Portuguese explorers established contacts with Liberia as early as
1461 and named the area Grain Coast because of the abundance of
"grains of paradise" (Malegueta pepper seeds). In 1663 the British
installed trading posts on the Grain Coast, but the Dutch destroyed
these posts a year later. There were no further reports of European
settlements along the Grain Coast until the arrival of freed slaves
in the early 1800s.
Liberia, "land of the free," was founded by free African-Americans
and freed slaves from the United States in 1820. An initial group of
86 immigrants, who came to be called Americo-Liberians, established
a settlement in Christopolis (now Monrovia, named after U.S.
President James Monroe) on February 6, 1820.
Thousands of freed American slaves and free African-Americans
arrived during the following years, leading to the formation of more
settlements and culminating in a declaration of independence of the
Republic of Liberia on July 26, 1847. The drive to resettle freed
slaves in Africa was promoted by the American Colonization Society
(ACS), an organization of white clergymen, abolitionists, and slave
owners founded in 1816 by Robert Finley, a Presbyterian minister.
Between 1821 and 1867 the ACS resettled some 10,000
African-Americans and several thousand Africans from interdicted
slave ships; it governed the Commonwealth of Liberia until
independence in 1847.
In Liberia's early years, the Americo-Liberian settlers periodically
encountered stiff and sometimes violent opposition from indigenous
Africans, who were excluded from citizenship in the new Republic
until 1904. At the same time, British and French colonial
expansionists encroached upon Liberia, taking over much of its
territory. Politically, the country was a one-party state ruled by
the True Whig Party (TWP). Joseph Jenkins Roberts, who was born and
raised in America, was Liberia's first President. The style of
government and constitution was fashioned on that of the United
States, and the Americo-Liberian elite monopolized political power
and restricted the voting rights of the indigenous population. The
True Whig Party dominated all sectors of Liberia from independence
in 1847 until April 12, 1980, when indigenous Liberian Master
Sergeant Samuel K. Doe (from the Krahn ethnic group) seized power in
a coup d'etat. Doe's forces executed President William R. Tolbert
and several officials of his government, mostly of Americo-Liberian
descent. One hundred and thirty-three years of Americo-Liberian
political domination ended with the formation of the People's
Redemption Council (PRC).
Over time, the Doe government began promoting members of Doe's Krahn
ethnic group, who soon dominated political and military life in
Liberia. This raised ethnic tension and caused frequent hostilities
between the politically and militarily dominant Krahns and other
ethnic groups in the country.
After the October 1985 elections, characterized by widespread fraud,
Doe solidified his control. The period after the elections saw
increased human rights abuses, corruption, and ethnic tensions. The
standard of living further deteriorated. On November 12, 1985,
former Army Commanding Gen. Thomas Quiwonkpa almost succeeded in
toppling Doe's government. The Armed Forces of Liberia repelled
Quiwonkpa's attack and executed him in Monrovia. Doe's
Krahn-dominated forces carried out reprisals against Mano and Gio
civilians suspected of supporting Quiwonkpa.
Despite Doe's poor human rights record and questionable democratic
credentials, he retained close relations with Washington. A staunch
U.S. ally, Doe met twice with President Ronald Reagan and enjoyed
considerable U.S. financial support.
On December 24, 1989, a small band of rebels led by Doe's former
procurement chief, Charles Taylor, invaded Liberia from Cote
d'Ivoire. Taylor and his National Patriotic Front rebels rapidly
gained the support of many Liberians and reached the outskirts of
Monrovia within six months.
From 1989 to 1996 one of Africa's bloodiest civil wars ensued,
claiming the lives of more than 200,000 Liberians and displacing a
million others into refugee camps in neighboring countries. The
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervened in
1990 and succeeded in preventing Charles Taylor from capturing
Monrovia. Prince Johnson--formerly a member of Taylor's National
Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL)--formed the break-away Independent
National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL). Johnson's forces
captured and killed Doe on September 9, 1990. Taking refuge in
Sierra Leone and other neighboring countries, former AFL soldiers
founded the new insurgent United Liberation Movement of Liberia for
Democracy (ULIMO), fighting back Taylor's NPFL.
An Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) was formed in Gambia
under the auspices of ECOWAS in October 1990, headed by Dr. Amos C.
Sawyer. Taylor (along with other Liberian factions) refused to work
with the interim government and continued fighting. After more than
a dozen peace accords and declining military power, Taylor finally
agreed to the formation of a five-man transitional government. A
hasty disarmament and demobilization of warring factions was
followed by special elections on July 19, 1997. Charles Taylor and
his National Patriotic Party emerged victorious. Taylor won the
election by a large majority, primarily because Liberians feared a
return to war had Taylor lost.
For the next six years, the Taylor government did not improve the
lives of Liberians. Unemployment and illiteracy stood above 75%, and
little investment was made in the country's infrastructure. Liberia
is still recovering from the ravages of war; pipe-borne water and
electricity are generally unavailable to most of the population,
especially outside Monrovia, and schools, hospitals, roads, and
infrastructure remain derelict. Rather than work to improve the
lives of Liberians, Taylor supported the Revolutionary United Front
in Sierra Leone (see Sierra Leone Country Background Note). Taylor's
misrule led to the resumption of armed rebellion from among Taylor's
former adversaries. By 2003, armed groups called "Liberians United
for Reconciliation and Democracy" (LURD) and "Movement for Democracy
in Liberia" (MODEL), largely representing elements of the former
ULIMO-K and ULIMO-J factions that fought Taylor during Liberia's
previous civil war (1989-1996), were challenging Taylor and his
increasingly fragmented supporters on the outskirts of Monrovia.
On June 4, 2003 in Accra, Ghana, ECOWAS facilitated peace talks
among the Government of Liberia, civil society, and the LURD and
MODEL rebel groups. On the same day, the Chief Prosecutor of the
Special Court for Sierra Leone issued a press statement announcing
the opening of a sealed March 7, 2003 indictment of Liberian
President Charles Taylor for "bearing the greatest responsibility"
for atrocities in Sierra Leone since November 1996. In July 2003 the
Government of Liberia, LURD, and MODEL signed a cease-fire that all
sides failed to respect; bitter fighting reached downtown Monrovia
in July and August 2003, creating a massive humanitarian disaster.
On August 11, 2003, under intense U.S. and international pressure,
President Taylor resigned office and departed into exile in Nigeria.
This move paved the way for the deployment by ECOWAS of what became
a 3,600-strong peacekeeping mission in Liberia (ECOMIL). On August
18, leaders from the Liberian Government, the rebels, political
parties, and civil society signed a comprehensive peace agreement
that laid the framework for constructing a 2-year National
Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), headed by businessman
Gyude Bryant. The UN took over security in Liberia in October 2003,
subsuming ECOMIL into the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL),
a force that grew to over 12,000 troops and 1,148 police officers.
The October 11, 2005 presidential and legislative elections and the
subsequent November 8, 2005 presidential run-off were the most free,
fair, and peaceful elections in Liberia's history. Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf defeated international soccer star George Weah 59.4% to
40.6% to become Africa's first democratically elected female
president. She was inaugurated in January 2006 and formed a
government of technocrats drawn from among Liberia's ethnic groups
and including members of the Liberian diaspora who had returned to
the country to rebuild government institutions. The president's
party, the Unity Party, does not control the legislature, in which
12 of the 30 registered political parties are represented.
The political situation has remained stable since the 2005
elections. The Government of Liberia has made positive strides aimed
at political stability and economic recovery. President Sirleaf has
taken a public stance against corruption and has dismissed several
government officials. The President is supported by highly
experienced and technically competent senior officials, and the
public has more confidence in her administration than in any of its
recent predecessors. President Sirleaf enjoys good relations with
international organizations and donor governments, with whom she is
working closely on Liberia's development. The national legislature
has enacted several key reforms.
In order to maintain stability through the post-conflict period,
Liberia's security sector reform efforts have led to the disarmament
of more than 100,000 ex-combatants, the wholesale U.S.-led
reconstruction of the Armed Forces of Liberia, and a UN-led effort
to overhaul the Liberian National Police. The mandate of UNMIL was
extended to September 2009, and a gradual drawdown was to commence
in 2008, to last several years. During this period the Government of
Liberia and its development partners will focus on creating jobs,
attracting investment, and providing education and other essential
services to Liberia's communities. The Government of Liberia won
substantial donor support for its new Poverty Reduction Strategy at
the June 2008 Liberia Poverty Reduction Forum in Berlin, Germany. |
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