History Of Liberia
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Liberia was formed in the year 1822 which was populated with the freed slaves. It was first a colony and then became a part of the commonwealth and got independence in the year 1847 by taking the helping hand of the American colonization society. The freed slave’s descendents who were called Americo-Liberians remained in control of Liberia politically and socially till 1980.
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The wealth and the power were distributed unequally and this led to the conflicts in the recent past.
In the year 1923, a politician and scholar called Abayomi Karnga told that the division of status was based on the hierarchical caste system. The top caste included the officials of Americo Liberians, who were people with light complexion with the white and black ancestry. They were followed by the Americo Liberians with dark skin who were farmers and laborers. The third place was occupied by the recaptives who were also called the Congos. These were the people who were rescued Africans by the US navy when they were in US ships as slaves. And the last place is given to the native African Liberians.
As the time passed by there was no much difference between the mulattos and the slaves who were freed that they were called Americo-Liberians or Congos. These individuals, who accounted for three 3 percent of the population, controlled the social, economic and political conditions of Liberia till 1980.
Liberia started changing in the 1970s. In the year 1971 the president of Liberia William Tubman died after being in the office for 27 years. Tubman introduced the economic policy called Open Door, which brought lots of foreign investment into the country. After Tubmans death, William Tolbert became the president who could speak the native language.
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