The Country of Liberia
This paper is about a small country on the west coast of Africa called Liberia.
It is a country built with the help of The American Colonization Society. It was
established to place freed blacks in the days of slavery in the United States in
the 1800s. The government was modeled after the United States. Monrovia, the
capital and principal, port is named after a president of the united states,
James Monroe. This country has historical significance for african Americans.
As Africa's oldest republic, established by former black American slaves,
Liberia played and important role as a model for African colones seeking
independence.
HISTORY
Liberia's tribal peoples migrated to the area between the 12th and 16th
centuries. The Portuguese arrived in 1461 and began a trade in ivory, pepper,
and later in slaves. In 1820, the first colonists arrived. Their successful
settlement was named Monrovia in 1824. More colonists gradually arrived and
established separate colonies. In 1847 the colonies united and Liberia became
the first independent republic in black Africa.
The new nation faced many problems. Some of them were tribal wars, low
exports, and land claimed by other countries. Liberia was able to maintain its
independence only with the help of the United States. Following World War II,
the modern port, airport, hospitals, hydroelectric station, and other projects,
all financed by the United States, were opened. There has been frequent
military conflicts and civil wars. In August 1990, forces from several African
countries entered Liberia to try and stop the bloody civil wars. The fighting
only became worse and the Prospects of a negotiated settlement were dim.
LAND AND RESOURCES
Liberia's straight sandy coast is 350 miles long. It is broken by
lagoons and mangrove swamps. It gives way to a low rolling plain about 20 miles
wide. Further inland, foothills ranging in height from 600 to 1000 feet high
are found. They become mountains in the north and east. The highest point in
the country is Mt. Wutuvi which rises to 4,531 feet. Land area of the country
is 43,000 square miles.
Liberia's rivers are short and flow parallel to one another from the
mountains to the ocean. The largest rivers are the St. Paul, St. John, and
Cavalla.
Liberia's tropical climate is hot and humid. The usual temperature
ranges from 60 degrees to 87 degrees. Annual rainfall, as much as 177 inches at
the coast, gradually decreases inland to 96 inches. The rainy season occurs
between May and October. A dusty winter wind blows during December.
There are 90 different kind of usable wood in Liberia's vast timber
resources. Mineral resources include large deposits of iron ore, diamonds, and
Sandikhola has a population of 456 people. Majority of these people make a living from farming. (2014 EWB Challenge Resources)
Reconstruction(1865-1877) was the time period in which the US rebuilt after the Civil War. During this time, the question the rights of freed slaves in the United States were highly debated. Freedom, in my terms, is the privilege of doing as you please without restriction as long as it stays within the law. However, in this sense, black Americans during the Reconstruction period were not truly free despite Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. While legally free, black Americans were still viewed through the lens of racism and deeply-rooted social biases/stigmas that prevented them from exercising their legal rights as citizens of the United States. For example, black Americans were unable to wholly participate in the government as a
In this paper I will show that the Freedmen’s Bureau was able to affect positive transition of blacks after the civil war despite the lack of support from the federal government. I will first give you a description of the Freedmen’s Bureau. I will discuss what the Freedmen’s Bureau was created to do and the social environment they operated in. Next I will talk about some of the programs the Freedmen’s Bureau operated that positively impacted the transition from slavery for many black people. Finally I will show how those programs helped black transition.
Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388). Such restrictions included: “No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish...No public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset…” (Louisiana Black Codes 1865). A solution to this was the 14th Amendment. It meant now all people born in America were citizens and it “Prohibited states from revoking one’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This meant all states had to...
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Until the late 19th century, America was not an imperialist nation in the sense that the western European nations were. The wars with Native Americans were not so much a colonization effort as it was sheer conquest. Imperialism is an oppression of a foreign land and people for the purpose of enhancing the economy and political prowess of the imperialist nation, as well as enforcing the imperialist nation’s culture and often religion on the native population. The Native American oppression was too domestic to be considered imperialism, and was done strictly for the land and the American belief in Manifest Destiny. In short, the Indian wars were no more imperialistic then the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire or the NAZI invasion of Europe. As a nation, America did not become imperialistic until the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, under whom the U.S. acquired its first foreign colony. America did have a significant influence in Liberia, despite a void of military presence. The American government’s allowance of slavery and the ensuing anti-slavery campaign led to the rise of the American Colonization Society (ACS) in 1817. The ACS, headed by Robert Finley, bought land on the West Coast of Africa in what is now called Liberia. This project was funded by members of the ACS and the American government, the latter of which donated one hundred thousand dollars in 1819. The ACS had a very strong influence in the American government due to some of its most prominent members, who included James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Francis Scott Key, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay.
Priscilla. “The World Economy and Africa.” JSpivey – Home – Wikispaces. 2010. 29 January 2010. .
The freeing of the slaves constituted freedom de jure, but de facto slavery came into full effect in 1865-1866, when white sout...
of about -9° C (about 16° F) and an average July temperature of about 22° C
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