4.
Liberia
The portraits at right of African American leaders in Liberia were taken by Augustus Washington, a free black man convinced that the "true home" for the African American was in Africa. Washington and the men he photographed were in the minority among black Americans, most of whom opposed emigration and colonization proposals as veiled attempts to exile all black people from the United States. Between 1820 and 1864, only 11,000 African Americans emigrated to Liberia [4,000 free blacks and 7,000 former slaves who gained freedom by agreeing to emigrate to Liberia].1 The significance here is not in numbers but in the meaning that Liberia held for African Americans in the 1800s. Was Liberia a welcome haven or just a new form of plantation servitude?
- Letters from Peyton Skipwith. Born enslaved in Virginia in 1800, Peyton Skipwith was emancipated at age 33 by his owner, John Hartwell Cocke, who espoused the migration of freed slaves to Liberia, the west African colony founded in 1821 by the American Colonization Society. In 1833 Cocke sent Skipwith with his wife and six children to Liberia. For over thirty years they wrote letters to him; five letters from Peyton Skipwith are presented here. Cocke's letters to the Skipwith family, however, have been lost. [Peyton's brother, George, was an overseer at Cocke's Alabama plantation. His letters to Cocke are included in Theme II: ENSLAVEMENT: #4, Driver].
- Letters from Samson Ceasar and the former slaves of J. H. Terrell. From the University of Virginia Electronic Text Center Rare come two sets of letters from former Virginian slaves resettled in Liberia—six letters from Simon Ceasar [five to his former slaveholder] and forty-four letters from the former slaves of James Hunter Terrell. We recommend all six of Ceasar's letters; and, from the Terrell letters, note especially those written by Mary Michie, Hugh Walker, William Douglass [to Rev. Slaughter, Dr. Minor, and "a friend"], Henry and Millie Franklin, David Scott, and Maria Barrett [to Dr. Minor].
- Daguerreotypes of Liberian leaders. The son of a former slave, Augustus Washington learned to produce daguerreotype photographs while at Dartmouth College and later opened a studio in Hartford, Connecticut. Here we view fourteen of his portraits of African American emigrants in Liberia, as exhibited by the National Portrait Gallery [Smithsonian]. How does Washington pose his subjects? How do they present themselves? How do their portraits define the leadership of the new country? [Washington's portraits of wealthy white residents of Hartford are included in Theme IV: IDENTITY, #5, Artists.]
Discussion questions
- How do African American emigrants to Liberia respond to the new country and their new lives?
- How do their lives change over the years in Liberia?
- What do they communicate about their lives to their former slaveholders?
- What do they request in their letters?
- What messages to relatives do they transmit in their letters?
- Where are they most open and direct in their letters, as far as you can determine?
- How does Augustus Washington pose his subjects? How do they present themselves?
- How do their portraits define the leadership of the new country?
- For the letter writers and for Augustus Washington, is Liberia a welcome haven or a new form of plantation servitude?
- Consider these readings and photographs in light of the debate among black Americans on colonization proposals. [See IDENTITY: #8, Emigration]. What did Liberia come to symbolize in the debate for both sides?
1 "A Durable Memento: Portraits by Augustus Washington, African American Daguerreotypist," exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1999-2000; online exhibition at www.npg.si.edu/exh/awash/.
Images: Philip Coker [Chaplain of the Senate of Liberia], John Hanson [Senator from Bassa County], and James Priest [later Vice President of Liberia], in Liberia, ca. 1837, daguerreotypes attributed to Augustus Washington. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Daguerreotype Collection.
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The establishment of Liberia is linked to the abolition of slavery in the West, and the growing population of free African-Americans in the United States. In the early 1800’s an alliance of diverse interest groups, including white abolitionists, clergymen, and slave-owners, formed the American Colonial Society [ACS] to look at the option of resettling African-Americans in Africa. Some wished to rid the United States of free black people who might challenge the institution of slavery, and others were pessimistic that blacks and whites could ever live together in peace. The society, funded mainly by Presbyterian churches that saw opportunities for evangelizing, began sending groups in 1820. Between 1821 and 1867 some ten thousand freed slaves were resettled on the Atlantic Coast of West Africa, as well as several thousand more from interdicted slave ships and Barbados. The first group founded the colony of Liberia, “Land of the Free.” In 1847, the Liberians formally declared their independence from the ACS, creating the world’s first black republic.[1]
Americo-Liberian Rule: 1847–1980
Americo-Liberians governed Liberia as a one-party state for 133 years. Their rule heavily influenced the development of Liberia, by introducing English as national language and a Western political and social structure. Under Americo-Liberian leadership, the country was relatively stable. Through an elaborate patronage system, the Congo were able to satisfy all groups more or less equally by rewarding their leaders in return for loyalty and collecting taxes. The economy, which at first found it difficult to gain entry into markets dominated by colonial powers, was eventually supported by American foreign investment. In the 1920’s, the Firestone tire company took over 4% of the territory for the world’s largest rubber plantation, which provided a model for other plantation developments and provided the Americo-Liberians with significant cash resources.[2] In the post-World War II period, Liberia had its most prosperous years under President Tubman [1944-1971].[3]
However, at the same time the Americo-Liberians had a virtually segregationist policy. They rarely intermarried, membership of the only recognized party was limited to Americo-Liberians, and Liberians who couldn’t prove Congo heritage [95% of the population] were excluded from serving in the government or military until the 1970’s. Indeed, indigenous populations were not even recognized as citizens until 1904. As a result, the Americo-Liberians only governed the settlements and territories along the coast. Infrastructure, education, and other services barely entered the so-called “hinterland” of inland Liberia until well into the twentieth century.
In the 1970’s, after most of the world had been decolonized, frustration with the repressive state structure began to grow among Americo-Liberians and newly educated indigenous Liberians. After demonstrations against rising food prices were violently put down by the Tolbert government, an indigenous sergeant in the army called Samuel Doe led a coup d’état. Tolbert and 13 members of his cabinet were executed, Doe claimed the position of head of state, bringing an end to the Americo-Liberian rule in 1980.[4]
[1] Liberian independence was recognized immediately by Britain and France, but the United States refused to recognize it until 1867.
[2] Ellis 2007, p. 44.
[3] Ibid., pp. 47-50.
[4] The United States is widely believed to have had a role in Tolbert’s downfall and the installation of Doe as leader. Tolbert, unlike the strongly pro-American leaders before him, had started to open Liberia to the Soviets, a development not supported by the U.S., which had a large commercial, political and military presence in Liberia at this time, including their whole of Africa headquarters [Ellis, 2007, p. 52]. It is notable that they did not warn Tolbert of the impending coup or seek to protect him.