Conclusion: A History of Liberia

Map of Liberia, retrieved from
 http://www.aefjn.org/index.php/info-africa/articles/info-on-liberia.html

The Republic of Liberia is a country located in the Sub-Saharan region of West Africa. It borders the countries of Sierra Leone to the west, Guinea to the north, the Ivory Coast in the east, and the Atlantic Ocean in the south.[1] As one of Africa’s oldest republics, Liberia became an independent nation in 1847 and they modeled their country after that of the United States. However, in recent times Liberia has faced many issues. In 1990 and again in 2003 Liberia faced two civil wars which destroyed the country’s economy and infrastructure. At least eighty five percent of Liberia’s modern-day population lives below the poverty line.[2] In order to understand why Liberia is the way it is today it is important to understand how the geography, arts, religion, and outside contacts have affected Liberia over time.

Liberia's Flag, retrieved from
http://www.aefjn.org/index.php/info-africa/articles/info-on-liberia.html

The geography of Liberia is diverse. The landscape varies from rolling coastal plains to tropical rainforest to low mountains. Liberia’s location near the equator gives it a steady year round temperature that is both tropical and humid. This geography has helped and hindered Liberia throughout its history. The coastline, for instance, offered a convenient location for freed American slaves to relocate to Africa but yet the year round climate provides the perfect environment for deadly diseases to flourish.[3] Liberia’s music and art has also played an important part of the country’s history. Music has been one of the main highlights of Liberian culture, especially to the indigenous people. They have used “talking instruments” to mimic the tone, rhythm, intonations, and stress of human speech in order to record stories or to perform traditional rituals.[4] Among more recent history though is the symbolism portrayed in Liberia’s national flag. Inspired by the United States of America, Liberia’s flag has eleven horizontal red and white stripes with a white five-pointed star on a blue square in the upper left hand corner. The cultural and historical significance is that Liberia was in fact founded by the American Colonization Society in 1821 who acquired the land from local tribal chief as a sanctuary for freed African slaves from America. Liberia then became free of colonial control after their Declaration of Independence in 1847. The white star represents freedom, the blue square represents the African mainland, and the eleven stripes represent the eleven signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence.[5] Religion has also played an important role in Liberia’s history. When the Americo-Liberian settlers landed during the 1800s the indigenous population used the term Kwi to differentiate between the two groups. Kwi is known as a style of Christian worship where the church is marked by formality and decorum. Unlike the westernized Kwi population, the non-Kwi indigenous groups practiced Christianity with buoyant dancing, street processions, and colorful costumes. Christianity is in fact the dominating religion of Liberia but throughout history there has still been a small percentage that practiced Islam and indigenous beliefs, especially witchcraft.[6]



Modern-day anthropologists believe that what is now known as Liberia was first settled around 3000 B.C by different groups of people from other areas of Africa. The harsh living conditions from the Sahara Desert initially caused these different tribes to relocate in search of fertile soil and game. These different groups of survivalist intermingled and created several different cultures. The first known outsiders to visit Liberia, however, were a group of Portuguese explorers in 1461 led by Pedro de Sintra. These European contacts opened up trade routes developed between Europe and coastal Liberia. One of the most important contacts was of course the Americo-Liberians who became the elite ruling class, modeling their country after that of America. Ultimately it was the American settlers that arrived in 1822 that tremendously affected the national and cultural identity of Liberia. The country itself was named after liberty. The nation’s origin as a colony of free blacks who were relocated to Africa from the United States in the early nineteenth century made up Liberia’s elite ruling class. While they only constituted about five percent of the population the rest of Liberia’s population belonged to different ethno linguistic groups of the Niger-Congo family. When Liberia first emerged, the administration was led by white administrators appointed by the American Colonization Society, but by 1847 the Americo-Liberians declared themselves independent of American colonial control. The Americo-Liberians were “westernized” holding American-styled cultural and social values.[7]

Sweet Land of Liberty, retrieved from
http://www.foundationforwomen.org/blog/307/

As it was shown Liberia’s geography, arts, religions, and outside contacts have heavily influenced the history of Liberia. Liberia is one of the poorest counties in the modern-day world. While the country is rich in natural resources and was steady in earlier times, the economy has been ravaged from recent civil wars and political upheavals. Liberia is rich in history but has faced many obstacles. The geography, arts, religions, and first contacts have led Liberia to the country it is today.

[1] “Liberia-geography”, Liberian Media Center, 2008, accessed March 6, 2015, http://www.liberiamediacenter.org/geography.html.


[2] SAGE Reference, s.v. “Liberia,” accessed March 6, 2015, http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3718400268&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=080126ba8897bd83f15e411194c9978a


[3] “Geography of Liberia”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Liberia.


[4] “The Talking Drum”, Stream Africa, accessed March 6, 2015, http://streamafrica.com/culture/culture-of-africa/#.


[5] “National Flag of Liberia”, World Flags 101, http://www.worldflags101.com/l/liberia-flag.aspx.


[6] “Liberia”, http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/liberia.


[7] Ken R. Wells, “Liberian Americans,” Countries and Their Cultures, accessed March 6, 2015, http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Le-Pa/Liberian-Americans.html.