Sidebar #1: A Brief History of Liberia

"I would rather, if need be, bury them on these free, sunny shores, myself alone at midnight, or trust them in the forest to the tender mercies of the African hyena...than to leave them as drudges in America…"
--Liberian Immgrant --c1850's

Liberia's history begins right here in the United States of America. Even in the early 1800's, the issue of slavery was hotly a debated topic. Free blacks, abolitionists and many religious leaders were among those strongly against slavery. On the other end were wealthy southern American farmers who were spearheading the South's economic growth. Even Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1820, "Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate, than that these people are to be free…". Obviously, we know now that Thomas Jefferson was extremely "down with the brown" and was ready to capitalize on the benefits of emancipation. When he was not busy creating universities or writing the Declaration of Independence, TJ spent tireless hours on his business plan for a chain of adult entertainment establishments for "former mandatory day laborettes".

In 1816, a group of whites (led by University of Georgia president Reverend Robert Finley) founded [inhale] The American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United States [exhale]. This group met in Washington, D.C. to discuss the idea of removing African-Americans from the United States by colonization. After several elderly members passed out from lack of oxygen after saying 'The American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United States', someone within the organization had the smarts to shorten the name to the American Colonization Society or ACS. The ACS basically believed that blacks would never be equal in America, and America should facilitate their resettlement somewhere in Africa. Kinda like busing, but the other way around..and this time with sailing ships instead of Bluebirds.

The ACS had several prominent members within its ranks;famous Kentucky congressman and diplomat Henry Clay, ACS secretary and U.S. Supreme Court clerk Elias B. Caldwell, and "Star Spangled Banner" author Francis Scott Key. George Washington's nephew and Phi Beta Kappa man Bushrod Washington was elected president of the ACS at the D.C. conference.

It should be noted that the debate among blacks was as heated. Some did not want to go to Africa and felt that America was their home. Black Abolitionist David Walker was quoted as saying "America is more our country than it is the whites--we have enriched with our blood and tears." Yet others felt that they would never get fair treatment or equality in America and welcomed the idea of repatriation.

A few years later in 1819, the ACS' activities caught the ear of U.S. President James Monroe. That same year, Congress authorized the US Navy to seize any ship carrying black slaves. Though the importation of slaves had been banned in the US some 10 years ago, slave runners were still slipping through the cracks. Coincidentally, the law also required the President to resettle the freed prisoners "beyond the limits of the United States." Monroe worked out an agreement with the ACS. The U.S. government would pick up the bill for 300 people to migrate to Africa. This included basic supplies to start a colony. In exchange, the ACS would handle all of the other details like transportation, paperwork and Dramamine. In 1820, the first settlers set sail on a chartered ship called the Elizabeth. Unfortunately, shortly after landing, the Yellow Fever (delivered by the African Air Force) killed many of the settlers. The remaining survivors returned back to America. A new group set out the following year--this time more successful than the first. On April 25, 1822, these settlers raised the American flag, named their fledgling colony Liberia and also named the capital city Monrovia--in honor of U.S. President James Monroe.

The new Liberians quickly encountered the native population and eventually fought skirmishes over land and other resources. The uppity settlers found the native Africans barbaric with their primitive huts and nakedness. The native Africans were unsettled by the newcomers' sense of entitlement to their ancestral lands. The natives also wondered what sort of a idiots wore hot-ass wool 5-piece suits in the middle of equatorial Africa. After uneasy truces, the natives were allowed to live within the colony. However, it was not as equals. The natives were obligated to pay taxes, but could not vote. And in the ultimate irony, the native Africans were literally whipped for their transgressions--just as slaves were back in America. The book This, Our Dark Country by Catherine Reef documents an interesting exchange:

"In 1840 a new immigrant in Monrovia was horrified to hear other colonists say that "the best way to civilize these Natives is with [gun]powder and ball. " The newcomer remarked, "I wonder to think that people who themselves have but just been redeemed from fetters should...look with an evil eye upon the freedom of others…"

I guess you can take the African-American out of America, but you can't take the America out of an African-American. Or something like that... Nonetheless, after growing weary of lukewarm leadership by America-sent officials, the Liberians voted to become Africa's first independent republic in October of 1846. Months later, elected Liberian delgates drafted a Declaration of Independence and Constitution on July 26, 1847. Back in America, the government in Washington (who was a bit weary of the bills and realized that colonization should probably be left to the French) said "Uhhmmm....Ok...Whatever, dudes."

Just like that, Liberia was officially an independent nation.

One month later, the new Liberian flag was raised over Monrovia. The flag had eleven stripes (to commemorate the eleven signers of the Liberian Declaration of Independence) and a single, large white star (where we would put our 50) that represented one united country. And we all know that you ain't nothin' without a flag!