Liberia Timeline

[General_Paul]

1822- The American Colonization Society begins the settlement of free slaves along the west coast of Africa. As the size of the colony grows, the United States under President James Monroe declares its total support for the effort in West Africa. As the viability of the colony becomes apparent, many southerners who sought a place to “dispose” of their “uppity” slaves began to see Liberia as the answer to their problems.

1823-1846- In the first 23 years of existence, the colony of Liberia grew from just under 10,000 souls in 1822, to well over 200,000 in 1846 due to emigration from the United States, tribal members seeking a better life, and former slaves from nations like France, and the UK. After the emancipation of slaves in the UK in 1833, a large number of slaves came the nation seeking to build a better nation, one where all freemen could come and live out there lives in peace. In the process, many of the former European slaves begin to bring in money to begin to modernize the infrastructure of the growing colony, with Freetown seeing the construction of the first native railroad. It may have been a short 45 miles, but it proved to be the genesis of a prosperous Liberia.

1847- On August 2, 1847, Liberia is officially granted independence from the United States of America, immediately gaining recognition by the United States, and the United Kingdom. At the same time, the United States begins to make plans to deport thousands of troublesome Native Americans, freemen, poor landless emigrants, and other unwanted members of society to the new nation. As well, many thousands of far left political dissidents find themselves beginning to be deported to the new nation.

1848- In the aftermath of the 1848 Liberal Revolutions in Europe, nearly 3,000 European intellectuals from nations like Austria, Prussia, and France fled their nations rather than stay and wait for their eventual arrest. Seeing a chance to build a better world, they began to flood into Liberia, hoping for plots of land, and easy societal fluidity to rise to the upper classes of Liberian society.

1850- After the end of the Mexican-American War, the United States officially annexed Mexico, and began to re-settle thousands of unwanted Mexicans in Liberia, rather than allow them to continue to live in the United States. By the end of the year, nearly 15,000 unwanted have been resettled in Liberia, with an additional 25,000 being prepared for deportation in the following year. The Liberians eagerly welcome the new arrivals to their burgeoning nation, seeing the arrival of thousands of upper class Mexicans as a welcome relief from the usual boatloads of uneducated slaves from areas of the US South, and areas of Central and South America.

1854- As the nation began to fully settle its available lands, many government officials began to see their neighboring vacant lands as their chance to expand their nation, an African “Manifest Destiny.” In a short four-month campaign, the lands of Mandinka people (OTL Cote D’Ivorie) are brought under the sway of Liberia, and annexed fully into the country. Many in Europe are shocked by the turn of events, but the United States firmly stood by its ally in Africa, choosing to give them military and financial aid in hopes of their gaining control over the non-colonized areas of Africa, rather than allow the Europeans a chance at taking control of the area.

1855- In the wake of the first Liberian expansion, President Franklin Pierce set the standard for American support of Liberia in the coming decades. In a speech to the Congress in April, Pierce made his famous “Africa for the Africans” speech, declaring that, “The United States will forever support its allies in Liberia, in the hopes of reversing the many decades of abuse suffered at the hands of slave owning Europeans, and Americans.” Many southerners present took offense to President Pierce’s statement, but also saw the promise of a stable Liberia as a way to control European colonial interests in West Africa.

1856-60- After Pierce’s speech, many Liberian lawmakers began to plan for more ambitious expansionist plans in West Africa. In a four-year period of time, the people of the Upper Volta (OTL Burkina Faso), the Songhai (Mali, Guinea), the Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau, and the people of Senegal were all annexed into the growing Liberian state. In 1860, Liberia negotiated for the purchase of the British colonies of Freetown (OTL Sierra Leone), and the Gold Coast. With that, Liberia now covered much of the former slave hunting grounds of West Africa.

In the United States, many lawmakers began to petition for the gradual emancipation of slaves in the South, with economic compensation to southern slave owners, and the re-settlement of the former slaves in Liberia. Although many southerners were against this idea, many of the more forward thinking members of Southern society saw slavery as a dying societal trend that should be dealt with as soon as humanly possible.

As a part of the transfer of power over to the Liberian government in Monrovia, all subjugated peoples agreed to end the institution of slavery in all forms indefinitely. Although many peoples, especially the former Portuguese colonists, protested the end of slavery, they began to see the emigrant freemen, and abundant native population as a readily available labor force, rather than a detriment to their efforts.

 

[Straha]

Very good TL.

 

[David bar Elias]

Interesting......sounds like Liberia will become the complete opposite of the Domination......please continue........

 

[Admiral Matt]

I don't get it. What's the POD? More slaves are arriving. They don't seem to lose most of their numbers to disease. And the arriving slaves bring enough money and skill to build a railroad. For some reason they don't enslave the locals on arrival.

The first of those assertions is possible I guess, though you really ought to have a reason for it. The others are not. Liberia was sited on one of the most virulent and inhospitable places on Earth, and the effect was about what would have happened if the slaves had been shipped to Nunavut instead. Something like 90% of those who arrived in the colony died inside of two years, most of the rest signed on to the first ship to come by.

Former slaves did not tend to have money, and those who did much preferred to live in "civilized" lands where they wouldn't have to deal with a half-dozen exotic diseases racing to kill them.

Finally, freed African slaves, let loose in Africa, had a disturbing tendency to enslave the "natives." Liberia was unique in this case because the American immigrants appear to have introduced American-style slavery, as opposed to reverting to the norm for Africa. It's ugly, reprehensible, unpleasant, and it is the way it kept happening. I'm all for making it different, but you need some sort of reason for it to be different, as their is in Decades of Darkness. In my opinion, 1855 is a bit late to shift social trends (not too mention such an impolitic statement by a President of that era is... surprising).

 

[Jared]

Interesting timeline, but may I suggest that as your POD, you have some reason for Liberia to be established somewhere other than in West Africa? There's several other options, but any *Liberia anywhere in West Africa is basically screwed from day one, for a simple reason.

Disease.

Half of the emigrants from America who moved to Liberia died in the first year. A further twenty-five percent died in the following year. The disease toll stayed horrendous throughout. They just had no resistance to the local disease environment.

Now, move *Liberia somewhere that the disease environment isn't so bad, and you could do all sorts of interesting things with it.

 

[General_Paul]

Modified Liberian Timeline

Alright, so I took your advice and moved it somewhere much more...interesting. Tell me what you think.

Liberian Timeline

1822- The American Colonization Society, after an extended study for the settlement of freed slaves along the west coast of Africa showed that there was a chance that a great number of settlers could be killed by the native diseases, decided to open a series of talks with both the British, and Portuguese governments into the purchase of Cape Colony, and Mozambique. After the British showed hesitation to the transfer of the colony, settlement of free slaves in the Cape colony and the Colonization Society promised the British exclusive basing and trading rights in the colony, the British agreed to the transfer of Cape Colony.

Though the Portuguese were incredibly worried about the settlement of freed slaves in Mozambique initially, they eventually agreed to the transfer of Mozambique colony over to the ACS. Along with the American government, the ACS and US Government paid out an extraordinary $1 Million Dollars for both of the colonies. Even though the colony was to be managed by the ACS and exclusive basing rights were signed over to the British, the American government saw Cape Colony as the perfect place to expand American interests in the Indian Ocean, as well as in the southern hemisphere.

As the American government began to put the cash together for the total purchase of Cape Colony, many in the congress opposed the move completely. Spending money like that on a piece of land that was owned by the British made many suspect that the President was in league with the British. However, as the ACS and President made their case to the Congress, some began to understand where they were coming from. Liberia would be turned into a place to re-settle slaves who had either been freed by their masters, or as a place to deport unwanted criminal elements, becoming sort of an American version of the New South Wales colony in Australia. As the differing visions of Liberia began to mold into a unified vision of the new piece of land, many finally came to understand what was to be done with the land, and ended their protests.

On October 1, 1822, Lord Charles Somerset, the 5th Duke of Beaufort, first Governor of Cape Colony, officially transferred control of Cape Colony over to the American Colonization Society, under the jurisdiction of the United States Congress. With that, the first American colony was born.

1823-1846- Over the next twenty-three years, 100,000 colonists (50,000 freed black slaves, 25,000 European emigrants, and 25,000 American emigrants) would make Cape Colony their home. With the expanded American influence in the region, the Cape began to see the slow transference of cape infrastructure over from the support of agricultural production in the Transvaal, over to supporting the burgeoning emigrant population in and around Cape Town.

On top of the insult handed to the Dutch settlers after having their colony sold to American investors, was the injustice of having freed black men, or “khaffirs” as they called them, helping to not only run the colony, but to support the additional emigration and settlement of freed black slaves from all over the world.

In 1833, after the British government outlawed slavery and issued the emancipation order for all British citizen-owned slaves, over 5,000 newly freed slaves from Great Britain made their way to Cape Colony. Along with them, came the hopes and dreams of every slave still living out lives of servitude in the United States, and elsewhere.

As the population rise became measured in the thousands for emigration to Cape Colony, the United States Congress began to plan for the eventual liquidation of American holdings in Cape Colony, and the release of Cape Colony control over to the ACS and the colonial assembly.

With the American government’s entanglement with the Mexicans, certain factions in American politics began to speak of the transfer of power in Cape Colony over to the ACS, and the colonial assembly in Cape Town. With the large amounts of monetary aid being sent to Cape Colony, many in the Congress believed that it was money going to a worthless cause, money that would be much better spent in the war. As the arguments continued in the Congress, President Polk put together a bold plan to liquidate the American holdings in Cape Colony, and give the population in Cape Colony a chance to forge a future without American intervention.

The final bill passed by the Congress provided for the complete evacuation of Cape Colony no later than January 31, 1847, and the total liquidation of all American debts owed to American Colonization Society members thereafter. The American Colonization Society agreed to, in league with the settlers located at the cape, form an interim government representing the needs of all citizenry located within the bounds of Cape Colony.

However, many military and civic leaders in Cape Colony heavily protested this transfer of power over to the local authorities. Many in Cape Town and elsewhere knew the problems and situations that had evolved with the Dutch settlers up in the Transvaal, and believed that the evacuation of US Marines from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Mossel Bay, Saldanha, and elsewhere would lead to all out violence between free slave settlers in and around Cape Town, and the Dutch settled in Transvaal with their center in Pretoria.

Even with the protests rising out of Cape Town, the Congress passed the “Liberian Liberation Bill of 1847” with a wide margin, and sent the cape settlers along their way, knowing full well that there would be all out civil war between the two groups of settlers.

January 31, 1847- As the last US Marines evacuated Cape Colony, two groups of settlers, on opposite sides of a moral debate made their moves. In Cape Town, representatives from the ACS and the Cape Colony Colonial Assembly met and drew up the first draft of the Liberian Constitution, which was copied almost verbatim from the United States, and United Kingdom Constitutions. It provided for the formation of a bicameral legislature, the election of a President (without a cap placed on consecutive terms of service), and for the creation of a supreme court to oversee law in the new country. The name of the country had been decided upon when the colony was first being proposed, Liberia, a take on the word “liberty.” The Liberian constitution gave sweeping civil rights to all citizens of Liberia. No matter their race, color, or creed, all were given voting rights; equal rights for all peoples under the law, and banned any and all forms of slavery, or indentured servitude.

In Pretoria, a meeting of a much different sort was taking place. At the same time as the Liberian meeting in Cape Town, the Dutch Transvaal settlers agreed that when the last marines evacuated Cape Town, the Dutch settlers would declare independence from the Liberian government, and form their own country, the Dutch Free State, with its capital at Pretoria. With this, they would split Liberia in two, cutting Cape Town off from its allies in Mozambique, and severing all communications lines between the south and the north.

February 1, 1847- On the same day of the signing of the Liberian Constitution in Cape Town, Dutch settlers in Pretoria declared independence from the Liberian government, and the formation of the Orange Free State, with the capital in Pretoria. Immediately, the Orange Free State called up all able bodied men between the ages of 15 and 40, sending out raiding parties, and using what militia they had been able to gather up in 24 hours of deliberation, to seize control over the Pretoria-Cape Town road.

In Cape Town, news reached them by messenger rider, and by telegraph of the secession of the Orange Free State. The newly formed interim government had no clue of how they could win this war, nonetheless how they could simply survive it. The Liberian government did have a few tricks up their sleeve. The northern area of Liberia, Mozambique, did not join the Dutch Transvaal settlers in their secession, and had declared loyalty to the Cape Town government. The Cape Town government also still had control over the ports of D’Urban, East London, Port Elizabeth, Port Nolloth, and almost every port in Mozambique.

The Dutch Transvaal settlers had control over a large section of land that cut off Cape Town from its northern territories, as well as control over the port of Durnford, and had seized control over Delagoa Bay in southern Mozambique. In the south, the Orange Free State had begun plans to use the militia that they were calling up to make a drive on Hanover and Richmond in the Middle Province, and a drive on D’Urban in the Natal.

The Cape Town government had plans as well. They planned on calling up their militia as well, gathering together enough men to drive on Smithfield on the Mogokard River, and use it as a staging ground to drive on Winburg on the Vet River, cutting off any supplies for the Transvaal militia who were going into the Natal. However, unlike the Dutch, they had hit a snag. While the Dutch settlers knew the land like the back of their hands, the Liberian settlers were new to the land, having arrived only during the past twenty-five years. Many had come with just the shirt on their back, and the hope of a better life away from the crime and poverty of other nations.

But, like the Orange Free State, they had no outside aid, no funds to fall back on, and no ties with any established nation to call for assistance. In essence, both were on their own.

 

[General_Paul]

New update, along with the flag of Liberia...


February-June, 1847- While the two groups of settlers prepared for the war, the governments in Cape Town and Pretoria made desperate calls for aid to the outside world. While the Dutch settlers made calls for aid to their former countrymen in the Netherlands, the Cape Town government made calls to Washington and London for aid. Due to the war effort in Mexico, the United States could afford to send little in the way of material aid outside of a few shipments of Springfield muskets and some uniforms.

However, since the British government still had extensive holdings in South Africa due to the agreements made between the American and British governments over the sale of the Cape Colony, they were much more capable of sending aid to the Liberians than the American government. While the Americans were still entangled with their Mexican problem, the British government was free of any foreign entanglements, and was prepared to send thousands of rifles, hundreds of tons of munitions, medical aid, and rations to the brave militia of the newborn Liberian government. Plus, since they had an invested interest in the Liberian experiment working out, the British Parliament began to plan for an extended diversion of funds to aiding the Liberian cause.

In the Parliament, Prime Minister The Lord John Russell made his famous “Liberian Support” speech, stating that “No matter what the cost, her majesty’s government shall, to the best of her abilities, stand by her allies in Cape Town and send whatever aid they may need to defeat the corrupt slave traders in the Transvaal. And, when by god’s good graces the Liberian government comes out the victor, we can come out with a feeling of accomplishment, and the pride of knowing that we helped to give birth to a new era of freedom for the enslaved peoples of the world. God bless Liberia!”

As British aid began to make its way into Liberia, many of the settlers began to feel a certain connection with the British. Many settlers who lived in and around Cape Town were originally from Great Britain and were already British citizens. While others were Americans, some were ex slaves, others were convicts, and others were adventurers who had already seen the edge of the world in North America, and wanted to try something new.

But no matter where they came from, or what their background was, all of them felt as if they were fighting a loosing battle, against a determined enemy who sought to eradicate them from the face of the earth because of the color of their skin, the religion that they believed in, or their nation of origin. All of them now belonged to something bigger than themselves, a nation that like the United States was based on the principles of equality, and it was a nation that was coming under siege in its first months of existence.

 

[David S Poepoe]

Things are happening a little too fast. The British selling off the Cape Colony is simply absurd.

 

[General_Paul]

Ok then, if I move it to somewhere like Angola, and have the Portuguese government work out a transfer of lands over to the ACS, would that work out more realistically than having the Brits sell Cape Colony?

 

[David S Poepoe]

Ok then, if I move it to somewhere like Angola, and have the Portuguese government work out a transfer of lands over to the ACS, would that work out more realistically than having the Brits sell Cape Colony?

The problem is - aside from Liberia itself - I can't see why any European power would turn any territory over to a Society. It would be more likely that a Power will permit the ACS to set up a 'colony' or settlement of freed blacks within the territory held by them. Life is going to be tough for these people, most are probably uneducated and we can expect that alot of them will die in the new lands.

Don't care if they were free to begin with or just freed, the blacks from America are not going to be building a society out of the wilderness in which they are dropped (no politer way to put it and its realistic) into without alot of 'white' input, guidance and governance. There are a few other Liberia ATLs on this site, yours is just the latest in the last three months, to take a look at those.

Exactly what 'United Kingdom Constitution' are you talking about?

 

[General_Paul]

The problem is - aside from Liberia itself - I can't see why any European power would turn any territory over to a Society. It would be more likely that a Power will permit the ACS to set up a 'colony' or settlement of freed blacks within the territory held by them. Life is going to be tough for these people, most are probably uneducated and we can expect that alot of them will die in the new lands.

Don't care if they were free to begin with or just freed, the blacks from America are not going to be building a society out of the wilderness in which they are dropped (no politer way to put it and its realistic) into without alot of 'white' input, guidance and governance. There are a few other Liberia ATLs on this site, yours is just the latest in the last three months, to take a look at those.

Exactly what 'United Kingdom Constitution' are you talking about?

Lol, the verbal constitution and the idea of representative government, but that's not the point.

If I have the ACS along with the US Congress buy Angola from the Portuguese it works out better. The Portuguese are almost flat broke at this time if I'm not mistaken, they're still rebuilding from the Napoleonic Wars, and selling off Angola for a few hundred thousand dollars is a good way to make some cash.

Plus, the USA turns a part of it into a Penal Colony to settle the extremely violent criminals who are going to either die, or serve extremely long sentences. Thus, you've got Angola becoming not only a US Penal Colony, but a freed slave colony as well, this way it's sort of like the worst of both worlds.

The US would, perhaps, invest in the ACS if the ACS promised them land rights to settle prisoners. And in doing so, give the ACS a chance to buy Angola from Portugal. Besides, the Portuguese didn't even wrestle total control over the interior of Angola until well into the 20th Century.

 

[HueyLong]

Freed slaves? In US territory? Hell, bought for freed slaves?

Oh, and you have an earlier outlying possessions crisis combined with slave vs. free conflict- If America gets a colony in Africa, it will use it for slaves, to subsidize the south.

 

[Nicole]

I don't think I can see the Portuguese selling their colonies though... they seemed very dedicated to keeping them and pressing their claims OTL, even though they were broke I can't see them doing it, sorry.

 

[Homer]

Africa isn't fully divided, yet. Not even the coastal areas are. The British wouldn't sell the Cape. It is strategical important place for any sea-power. I don't know if the portuguese are willing to sell their colonies - probably not. But there's Natal in the middle between them - and free for anybody to take it. The British took it in 1843, Boers came in in 1837. So it's free for colonizing. And it would be way enough land for some 100.000 settlers from America. As soon as there would be more, they could get Transvaal - the British would probably be glad to get rid of the independent Boers up there.

 

[Sovereign12]

Have the Dutch East India Company last until around 1822. Then have the ACS turn more into a financial business that slowly buys out much of the DEIC. This way the British, who still haven't taken possession of the colony, can't protest the settlement of freeborn American blacks in this area.

 

[Jared]

As others have pointed out, the British are unlikely to sell the Cape Colony itself, due to its usefulness as a naval route. However, Natal was empty at that time, so a colony could potentially be established there.

Portugal's willingness to sell its colonies actually varied. At several times, they proposed either sale or trade of some of their colonies with other powers (with Britain and Germany both). The key proviso was that the territory in question couldn't contain Portuguese subjects or Portuguese-friendly peoples. As such, northern Angola or most of coastal Mozambique would be out, unfortunately, since Portugal wouldn't sell them. Southern Angola was pretty much empty at the timeframe you're looking at, so that's one possibility besides Natal. Or maybe somewhere north of Mozambique; I can't remember offhand if that was colonized yet or not, but I think not.

 

[David S Poepoe]

Don't think such a venture will be received too wildly if the colony is going to be on the Indian Ocean. I think Liberia is pretty much the best and most likely place.

 

[Jared]

Don't think such a venture will be received too wildly if the colony is going to be on the Indian Ocean. I think Liberia is pretty much the best and most likely place.

OTL's Liberia is not the best place, for the reasons mentioned upthread. When something like 90-95% of the freed slaves who migrate to West Africa will be dead within ten years from disease... "best" isn't the word I'd be looking for. Those death rates would be known about back home, and getting several hundred thousand slaves to migrate there once they know about the death rates would be a... challenge.

 

[HueyLong]

But Liberia is a much shorter trip, and had a profit crop expected- palm oil.

Natal has nothing.

 

[David S Poepoe]

OTL's Liberia is not the best place, for the reasons mentioned upthread. When something like 90-95% of the freed slaves who migrate to West Africa will be dead within ten years from disease... "best" isn't the word I'd be looking for. Those death rates would be known about back home, and getting several hundred thousand slaves to migrate there once they know about the death rates would be a... challenge.

Did they know that at the time? Would the usual train of thought be that the blacks can handle the tropics since that is where they came from originally?

The problem, as mentioned, with Mozambique (well it wasn't called that at the time) would be the distance.