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

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 | Comments Off on A letter from Edina (Liberia), dated May 2, 1838

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 | Comments Off on The USA in the 19th century: a far from homogeneous country

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 | Comments Off on Conditional manumission and emigration to Liberia

Liberia at 172 – Happy July 26 to you all!

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

 

Posted in 'July 26', Liberia | Comments Off on Liberia at 172 – Happy July 26 to you all!

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 | Comments Off on The Kouwenhoven extradition case: the umpteenth postponement. Why?

A trip back in history: the United States, 1851

Posted on 28 February 2019 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

Arrest of a fugitive slave Browsing through old American newspapers searching for articles on the newly created republic of Liberia (1847), I read with a shock a headline that gave me goose pimples. “Arrest of Another Fugitive Slave” I read … Continue reading →

Posted in 1847, 1851, 1863, Abraham Lincoln, Afro-Americans, Barnet Anderson, civil rights, Columbia, discrimination, Emancipation Proclamation, fugitive slave, John Bolding, Liberia, New York, Poughkeepsie, racism, runaway slave, slavery, South Carolina, The New York Herald, United States | Comments Off on A trip back in history: the United States, 1851

Liberia’s rich biodiversity of flora and fauna

Posted on 24 October 2018 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

The other day I was preparing a powerpoint presentation on Liberia for a group of people interested in this country, but hardly familiar with it. For this purpose I was doing some research on Liberia’s flora and fauna and I … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Birds of Liberia', avifauna, bee-warbler, biodiversity, butterflies, butterfly, Choeropsis liberiensis, climate, fauna, fish, flora, Friedhelm Weick, Guinea, Hexaprotodon liberiensis, Ivory Coast, Liberia, mammals, Martin Woodcock, Monrovia, moths, ornithological paradise, pygmy hippo, pygmy hippopotamus, rainfall, rainforest, Sapo National Park, Sierra Leone, snake, snakes, tropical rainforest, West Africa, Wulf Gatter, www.telegraph.co.uk | Comments Off on Liberia’s rich biodiversity of flora and fauna

April 12, 1980 – April 12, 2018

Posted on 12 April 2018 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

38 years ago, a group of soldiers changed the course of Liberia’s history. Seventeen soldiers, under the command of master-sergeant Samuel Doe, penetrated the Executive Mansion in the country’s capital Monrovia, killed the guards while working their way to the sleeping … Continue reading →

Posted in 'April 12', 1847, 1980, 1980 coup, 2017 presidential elections, 2018, 20th Liberian President, 21st Liberian President, 22nd Liberian President, 23rd Liberian President, 24th Liberian President, 25th Liberian president, American Colonization Society, Americo-Liberian presidents, Americo-Liberians, April 12 1980, Bassa, Charles Taylor, Civil War(s) Liberia, Coups in Africa, democratically elected indigenous president, elections, elections fraud, Elections in Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Executive Mansion, freed slaves, Gbee, George Manneh Weah, George Weah, Gio, Gola, health, international soccer star, Jackson F. Doe, Krahn, Kru, Liberia Past and Present website, Liberian Economy, Liberian History, Mano, military coup, Minister of Finance, Monrovia, Moses Blah, murder, peace, People's Redemption Council, Samuel Kanyon Doe, Second civil war 1999-2003, Sherman, Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Special Court, UNMIL, William R. Tolbert Jr. | Comments Off on April 12, 1980 – April 12, 2018

The importance of George Weah’s election victory

Posted on 21 March 2018 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

January 22, 2018 was a historic day for Liberia. On that day, George Manneh Weah was inaugurated as Liberia’s 25th president, the country’s first democratically elected indigenous president since the creation of the republic, 170 years ago! Yes sure, Africa’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 1847, 1980, 1980 coup, 2017 presidential elections, 2018, 24th Liberian President, 25th Liberian president, Accra Comprehensive Peace Accord, ACS, African-American presidents, African-Americans, Afro-Americans, American Colonization Society, Americo-Liberian presidents, Americo-Liberians, April 12 1980, Charles Gyude Bryant, Charles Taylor, civil society organizations, Civil War(s) Liberia, Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA 2003, decolonization, democratically elected indigenous president, elections, elections fraud, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, freed slaves, George Manneh Weah, George Weah, Gio, Gola, Grebo, indigenous presidents of Liberia, international soccer star, Jackson F. Doe, Krahn, Kru, Liberia, Liberia Colony, Liberian Action Party, Liberian History, military coup, Moses Blah, People's Redemption Council, PRC, President Hilary Richard Wright Johnson, Samuel Kanyon Doe, vote rigging | Comments Off on The importance of George Weah’s election victory

‘Tribute to a fallen friend Stephen Byron Tarr, 1943 – 2017’

Posted on 4 November 2017 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

On October 7 an eminent scholar, an outspoken politician, but above all a dear friend, Dr. Stephen Byron Tarr, died after a prolonged illness in St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital in Monrovia. Dr. Byron Tarr was one of Liberia’s brightest economists. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1986 Constitution, 2017, Africa Capacity Building Foundation, African Development Bank, African Union, Aimee Zeoweh Tarr, Amos Sawyer, April 12 1980, Byron Tarr, Center for Policy Studies/CERPS, Daily Observer, elections, elections fraud, Elections in Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Elwood Dunn, European Union, Famous Liberians, Grand Bassa County, Harry Greaves, IGNU, Jackson F. Doe, John T. Woods, Kenneth Best, LAP, Liberia, Liberia Action Party, Liberia: A National Polity in Transition, Liberian Action Party, Liberian History, military coup, Minister of Finance, Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs, Monrovia, Nah Doe Patrick Bropleh, National Constitution Commission, Phillip Tarr, PRC, Samuel Kanyon Doe, Sewanee University, Seymour Bruce Tarr, St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital Monrovia, Stanley Byron Tarr, Steve Tolbert, The Perspective, Tuan Wreh, United Nations Development Program, United States Agency for International Development, Vision 2030, vote rigging, William R. Tolbert Jr., World Bank, Zondo village | Comments Off on ‘Tribute to a fallen friend Stephen Byron Tarr, 1943 – 2017’