Category Archives: 1847

Maryland Colony at Cape Palmas – 1842 

Posted on 17 January 2024 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

The 19th c. American newspapers in my archives contain a wealth of information on the history of both Liberia colony and sister colonies, created as from 1822, and the independent republic of Liberia, proclaimed on July 26, 1847. One of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1822, 1834, 1842, 1847, 1850, 1853, 1854, 1857, agriculture, American Colonization Society, Baltimore, Bassa Cove, Cape Palmas, Cavalry river, christianity, colonization, Harper, history, J.B. Russwurm, King Freeman, King War, Liberia Colony, Library of Congress, Louisiana Colony, Maryland Colony, Maryland in Africa, Maryland in Liberia, Maryland State Colonization Society, missionaries, Mississippi Colony, Mitchel map 1839, Pennsylvania Colony, Republic of Maryland, slaveholders, slavery, slaves, trade, United States, Wikimedia, Wikipedia | 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

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 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 | Leave a comment

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. | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment

Liberia’s 170th Independence Anniversary Calendar of Events

Posted on 20 July 2017 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

The following calendar of events in observance of Liberia’s 170th Independence Anniversary was originally published by FrontPage Africa, one of Liberia’s leading newspapers; click here for the original text plus background information on this year’s National Orator, Dr. Herman Browne, … Continue reading →

Posted in 'July 26', “Sustaining the Peace”, 170th Independence Anniversary, 1847, AFL, Antoinette Tubman, Ashmun, Barclay Training Center, Bentol, Brewerville, C. Cecil Dennis, Centennial Memorial Pavilion, Cuttington University, Dr. Herman Browne, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Executive Pavilion, FrontPageAfrica newspaper, Independence Day, Independence Day Orator, July 26, Liberia, Liberian History, Monrovia, Monrovia City Hall, Montserrado County, National Orator IndependenceDay, Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, Paynesville, Samuel Kanyon Doe, University of Liberia | Leave a comment

‘Choosing The Hero – My improbable journey and the rise of Africa’s first woman president’ by K. Riva Levinson

Posted on 10 October 2016 by Dr. Fred P.M. van der Kraaij

There’s no doubt about it. Karen Riva Levinson’s ‘Choosing The Hero’ is an interesting book. In fact, it’s more than that. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in Liberia’s contemporary history. It will also be very useful for students in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1847, 2005 presidential elections, 2017 presidential elections, Abdoulye Dukule, Adolphus Dolo, Africa's longest serving president, Amara Konneh, Americo-Liberians, Amos Sawyer, Angola, Antoinette Sayeh, BKSH & Associates, Blaise Compaore, BMS&K, Byron Tarr, Capitol Hill, Charles Gyude Bryant, Charles Taylor, Choosing the Hero, Civil War(s) Liberia, Congo Kinshasa, Conmany Wesseh, Corruption, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dos Santos, DRC, Edwin Snowe, elections, Elections in Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Elwood Dunn, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gaddafi, General Peanut Butter, George Weah, Henry Fahnbulleh, Herman Cohen, Iraq, Iron Lady, James Fromoyan, Jewel Howard Taylor, José dos Santos, Justice, K.Riva Levinson, KRL International LLC, Langley Virginia, Laurent Kabila, Liberia, Libya, lobbying fiirms, lobbying firm, Manafort, Monrovia, Mozambique, National reconciliation, nepotism, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Nobel Peace Prize, oil, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Prince Y. Johnson, Reconciliation, Riva Levinson, Rwanda, Samuel Kanyon Doe, Second civil war 1999-2003, Siad Barre, Somalia, Sudan, Teodoro Nguema, This Child Will Be Great, Tipoteh, UNDP, United States, United States of America, University of Liberia, USA, Washington DC, Winston Tubman | Leave a comment