Author Archives: Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

The Colony of Liberia and the suppression of the slave trade

Posted on 1 April 2022 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

Whereas the colonization activities of the American Colonization Society (ACS) have been criticized at various places and various times, it is nonetheless fair to draw here attention to an important and at times successful activity: the suppression of the slave … Continue reading →

Posted in 1839, 1840, colonization, Colony of Liberia, Governor Thomas Buchanan, history, slave trade, Treaty with tribal chiefs | Leave a comment

Another example showing the emigration of former slaves to Liberia in the 19th c. was not voluntary

Posted on 17 November 2021 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

In the 19th century, the American Colonization Society (ACS), a white-dominated private organization, financed and organized the transportation of nearly 13,000 African-Americans to the West Coast of Africa and their settlement on a coastal strip of land, with diplomatic, military, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1847, Abraham Lincoln, American Colonization Society, colonization, Emancipation Proclamation, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, The colonists, Thomas Jefferson, United States | Leave a comment

School in Paynesville, Greater Monrovia, expels Kindergarten pupil for alleged witchcraft

Posted on 20 March 2021 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

The following is a heartbreaking story. One of Liberia’s leading newspapers, the Daily Observer, on March 18, 2021 published an article, entitled ‘School Expels K-1 Pupil for Alleged Witchcraft’. To read the article click here. I was baffled. The administration … Continue reading →

Posted in Liberia | Leave a comment

‘Death of a Pioneer’ – 1857

Posted on 12 March 2021 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

I continue browsing through nineteenth century American newspapers with articles of varying length on the colonization of a strip of land on the shore of Western Africa and the subsequent creation of an independent state, Liberia. See my previous postings. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1820, 1822, 1857, American Colonization Society, Cape Mesurado, Pioneers, Salem Gazette, Sherbro country, Sierra Leone, The Elizabeth, United States | Leave a comment

Liberia in 1901

Posted on 28 February 2021 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

I continue browsing through old American newspapers (see my previous posts). Today I found a remarkable article in a New York paper, the Watertown Reformer and Semi-Weekly Times of Wednesday, August 7, 1901. The article is entitled Liberia’s Future and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1847, 1879, 1880s, 1885, 1886, 1892, 1893, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1907, Barclay, Cape Palmas, Cavalla River, economy, England, foreign relations, France, Galinhas territory, Germany, Great Britain, immigration, Ivory Coast, King, Manna river, Mano river, Maryland in Africa, protectorate, public finance, Roberts, Sherbro river, Sierra Leone, Spain, United States, West African Colony | Leave a comment

A letter from Edina (Liberia), dated May 2, 1838

Posted on 13 December 2020 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

Emigration of former slaves and colored people to the west coast of Africa wasn’t always voluntary, as we have seen in preceding posts. This, however, doesn’t mean that African Americans who left the United States to settle on the other … Continue reading →

Posted in 1838, 1839, American Colonization Society, colonization, Edina, emigration, Maine, Mason-Dixon Line, Mitchell, The Christian Mirror, The Washington Statesman, United States | Leave a comment

The USA in the 19th century: a far from homogeneous country

Posted on 4 December 2020 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

It’s the year 1839. In the southern states of the United States of America (the ‘slave states’) hundreds of thousands of black people are kept in bondage. On slave markets in these southern states human beings are sold as slaves, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1807, 1822, 1839, 1861, 1865, abolitionist, ACS, Africa, African-Americans, American Colonization Society, Anti-Slavery Society, Bassa Cove, colonization, Commonwealth of Liberia, discrimination, emigration, free-born, freed slaves, Liberia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mason-Dixon Line, Mississippi, Mississippi in Africa, Pennsylvania, repatriates, reward, runaway, slaves, United States, United States of America, Washington DC, WASP, West Africa | Leave a comment

Conditional manumission and emigration to Liberia

Posted on 12 November 2020 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

Both on my website ‘Liberia: Past and Present of Africa’s Oldest Republic‘ and on this blog I have paid attention to the (in)voluntary character of the emigration of African-Americans to the colony of Liberia in the 19th century. See the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1834, African-Americans, colonization, emigration, manumission, repatriates, United States, Virginia | Leave a comment

Liberia at 172 – Happy July 26 to you all!

Posted on 26 July 2019 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

 

Posted in Liberia | Leave a comment

The Kouwenhoven extradition case: the umpteenth postponement. Why?

Posted on 16 April 2019 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

On April 12, 2019 the Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town again postponed the case. It was the umpteenth postponement. I nearly lost track of the previous delays. The Dutch authorities want Guus Kouwenhoven back in the Netherlands. In April 2017 a Dutch … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles Taylor, Emmanuel Shaw, George Weah, Guinea, Guus Kouwenhoven, Justice, Kouwenhoven, Liberia, rule of law, Sierra Leone, South Africa, war crimes | Leave a comment