Re-Examining Liberian History

Jabari Lamb

For those who are unaware, 2022 is significant in Liberian and African-American History. It’s Liberia’s Bicentennial. What makes this significant? This year marks the 200th anniversary of when the first African-Americans arrived in Providence Island. This would lead to the creation of Christopolis which today is known as Monrovia.

Despite the significance of this year in history, if you go on Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and other social media outlets you’ll rarely hear it being discussed. It’s as if it never happened. This can be due to factors such as Liberia not marketing out the Bicentennial enough to the broader public and what I think is the biggest factor: Liberian history and the way it’s told.

When Liberian history is talked about it’s talked about in a certain narrative. Often the narrative is told through the lens of a negative, western-oriented, and propagandistic perspective. For those who’ve heard of Liberian history it usually goes like this: Liberia was founded by freed slaves (they would later be called Americo-Liberians) from the United States. The freed slaves ended up oppressing the natives, treating them exactly like whites treated them back in America.

I’ve heard this narrative so many times that if I bet a dollar for every time someone said this, I’d be rich. This narrative has been put on autopilot. The inaccuracies of this narrative are so plentiful that it leaves me irate. The way Liberian history is treated especially in the context of why the African Diaspora shouldn’t be allowed to migrate to the continent en masse is disingenuous and must be corrected.

There’s so much to unpack. When I hear this narrative, I fume about it because it strips these African-Americans of their autonomy. It further perpetuates anti-black (afrophobic) stereotypes by treating them as if they were incapable of governing themselves and having their own vision of the world. It also perpetuates the afrophobic stereotype that Africans are primitive with no advanced civilizations or military power. In reality, many of these indigenous groups had powerful kingdoms with formidable militaries such as the Kondo Confederation, Bassa Kingdom, and Grebo Kingdom. The African-Americans and Liberia as a nation couldn’t have survived without the support of indigenous rulers and kingdoms.

Many of those who went to Liberia weren’t ignorant and trying to replicate American society. They were educated men and women. James Skivring Smith, the 6th president of Liberia was the second African-American in the United States to receive a medical degree after David J. Peck. James Spriggs Payne, the 4th president was skilled in politics and the economy and wrote a book about the political economy in Liberia. He also justified why Liberia should separate from the United States. Liberian women had more autonomy than women in the United States. First Lady Jane Waring Roberts could speak multiple languages and was influential in the pan-African movement attending the Pan-African Conference in 1900. Augustus Washington, one of the few African-American photographers(daguerrotypists) of his time emigrated to Liberia. The first African-American president of a college, Martin Henry Freeman emigrated to Liberia. Denmark Vesey, who was planning to start a major revolt in Charleston, South Carolina, his wife Susan emigrated to Liberia along with her children on the Hercules.

Another narrative that must debunked was that African-Americans didn’t want to be African or integrate with the indigenous counterparts. Stephen Allen Benson could speak multiple indigenous languages. These African-Americans named many things in reference to Africa. Example of this include the newspapers Africa’s Luminary in 1839 and the African Nationalist. They spoke about the significance of Ancient Egypt contributing to African civilization. They spoke about Liberia being an example to uplift African people around the world. Indigenous Liberians were integral to survival of Liberia. Indigenous Liberians worked with African-Americans to ensure Liberian sovereignty and against slavery.

These include King Boatswain, King Peter, and King Ibrahima Sissi. When Liberia gained its independence relegated to just a strip of land on the coastline, it was a collaboration with the indigenous population that allowed Liberia to be protected and grow. Indigenous Liberians were in political positions of power and society. Pleyono Gbe Wolo was the first African to gain a degree from Harvard University. The Grebo people were in the House of Representatives during the administration of Alfred Francis Russell in the 1880s. Henry Too Wesley was the first vice president of Indigenous descent elected in the 1920s. Momulu Massaquoi, the son of a Vai king attempted to run for president against Edwin Barclay in the 1930s.

The narrative that is the most inflammatory and provocative is the notion that African-Americans enslaved the Indigenous population. I roll my eyes to prevent my body temperature from boiling. The African-Americans who went to Liberia were vehemently anti-slavery. Liberian historian C. Patrick Burrowes encapsulates the sentiments with the words of Hilary Teague, the author of Liberia’s Declaration of Independence in his book, From Virginia Slave to African Statesman, Hilary Teague (1805–1853): “Every emotion of our soul- the last vestige of every idea within us, is opposed to slavery. We regard it with unmitigated and increasing hatred; we therefore hail the signs of its approaching downfall with an almost rapturous delight.” Furthermore, when the African-Americans arrived on the Windward Coast, slavery was a thriving business.

There was even a massacre of African-Americans over the slave trade called the Port Cresson Massacre by King Joe of the Bassa people. Liberia provided a safe haven for African recaptives, Africans who were supposed to be sold into slavery in the Americas but the ships were seized and they were freed on the conditions that they were provided a home in Africa. In this instance that would be Liberia. Infamous Liberia scandal of the 1920s-1930s that occurred under Charles D.B. King and resulted in his resignation concluded that slavery wasn’t being practiced in Liberia. This is elaborated in the Christy Report.

Liberia captivated the imagination of millions of Africans, Afro-Caribbeans, and African-Americans. There are towns named after Liberia in the United States such as in Florida and the Carolinas. Even before the ACS was involved in Liberia, the idea that African-Americans should return to Africa was being advocated by African-American leaders decades earlier such as with Prince Hall, the creator of the first black fraternal organization and Paul Cuffe, the wealthiest black man of his time. After Liberia declared independence, emigration societies sprung up across the African-American community. The Exodusters who migrated to Kansas had their sight on Liberia. They were stopped because they didn’t have the necessary financial means to emigrate. Henry Adams had received the signatures of over 98,000 African-American men, women, and children who desired to emigrate to Liberia but as with the Exodusters, the possibility of being able send that many people there was financially not feasible. Benjamin “Pap” Singleton established the United Transatlantic Society. Marcus Garvey’s UNIA was set on Liberia along with Mittie Maude Lena Gordon’s Peace Movement of Ethiopia. Other societies that sprung up included the African Jubilee Emigration Society, African Civilization Society, Liberian Exodus Association, and the International Migration Society.

As the Liberia Bicentennial continues, Liberians and African-Americans have something to be proud of. Nothing is perfect. Every nation has its problems and suffers from crises. It’s now our time to take back the narrative and to control how Liberia is viewed to the world. When misinformation spreads about Liberia, correct them and challenge their statements. We control our image and it’s time that African-Americans and Liberians change the narrative in a way that reflects the dreams of our founding mothers and fathers and pan-African leaders. Liberia was meant to be a home for African-Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, and all Africans across the globe. Now is the time to make their visions come true. Let the ancestors see us from above with smiles on their faces and tears of joy in their eyes.

About the author: Jabari Lamb Civil Engineer, Writer, and Political Advocate. Reshaping the narrative about Liberia, the continent of Africa and African-American History.