Liberia and Ethiopia stand out in African history for their unique paths to independence, setting them apart from the widespread European colonization of the continent. While Liberia was founded by freed American slaves, Ethiopia maintained its sovereignty through military resistance, with a brief period of Italian occupation.
The Founding of Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. It has a population of around 5.5 million and covers an area of 43,000 square miles (111,369 km2). The official language is English, but over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, reflecting the country's ethnic and cultural diversity.
Liberia began in the early 19th century as a project of the American Colonization Society (ACS), which believed that black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. Between 1822 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born African Americans, along with 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to Liberia.
Gradually developing an Americo-Liberian identity, the settlers carried their culture and tradition with them while colonizing the indigenous population. On July 26, 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and promulgated a constitution. The leadership of the new nation consisted largely of the Americo-Liberians, who at the beginning established political and economic dominance in the coastal areas that the ACS had purchased; they maintained relations with the United States and contacts in developing these areas and the resulting trade.
The ACS, supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believed "repatriation" was preferable to having emancipated slaves remain in the United States. Similar state-based organizations established colonies in Mississippi-in-Africa, Kentucky in Africa, and the Republic of Maryland, which Liberia later annexed.
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These free African Americans and their descendants married within their community and came to identify as Americo-Liberians. Many were of mixed race and educated in American culture; they did not identify with the indigenous natives of the tribes they encountered.
Challenges in Early Liberia
Mortality from tropical diseases was high-of the 4,571 emigrants who arrived in Liberia between 1820 and 1843, only 1,819 survived. The Americo-Liberian settlers did not relate well to the indigenous peoples they encountered, especially those in communities of the more isolated areas. The colonial settlements were raided by the Kru and Grebo from their inland chiefdoms. Encounters with indigenous people in rural areas often became violent.
Believing themselves different from and culturally and educationally superior to the indigenous peoples, the Americo-Liberians developed as an elite minority that created and held on to political power. By 1877, the True Whig Party was the country's most powerful political entity. It was made up primarily of Americo-Liberians, who maintained social, economic and political dominance well into the 20th century, repeating patterns of European colonists in other nations in Africa.
Pressure from the United Kingdom, which controlled Sierra Leone to the northwest, and France, with its interests in the north and east, led to a loss of Liberia's claims to extensive territories. There was a decline in the production of Liberian goods in the late 19th century, and the government struggled financially, resulting in indebtedness on a series of international loans.
In the early 1900s, Liberia's export trade and merchant class largely collapsed. After the partition of Africa between the European powers in the 1800s, American businesses abandoned trade with Liberia and turned to other countries in the Americas for tropical commodities. At the beginning of the 20th century Germany was the only major country with an interest in Liberian trade. By 1914, Germany owned one of the two banks in Liberia as these trade routes strengthened.
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In the early 1920s, the British Empire controlled 67 percent of rubber output. As a result of the depression of 1921-1922, rubber prices fell. In order to protect British plantations, the British Empire placed export duties on rubber. In response, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company looked to begin a rubber plantation in Liberia.
Soon after, allegations of modern slavery in Liberia led the League of Nations to establish the Christy Commission. Findings included government involvement in widespread "forced or compulsory labour". Minority ethnic groups especially were exploited in a system that enriched well-connected elites.
In the mid-20th century, Liberia gradually began to modernize with American assistance. During World War II, the United States made major infrastructure improvements to support its military efforts in Africa and Europe against Germany. In 1944, President Tubman announced his "Open Door" policy. This policy, which encouraged foreign investment, gave Liberia an attractive climate for foreign investment and increased involvement of multinational foreign investment in the country.
In international affairs, it was a founding member of the United Nations, a vocal critic of South African apartheid, a proponent of African independence from European colonial powers, and a supporter of Pan-Africanism.
On April 12, 1980, a military coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe of the Krahn ethnic group overthrew and killed President William R. Tolbert Jr.
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The National Patriotic Front of Liberia, a rebel group led by Charles Taylor, launched an insurrection in December 1989 against Doe's government with the backing of neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. The rebels soon split into conflicting factions.
In 1980, political tensions from the rule of William Tolbert resulted in a military coup, marking the end of Americo-Liberian rule and the seizure of power by Liberia's first indigenous leader, Samuel Doe. Establishing a dictatorial regime, Doe was assassinated in 1990 in the context of the First Liberian Civil War which ran from 1989 until 1997 with the election of rebel leader Charles Taylor as president.
In 1998, the Second Liberian Civil War erupted against his own dictatorship, and Taylor resigned by the end of the war in 2003. The two wars resulted in the deaths of 250,000 people (about 8% of the population) and the displacement of many more, with Liberia's economy shrinking by 90%. A peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections in 2005.
Mining in Liberia has been a significant economic driver since the 1960s, though it largely stopped during the Liberian civil wars. Since the end of the civil wars, mining activity increased with emphasis on industrial mining. Mining has also led to concerns about environmental degradation and environmental destruction such as deforestation, water pollution, and air pollution.
Ethiopia's Resistance to Colonization
Ethiopia was never colonized, but endured an Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941. Both Liberia and Ethiopia were spared from the European colonial Scramble for Africa.
Ethiopia: The Most Independent Nation in Africa | Africa from Above | 4K UHD Documentary
Liberia was the first African republic to gain independence and is Africa's oldest continuously independent country.
Comparative Table: Liberia and Ethiopia
| Feature | Liberia | Ethiopia |
|---|---|---|
| Path to Independence | Founded by freed American slaves | Maintained sovereignty through military resistance |
| Colonization | Never formally colonized | Brief Italian occupation (1936-1941) |
| Political System | Modeled on the United States | Imperial rule until 1974, then socialist and democratic transitions |
| Key Economic Activities | Rubber production, mining | Agriculture, coffee production |
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