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The very early history of the country now known as Liberia is
built around stories and legends passed down through generations
and these refer to a people called the Jinna, a small sized race who lived in
caves and in the carved out hollows of large trees. They were
later joined in pre-history by the Golas, a tribe that had
migrated to the area from central Africa. Then around 6000 BCE
tribes from western Sudan arrived defeating the Golas and
establishing an empire under King Kumba. The Kumbas developed
agriculture in the area but were also noted for their skills at
making weapons as well as crafts such as pottery and weaving. There are some records of the Carthaginians visiting and
trading in the area around 520 CBE, however very little is then known about the history of Liberia before the 12th century
when the Dei, Bassa, Kru, and Kissi people moved into the
area. They were joined by others during the decline of the Mali
Empire in the 14th century however firm records began following
the arrival of Portuguese explorers in 1461 who named it
Costa da Pimenta (Pepper Coast ~ the land between Cape
Mesurado and Cape Palmas, below), the coastal strip of
Liberia towards which those living in the territory had migrated
towards in response to the increasing desertification of the
north.
Two hundred years later, the British started building trading
posts on the Pepper Coast only for the Dutch to destroy them
shortly afterwards. By this time Portuguese influence was waning
after its conflict with Spain and Portugal was stripped of
its assets there firstly by the Dutch, then, in the 17th century by
the French, then the British in the 18th and 19th centuries by
which time area was commonly referred to as the Grain Coast, a
coast that had been the centre of the rapidly rising slave
trade; a trade which had practically replaced all other by the
end of the 16th century. The Golas, Kru, Kpelles and Kissi were all involved in this
trade, working with the Europeans to ensnare the indigenous people into a life of
captivity in the Americas. This trade continued until the abolition of slavery
in the 19th century which started a debate in the USA as to what to do wth the freed slaves.
Some in America observed what had been started in Freetown,
Sierra Leone, by the British and concluded that the freed slaves in
America could likewise be returned to Africa to start a new
life. The American Colonization Society
was born, not as some believed as a well motivated desire to
right the wrongs of slavery, but rather, as its first meeting
concluded because "Of all the classes of our population, the
most vicious is that of the free colored. It is the inevitable
result of their moral, political and evil degradation.
Contaminated themselves, they extend their vices all around
them, to the slaves, to the whites." In other words, the freed
men former slaves presented a danger to American society as they
had shown during their rising in Haiti and
should be shipped "back home". According to the 'Niles Weekly Register' of 6th March 1824
"Resolutions were passed [at the seventh annual meeting of the
American Colonization Society] "that the territory and
settlement of the society near cape Mesurado, on the south-west
cost (sic) of Africa, should be called Liberia, and the town
laid out there should be named Monrovia, 'as an acknowledgement
of the important benefits conferred on the settlement by the
present illustrious chief magistrate of the United States'" ~
President Monroe.
The first crossing was made in 1820 however those that were
then living in the Pepper Coast were none too impressed with the
coming of freed slaves seeing them as Americans who were buying
up their land, however the process continued and by 1847, with
the American Colonization Society
running out of money to continue with the project, the purchased
and inhabited lands were announced as the independent nation of
Liberia. Over 13,000 former
slaves had been returned, even though many had never come from Liberia in the
first place. Many were as disorientated at being in Africa as their forefathers
had been when they first landed in America. Additionally, Liberia grew massively
in size, very quickly bringing about its own difficulties. The American
Colonization Society was dissolved in 1912. Ironically, these returned free
slaves then went on to treat the indigenous population as second class citizens
leading, some 150 years later, to the Liberia civil war. The video (below) provides further details of Liberia's history and its civil war is also explored in the article also linked to below.
Liberia History: Volunteer in Liberia
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Liberia History: Liberia Civil War
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Liberia History: Sponsor Children in Liberia
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Liberia History: Liberia Country Profile
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