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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberia
Liberia Listeni/laɪˈbɪəriə/, Cape Mesurado, Grain Coast, Pepper Coast, (Little America) or (LIB), commonly and officially referred to as the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. Liberia means "Land of the Free." It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north and Ivory Coast to its east. It covers an area of 111,369 square kilometres (43,000 sq mi) and is home to 4,503,000 people.[3] English is the official language but only 15% of Liberians speak English[citation needed] and over 20 indigenous languages are spoken. Forests on the coastline are composed mostly of salt-tolerant mangrove trees while the more sparsely populated inland has forests opening onto a plateau of drier grasslands. The climate is equatorial, with significant rainfall during the May–October rainy season and harsh harmattan winds the remainder of the year. Liberia possesses about forty percent of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest.
The Republic of Liberia, formerly a colony of the American Colonization Society (ACS) declared its independence on July 26, 1847. The United States finally accepted and recognized Liberia's Independence on February 5, 1862. Liberia was the first African nation to gain its independence, although it was not the only independent state in Africa at the time. Liberia was founded and established as a homeland for freed African-American and ex-Caribbean slaves who came from the Caribbean islands and the United States with the help and support from the American Colonization Society. Liberia is Africa's oldest democratic republic and the second oldest black republic in the world after Haiti.
Liberia is unique among African countries because it was the only African nation that was colonized and controlled by freed African-American and ex-Caribbean slaves as a free state and a homeland to live. Liberia and Ethiopia were the only two African countries during the 19th century conquest of Africa that were not controlled or colonized by European powers. Liberia—which means "Land of the Free"—originated from the freed African-American and ex-Caribbean slaves who established Liberia as a free state. During the colonial era, Liberia was presumed a protectorate of the United States.
The Liberian constitution and flag was modeled after the Constitution of the United States and the American flag. The Liberian capital city of Monrovia was named after James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States and a prominent supporter of the American Colonization Society. Monrovia is one of two capital cities in the world that were named after a former American president, the other being Washington, DC named after George Washington the first president of the United States. In January 3, 1848 Joseph Jenkins Roberts, an African-American, was elected and became Liberia's first Black American president.[7]
The American Colonization Society was founded in December 21, 1816 by American Robert Finley to return freed African-American to Africa. In 1820, the first former American slaves arrived at the British colony of Sierra Leone from the United States and in 1821 the American Colonization Society founded the colony of Liberia as a homeland for freed African-American and ex-Caribbean slaves to live .[7]
The American Colonization Society came under attack from American abolitionists, who charged that the removal of freed slaves from the United States strengthened the institution of slavery. In addition, most Americans of African descent living in the United States were not enthusiastic to abandon their native lands in the United States for the harsh West African coast. Nevertheless, between January 7, 1822 and the American Civil War, over 15,000 African-American and 3,198 ex-Caribbean slaves from the United States and Caribbean islands settled in Liberia. Independence was granted by the American Colonization Society on July 26, 1847 and on February 5, 1862 the United States accepted and recognized Liberia's Independence.[7]
Liberia aided Britain in its efforts to end the illegal West African slave trade. Liberia was the only African nation on the African continent that was a colony and protectorate for the United States. Liberia was founded, colonized, established and controlled by the American Colonization Society. The American Colonization Society was a private organization which sent freed African-American and ex-Caribbean slaves as settlers from the United States and the Caribbean islands to Liberia to live a better life, based on self governance, equal opportunity and freedom. Liberia was presumed a protectorate of the United States from January 7, 1822 until the Liberian Declaration of Independence on July 26, 1847. With the backing and support from the United States, Liberia kept its independence during the colonial era and Liberia was never colonized or controlled by European powers making Liberia the oldest republic nation on the African continent.[7]
In 1822, the American Colonization Society began sending African American volunteers to the Pepper Coast to establish a colony for freed African Americans. By 1867, the ACS had assisted in the movement of more than 13,000 Americans to Liberia.[12] These free African Americans came to identify themselves as Americo-Liberian, developing a cultural tradition infused with American notions of political republicanism.[13]
The ACS, a private organization supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believed repatriation was preferable to emancipation of slaves.[14] Similar organizations established colonies in Mississippi-in-Africa and the Republic of Maryland, which were later annexed by Liberia. On July 26, 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and promulgated a constitution, which, based on the political principles denoted in the United States Constitution, created the independent Republic of Liberia.[15][16]
The leadership of the new nation consisted largely of the Americo-Liberians. The 1865 Ports of Entry Act prohibited foreign commerce with the inland tribes, to encourage the growth of civilised values.[15] In 1877, the Americo-Liberian True Whig Party was the most powerful political power in the country.[17] Competition for office was usually contained within the party, whose nomination virtually ensured election.[17]
Pressure from the United Kingdom and France led to a loss of Liberia's claims to extensive territories, which were annexed by adjoining countries.[18] Economic development was hindered by the low level of civilization in the country, as evidenced by both the decline of production of Liberian goods in the late 19th century and by poor government finances causing indebtedness on a series of international loans.[19] In Liberia's early years, the Americo-Liberian settlers periodically encountered hostile and sometimes violent contact with tribal Africans in the bush who would raid and rob the costal settlements. Tribesmen were thus excluded from birthright citizenship until 1904.[20]
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/adams-henry-1843
Henry Adams dropped out of sight in 1884. The efforts of Adams and the Colonization Council were not unrewarded. Over the next three decades, more than 11,000 southern blacks settled in Liberia. It is unclear if Henry Adams was among them.
20th century
For a period of time in the early 20th Century, Liberia became a U.S. protectorate.[21]