Liberian independence proclaimed
Liberian independence proclaimed
The Republic of Liberia, formerly a colony of the American Colonization Society, declares its independence. Under pressure from Britain, the United States hesitantly accepted Liberian sovereignty, making the West African nation the first democratic republic in African history. A constitution modeled after the U.S. Constitution was approved, and in 1848 Joseph Jenkins Roberts was elected Liberia’s first president.
The American Colonization Society was founded in 1816 by American Robert Finley to return formerly enslaved African Americans to Africa. In 1820, the first formerly enslaved people arrived at the British colony of Sierra Leone from the United States, and in 1821 the American Colonization Society founded the colony of Liberia south of Sierra Leone as a homeland for formerly enslaved people outside British jurisdiction.
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The American Colonization Society came under attack from U.S. abolitionists, who charged that the removal of the formerly enslaved from the United States strengthened the institution of slavery.