepper Coast) due to the abundance of emigrate and Maryland, Virginia and Mississippi melegueta pepper. Trading posts on the Pepper Coast established colonies in Liberia for former slaves and peoples were subsequently established by both the Dutch and free blacks. The societies merged their respective the British. colonies to form the Commonwealth of Liberia, to Left: The Pepper Coast Liberian history is inextricably linked to that of which they assigned a colonial Governor. In 1841 had Portuguese, British Sierra Leone. In 1815, African American Quaker soldier and trader Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the and Dutch trading posts and maritime entrepreneur Paul Cuffee financed first African American governor of Liberia. In 1846 the prior to the arrival of and captained a successful voyage to Sierra Leone, Americo-Liberians voted for independence and a year American migrants where he helped a small group of African American later the Liberian Declaration of Independence was immigrants establish themselves. The partial success of signed. Following the ratification of the constitution, Right: Joseph Jenkins Cuffee’s African venture encouraged white proponents Roberts became Liberia’s first elected President. Roberts became the of colonisation to form an organisation to repatriate In 1862 American President Abraham Lincoln first African American freed African American slaves who wished to settle in accorded official diplomatic recognition to Liberia, governor of Liberia, . The American Colonisation Society (ACS) sent and the newly found country experienced an influx of and then its first elected its first group of immigrants to Sherbo Island in Sierra immigrants from the and Barbados after President in 1847 Leone, and shortly after dispatched a representative, Eli the American Civil War. As the only independent nation in nineteenth century Africa (with the exception of Ethiopia), Liberia, while enjoying international support and recognition, was facing significant internal problems and border disputes. Although by 1867 more than 13,000 immigrants had been sent by the ACS, a staggering number had died from malaria and yellow fever. Moreover 30 tensions between the

FIRST Americo-Liberian settlers and the indigenous peoples the Cold War but grew increasingly insecure of his own The war was (who were only given suffrage after 1946) ran high. position. After an allegedly rigged Presidential election Further divisions were caused by the arrival of the in 1985, and increasing tribal purges, tensions between brought to an “Congo people” from other parts of , the indigenous people escalated, resulting in numerous who the Americo-Liberians took under their wing to coup attempts and then ultimately a full-blown civil end with the “civilise and Christianise.” The Americo-Liberians war by 1989. The rebellion was led by Charles Taylor, a organised their power in the form of the True Whig disenfranchised official-turned-revolutionary of mixed intervention Party, which, often with American assistance, quelled ethnic background, who assembled the northern Gio frequent rebellions by the indigenous tribes including and Mano tribes to form the NFPL, which gained of ECOWAS, the Kru and Grebo. control of much of the country by 1990. Monrovia was Liberia signed the League of Nations covenant taken soon after by a splinter group of the NFPL, led which after the First World War although an International by Prince Johnson, and Doe was tortured and executed. Commission was aksed to investigate charges of The war was brought to an end with the intervention brokered and and forced labour in Liberia – those charges were not of ECOWAS, who brokered and monitored a peace substantiated according to international law. They between 1993-96. monitored did find, however, that Liberian officials, including The elections of 1997 brought Charles Taylor the the Vice President, profited from the slavery of to power, who himself began proxy war against the a peace indigenous people. In 1944 William V. S. Tubman governments of and . These was elected to the first of seven terms as Liberian governments supported the northern Liberian rebel between president. In 1946 the right to vote and participate in group LURD, and Taylor supported rebel groups in elections was extended to Liberia’s indigenous peoples their respective countries. Countless civilians were 1993-96 and the economy was opened up for foreign trade and killed on all sides during a Second Civil War but the investment. Liberian representatives attended the Special Court for Sierra Leone found Taylor to “bear first conference of independent African nations, and the greatest responsibility” for the atrocities in Sierra Left: Samuel K. Doe put Liberian officials served on the Organisation of African Leone. Charged, indicted and under international an end to the 133 years Unity’s Consultation Committee on Nigeria’s civil war. pressure, Taylor resigned as President in 2003 and went of Americo-Liberian Following the death of Tubman in 1971 in office, he into exile in Nigeria. He was later caught attempting to rule and established was succeeded by William R. Tolbert, Jr. In 1979 a rally cross the border into Cameroon, and handed over to a military regime protesting against the increase of rice prices ended in Liberia who in turn delivered him to the Special Court under the People’s rioting, and ethnic tensions resurfaced. for Sierra Leone where he was tried and sentenced to Redemption Council These problems persisted until finally in 1980 the 50 years in prison for war crimes. indigenous Liberians seized power in a bloody coup Fresh elections were held in 2005, and Ellen Johnson Right: The Special against the Tolbert government. Samuel K. Doe, a young Sirleaf emerged as Africa’s first woman President Court for Sierra military general from a Krahn background, put an end in 2006. Sirleaf, together with compatriot Leymah Leone found Taylor to 133 years of Americo-Liberian rule and established a Gbowee (who led a woman’s pressure group to lobby to “bear the greatest military regime under the People’s Redemption Council. for peace and bring an end to the Second Civil War), responsibility” for the He became a staunch ally of the United States during won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. F atrocities in Sierra Leone

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