LiberiaData

The settlers who built the Liberian colony came from the United States carrying with them the culture, values, language, religion, and social habits of early 19th century American society. They called themselves Americo, Liberians, and they understood themselves, even in the middle of the African continent as Americans. Their aspirations were American: representative government, property rights, Christian faith, and the civic culture of the early republic.

Cultural Identity

Americo, Liberian settlers dressed in American styles; women in hoop skirts, men in tailcoats, even in the tropical climate. They built wooden houses in the architectural tradition of the American South. They established churches affiliated with American Protestant denominations, schools modeled on American institutions, and social organizations that replicated the structure of free Black American communities in cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Hierarchy and Exclusion

The relationship between the Americo, Liberian settlers and the indigenous population was hierarchical and, in important ways, replicated the racial logic that the settlers themselves had fled. The Americo, Liberian elite pursued a policy of cultural assimilation, encouraging or requiring indigenous people to adopt Christian religion, Western dress, and English language education as conditions of social advancement and, eventually, citizenship.

Class Structure Within the Community

The class structure within Americo, Liberian society itself was stratified. At the boundary between Americo, Liberians and indigenous Liberians were the ‘Congos’; Africans rescued from slave ships by the U.S. Navy and brought ashore in Liberia. Over time, the Congo and Americo, Liberian communities merged. This society, proud of its achievement, carrying the wounds of what had been done to it in America, and reproducing structures of domination; declared independence in 1847 and governed Liberia for the next 133 years. For the political consequences, see After Independence — True Whig Party Era.

Sources:
History Today [14];
EBSCO Research Starters [9];
Migration Policy Institute [15];
ICTJ [10]