History of Liberia
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The history of Liberia is unique in Africa as it started neither as a native state nor as a European colony, but began in 1821 when private societies began founding colonies for free blacks from the United States on the coast of West Africa.
[edit] Indigenous peoples of West Africa
It is believed that many of the indigenous peoples of Liberia migrated there from the north and east between the 12th and 16th centuries AD. The area of West Africa which later became Liberia was invaded in the sixteenth century by Mane, Malian Soldiers tribes from what is now the interior of Ivory Coast and Ghana. The Manes partitioned the conquered territories and their peoples among Mane leaders with one chieftain over all. The supreme chief resided in the Grand Cape Mount region.
Shortly after the Manes conquered the region there was a migration of the Vai people into the region of Grand Cape Mount. The Vai were part of the Mali Empire that were forced to migrate when the empire collapsed in the fourteenth century. The Vai chose to migrate to the coastal region.
The Kru opposed the migration of the Vai into their region. An alliance of the Manes and Kru were able to stop the further migration of the Vai but the Vai remained in the Grand Cape Mount region (where the city of Robertsport is now located).
The Kru became involved with trading with Europeans. Initially the Kru traded in non-slave commodities but later became active participants in the slave trade. Kru traders also engaged in a surprising form of trade. Kru traders and their canoes would be taken on board European ships and would engage in trade along the coast. At some agreed upon point the Kru traders and their canoes would be put off the ship and the traders would paddle back to their home territory.
Kru laborers left their territory to work on plantations and in construction as paid laborers, some even worked building the Suez and Panama Canals.
Another tribal group in the area was the Glebo. The Glebo were driven, as a result of the Manes invasion, to migrate to the coast of what later became Liberia.
[edit] Contact with European explorers and traders
Portuguese explorers established contacts with the land later known as "Liberia" as early as 1461 and named the area the Grain Coast because of the abundance of grains of melegueta pepper. In 1602 the Dutch established a trading post at Grand Cape Mount but destroyed the post a year later. In 1663 the British installed trading posts on the Grain Coast. No further known settlements by non-African colonists occurred along the Grain Coast until the arrival of freed American slaves starting in 1817.
[edit] Settlement by the American Colonization Society
Modern Liberia was founded in 1822 by freed slaves from the United States. They were sent to Africa under the auspices of the American Colonization Society, a private organization whose purpose was "to promote and execute a plan for colonizing in Africa, with their own consent, the free people of color residing in the US."
[edit] Motives of the ACS
The American Colonization Society was a group of white Americans — including some slaveholders — that had a variety of motives. Free blacks, freedmen and their descendants, encountered widespread discrimination in the United States of the early 19th century. They were generally perceived as a burden on society, and a threat to white workers because they undercut wages. Some abolitionists believed that blacks could not achieve equality in the United States and would be better off in Africa. Many slaveholders were worried that the presence of free blacks would encourage slaves to rebel. Other supporters of removal to Africa wanted to prevent racial mixing, to promote the spread of Christianity in Africa, or to develop trade with Africa.[1] [2]
[edit] First colony - Cape Mesurado
In 1818 the Society sent two representatives to West Africa to find a suitable location but they were unable to persuade local tribal leaders to sell territory. In 1820, 88 free black settlers and 3 society members sailed for Sierra Leone on the Elizabeth. Before departing they had signed a constitution requiring that an agent of the Society administer the settlement according to U.S. laws. They found shelter on Sherbro Island off the west coast of Africa.[3]
The new immigrants immediately began to construct their new settlement. But after three weeks, twenty-two of the African-Americans and all three white officials died of yellow fever. The second ship, the Nautilus, soon arrived with new passengers and fresh supplies.
In 1821, Captain Robert F. Stockton of the USS Alligator skimmed the coastline of West Africa, resuming the search for a suitable site. Accounts differ, but it is quite possible that the threat of force caused the indigenous leaders to agree to sell a 36-mile long strip of coastline to the Society in exchange for $300 worth of rum, weapons and other goods. The Sherbro Island group moved to this new location and other blacks from the United States joined them.
The first settlement was on Providence Island near where the present capital city, Monrovia, is located. Although the Society had arranged with local chiefs for a settlement, the colonists were attacked by indigenous peoples, disease, and barely maintained their foothold. In 1824, the settlers built fortifications for protection. In that same year, the settlement was named Liberia, with its capital at Monrovia, named for President James Monroe.
In 1824 the Cape Mesurado Colony expanded and became the Liberia Colony, and the United States government settled New Georgia with "Congo" recaptives (slaves rescued by Americans in mid-ocean). Other colonies soon followed.
[edit] Criticism of the ACS
When the first settlers were relocated to Liberia in 1822, the plan drew immediate criticism on several fronts. Many leaders in the black community publicly attacked it, asking why free blacks should have to emigrate from the country where they, their parents, and even their grandparents were born. Meanwhile, slave owners in the South vigorously denounced the plan as an assault on their slave economy. However, other prominent leaders in the black community supported the plan, believing that discrimination would prevent African-Americans from prospering in the United States.
Despite the growing resistance to colonization, in 1832, as the ACS began to send agents to England to raise funds for what they touted as a benevolent plan, William Lloyd Garrison helped instigate opposition to the plan with a 236-page book on the evils of colonization and sent abolitionists to England to track down and counter ACS supporters.
[edit] Life in the new colonies
The settlers recreated American society, building churches and homes that resembled Southern plantations. And they continued to speak English. They also entered into a complex relationship with the indigenous people -- marrying them in some cases, discriminating against them in others, (and enslaving them in the worst of cases) but all the time attempting to "civilize" them and impose Western values on the traditional communities.
The new colonies adopted other American styles of life, including southern plantation-style houses with deep verandahs, and established thriving trade links with other West Africans. The Americo-Liberians distinguished themselves from the local people, characterized as 'natives,' by the universal appellation of "Mr."
[edit] Struggle to survive
The formation of the colony did not occur altogether without difficulty. The severe conditions (which included harsh climate and deadly diseases) took a high toll on both settlers and missionaries. Census records indicate that only about half of the 4,571 persons who emigrated under the aegis of the ACS survived during the first 23 years after the first colony was established.[4]
In addition, the land occupied by the American Colonization Society in Liberia was not void of native inhabitants when the emigrants arrived. Much of the area was under the control of the Malinké tribes who resented the incursion of these settlers upon their lands. In addition to disease, poor housing conditions and lack of food and medicine, these new emigrants found themselves engaged in sporadic armed combat with the natives.
At the same time, colonial expansionists from Europe encroached on the newly-independent Liberia and took over much of the original territory of independent Liberia by force.
[edit] Creation of other colonies
The Maryland State Colonization Society withdrew her support from the American Colonization Society and resolved to establish a colony in Liberia to send free people of color, of that State, that wished to emigrate. Soon after, the Young Men's Colonization Society of Pennsylvania, were induced to establish a separate colony at Port Cresson.
The New York City Colonization Society united with the latter, under the active agency of Dr. Proudfit, the funds of the State were brought to their aid. In 1834, the Mississippi State Colonization Society established a colony independent of the American Colonization Society.
In 1832, the Edina and Port Cresson colonies were formed by the New York and Pennsylvania Colonization Societies. In 1834, the Maryland in Liberia colony was created by the Maryland State Colonization Society. The Mississippi-in-Africa colony was created by the Mississippi and Louisiana State Colonization Societies in 1835. In 1835, the Port Cresson Colony was destroyed by natives of the area. The Bassa Cove Colony was founded on the ruins of the Port Cresson Colony a month later.[5][6]
A period of consolidation followed. The Bassa Cove Colony absorbed the Edina Colony in 1837. Bassa Cove in turn was incorporated into Liberia in 1839, as was New Georgia. Maryland in Africa became the State of Maryland in Liberia in 1841. Mississippi-in-Africa was incorporated into Liberia as Sinoe County in 1842. Maryland in Liberia declared independence from Liberia in 1854 and had a brief life as the independent state of Maryland in Liberia. It was annexed into Liberia as Maryland County in 1857.[5][6]
[edit] Bankruptcy of the ACS
The American Colonization Society closely controlled the development of Liberia until 1847. However, by the 1840s, Liberia had become a financial burden on the American Colonization Society which was effectively bankrupt. The transported Liberians were demoralized by hostile local tribes, bad management, and deadly diseases. In addition, Liberia faced political threats, chiefly from Britain, because it was neither a sovereign power nor a bona fide colony of any sovereign nation.
Because the United States refused to claim sovereignty over Liberia, in 1846 the ACS directed the Liberians to proclaim their independence. In 1847, the colony became the independent nation of Liberia. By 1867, the society had sent more than 13,000 emigrants.
[edit] Independence
During the formative years of the colony, white administrators from the American Colonization Society ran the Liberian colony. But as the colony expanded and became more self-sufficient, colonists were given more and more control in running the colony. The colony was renamed the Commonwealth of Liberia in 1839. In 1841, Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first black governor of the colony. With the encouragement of the American Colonization Society which was almost bankrupt, he proclaimed Liberia a free republic in 1847. A Constitution was drawn up along the lines of the United States'. The state seal shows a ship at anchor in a tropical harbor, and bears the inscription, "The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here."
The country was recognized by the United Kingdom in 1848 and by France in 1852. The United States delayed its recognition of Liberia until 1862 over concerns by southern states of a black ambassador from Liberia residing in Washington. The boundaries of the country were not officially established until after 1892.[5]
However, attempts to found a state based upon some 3000 settlers proved difficult. Some coastal tribes became Protestants and learned English, but most of the indigenous Africans retained their traditional religion and language. Even the slave trade continued illicitly from Liberian ports, but this was ended by the British Navy in the 1850s.
The Americo-Liberians have never constituted above five percent of the population of Liberia; however, for over one hundred years, the Americo-Liberians reserved within the group all political and economic leadership. Under the name of the True Whig Party (TWP), the Americo-Liberians subdued indigenous tribes in Liberia and permitted no organized political opposition thus making Liberia a one-party state.
[edit] President Joseph J. Roberts
After Liberia declared its independence in 1847, Joseph J. Roberts, a freeborn Black who was born in Virginia, was elected Liberia's first president, and Stephen Benson was elected vice-president.
Roberts was re-elected three more times to serve a total of eight years. By 1860, through treaties and purchases with local African leaders, Liberia had extended its boundaries to include a 600 mile (1000 km) coastline.
The settlers built schools and Liberia College (which later became the University of Liberia). During these early years, agriculture, shipbuilding, and trade flourished.
[edit] Foreign relations
Roberts spent the first year of his presidency attempting to attain recognition from European countries and the United States.
The UK and France were the first countries to accept Liberian independence in 1848.
In 1849, Portugal, Brazil, Sardinia, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck, and Haiti all formally recognized Liberia.
However, the United States withheld recognition until 1862, during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, because the U.S. leaders believed that the southern states would not accept a black ambassador in Washington, D.C.
[edit] President Stephen Benson
After Roberts left office in 1856, Stephen Benson was elected to be president. In 1857 Benson organized the annexation of Maryland County. In 1862 Benson achieved diplomatic recognition from the United States. Benson also obtained the recognition of Liberia from Belgium (1858), Denmark (1869), Italy (1862), Norway (1863), Sweden (1863), and Haiti (1864).
Benson was the first Liberian president to speak several indigenous languages. In contrast to previous Liberian policy which emphasized American-Liberian superiority and Western customs, Benson favored a progressive policy toward Liberia's native peoples; regrettably, this policy remained largely unimplemented.
[edit] Annexation of Maryland (Africa)
Maryland Colony declared its independence from the Maryland State Colonization Society but did not become part of the Republic of Liberia. It held the land along the coast between the Grand Cess and San Pedro Rivers.
In 1856, the independent state of Maryland (Africa) requested military aid from Liberia in a war with the Grebo and Kru peoples who were resisting the Maryland settlers' efforts to control their trade. President Roberts assisted the Marylanders, and a joint military campaign by both groups of African American colonists resulted in victory. In 1857, the Republic of Maryland joined Liberia as Maryland County.
[edit] Closed Door Policy
English merchants, supported by their government, refused to acknowledge the political sovereignty of Liberia and evaded the import and export duties to a large extent. This refusal on the part of European merchants was one of the reasons which motivated the Liberians to partially close the country to foreigners. Hence, foreign trade activities were limited by the “Ports of Entry” Law in 1864 to six areas along the coast. This protective policy was also based on the desire to safeguard the economic interests of the political leaders.
The 1864 Ports of Entry Law heralded the era of a Closed Door Policy. This Act outlawed international trade outside the main six ports, adding another reason for the inland and coastal tribal population to rise against the authority of the Monrovia based government. Whereas government revenue decreased as a result of the restrictive law, increased military spending to suppress the numerous revolts and wars added to the public deficit. This deteriorated an already precarious financial situation. Consequently, the Liberian Government faced financial bankruptcy at more than one occasion.
[edit] Relations between Americo-Liberians and the indigenous tribes
Liberian society and political structure was arranged in layers. The most powerful were "Americo-Liberians" which were actually mixed African and European ancestry. They were lighter skinned than the indigenous native blacks. The Americo-Liberians sent their children to America for high school and college. While this ruling elite lived and prospered achieving respect they could never attain in America, they failed to include native Liberians into their power base. In fact, they took their land, taxed them, enslaved them and controlled their trade.
Resistance from indigenous groups continued, and occasional port calls by American naval vessels provided, in the words of Duignan and Gann, a "definite object lesson to restive locals". One example was the visit of the USS John Adams in 1852, which had a noticeably quieting effect upon the chiefs at Grand Bassa, the coastal region to Monrovia's south.
Although the forebears of the Americo-Liberians had been denied their freedom in America, many of the Americo-Liberians did not see fit to extend their new liberty to the native Malinké. Americo-Liberians treated many Malinké like second-class citizens and denied them voting rights under their US-based constitution. Natives were also enslaved until an admonishment from the League of Nations in 1931 halted the practice. It was not until 1951 that the indigenous population were granted suffrage. [7]
[edit] President Daniel Warner
Warner's main concern was how the indigenous people, particularly the indigenous people in the interior, could be brought into the society and become cooperating citizens. He organized the first expedition into the dense forest led by Benjamin J. K. Anderson. In 1868, Anderson journeyed into Liberia's interior to sign a treaty with the king of Musardo. He took careful notes describing the peoples, the customs, and the natural resources of those areas he passed through, writing a published report of his journey. Using the information from Anderson's report, the Liberian government moved to assert limited control over the inland region.
[edit] Economic difficulties
Over the next few decades, escalating economic difficulties began to weaken the state's dominance over the coastal indigenous population. When the financially burdened ACS withdrew its support, conditions worsened as Liberia tried desperately to modernize its largely agricultural economy. The cost of imports was far greater than the income generated by exports of coffee, rice, palm oil, sugarcane, and timber.
[edit] President Edward J. Roye
Edward J. Roye was inaugurated as President of Liberia on January 3, 1870. As he took office, the country was in the midst of political instability exacerbated by a fiscal crisis and, less than 22 months later, he was ousted by political opponents on October 26, 1871.
Roye began a program of reconstruction for his nation intending to build new roads and schools. In order to raise the funds for these projects, Roye sailed for England where he began negotiations with London banks. The results proved ruinous. The terms of the loans were severe; among other things, the interest rate on the loan was 7 percent. Roye hastily agreed to the loans without consulting the legislature. Liberia actually received about $90,000, while bonds were issued for $400,000.
Because of increasing world competition from Brazilian coffee, European sugar beets, and steamers, Liberia was unable to generate sufficient export revenue, and defaulted on the loan negotiated by Roye. Recession forced Liberia into a series of ever larger loans.
The whole affair caused great resentment against Roye and when he returned home from England, he was accused of embezzlement. He then tried to extend his two-year term of president by edict after the people rose up against him. In October 1871, Edward J. Roye was deposed from office., He was brought to trial, but escaped in the night. He is believed to have drowned while trying to reach a British ship in Monrovia harbor, on February 12, 1872.
The decline of Liberia's exports and its inability to pay its debts resulted in a large measure of foreign interference.
After E.J. Roye was removed from office, J.J. Roberts became president again serving for four more years (1872-1876), followed by James S. Payne's second term as president (1876-1878).
[edit] The second term of President James S. Payne
Immediately after his inauguration in January 1876 he turned his attention to the war that had broken out in Cape Palmas, Maryland County, the previous September. The situation in this area was particularly serious as Britain was supplying ammunition to the contesting parties. Payne appealed to the U.S.A for assistance and was taken to Cape Palmas to negotiate in an American man-of-war. These negotiations were successful and a peace treaty was signed on 1 March 1876. Payne returned to Monrovia but his financial scope for policies was greatly reduced during his term due to the war, estimated at around 60,000 pounds.
[edit] Territorial disputes with European powers
Whenever the British and French seemed intent on enlarging at Liberia's expense the neighboring territories they already controlled, periodic appearances by U.S. warships helped discourage encroachment, even though successive American administrations rejected appeals from Monrovia for more forceful support.[8]
[edit] President Anthony Gardiner
As president, Gardiner called for increased trade with and investment from outside countries, improved public education, and closer relations with Liberia's native peoples. However, his domestic policies were to be overshadowed by the ramifications of the European powers' "scramble for Africa". Liberia continued to have territorial disputes with the European countries of Britain and France. Conflicts over territorial claims resulted in the loss of large areas of land to Britain and France in 1885, 1892, and 1919. However, rivalries between the Europeans colonizing West Africa and the interest of the United States helped preserve Liberian independence during this period.
During Gardiner's administration difficulties with the British Empire and with Germany reached a crisis. Liberia was drawn into a border conflict with the British Empire over the Gallinas territory, lying between the Sewa River and the Mano River—territory which now forms the extreme eastern part of Sierra Leone. The British made a formal show of force at Monrovia in a mission led by Sir Arthur Havelock; meanwhile, the looting of a German vessel along the Kru Coast and personal indignities inflicted by the natives upon the shipwrecked Germans, led to the bombardment of Nana Kru by a German warship and the presentation at Monrovia of a claim for damages, payment of which was forced by the threat of the bombardment of the capital. President Gardiner resigned on January 20, 1883, due to a serious illness. He was succeeded by the vice-president, Alfred F. Russell. Two months later, in March 1883, the British Government annexed the Gallinas territory west of the Mano River and it was formally incorporated into Sierra Leone by the British.
[edit] President Hilary Johnson
At the May election, Hilary R. W. Johnson was elected and became the first Liberian-born president serving from 1884 to 1892.
In 1885, Johnson agreed to the annexation of the Gallinas territory after the US Government had advised him to yield to the British demands. In November of that year, the Havelock Draft Convention, which finalized the boundary between Liberia and Sierra Leone, was ratified by both Liberia and Great Britain. Since then, the Mano river has formed the boundary between Liberia and Sierra Leone.
President Grover Cleveland, in an 1886 message to Congress, spoke of the "moral right and duty of the United States" to help Liberia. "It must not be forgotten that this distant community is an offshoot of our own system", he said. But when Liberia asked for military assistance against an internal uprising, which the French were thought to have helped instigate, Cleveland's secretary of state refused on grounds that Liberia lacked standing to make such a request. In 1892, the French forced Liberia to cede to the Ivory Coast the area beyond Cape Palmas which Liberia had long controlled. President Johnson was responsible for this negotiation but retired before the treaty was signed.
In 1882, Edward Wilmot Blyden published the important study Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race. Blyden was Liberia's leading intellectual, a journalist, scholar, diplomat, statesman, and theologian.
[edit] Struggles with native tribes and development of the interior
[edit] President Joseph Cheeseman
Joseph James Cheeseman from Edina, Grand Bassa Co. became the next president. Ethnic struggles with the Kru, Gola, and Grebo tribe who resented incursions into their territory occurred several times during Cheeseman's reign. One notable uprising occurred in 1893 when the Grebo tribe attached the settlement of Harper. Troops and the gunboat Gorronomah were sent to defeat the tribesmen. President Cheeseman died in office and vice-president William David Coleman served the remainder of the term and another four years until 1900.
[edit] President William Coleman
William Coleman centered his policies on education and improving the financial state of the country. He re-opened Liberia College with the assistance of Dr Edmond Wilmot Blyden.
Coleman also took measures that aimed to improve the country's financial situation: he reorganised the customs department and installed bonded warehouses at the six ports of entry where since 1864 foreigners (traders) were allowed to undertake economic activities.
The third cornerstone of his Administration was his Interior Policy. Coleman wanted to increase the government's presence in the interior since he was convinced that the future of Liberia depended on the exploitation of the resources of the interior. He established influence of the Liberian Government in the hinterland north-west of the Saint Paul River.
Some of the tribal people living in the hinterland of Montserrado County and further north had been at war since the mid-1880s. On the one hand there was a war between Gola and Mandingo over trading routes in the region while various factions of the Gola were fighting with each other too. In 1897, President Coleman initially followed the example of his predecessors, President Johnson (1884 – 1891) and President Cheeseman (1892 – 1896), attempting to settle the conflicts by peaceful negotiations.
In mid-1900, an attempt by Coleman to arrange a general peace between the various tribes of the region failed. A peace conference in the interior north-west of the St Paul river, led by President Coleman and which assembled a large number of Vai, Gola, Mandingo and Kpele chiefs, turned into a short but bloody battle.
Coleman conducted an expedition into Gola territory by which he intended to subdue the Gola Tribe and their allies, However, the expedition was terribly defeated. The policy Coleman established was unaffected and reports of depredations upon the natives by Coleman's commanders caused leading citizens and prominent members of the Legislature to call for immediate change.
Upon return in Monrovia President Coleman had to defend himself against accusations of the use of excessive force against the tribal population. His “native policy” was severely questioned by ‘leading citizens as well as members of the Legislature’, all partisans – like Coleman – of the True Whig Party.
Coleman finally stepped down in December 1900 and thus became Liberia's second president who resigned, President Anthony Gardiner having been the first. Coleman's successor was his Secretary of State, Garreston W. Gibson.
[edit] President Garreston Gibson
Garreston W. Gibson was sixty-eight when he took office as President and served from 1900 to 1904. Gibson had a vast amount of political experience including Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of State. His accomplishments as President include the granting of rights to the Union Mining Company to investigate the hinterland for minerals including gold. In addition, a joint commission of Liberia and Great Britain surveyed the northern boundary of Liberia.
[edit] President Arthur Barclay
Arthur Barclay was President from 1904 to 1912. During his administration Liberia joined the convention of African Powers for the preservation of big game, rare animals and birds.
[edit] Territorial dispute with the British
In 1903, the British forced a concession of Liberian territory to Sierra Leone, but tension along that border remained high. In addition to continued internal unrest, the country faced a severe economic crisis and huge indebtedness to European creditors.
A three-person commission appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt recommended that the U.S. government help the African nation to reorganize its finances and to negotiate territorial settlements with European governments. As a signal of American support, Roosevelt dispatched three warships to transport the commission to Monrovia. However, the commission firmly recommended against U.S. guarantees of Liberian independence or territorial integrity[9], upholding instead the traditional U.S. policy of avoiding anything that might be considered an alliance. Liberia named an American to supervise the treasury, and Britain and France accepted U.S. proposals to resolve border disputes.
[edit] Bankruptcy
By 1906 the Liberian Government was literally bankrupt. The Government could not pay its bills without borrowing money from local German merchants. This forced President Arthur Barclay to negotiate for another $500,000 English loan, through Sir Harry Johnston, a British colonial agent, and his Liberia Development Company. In his book The Story of Life, Sir Harry Johnston revealed that the loan was not a legitimate business transaction, but was used to trap Liberia in the colonial claws of the British Empire. On the establishment of the company, Sir Harry Johnston wrote, "I discussed the question of my joining the Liberia Company with the African Department of the [British] Foreign office, and they were favorable to the idea...It was feared at the Foreign Office in those times that if no attempt was made to strengthen British commerce in Liberia, the whole of [Liberia would] inevitably come within the French political sphere in West Africa, since the United States had at that period professed --or seemed to profess --indifference as to its fate."[10]
The condition of this loan was that British agents take over, as lien, the collection of Liberian Government revenue.Subsequently, this loan was also embezzled. During this period, Liberia's primary sources of revenue were customs revenue, and "head money", taxes paid by indigenous Liberian workers, who left Liberia as recruits to work on European vessels as deck hands, as soldiers in Europe's wars against other Africans during the "scramble for Africa", and on plantations in Fernando Po and São Tomé and Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Cameroon.
In 1912, the U.S. arranged a 40-year international loan totaling $1.7 million, with the proviso that four outsiders (American, British, French and German) be given control over customs receipts and taxes, which were earmarked for loan repayment. In this regard, a receivership was imposed on Liberian Government revenue, which lasted until 1926. During this period, Liberia's primary exports were coffee, palm oil, palm kernels, and piassava. The Government's primary source of revenue during this period were hut tax, the tax imposed by the Government on individual dwellings inhibited by the indigenous people, and revenue from customs.
The presence of foreign receivers was a major irritant to Liberian sensibilities, and violence was directed at Europeans and Americans in some parts of the country[11]
[edit] Rebellion of the Kru
In 1915, the coastal Kru people, who had long resisted Monrovia's authority, rose in rebellion, declaring their loyalty to Great Britain and demanding annexation by Sierra Leone. The USS Chester was diverted to Africa on route home from Turkey to help quash the uprising.
[edit] President Daniel Howard
Daniel Edward Howard was the President of Liberia from 1912 to 1920 and had to deal with wars on all fronts - internally and externally. The finances of Liberia were so shaky that the pay of government employees was often suspended for months a at time.
[edit] World War I
At the outbreak of World War I, President Howard attempted to maintain the country's neutrality, though he tended to support the Allies, whose colonial territories in Africa surrounded Liberia.
World War I resulted in the trade between Liberia and Britain, France and the United States being reduced to almost zero due to the German submarine blockade. Income from customs revenue was disrupted, when Germany, Liberia's major trading partner, withdrew from Liberia. This situation forced Liberia to postpone payment on the $1.7 million loan, and led President Daniel E. Howard to seek a $5 million loan from the Woodrow Wilson Administration. This attempt had a quicksand effect. The United States Congress refused to approve the loan.
Despite German protests, Howard allowed the French to operate a wireless station in the capital, Monrovia. Realizing that their complaints were in vain, the Germans sent a submarine to attack the city in 1917, forcing the reluctant Howard to side with the Allies and declare war on Germany on January 12, 1918.
Liberia then liquidated the property of German nationals in Liberia. The money generated from this liquidation was deposited into the Liberian government bank account to compensate for loss of revenue from the blockade. The war ended in 1920, and Liberia's Legislature ratified the Treaty of Versailles.
By the early 1920s, Liberia's financial crisis had worsened and the Harding administration proposed anew to Congress a $5 million loan to Liberia. The House gave its approval but the Senate refused, creating a sense of desperation among Liberian officials, who worried that British and French designs on their country might now prove unstoppable. Liberia had become a charter member of the League of Nations in 1919, and Monrovia was determined to safeguard its sovereignty.
[edit] President Charles King
Charles D. B. King became Liberia's President in 1920 and served for 10 years. Though a moderate supporter of reform, he continued to support the patronage machine and dominance of the True Whig party.
[edit] Negotiation of a loan from the United States
Since World War I had caused the financial situation of Liberia to be in such bad condition, President King and a commission embarked upon a journey to the United States to get assistance in paying of her debts and straightening her financial affairs. They arrived in March 1921, shortly after President Harding had taken office. The United States Congress had suspended all foreign credit and extension of foreign loans, even though the State Department was sympathetic to the request from the Liberian delegation. Negotiations dragged on until October before the State Department finally granted Liberia a loan for five million dollars. The commission was greatly relieved because the long, painful negotiations were complete. However, great disappointment followed when the U.S. Congress failed to ratify the agreement.
[edit] Firestone Rubber Company
In 1923, the Firestone Rubber Company explored the possibilities of establishing a rubber plantation in Liberia. In fact, the conditions in Liberia are ideal for rubber trees. In 1926, the Firestone Rubber Company obtained a concession which gave it the right to lease up to 1 million acres (4,000 km²) for 99 years. With this leased land, Firestone created the world's largest plantation at Harbel, Liberia. Exportation of rubber from the new Firestone plantations began in 1934 and rubber quickly became the backbone of the Liberian economy. This was a great economic boon for Liberia due to the creation of 25,000 jobs.
At the same time, Liberia was able to obtain a $5 million loan that was arranged through the Finance Corporation of America, a Firestone subsidiary. Using this private loan, the Liberian government consolidated and bonded all its external and internal debts, thus placing the country's finances on a relatively stable basis. In addition, certain public works projects were funded with money from this loan. One of these projects was the establishment of Liberia's first radio station which broadcast its first message in 1927.
Administration of the customs and internal revenue was placed in the hands of a U.S. financial adviser.
[edit] Presidential election of 1927
King was challenged in the presidential election of 1927 by Thomas J.R. Faulkner. According to an official statement, King received 234,000 votes; however, Liberia had only 15,000 registered voters at the time. This won King the dubious achievement of being listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the most fraudulent election reported in history.[12]
[edit] Forced labor scandal
After losing the 1927 presidential election to King, Thomas Faulkner accused many members of the True Whig Party government of recruiting and selling contract labor as slaves. Despite Liberia's firm denials and a refusal to cooperate, the League of Nations established a commission under the leadership of British jurist Cuthbert Christy to determine the extent of forced labor and slavery still practiced by in Liberia. President Herbert Hoover briefly suspended relations to press Monrovia into compliance.
In 1930 the League of Nations published the committee's report, dubbed the ‘Christy Report’ after the Committee's chairman. The report supported many of Faulkner's allegations, and implicated many government officials, including vice-president Allen Yancy. It was found that forced labor was used for construction of certain public works such as roads in the interior. And certain tribes did practice domestic servitude that could be considered as slavery.
In the report, the Committee concluded that:
- Slavery as defined by the Anti-Slavery Convention, in fact, does not exist in this Republic.
- Shipment to Fernando Poo and Gabon is associated with slavery because the method of recruiting carries compulsion with it.
- Persons holding official positions have illegally misused their office in recruiting with the aid of the Liberian Frontier Force.
In its findings, the commissioners reported the following:
- "In order to suppress the native, prevent him from realizing his powers and limitations and prevent him from asserting himself in any way whatever, for the benefit of the dominant and colonizing race, although originally the same African stock as themselves, a policy of gross intimidation and suppression has for years been systematically fostered and encouraged, and is the key word of the Government native policy;" and
- that, "...Vice President Yancy [of Liberia] and other high officials of the Liberian Government, as well as county superintendents and district commissioners, have given their sanction for compulsory recruitment of labor for road construction, for shipment abroad and other work, by the aid and assistance of the Liberian Frontier Force; and have condoned the utilization of this force for purposes of physical compulsion on road construction for the intimidation of villagers, for the humiliation and degradation of chiefs, of captured natives to the coast, there guarding them till the time of shipment [to Fernando Po and Sao Tome.]" [13]
Shortly after the publication of these findings, the Liberian House of Representatives then started the procedure to impeach President King who hastily resigned. He thus escaped a public trial as the Liberian Constitution reads: ‘No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime, except in case of impeachment.’ Vice-President Yancy made the same decision. Other Liberian leaders who were implicated in the scandal were also forced to resign.
[edit] President Edwin Barclay
Edwin Barclay was selected to complete King's term as president. One of the first official decisions of President Barclay was to repeal the famous port of Entry Law of 1864 that had restricted the economic activities of foreigners in the country. Subsequently, in the early 1930s concession agreements were signed between the Liberian Government and Dutch, Danish, German and Polish investors.[14]
[edit] Renegotiation of loan payments
The depression of the 1930s brought Liberia to the verge of bankruptcy. By 1931, it became apparent to the Liberian administration that continued loan repayments were not possible. The government asked for consideration from the lending bank and Firestone but to no avail. Firestone attempted to use the United States Government, to force the Liberian Government to comply with the loan agreement, through the use of gunboat diplomacy. President Franklin Roosevelt rejected this interference in Liberia internal affairs, in a memorable memorandum to the State Department, Roosevelt wrote: "At all times we should remember that Firestone went to Liberia at his own financial risk, and it is not the business of the State Department to pull his financial chestnut out of the fire except as a friend of the Liberian people."
Ultimately, the Liberian Legislature passed the Moratorium Act suspending payment of this loan until terms could be negotiated that were more suitable to Liberia's ability to pay.
Barclay also appealed to the League of Nations for financial aid. The Council of the League of Nations was willing to assist Liberia with certain stipulations. The League of Nations drew up a plan of assistance which could have, if it had been implemented, eventually abrogated the independence of Liberia. One chief sticking point was the League's requirement to have their delegates placed in key positions within the Liberian government. Barclay and other Liberian officials considered this request to be an infringement upon the sovereignty of Liberia.
When Liberia refused to accept the League's plan, the major powers, including the United States, withdrew diplomatic recognition of Barclay's adminisration. In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt restored diplomatic relations with Liberia, after President Barclay implemented some of the measures that had been proposed by the League of Nations. After three years of negotiation, an 'agreement' was reached along lines suggested by the League, which were beneficial to Firestone. Two key officials were placed in positions to advise the government, but with limitations set forth by the Liberian government. Loan payments were continued with the assistance of the League.
[edit] World War II
In 1937 President Barclay, under pressure from the United States, withdrew the concession agreement with the German investors, who were accused of sympathies with the Nazi regime in their home country.
[edit] Strategic importance of Liberia
After the fall of Malaysia and Singapore to the Japanese during World War II, Liberia became very strategically important as its rubber plantation was the only source of natural latex rubber available to the Allies, apart from plantations in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
Natural rubber was needed to build tires for war planes, military jeeps, aircraft guns and sensitive radar equipments. Natural rubber was also required to build portable bridges, gliders, oxygen masks and many other war supplies. American civilian industry also needed rubber for commercial uses, especially tires for private and commercial vehicles.
As a result of the simultaneous sharp increase in demand and drastic reduction in supply, the price of natural rubber rose to astronomical levels. This situation created a national crisis in the United States because natural rubber was a strategic commodity in the war effort.
The civilian and military demand for rubber was so monumental, and supply was so exiguous relative to demand, that a law was enacted in the United States, reducing the speed limit to 35 miles per hour, and limiting the mileage of individual cars to 5,000 miles per year, to preserve the life of tires.
Writing in his memoirs, former Secretary of State, Cordell Hull wrote, "With Japan's occupation of the Rubber producing areas in the Far East, Liberia became of greatly increased importance to us as one of the few remaining available sources of natural rubber."[15]
President Barclay assured the Americans that Liberia would supply all the natural rubber that the United States and its allies needed for the war effort.
[edit] Defense Pact with the United States (1942)
In 1942 Liberia signed a Defense Pact with the United States. This commenced a period of developing strategic development including the construction of roads, airports and other infrastructure projects. Robertsfield Airport was built with runways long enough for B-47 Stratojet bombers to land for refueling, giving Liberia the longest runway in Africa to this day.[16] In addition, a deepwater harbor was also built at Monrovia thus making accessible the country's huge iron ore deposits, just at the time that worldwide demand for steel was growing. Republic Steel took a major stake in the venture, prompting construction of a rail line and roadway and providing new openings to Liberia's interior.
[edit] Provision of war supplies to the North African theater
The provision of war supplies to the North African theater was difficult, expensive, and time consuming. German U-boats had taken complete control of the North Atlantic Ocean routes making shipping in the North Atlantic Ocean hazardous to American warships and merchant vessels. In order to transport American soldiers and war supplies to North Africa, it became necessary to open up a South American-Liberian air corridor.
Because of its proximity to South America, Liberia became the first major West African bridgehead for the South Atlantic air ferry route. For this reason, the Liberian Government also granted to the United States, use of its territory to store war supplies and to construct military bases in Montserrado County and Grand Cape Mount County at Fisherman's Lake. United States military supplies were collected in Florida, transported through South America to Brazil, then flown from Brazil to the military depot at Roberts Field, where 5,000 African-American troops stored and maintained the inventory. From Roberts Field, the war supplies were flown to their final destinations in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.[17]
[edit] Franklin Roosevelt's visit to Liberia (1943)
President Roosevelt travelled to Liberia in 1943 with four key issues to negotiate with the Liberian government:
- finalize plans to establish United States military bases in Liberia, which were to be used as a springboard to transport American soldiers, military hardware, and supplies to North Africa;
- reaffirm Liberia's commitment to continue supplying the United States with natural rubber;
- persuade the Liberian Government to expel German citizens, because they posed a security threat to the United States and its allies; and
- persuade Liberia to abrogate its neutrality, and declare war on Germany and its Axis.
[edit] Declaration of war on Germany (1944)
Despite the invaluable assistance and cooperation that Liberia gave to the Allies, it was not until January 1944 that Liberia renounced its neutrality and declared war on Germany and Japan. In April 1944, it signed the Declaration by United Nations.
[edit] Severing diplomatic relations with Germany
Severing diplomatic relations with Germany and expelling all German citizens from Liberia was a difficult decision for Liberia to make for several reasons: (1) German merchants in Liberia ran the Liberian economy; (2) Germany was Liberia's major trading partner; and (3), most of the doctors in Liberia were Germans. Despite the fact that Liberia found itself between a rock and a hard place, she willingly agreed to expel all German residents and declare the full might of the Liberian economy against Nazi Germany and the Axis.
[edit] Impact on the Liberian economy and society
Prior to 1940, most parts of the Liberian hinterland were completely lacking in infrastructure. There was virtually no public education, piped water, road system or electrification.[18]
The American military presence in Liberia gave the Liberian economy a huge boost. From 1939 to 1945, Liberia registered a favorable balance of trade, which amounted to $25.9 million during the six-year period; that equates to $754 million in current dollars. Liberian Government revenue rose from $827,000 in 1939 to $1.9 million in 1945, an increase of 133.9 percent.
Liberia began this special relationship with the United States by converting its national currency from the British pound sterling to the United States dollar; United States Lend Lease funds were made available to the Liberian Government, to subsidize the construction of Liberia's first port, the Freeport of Monrovia; the first major airport, Roberts Field, was constructed by Pan Am and the U. S. Government; American military engineers began the construction of major roads from Monrovia to the interior of Liberia.
The American military presence also had a stabilizing effect on the social and political relationship between the Liberian state and indigenous Liberians. The artificial boundary drawn between Liberia and its provinces was broken. Thousands of laborers from the interior of Liberia descended on the coastal region, especially to Roberts Field and Firestone Rubber Plantations, in search of jobs. This massive migration of indigenous Liberians, which the Liberian Government had previously attempted to restrain by legislation (Liberian territory extended for 40 miles in the interior), and through an agreement with Firestone Plantations Company in the 1920s, was subsequently erased.
Indigenous Liberians and their families began to get some of the social and economic benefits that they paid for through the hut tax. Their children attended Liberian public schools; they received health care and other services that were not present on the same scale, or not present at all in the interior. On September 14, 1943, Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, wrote President Roosevelt the following in a letter about United states relations with Liberia: "Our relations with Liberia from a strategic point of view have never been of more importance ... as a result of the war, Liberian economy has been oriented almost entirely to the United States".
[edit] President William Tubman
William V. S. Tubman was elected president in 1944 and reelected for five additional terms. He sought to unify the country by attempting to bridge the wide economic, political, and social gaps between the descendants of the original American ex-slaves and the tribal peoples of the interior. For the first time, Liberia's elite built ties with leaders in the region and throughout the continent, and the government expanded economic and diplomatic links with Europe. At home, rising revenue from iron, timber and rubber enabled Tubman to widen his power base beyond the traditional constituency of the ruling True Whig Party. President Tubman, affectionately called "Uncle Shad", died at the age of 75, after 27 years in office.
[edit] Postwar economic growth
According to the U.S. State Department, rubber plantations became a major component of the postwar Liberian economy, accounting for as much as 40 percent of the national budget in the 1950s. Liberia acquired the nickname "Firestone Republic".
From 1946 to 1960, the Tubman Administration attracted $500 million in foreign investment; exports rose from $15.8 million in 1948 to $82.6 million in 1960, an increase of 422.8 percent; and Government revenue rose from $32.4 million in 1960 to $69.9 million in 1971, an increase of 115.7 percent. The massive increase in income, GNP, and GDP was not matched by economic development. For this reason, some historians characterize the period as a time of "growth without development". Huge amounts of government resources were being fleeced by Liberian Government officials. In some instances, the same company that was contracted to build highways in the interior also provided the funding. Multinational corporations imported most of their goods and materials duty free; corporate income tax was only 35 percent; the Government invested huge amount of its resources in companies, via concessions agreements, when a higher corporate income tax on those companies could have achieved the same revenue from those companies; and huge amounts of Government resources were spent on massive public works projects (Government buildings), like the Executive Mansion, the Temple of Justice, or the Capital Building.
[edit] Status of indigenous populations
The elevation of Tubman to the presidency of Liberia marked a watershed in relations between the Liberian people and the indigenous people of the interior. He eliminated the 40 mile boundary between the Liberian and the indigenous people of the interior, which had been used to contain the indigenous people. He visited the interior and attempted to assimilate the people through his "national integration policy,". He even began wearing indigenous clothing.
Despite Tubman's efforts to bring the indigenous populations into the social and economic mainstream, the gap between them and the ruling elite during this period of rapid economic development remained. The huge influx of foreign money caused the economy to become distorted and exacerbated social inequalities a consequence of which was increasing hostility between the descendants of the settlers and the original inhabitants. This alarmed Tubman and he was forced to concede the original inhabitants would have to be granted an amount of political and economic involvement in the country. One of his concessions was to enfranchise them. 97 per cent of the population had been denied the franchise until 1963.
[edit] Strategic role during the Cold War
As World War II gave way to the Cold War, the U.S. viewed Liberia as an ideal post from which to fight the spread of communism through Africa. Under Tubman, Liberia voted with the U.S. on most key matters at the UN, although it sometimes sided with other African states, particularly on decolonization and anti-apartheid issues. Tubman gradually extended ties to the Soviet bloc, but he supported the United States on the Vietnam War, as did his successor, William R. Tolbert.
From 1962 to 1980, Liberia received $280 million in aid from the U.S., the greatest level of U.S. aid to any African country on a per capita basis at the time. In exchange for this aid, Liberia offered its land free of rent for U.S. facilities.
The United States set up a permanent mission to train the Liberian military and began bringing Liberian officers to American institutions for further training. In 1959, Liberia concluded a mutual defense pact with the United States.
Over the next decade, the U.S. government built two sophisticated communications facilities (known as R-site and T-site) to handle diplomatic and intelligence traffic to and from Africa, to monitor radio and other broadcasts in the region, and to relay a powerful Voice of America signal throughout the continent. In 1976, the U.S. Coast Guard erected an Omega navigational station -- one of eight around the world -- to guide shipping traffic in the eastern Atlantic and up and down Africa's west coast.
[edit] Assessment of Tubman's presidency
Tubman was criticized for being too influenced by the United States and its interests in the area (i.e., the fight against communism), and for repressing political opposition. Tubman's rule became gradually more authoritarian; for example, he changed the constitution to allow himself to remain in office for seven consecutive terms, gagged the press, and introduced a system of government spies to report on all political activity. By the time Tubman died in 1971, frustration and discontent in Liberia were running high.
[edit] Foreign investment
Tubman was known as the "Maker of Modern Liberia" for his "Open Door" policy of unrestricted foreign investment and his Unification Policy. The "Open Door" policy attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign investment facilitated by Tubman's eagerness to hand out concessions to foreign companies.
Tubman raised the country's world profile by traveling abroad and allowing additional international investment in Liberia. With this investment and the income from the newly discovered mineral deposits, he modernized parts of Liberia (mostly along the coast) and built schools, roads, and hospitals. Tubman also expanded the incorporation of indigenous populations into the social and economic mainstream, granting them, for example, the right to vote. Under Tubman, Liberia was a founding member of the United Nations as well as of the Organization of African Unity, and he strongly championed the independence of other African states.
A large increase in revenue resulted when Liberia began ship registrations. Sometime called the "flag of convenience", many ships on the open seas began registering under the Liberian flag. The fees were far lower than those of most other countries, but the resulting revenue enabled Liberia to be solvent for the first time in its history in 1951.
[edit] Foreign relations
Tubman's Liberia positioned itself as champion of African independence in various world forums -- particularly the United Nations, of which Liberia was a founding member. In December 1960 Liberia became a member of the UN Security Council. In 1963 the country became a founding member of the Organization of African Unity.
[edit] President William Tolbert
Following Tubman's death in 1971, his long-serving vice president, William R. Tolbert, Jr., assumed the presidency. Tolbert brought a new approach to Liberian Government's relations with foreign companies. Companies like Firestone, which had operated for years without being audited by the Government, were audited, and forced to pay millions of dollars in back taxes to the Liberian Government. Old concession agreements were renegotiated, and new concession agreements were negotiated with an emphasis on accountability of the private sector to the Liberian Government.
Because Tolbert was a member of one the most influential and affluent Americo-Liberian families, everything from cabinet appointments to economic policy was tainted with allegations of nepotism. However, Tolbert was also the first president to speak an indigenous language, and he promoted a program to bring more indigenous persons into the government.Unfortunately, this initiative lacked support within Tolbert's own administration, and while the indigenous majority felt the change was occurring too slowly, many Americo-Liberians felt it was too rapid.
In May 1975, Liberia became a signatory to the treaty which established the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in order to create a common market in West Africa and promote regional economic integration and stability in 15 West African countries, with the intention that it would mirror the success of the European Common Market (now the EU).
Promoting Liberia's political independence, Tolbert established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, Cuba, and several other Eastern bloc countries, thus adopting a more nonaligned posture and breaking away from the Cold War agenda followed by President Tubman. He severed Liberia's ties with Israel during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 and spoke out for recognition for national rights of the Palestinian people.
Tolbert also created harsh laws to deal with opposition to his regime prompting complaints from the United States about violations to human rights.
Tolbert attempted to improve the economic and political climate by introducing many new changes. But the damage of the past seemed irreparable. The majority of the population was poor and lacked basic amenities such as access to safe water and electricity.
In April 1979, a proposal to raise the government-subsidized price of rice met with violent opposition. The government claimed that the price increase was meant to promote more local farming, slow the rate of urban migration, and reduce dependence on imported rice. However, opposition leaders pointed out that the Tolbert family controlled the rice monopoly in Liberia and therefore stood to profit from the proposed price increase.
For these reasons, the proposal was received negatively and thus sparked demonstrations which rapidly turned violent. The riots resulted in many deaths and enormous infrastructural damage to the capital city of Monrovia. Tolbert's credibility was severely damaged.[19]
Throughout the seventies, the world price of rubber was depressed, putting pressure on the Liberian economy. By 1980, Tolbert became increasingly open to overtures from Libya and Cuba. The Libyans were on the verge of starting work on a low-cost housing project in Monrovia when Samuel Doe, a master sergeant in the Liberian army, carried out a coup.
[edit] President Samuel Doe
On April 12, 1980, a 28-year-old Krahn tribesman from one of the country's smallest ethnic groups -- Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe -- successfully led a bloody coup d'état to overthrow Tolbert's rule. They fought their way into the presidential mansion. One of Doe's men disemboweled President Tolbert where he slept. Twenty-six of Tolbert's supporters were also killed in the fighting. Thirteen members of the Cabinet were publicly executed 10 days later. Hundreds of government workers fled the country, while others were imprisoned. Thus, ended 133 years of Americo-Liberian political domination.
Doe became head of state and suspended the constitution, but promised a return to civilian rule by 1985. Despite two coup attempts in 1981, the government declared an amnesty for all political prisoners and exiles. Forty political prisoners were released in September of that year, and another 20 were released in December. A draft constitution providing for a multiparty republic was issued in 1983 and approved by referendum in 1984.
Many people welcomed Doe's takeover as a shift favoring the majority of the population that had been excluded from power. The new government, led by the leaders of the coup d'état and calling itself the People's Redemption Council (PRC), lacked experience and was ill prepared to rule. Soon there were internal rifts, and Doe began to systematically eliminate Council members who challenged his authority. Paranoid about the possibility of a counter-coup, Doe began to favor people of his own ethnic background, the Krahns, placing them in key positions. Meanwhile, the economy deteriorated precipitously and popular support for Doe's government soon evaporated.
[edit] Relations with the United States
Doe quickly re-established good relations with the United States and encouraged the U.S. to send economic and military aid.
After Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, support for Liberia was increased. Aid levels rose from about $20 million in 1979 to $75 million and then $95 million, for a total of $402 million between 1981 and 1985, more than the country received during the entire previous century. Ties with the Liberian army were strengthened; the military component of the aid package for this period was about $15 million, which was used for a greatly enlarged training program, barracks construction and equipment.
Doe quickly became an important Cold War ally, and Liberia served to protect important U.S. facilities and investments and to prevent the spread of so-called Soviet influence in Africa. Doe closed the Libyan mission in Monrovia and reduced the staff of the Soviet Embassy. He also reestablished diplomatic relations with Israel. As part of the expanding relationship, Doe agreed to a modification of the mutual defense pact granting staging rights on 24-hour notice at Liberia's sea and airports for the U.S. Rapid Deployment Force, which was trained to respond to security threats around the world.
[edit] Repression and corruption
At the same time, Doe's government grew increasingly corrupt and repressive, banning political opposition and shutting down newspapers. Human rights violations were frequent. A portion of U.S. aid was suspected of landing in Doe's own pocket.
Doe appointed Charles Taylor to run the General Services Agency. On May 24, 1984, Taylor was arrested in Somerville, Massachusetts, on a warrant for extradition to face charges of embezzling $922,000 of government funds. On September 15, 1985, Taylor escaped from jail and managed to flee the United States. Shortly thereafter, Taylor wound up in Libya where he underwent guerilla training under Muammar al-Gaddafi. Eventually he left Libya and used the training he gained there to begin a civil war in Liberia.
[edit] New constitution and elections
Doe attempted to legitimize his regime with a new constitution in 1984 and elections in 1985. However, opposition to his rule only increased, especially after the 1985 elections which were declared to be fraudulent by foreign observers.
In the elections of 15 October 1985, nine political parties sought to challenge Doe's National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), but only three were allowed to take part. Doe was elected with 51% of the vote, and the NDPL won 21 of the 26 Senate seats and 51 of the 64 seats in the House of Representatives. Foreign observers declared the elections fraudulent, and most of the elected opposition candidates refused to take their seats.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Chester Crocker testified before Congress that the election was imperfect but that at least it was a movement toward democracy. He further justified his statement with the claim that, in any case, all African elections were known to be rigged at that time.
Doe's corrupt government became more repressive, shutting down newspapers and banning political activity. The government's mistreatment of certain ethnic groups, particularly the Gio (or Dan) and the Mano in the north, resulted in divisions and violence among indigenous populations who until then had coexisted relatively peacefully.
[edit] Unsuccesssful coup attempt by Thomas Quiwonkpa
In November 1985, Samuel Doe's former second-in-command, Thomas Quiwonkpa, entered Liberia through Sierra Leone and attempted to topple Doe through another coup — the seventh since Doe took power. Quiwonkpa failed, and his body was dragged through the streets of Monrovia. Doe's Krahn-dominated government retaliated against the ethnic groups in Quiwonkpa's native Nimba County, causing widespread loss of life within the Gio and Mano communities.
[edit] First Liberian Civil War
[edit] Rebels trained in the Ivory Coast
The brutal treatment they faced at the hands of the Liberian army drove some indigenous northerners across the border to the Ivory Coast. There, Charles Taylor organized and trained many of them. Taylor had previously served as deputy minister of commerce under Doe, but was imprisoned for allegedly transferring millions of government funds into his own account. He was reported to have bribed his way out of a Massachusetts jail.
[edit] The rebellion begins
On December 24, 1989, Charles Taylor and a small group of Libyan-trained rebels calling themselves the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) entered Nimba County from neighboring Côte d'Ivoire and initiated a rebellion which became the Liberian Civil War.
The NPFL initially encountered plenty of support within Nimba County, which had endured the majority of Samuel Doe's wrath after the 1985 attempted coup. When Taylor and his force of 100 rebels reentered Liberia in 1989, on Christmas Eve, thousands of Gio and Mano joined them. While these formed the core of his rebel army, there were many Liberians of other ethnic backgrounds who joined as well.
The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) launched counterattacks against Taylor's forces. Tribal affiliations played a key role in the split between the Krahn, to which Doe and most of his adherents belonged, and the Gio and Mano people, who formed the bulk of the rebel forces. The rebel invasion soon pitted ethnic Krahn sympathetic to the Doe regime against those victimized by it, the Gio and the Mano. Thousands of civilians were massacred on both sides. Hundreds of thousands fled their homes.
By June 1990, Taylor's forces laid siege to Monrovia. In July 1990, Prince Yormie Johnson split from Taylor and formed the Independent National Patriotic Front (INPFL). The INPFL and NPFL continued their siege on Monrovia, which the AFL defended. Johnson quickly controlled parts of Monrovia prompting evacuation of foreign nationals and diplomats by the US Navy in August.
[edit] ECOMOG
In August 1990, the 16-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to deploy a joint military intervention force, the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), and place it under Nigerian leadership. The mission later included troops from non-ECOWAS countries, including Uganda and Tanzania. ECOMOG's objectives were to impose a cease-fire; help Liberians establish an interim government until elections could be held; stop the killing of innocent civilians; and ensure the safe evacuation of foreignnationals. ECOMOG also sought to prevent the conflict from spreading into neighboring states, which share a complex history of state, economic, and ethno-linguistic social relations with Liberia.
[edit] Capture, torture and execution of Doe
On September 9, 1990, Doe visited the ECOMOG headquarters in Monrovia, where officials urged him to accept exile outside of Liberia. At the time, ECOMOG was barely established in the Free Port of Monrovia. Doe was captured and taken to the INPFL's Caldwell base. The circumstances that led to Doe's visit to the Free Port are still unclear; however, after Doe arrived, Prince Johnson's INPFL attacked the headquarters and captured, tortured, and killed him. His torture and execution were videotaped by his captors.
[edit] Struggle for control of Monrovia
Johnson's INPFL and Taylor's NPFL continued to struggle for control of Monrovia in the months that followed. With military discipline absent and bloodshed throughout the capital region, members of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) created the Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) to restore order. The force comprised some 4,000 troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Guinea. The ECOMOG forces succeeded in bringing Doe and Johnson to agree to its intervention, but Taylor's forces engaged them in the port area of Monrovia. Since the area around the capital was the major contested territory during the war, it suffered the greatest damage—to infrastructure and industry.
Far from being able to restore order, ECOMOG found itself struggling simply to defend itself and was drawn into a deeper involvement in the civil strife. Over the course of several years, however, ECOMOS was finally successful in bringing the competing factions to the negotiation table.
[edit] Interim Government of National Unity
In November 1990, ECOWAS invited the principal Liberian players to meet in Banjul, Gambia to form a government of national unity. The negotiated settlement established the Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU), led by Dr. Amos Sawyer, leader of the LPP. Bishop Ronald Diggs of the Liberian Council of Churches became vice president. However, Taylor's NPFL refused to attend the conference.
Within days, hostilities resumed. ECOMOG was reinforced in order to protect the interim government. Sawyer was able to establish his authority over most of Monrovia, but the rest of Liberia was in the hands of various factions of the NPFL or of local gangs.
[edit] ULIMO
The United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) was formed in June 1991 by supporters of the late President Samuel Doe and former Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) fighters who had taken refuge in Guinea and Sierra Leone. It was led by Raleigh Seekie, a deputy Minister of Finance in the Doe government.
After fighting alongside the Sierra Leonean army against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), ULIMO forces entered western Liberia in September 1991. The group scored significant gains in areas held by another rebel group – the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), notably around the diamond mining areas of Lofa and Bomi counties.
From its outset, ULIMO was beset with internal divisions and the group effectively broke into two separate militias in 1994: ULIMO-J, an ethnic Krahn faction led by General Roosevelt Johnson and ULIMO-K, a Mandingo-based faction led by Alhaji G.V. Kromah.
The group was alleged to have committed serious violations of human rights, both before and after its breakup.
[edit] UNOMIL
On September 22, 1993, the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council established the U.N. Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL). It later deployed 368 militaryobservers and associated civilian personnel in early 1994 to monitor implementation of the abortive Cotonou Peace Agreement, prior to elections originally planned for February/March 1994. Renewed armed hostilities, however, broke out in May 1994 and continued, becoming especially intense in July and August. ECOMOG, and later UNOMIL, members were captured and held hostage by some factions. By mid-1994, the humanitarian situation had become disastrous, with 1.8 million Liberians in need of humanitarian assistance. Conditions continued to deteriorate, but humanitarian agencies were unable to reach many in need due to hostilities and general insecurity. Factional leaders agreed in September 1994 to the Akosombo Agreement, a supplement to the Cotonou agreement, named after the Ghanaian town where it was signed, but the security situation in Liberia remained poor. In October 1994, in the face of ECOMOG funding shortfalls and a lack of will by the Liberian combatants to honor agreements to end the war, the Security Council reduced to about 90 the number of UNOMIL observers. It extended UNOMIL's mandate, however, and subsequently extended it several times until September 1997. In December 1994, the factions and other parties signed the Accra Agreement, a supplement to the Akosombo Agreement, but disagreements ensued and fighting continued.
[edit] Ceasefire
In August 1995, six years of civil war came to a sudden end as the main factions signed the Abuja Accord, an agreement largely brokered by Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings. At a conference sponsored by ECOWAS, the United Nations and the United States, the European Union, and the Organization of African Unity, Charles Taylor agreed to a cease-fire and a timetable to demobilize and disarm his troops.
At the beginning of September 1995, Liberia's three principal warlords – Charles Taylor, George Boley and Alhaji Kromah – made theatrical entrances into Monrovia. A ruling council of six members took control of the country preparatory to elections that were originally scheduled for 1996. Simultaneous elections for the presidency and national assembly were finally held in July 1997. In a climate hardly conducive to free movement and security of persons, Taylor and his National Patriotic Party won an overwhelming victory against 12 other candidates. Assisted by widespread intimidation, Taylor took 75 per cent of the presidential poll (no other candidate won more than 10 per cent) while the NPP won a similar proportion of seats in both parliamentary chambers.
Liberians had voted for Taylor in the hope that he would end the bloodshed. The bloodshed did slow considerably, but it did not end. Violent events flared up regularly after the putative end of the war. Taylor, furthermore, was accused of backing guerrillas in neighboring countries and funneling diamond monies into arms purchases for the rebel armies he supported, and into luxuries for himself.
[edit] Impact
The 1989-1996 Liberian civil war, which was one of Africa's bloodiest, claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Liberians and further displaced a million others into refugee camps in neighboring countries. Entire villages were emptied as people fled.
Liberia's civil war claimed the lives of one out of every 17 people in the country, uprooted most of the rest, and destroyed a once-viable economic infrastructure. The strife also spread to Liberia's neighbors, contributing to a slowing of the democratization that was progressing steadily through West Africa at the beginning of the 1990s and destabilizing a region that already was one of the world's most marginal.
[edit] Ruth Perry
Ruth Perry was head of state from 3 September 1996 until 2 August 1997 as chairwoman of the Council of State, which governed Liberia following the overthrow and murder of former head of state Samuel K. Doe, and the end of the presidency of Amos Sawyer. The council of state consisted of a civilian chair, as well as members: Charles Taylor, United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-K leader Alhaji Kromah, Liberia Peace Council leader George Boley, and two other civilians. Although serving in a non-partisan capacity, Perry was a member of the National Democratic Party of Liberia.
[edit] Involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War
By the late 1990s reports indicated that Taylor was supporting the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. As a result, the UN imposed sanctions on the Liberian government, including the following:• An arms-importation ban • A ban on foreign travel by high-ranking members of the government and their immediate families • A ban on trading “blood diamonds”
[edit] Second Liberian Civil War
A new civil war began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighboring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), emerged in northern Liberia. By the spring of 2001 they were posing a major threat to the Taylor government. Liberia was now engaged in a complex three-way conflict with Sierra Leone and the Guinea Republic. By the beginning of 2002, both of these countries were supporting the latest addition to the lexicon of Liberian guerrilla outfits – Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), while Taylor was supporting various opposition factions in both countries. By supporting Sierra Leonean rebels, Taylor also drew the enmity of the British and Americans.
[edit] Siege of Monrovia
In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), emerged in the south, and by the summer of 2003, Taylor's government controlled only a third of the country. Despite some setbacks, by mid-2003 LURD controlled the northern third of the country and was threatening the capital. The capital Monrovia was besieged by LURD, and that group's shelling of the city resulted in the deaths of many civilians. Thousands of people were displaced from their homes as a result of the conflict. By the beginning of August, after a two-month siege, LURD had overrun parts of Monrovia.
[edit] U.S. intervention
The United States of America sent a small number of troops to bolster security around their embassy in Monrovia, which had come under attack. The U.S. also stationed a Marine Expeditionary Unit with 2300 Marines offshore while Nigeria sent in peacekeepers as part of a Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) force.
[edit] Return to democracy
On June 4, 2003 in Accra, Ghana, ECOWAS facilitated the inauguration of peace talks among the Government of Liberia, civil society, and the rebel groups called “Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy” (LURD) and “Movement for Democracy in Liberia” (MODEL). LURD and MODEL largely represent elements of the former ULIMO-K and ULIMO-J factions that fought Taylor during Liberia's previous civil war (1989-1996). By July 17, 2003 the Government of Liberia, LURD, and MODEL signed a cease-fire that envisioned a comprehensive peace agreement within 30 days. The three combatants subsequently broke that cease-fire repeatedly, which resulted in bitter fighting that eventually reached downtown Monrovia.
Also on June 4, 2003, the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone issued a press statement announcing the opening of a sealed March 7 indictment of Liberian President Charles Taylor for “bearing the greatest responsibility” for atrocities in Sierra Leone since November 1996. On August 11, 2003 under intense U.S. and international pressure, President Taylor resigned on August 11, 2003 as part of a peace agreement and was flown into exile in Nigeria. Vice-President Moses Blah replaced Taylor on an interim basis while a transitional government was being set up.
[edit] Transitional government
On August 18, leaders from the Liberian Government, the rebels, political parties, and civil society signed a comprehensive peace agreement that laid the framework for constructing a 2-year National Transitional Government of Liberia, effective October 14. On August 21, they selected businessman Charles Gyude Bryant as Chair and Wesley Johnson as Vice Chair of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL). Under the terms of the agreement the LURD, MODEL, and Government of Liberia each selected 12 members of the 76-member Legislative Assembly (LA). On October 14, Blah handed over power to Charles Gyude Bryant who was appointed Chairman of the transitional government in late 2003.
Because of failures of the Transitional Government in curbing corruption, Liberia signed onto GEMAP a novel anti-corruption program. The primary task of the transitional government was to prepare for fair and peaceful democratic elections. With UNMIL troops safeguarding the peace, Liberia successfully conducted presidential elections in the fall of 2005. Twenty three candidates stood for the October 11, 2005 general election, with the early favorite George Weah, internationally famous footballer, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and member of the Kru ethnic group expected to dominate the popular vote. No candidate took the required majority in the general election, so that a run-off between the top two vote getters, Weah and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, was necessary. The November 8, 2005 presidential runoff election was won decisively by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist. Both the general election and runoff were marked by peace and order, with thousands of Liberians waiting patiently in the Liberian heat to cast their ballots.
[edit] ECOMIL and UNMIL
These changes paved the way for the deployment by ECOWAS of what became a 3,600-strong peacekeeping mission in Liberia (ECOMIL). Since then, the United States has provided limited direct military support and $26 million in logistical assistance to ECOMIL and another $40 million in humanitarian assistance to Liberia.
In October 2003, the UN took over peacekeeping operations from ECOWAS and established the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). In the years that followed, active disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration and rebuilding efforts unfolded
Despite the accord with the rebels, fighting initially continued in parts of the country; tensions among the factions in the national unity government also threatened the peace. By the end of 2004, however, more than 100,000 Liberian fighters had been disarmed, the former government and rebel forces had agreed not to rearm, and the disarmament program was ended. In June 2004, a program to reintegrate the fighters into society began, but by year's end the funds proved inadequate. In light of the progress made, President Bryant requested an end to the UN embargo on Liberian diamonds and timber, but the Security Council postponed such a move until the peace was more secure. Bryant's government was hindered by corruption and a lack of authority in much of Liberia, but the peace enabled to the economy recover somewhat in 2004.
[edit] Liberian elections (2005)
First round presidential elections in October 2005 resulted in a run-off between ex-footballer George Weah and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a former World Bank economist amd finance minister. Weah proved hugely popular, particularly with the young and won the first round with 28% of the vote. However, his opponents argued Johnson-Sirleaf was better qualified for the job.
The second round of elections took place on November 8, 2005. Johnson-Sirleaf claimed victory of this round, winning 59 per cent of the vote. However, Weah alleged electoral fraud, despite international observers declaring the election to be free and fair. Although Weah was still threatening to take his claims to the Supreme Court if no evidence of fraud was found, Johnson-Sirleaf was declared president on November 23, making her the first woman president of Liberia and indeed of any African country.
[edit] Allegations of labor rights abuses by Firestone
A case against Firestone[20] brought by the International Labor Rights Fund states,
| “ | The Plantation workers allege, among other things, that they remain trapped by poverty and coercion on a frozen-in-time Plantation operated by Firestone in a manner identical to how the Plantation was operated when it was first opened by Firestone in 1926 | ” |
- Firestone's management rejects these allegations citing that the corporation has provided employment and pensions to thousands of Liberians as well as healthcare. The company also provides education and training opportunities to employees and their children.[21]
- In May 2006, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) released a report detailing the state of human rights on Liberia's rubber plantations. According to the report, Firestone managers in Liberia admitted that the company does not effectively monitor its own policy prohibiting child labor. UNMIL found that several factors contribute to the occurrence of child labor on Firestone plantations: pressure to meet company quotas, incentive to support the family financially, and lack of access to basic education. The report also noted that workers' housing provided by Firestone has not been renovated since the houses were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s.[22]
- In response to the accusations of child labor and poor housing in the UN report, Dan Adomitis; President of Firestone Natural Rubber Company Liberia; stated:
| “ | Well, in addition to the devastation that 15 years of civil war has caused, I think you need to understand another point -- during the 2003 fighting, we had thousands of refugees come to Harbel for the safety that it provided. When those people came, they occupied any open area of land that was available. They put up temporary housing made out of mud, out of bamboo, out of thatch, out of tarpaulin, out of corrugated steel. Anything that they could do to get shelter. And those conditions still exist. They are not Firestone housing, but they are on our property.[23] | ” |
| “ | We have very strict policies about child labor. We do not hire anybody under 18 years of age, and we discourage parents from bringing their children to the fields with them. We have a program with the Ministry of Labor in Liberia to - and also the union that represents our employees -- to educate parents about why they should not bring children with them into the field. And if we see incidents of this, we will cancel those employees, and if necessary, ultimately discipline them over such issue.[23] | ” |
[edit] Extradition and trial of Charles Taylor
Under international pressure, Sirleaf requested in March 2006 that Nigeria extradite Charles Taylor, who was then brought before an international tribunal in Sierra Leone to face charges of crimes against humanity, arising from events during the Sierra Leone civil war (his trial was later transferred to The Hague for security purposes). In June, 2006, the United Nations ended its embargo on Liberian timber, but continued its diamond embargo until an effective certificate of origin program was established, a decision that was reaffirmed in October.
In March 2007, former interim president Bryant was arrested and charged with having embezzled government funds while in office.
[edit] See also
- American Colonization Society
- Lott Carey, of Richmond, Virginia, the first American missionary to Liberia
- History of Africa
- History of West Africa
[edit] References
- ^ Kocher, Kurt Lee (April 1984). "A duty to America and Africa: A history of the independent African colonization movement in Pennsylvania." (pdf). Pennsylvania History 51.
- ^ Background on Conflict in Liberia. Friends Committee on National Legislation. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
- ^ History Of Liberia: A Time Line - Accessed January 2, 2008
- ^ Schick, Tom W. (1980). Behold the Promised Land: A History of Afro-American Settler Society in Nineteenth-Century Liberia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- ^ a b c World Statesmen.org: Liberia - retrieved July 3, 2006
- ^ a b On Afric's Shore: A History of Maryland in Liberia, 1834-1857, Maryland Historical Society, 2003.
- ^ "Liberia." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000
- ^ Liebenow
- ^ Duignan, Peter and Gann, L.H.
- ^ Johnston, Harry.. The Story of Life.
- ^ Sawyer, Amos. The Emergence of Autocracy in Liberia (San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press, 1992)
- ^ Guinness Book of Records 1982.
- ^ Report of the International Commission of Inquiry into The Existence of Slavery and Forced Labor in the Republic of Liberia. Washington year=1931: U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ Fred p.m. van der Kraaij, ‘The Open Door Policy of Liberia. An Economic history of Modern Liberia (Bremen, 1983), Chapter 2, The origins of the Closed Door Policies and Open Door Policies 1847-1947, pp. 12-46.
- ^ Hull, Cordell. The Memoirs of Cordell Hull, (Volume II, p. 1186),
- ^ The Story of Africa - Between World Wars (1914-1945). BBC World Service.
- ^ Stanley, William R. (August, 1994). "Trans-South Atlantic air link in World War II". GeoJournal 33. Springer Netherlands. doi:.
- ^ Missions for Science: U.S. Technology and Medicine in America's African World. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-3067-9.
- ^ Peter Dennis (May 2006). "A Brief History of Liberia". . The International Center for Transitional Justice Retrieved on July 2007.
- ^ Firestone Claim. socialfunds.com.
- ^ Firestone Briefing. lantos.house.org.
- ^ Human Rights in Liberia's Rubber Plantations: Tapping into the Future pp. 45-46. United Nations Mission in Liberia. Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
- ^ a b Is Firestone Exploiting Liberian Workers?. cnn.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
[edit] Further reading
- Boley, G.E. Saigbe, Liberia: The Rise and Fall of the First Republic. New York: MacMillan Publishers, 1983
- Cassell, C. Abayomi, Liberia: The History of the First African Republic. New York: Fountainhead Publishers', Inc, 1970.
- Dunn, Elwood D., and Hails, Svend E., Historical Dictionary of Liberia. African Historical Dictionaries Series. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press, 1985.
- Johnston, Harry, Liberia. London: Hutchinson, 1906.
- Liebenow, J. Gus, Liberia: the Quest for Democracy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.
- Nelson, Harold D., ed., Liberia: A Country Study. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985.
- Shick, Tom W., Behold the Promised Land: The History of Afro-American Settler Society in Nineteenth-Century Liberia. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980
- Smith, James Wesley, Sojourners in Search of Freedom: The Settlement of Liberia of Black Americans. Lanham: University Press of America, 1987.
- Staudenraus, P.J., The African Colonization Movement, 1816 - 1865. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961; reprint, New York: Octagon Books, 1980.
[edit] External links
- Liberia - Entry on Liberia from the 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia.
- Article Liberia, from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1910 edition, from EB 1911
- History of Liberia - Offers a history of Liberia from 1461 to the present.
- The Liberian Post - Extensive background information with links and photos.
- Liberian Law - Cornell Law Library - contains digitized documents dealing with the creation of the nation of Liberia and the laws enacted at its foundation, as well as extensive links for further research
- Rulers
- West Africa
- U.S. Library of Congress exhibition, based on materials deposited by the ACS.
- A View of Liberian History and Government: a critical view of the ACS
- CIA World Factbook : Liberia
- BBC Country Profile : Liberia
- Art and Life in Africa : Liberia
- Timeline Liberia
- History of Liberia: a Timeline, from Library of Congress
- Political Resources on the Net: Liberia
- For the Record: Liberia, from UN Human Rights System
