Americo-Liberian people

{{Short description|Ethnic group of Liberia}} {{For|the ethnic group native to the Congo Basin|Kongo people}} {{distinguish|Liberian Americans}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox ethnic group| |group = Americo-Liberian people |image = |caption = |population=150,000<ref>{{cite web|url= https://blackpast.org/gah/americo-liberians|title=Americo-Liberians|website=BlackPast.org|date=16 June 2009|access-date=16 June 2009|quote= They are an estimated population of 150,000 [Americo-Liberians] out of the 3.5 million people in the nation.}}</ref> |popplace={{plainlist| *Liberia *United States}} |rels=15px Protestantism, Catholicism (minority) |langs={{plainlist| *Liberian English *Liberian Kreyol language *Merico}} |related= Sierra Leone Creoles, Black Nova Scotians, Gold Coast Euro-Africans, Atlantic Creoles, Afro-Caribbeans and African Americans }} {{African American topics sidebar}} '''Americo-Liberian people''' (also known as '''Congo people''' or '''Congau people''')<ref name="Cooper 2008 p6">Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6</ref> are a Liberian ethnic group of African American, Afro-Caribbean, and liberated African origin. Americo-Liberians trace their ancestry to Free people of color and emancipated African Americans and Caribbeans who emigrated in the 19th century to become the founders of the state of Liberia. They identified themselves as Americo-Liberians.<ref name="autogenerated2">[http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107718.html Liberia: History, Geography, Government, and Culture], Infoplease.com</ref>

Although the terms "Americo-Liberian" and "Congo" had distinct definitions in the nineteenth century, the title Congo is more diverse encompassing the descendants of the various free-born and formerly enslaved African American, Caribbean, recaptive, and Sierra Leone Creoles who settled in Liberia from 1822.

The designation "Congo" for the Americo-Liberian, though originally an insult, came into common usage much later, even becoming the preferred term for most. Liberians integrated Africans liberated from slave ships who were called Congos because the slave ships entered the Atlantic from the mouth of the Congo River.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=Helene |title=The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood |date=2008 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-6625-3 |location=Riverside}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = About this Collection - Maps of Liberia, 1830-1870|url = http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/libhtml/liberia.html|website = The Library of Congress|access-date = 1 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Cooper 2008 p6"/> Under Americo-Liberian leadership, the country was relatively stable, though the Americo-Liberians and indigenous West Africans maintained largely separate existences and seldom intermarried.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peacebuildingdata.org/research/liberia/about-liberia/americo-liberian-rule |title=Settlement of Liberia and Americo-Liberian Rule |website=PeacebuildingData.org |publisher=Harvard Humanitarian Initiative |access-date=7 October 2018 |archive-date=11 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011202601/http://www.peacebuildingdata.org/research/liberia/about-liberia/americo-liberian-rule |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Though indigenous chiefs and royalty could gain representation in government which favored Indirect rule similar to practices and policies throughout colonial Africa, Americo-Liberians led the political, social, cultural, and economic sectors of the country and ruled until 1980 as a small but dominant minority.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lowenkopf |first=Martin |title=Politics in Liberia: the conservative road to development |date=1976 |publisher=Hoover Inst. Pr |isbn=978-0-8179-6511-2 |series=Hoover Institution publications |location=Stanford, Calif}}</ref> However, President William Tubman challenged the status quo and championed the cause of indigenous groups in the interior against the established oligarchy.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://academic.oup.com/book/25770/chapter-abstract/193339164?redirectedFrom=fulltext|title=Kennedy, Felix Houphouët-Boigny, William Tubman, and Conservative African Nationalism|website=www.academic.oup.com|date=2012 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195396096.003.0007 |last1=Muehlenbeck |first1=Philip E. |pages=141–152 |isbn=978-0-19-539609-6 }}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web|title=President William V. S. Tubman, 1944–1971|url=http://personal.denison.edu/~waite/liberia/history/tubman.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316024448/http://personal.denison.edu/~waite/liberia/history/tubman.htm|archive-date=16 March 2016|access-date=31 January 2020}}</ref>

==History and settlement== thumb|left|African Americans depart for Liberia, 1896. The American Colonization Society sent its last emigrants to Liberia in 1904. Americo-Liberians were descended from African American and Afro-Caribbean settlers, many of whom were freed slaves and their descendants who emigrated to Liberia with assistance from the American Colonization Society (ACS). The first black American settlers arrived in Liberia in 1822.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://aaregistry.org/story/the-americo-liberian-community-a-brief-story/|title = The Americo-Liberian Community, a brief story - African American Registry|newspaper = African American Registry}}</ref> The ACS's plan of encouraging black American migration to Africa was met with mixed responses at the time. Some members of the abolitionist movement, such as Gerrit Smith, opposed the idea, arguing that African-American families had lived in the United States for generations, and their prevailing sentiment was that they were no more African than white Americans were European. Other historians have argued that white Americans encouraged the emigration of people of color to Africa due to their opposition to integration. Additionally, some slave owners manumitted some of their slaves on the condition of emigration. However, other African Americans believed they would face better economic opportunities in Africa and be free from racial prejudice, a sentiment that was endorsed by the Back-to-Africa movement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Power-Greene |first=Ousmane |title=Against Wind and Tide: The African American Struggle Against the Colonization Movement |date=2014 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=9781479823178 |location=New York |pages=1–10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Key |first=Francis Scott |author-link=Francis Scott Key |date=November 1836 |title=Mr. Key on the Colonization Society |url=https://archive.org/details/africanreposito73socigoog/page/n395/mode/2up |journal=African Repository and Colonial Journal |volume=12 |pages=339–351, at pp. 346–347 and 350–351 |quote=Neither he nor the Colonization Society called for the abolition of slavery; their mission instead focused solely on sending freed blacks to Africa. This was one of the reasons that few abolitionists had any use for the society. |number=11}}</ref> As black American emigration to Liberia continued steadily into the mid to late nineteenth century, the movement gained support from an assortment of influential figures, including UNIA president Marcus Garvey, who would go on to become president of the Black Star Line which encouraged emigration and economic shipping commerce between the United States and Liberia.{{sfn|Grant|2008|p=383}}

The early African-American settlers who arrived in the region that was established as Liberia between 1820 and 1843 were mainly free blacks from Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, while smaller numbers came from northern states like New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Connecticut. Subsequent movements also included emigrants from Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Florida.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-18 |title=Arkansas' connection to the back to Africa movement {{!}} Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette |url=https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/jul/18/arkansas-connection-to-the-back-to-africa-movement/ |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=www.nwaonline.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Society |first=American Colonization |last2=Bonds |first2=Henry |last3=Burke |first3=William |last4=Burke |first4=Rosabella |date=2010-07-23 |title=Personal Stories and ACS New Directions - The African-American Mosaic Exhibition {{!}} Exhibitions (Library of Congress) |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam004.html |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref>

The Liberian exodus saw mass emigration of African Americans from South Carolina to Liberia.<ref name="Tindall">{{cite journal | title=The Liberian Exodus of 1878 | author=Tindall, George | journal=The South Carolina Historical Magazine |date=July 1952 | volume=53 | issue=2 | pages=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/27565858 133–145]}}</ref> Congressman Richard H. Cain called for a million men to leave the injustices they suffered in the United States and leave for Africa. In 1877, the ''Liberian Exodus Joint Stock Steamship Company'' was formed in Charleston, South Carolina with a fund of $6,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=6000|start_year=1877}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) to assist the emigration of black Americans to Africa. The company then purchased a bark called the ''Azor,'' which arrived in Charleston in March 1878 to start shipping African American migrants to Liberia.<ref name=Tindall/> Enthusiasm for the Liberian exodus had been fed partly by exaggerated reports of Liberia's fertility, including claims that potatoes grew so large that a single one could feed a family for a day, and that certain trees produced bacon. However, 23 of the emigrants died during the journey and upon arrival, the passengers discovered that these claims were not true and many found themselves impoverished. Those who could afford it returned to the U.S. in 1879 and plans for a second voyage by the Liberian Exodus Company were scrapped.<ref name=Tindall/> However, passengers from the ''Azor'' who stayed did find success and established themselves as some of the most prominent Americo-Liberians, including farmer and agricultural businessman Saul Hill, Liberian Senator Reverend David Frazier and Daniel Frank Tolbert, the latter of whom was the grandfather of future Liberian president William Tolbert.<ref name="journeyman">{{cite web | url=http://journeyman.tv/?lid=9898&tmpl=transcript | title=Liberia: The Promised Land | publisher=Journeyman Pictures | work=transcript | date=February 1997 | accessdate=June 23, 2012}}</ref>

The American Navy was responsible for the recapture of illegal slave vessels seeking to transport enslaved Africans to the Americas following the American abolition of the slave trade in 1808. These enslaved Africans called Liberated Africans or Recaptives, many of whom were from the Congo Basin were designated as 'Congoes' and all Recaptives, including those from modern-day Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ghana were all described as 'Congoes.'

Over the course on the 19th century, roughly 20,000 settlers arrived in Liberia with ~14,000 African-American and ~5,700 Recaptives. Of the 14,000 African American settlers, nearly half died of malaria in the 10 years after their arrival.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompsell |first=A |date=April 4, 2020 |title=The Foundation of Liberia |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/foundations-liberia |website=History Today}}</ref>

Although the number of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Liberia was relatively small in comparison to colonial Sierra Leone, at least 300 Afro-Barbadians settled in Liberia in 1865 and smaller numbers of Afro-Caribbean immigrants settled in Liberia between 1865 and 1930 from Caribbean islands such as Trinidad, Jamaica, and Grenada.

The early African American settlers did not relate well to the native African inhabitants they first encountered in Liberia due to cultural differences and soon began to establish a social and economic elite in the country.<ref name="Wegmann 2010 thesis">{{cite thesis |last1=Wegmann |first1=Andrew |title=Christian community and the development of an Americo-Liberian identity, 1824–1878 |date=5 May 2010 |doi=10.31390/gradschool_theses.525 |doi-access=free }}</ref> According to the website BlackPast, "They retained preferences for Western style of dress, Southern plantation-style homes, American food, Protestantism, the English language, and monogamous kinship practices." Demographically, the Americo-Liberians tended to concentrate in larger cities and towns while native Africans remained in more poorly developed areas before the two groups started to intermingle in the twentieth century.<ref name="Americo-Liberians •">{{Cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/groups-organizations-global-african-history/americo-liberians/|title=Americo-Liberians •|date=16 June 2009}}</ref>

==Development of society{{anchor|Development of Americo-Liberian society}}== The settler community developed an Americo-Liberian society, culture, and political organization that was strongly influenced by their roots in the American South as well as the Anglophone Caribbean.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Akpan |first=M. B. |date=1973 |title=Black Imperialism: Americo-Liberian Rule over the African Peoples of Liberia, 1841-1964 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/483540 |journal=Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=217–236 |doi=10.2307/483540 |jstor=483540 |issn=0008-3968|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Americo-Liberians were credited for Liberia's largest and longest economic expansion in the early to late twentieth century, especially William V. S. Tubman, who did much to promote foreign investment and to bridge the economic, social, and political gaps between the descendants of the original settlers and the inhabitants of the interior. Most of the powerful Americo-Liberian families fled to the United States in the 1980s after the last True Whig Party president, William Tolbert, was assassinated in a military coup.

Although Liberianist scholars have neglected internal stratifications such as class and geography among the Americo-Liberian society, regional and local socio-economic differences among the Americo-Liberians resulted in slight cultural differences between rural 'upriver' Americo-Liberians such as those based in Clay-Ashland and city-based Americo-Liberians, particularly those based in Monrovia who were sometimes referred to 'Monrovia Americo-Liberians.' Americo-Liberians based in Monrovia were portrayed as more urbane than their rural counterparts and were perceived by some Americo-Liberians as wielding too great an influence on national political affairs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Neely |title=Trans-Atlantic sojourners: The Story of an Americo-Liberian Family |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780977722068 |pages=52}}</ref>

==Settlements{{anchor|Americo-Liberian settlements}}== The Americo-Liberians settled in Monrovia, Careysburg, Clay-Ashland, Buchanan, Maryland, Mississippi-in-Africa, Cape Mount, Greenville, and in a number of small towns along the St. Paul River. Notably, the families originally from Barbados, which included the Barclays, Morgans, Bests, Thorpes, Weeks, and Portemans, settled in Crozierville.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.liberianobserver.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/2419/_J._Lincoln_Porte_of_Bassa_Dies_.html |title="J. Lincoln Porte of Bassa Dies", ''Liberian Observer'', March 23, 2006 |access-date=14 June 2023 |archive-date=28 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928051738/http://www.liberianobserver.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/2419/_J._Lincoln_Porte_of_Bassa_Dies_.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MEKAAAAIAAJ&dq=crozerville+liberia&pg=PA187 |title=Negro Year Book: An Annual Encyclopedia of the Negro ... 1947,1952 |date=1916 |publisher=Negro year Book Publishing Company |pages=187 |language=en}}</ref>

The original "Congo people" were settled in New Georgia.<ref>Swanson:177-79</ref> In 1821, the ship ''Elizabeth'' from New York landed on Sherbro Island, Sierra Leone with 86 freed African Americans, who were later resettled in Monrovia.<ref>Harris, Sheldon H. ''Paul Cuffee: Black America and the African Return''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/foundations-liberia|title=The foundation of Liberia|website=www.historytoday.com|date= 14 June 2023}}</ref>

==Political influence in Liberia{{anchor|Americo-Liberian and the political developments in Liberia}}== [[File:LiberiaKing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Charles D. B. King, an Americo-Liberian who served as President of Liberia (1920–1930), with his entourage on the steps of the Peace Palace, The Hague (the Netherlands), 1927.]] Upper-class Americo-Liberians played a leading role in Liberian national politics from the country's founding. Upon the Liberian Declaration of Independence in 1847, Americo-Liberians controlled much of Liberia's political and social institutions. Political and educational institutions were inspired by United States framework. They established a government system with a constitutional republic and three branches of government (legislative, judicial, executive).<ref>The Republic of Liberia Constitution</ref> From 1878 to 1980, the Republic of Liberia was a ''de facto'' one-party state, ruled by True Whig Party and Masonic Order of Liberia, which were dominated by Americo-Liberians but later included a minority of Indigenous Liberians, most of whom had been adopted and assimilated into Americo-Liberian families.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

Liberia was initially dominated by two political parties that were supported by Americo-Liberians, the Republican Party and the True Whig Party (TWP). After TWP candidate Anthony W. Gardiner was elected president in 1878, the TWP went on to govern Liberia for over a century, cementing Americo-Liberian political dominance. While opposition parties were never made illegal and Liberia was not classed as a dictatorship, the TWP more or less ran the country as a one party state and held a monopoly on Liberian politics. Liberian presidents from that date onwards were Americo-Liberian with Charles D. B. King being the first and only president of partial Sierre Leone Creole heritage.<ref name="globalsecurity.org">[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1985/liberia_1_truewhigascend.htm "Liberia Country Study: The True Whig Ascendancy"] Global Security</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lowenkopf |first=Martin |title=Politics in Liberia: the conservative road to development |date=1976 |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |isbn=978-0-8179-6511-2 |series=Hoover Institution publications ; 151 |location=Stanford, Calif}}</ref> [[File:Americo-Liberians.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Administration of President William Tubman]]

Elected as president in 1944, Americo-Liberian William Tubman was widely regarded as the father of modern Liberia. The Tubman administration embarked on a mass modernization program, including improving literacy among the population, agricultural development, updating the nation's infrastructure, courting close relationships with the United States, and attracting foreign investment to stimulate the economy.<ref name=unesco>[http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001374/137447fo.pdf Rapport de l'Unesco sur l'alphabétisation (1965-1967) p.28] ''www.unesdoc.unesco.org.(french)'' Retrieved November 20, 2013.</ref><ref>[http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0003/000374/037480eo.pdf "Literacy, 1965-1967"], United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1968, p. 28</ref> During his presidency, Liberia usually supported U.S. interests in foreign affairs including cutting off critical ties with Germany to side with the Allied powers and voting with the U.S. at the United Nations on Cold War matters. In return, Tubman secured $280 million in aid from the U.S., the greatest amount to any African country (per capita) at the time.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Global Connections . Liberia . U.S. Policy |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/liberia/essays/uspolicy/ |access-date= |website=www.pbs.org}}</ref> During his presidency Tubman introduced two major policies: The Open Door Policy and the National Unification Policy. Tubman's Open Door Policy primary goal was to solicit foreign investment, business or allied countries, in Liberia's development.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Agbude |first1=Godwyns Ade' |last2=Ojo |first2=Emmanuel Olatunde |date=2014 |title=An Exploration of the Historical and the Political Backgrounds of Liberia. |journal=AFRREV IJAH: An International Journal of Arts and Humanities |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=190}}</ref> Through this policy Tubman facilitated foreign businesses to locate in Liberia, including major companies such as the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Republic Steel Corporation, and the Liberian American Swedish Mineral Company.<ref>Tubman, W V.S., ''Open Door Policy'', William V.S. Tubman Papers. Department of Internal Affairs, The Executive Branch Administrative Files, Liberian Government Papers. Bloomington, IN: Liberian Collections, Indiana University Libraries, 2008.</ref> The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company proved to be the most influential investment for the Liberian economy as rubber became the major export crop for Liberia. As a result, Liberia experienced a period of rapid development and economic prosperity in the 1960s.<ref name=universalis>Otayek, René. "Libéria," ''Encyclopédie Universalis'', 1999 Edition.</ref> He also introduced a National Unification Policy in which he stated his goal to destroy "all ideologies that divide [Liberian people]", and eliminate what he called Americo-Liberianism to replace it with a new societal focus on "justice, equality, fair play, and equal opportunities for all throughout the country."<ref>Tubman, W V.S., ''National Unification Policy'', William V.S. Tubman Papers. Department of Internal Affairs, The Executive Branch Administrative Files, Liberian Government Papers. Bloomington, IN: Liberian Collections, Indiana University Libraries, 2008.</ref> The policy aimed to assimilate interior indigenous Liberians population more fully into the political, economic, and social fabric of Liberia. Tubman also fought for more constitutional rights for indigenous Liberians although disparity still remained.<ref name="auto"/>

[[File:JFKWHP-KN-C19233.jpg|thumb|William Tubman and JFK at the White House in 1961]]

Tubman was succeeded by his Vice President, TWP Americo-Liberian William Tolbert in 1971. After coming to power Tolbert sought to introduce more liberal reforms which also included addressing imbalances between Americo-Liberians and the indigenous peoples by bringing more native figures into the government. However, these reforms proved unpopular among some of the Americo-Liberian population (including members of his cabinet) who felt Tolbert was undermining their position and accused him of "letting the peasants into the kitchen" while native Liberians felt the changes were happening too slowly.<ref name=tribute>{{cite news|last = Tolbert|first = Richard|date = May 26, 2009|title = Liberia: William R. Tolbert - 'In The Pantheon Of Great African Leaders'|url = http://allafrica.com/stories/200905280621.html|newspaper = AllAfrica.Com|access-date = November 11, 2015}}</ref><ref>"Pres. Tolbert Says 'No' To Evil Tradition: Vows to Veto Any Amendment To Keep Him In Office". <nowiki>[</nowiki>Monrovia<nowiki>]</nowiki> ''Sunday Express'' 1976-03-21: 1/2.</ref> The U.S.-Liberia relationship also became strained during this time as Tolbert welcomed leaders from communist nations such as China, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. Additionally, he cut ties with U.S. ally Israel during the Yom Kippur War.<ref name=":1"/>

In 1980, Samuel Doe became the first non-Americo-Liberian head of state after he led the 1980 Liberian coup d'état, in which Tolbert was assassinated. Doe's tenure as leader of Liberia led to the destruction of the country's economy and the destabilization of the country, including the political marginalization of Americo-Liberians and eventually the First Liberian Civil War beginning in 1989. By the early 21st century, Liberia had been reduced to one of the most impoverished nations in the world, with a majority of the population living below the international poverty line.

There is a debate among academics about how upper-class Americo-Liberians were able to exert political power and influence greater than their population. Some academics attribute the influence of the Americo-Liberians to the consolidation of economic and social interests across the various facets of Americo-Liberian society despite the fact that some initial divisions in early Americo-Liberian society were based on state of origin in the United States, educational levels, socio-economic class, free or freedmen status, and perhaps "colorism", particularly because the first president was of mixed race, as were numerous immigrants, reflecting the nature of African-American society in the Upper South.

However, some scholars argue against the importance of colorism in early Americo-Liberian society and have noted, that during the early Republic, the Americo-Liberian political leaders had an array of skin colors and tones from very dark skin to light-skinned phenotypes reflecting African-European admixture, indicating that the theory on the importance of colorism in Americo-Liberian society is unlikely to be accurate.

It is more likely that upper-class Americo-Liberians built their power on their familiarity with American culture and economics, shared lineage, and ability to create a network of shared interests. Others believe their extensive political influence was in part due to the Masonic Order of Liberia, a fraternal organization. A marble Masonic Lodge was built in 1867 as one of Monrovia's most impressive buildings. It was considered a bastion of Americo-Liberian power and was strong enough to survive the civil war. After years of neglect after the war the Masonic order has repaired the lodge.<ref name="autogenerated3">[https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0808/p25s04-woaf.html?related "For Liberians, old ties to US linger"], ''The Christian Science Monitor'', 8 August 2003.</ref>

==Culture{{anchor|Americo-Liberian culture}}== Americo-Liberian culture is a blend of the African-American and Caribbean cultures brought to Liberia by the various American, Recaptive, and West Indian settlers and is exhibited by the language, social norms, and architectural style of the Americo-Liberians.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The early African American settlers practiced Christianity, sometimes in combination with traditional African religious beliefs. They spoke an African-American Vernacular English, which developed into Liberian English.<ref name="lang" /> English played a central role in education, governance, and communication. The indigenous languages of Liberia are also spoken by various ethnic groups, but English has been the dominant and official language since the arrival of the Americo-Liberian settlers.

Upon arrival the settlers did little to integrate into the existing native practices, instead, they established a society in Liberia that mirrored America's. In addition to modeling their political institutions after the United States, Americo-Liberians were known to prefer Western modes of dress, African-American Southern food, and followed American social norms such as monogamous relationships and class structure.<ref name=":0" /> Furthermore, Americo-Liberians contributed to the culinary cuisine of the region by introducing American baking techniques.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The Americo-Liberian settlers built towns and cities with architecture reminiscent of American styles. Churches, building, and home featured a unique form of antebellum architecture and the homes of the elites often resembled American Southern plantation homes. Infrastructure projects, including roads and bridges, were also developed following American models.<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|214739835}} |last1=Herman |first1=Bernard L |title=End Paper: Americo-Liberian Folk Architecture |journal=The Chronicle of Higher Education |volume=35 |issue=24 |date=22 February 1989 |pages=B64 }}</ref>

Americo-Liberian weddings follow the traditional African-American or Afro-Caribbean style weddings in which the bridegroom appears in a lounge suit and the bride in a white wedding dress.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Many upper-class and influential Americo-Liberians belonged to the Masonic Order of Liberia which was established in 1867 and based in the Grand Masonic Temple in Monrovia.<ref name="Monrovia - Masonic Grand Lodge">{{Cite web |title=Monrovia - Masonic Grand Lodge |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/liberia/monrovia-mason.htm |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=www.globalsecurity.org}}</ref> In Liberia, particularly during the early years of the republic, the Masonic Order played a significant role in the political and social structure as it became intertwined with political power and elite networks in Liberia. Being a Mason was a veritable prerequisite for positions of political leadership in the True Whig Party.<ref name="Monrovia - Masonic Grand Lodge" /> TWP political meetings were even held in the Grand Masonic Temple, where only members could enter. Following the 1980 Liberian coup, Samuel Doe outlawed Freemasonry before lifting the ban in 1987.<ref name="monde">{{cite news|last=Wauther|first=Claude|title=A strange inheritance |url=https://mondediplo.com/1997/09/masons|accessdate=13 June 2015|newspaper=Monde Diplo|date=September 1997}}</ref> The Masonic Temple was damaged during the First Liberian Civil War<ref name="Sullivan">''[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/liberia/monrovia-mason.htm Old Ruling Elite Making a Comeback in Liberia]'', Tim Sullivan, Associated Press, September 29, 2001.</ref> and remained unoccupied before being restored. thumb|Grand Masonic Temple in Monrovia Prior to the War

==Education== The Americo-Liberians arrived with varying degrees of formal and informal education. Americo-Liberians established schools and also established the University of Liberia, formerly Liberia College, in addition to other higher learning institutions such as Cuttington College.

The Americo-Liberians were among the first sub-Saharan Africans to qualify as medical doctors and lawyers in the United States. Prominent Americo-Liberian pioneers include Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller, a distinguished Harvard-educated Liberian psychiatrist and physician.<ref>Lucy Ozarin, M.D., [http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=105081 "Solomon Carter Fuller: First Black Psychiatrist"], ''Psychiatric News'', September 6, 2002, Volume 37, Number 17, p. 19.</ref><ref name="Gray2007">{{cite magazine |last1=Gray |first1=Madison |title=Black History Month: Unsung Heroes |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1963424_1963480_1963460,00.html |magazine=Time |date=12 January 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1017&context=eps_diss|title=The role of education in the rise and fall of the Americp-Luberians of West Africa|website=www.scholarworks.gsu.edu}}</ref>

Several Americo-Liberians worked as teachers and taught both indigenous Liberians and fellow Americo-Liberians. Many Americo-Liberian educators made a concerted effort to educate Liberians from other ethnic groups, including through the use of the ward system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/73mar/meisler.htm|title=The Atlantic Monthly|website=www.theatlantic.com}}</ref><ref>Nettles, Darryl, Liberia: Study of Liberian Government and Its Relationship to American Government (April 30, 2008). The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 4, pp.1-6, 2008, 2015 National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) Annual Meeting, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2524060</ref>

==Religion== The Americo-Liberians are predominantly Protestant Christians and mainly belong to the Baptist and Methodist denominations, although some Americo-Liberians are Episcopalians and perhaps a smaller minority adhere to the Catholic faith. Americo-Liberians introduced Protestant Christianity on a wider scale in the modern-day region of Liberia. Several Americo-Liberians served as missionaries to other ethnic groups in Liberia and were among the first Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal missionaries of black African descent in Liberia.<ref name="Wegmann 2010 thesis"/>

==Food== Americo-Liberian cuisine includes a variety of dishes and is a blend of African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and local indigenous Liberian rice and foofoo dishes. Americo-Liberians introduced traditional African-American baking techniques into the modern-day nation of Liberia. Liberia remains unique for its baking traditions that are derived from the African-American immigrants to Liberia. Traditional Americo-Liberian cuisine includes African-American soul food such as cornbread, fried chicken, and collard greens but also incorporated local African traditional dishes such as palm butter soup and rice.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tantvstudios.com/posts/liberian-american-thanksgiving|title=Americo-Liberian Thanksgiving|website=www.tantvstudios.com|date=3 November 2023 }}</ref>

==Dress== Present-day Americo-Liberians, similar to other Liberians, wear both African and Western-style dress. Ethnic groups in Liberia had been accustomed to seeing European dress prior to the arrival of the Americo-Liberians, as a consequence of extensive trade with Europeans dating to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

However, the ethnic groups who inhabited Liberia did not customarily wear Western-style dress, and it was the Americo-Liberians who popularized Western-style dress including the top hat, tailcoat, lounge suit, and frock coat. Americo-Liberian women between the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries wore elaborate Victorian and Edwardian style American dresses that were fashionable among both the African-American and white American communities in the southern United States. Americo-Liberian men wore top hats, frock coats, and lounge suits in addition to spats. {{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Although Americo-Liberians would continue to wear elaborate styles of dress for special occasions such as weddings, parades, and the inauguration of presidents, they adapted their styles of dress to incorporate newer Western-style fashion and elaborate African-style dresses between the early to late twentieth centuries. In the modern era, although pioneered by the Americo-Liberians, Liberians, irrespective of ethnicity, wear both African and Western-style dress.<ref>''Africa and the West: Intellectual Responses to European Culture.'' Edited by Curtin, Philip D.. Madison, Wisconsin, 1972. University of Wisconsin Press.</ref>

==Language== Americo-Liberians speak Liberian English and its varieties such as Merico and Liberian Settler English, all of which have been influenced by African-American Vernacular English, Gullah, and Barbadian Creole. The Americo-Liberians introduced a form of African-American Vernacular English that influenced the existing pidgin English or patois that existed in the region of Liberia from the pre-colonial era. This form, called Standard Liberian English or Liberian Settler English, continues to be spoken by descendants of the original settlers today.<ref name="lang"/>

==Architecture== [[File:Home joseph roberts.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Lithograph of the former home of Joseph Jenkins Roberts in Monrovia]] Americo-Liberian architecture in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a unique fusion of antebellum architecture from the United States blended into the African environment of Liberia. Americo-Liberian houses were a variation of different architectural styles from the American South and were built of weather-board or stone frame and had both verandahs.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Wealthier Americo-Liberians incorporated antebellum southern architecture that included neoclassical and the neo-Greco-Roman architecture of the antebellum southern plantation great houses into the houses that they built in Liberia. Antebellum southern architecture incorporated Georgian, Neoclassical, and Greek Revival styles that are also reflected in Americo-Liberian architecture of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.<ref name="registry"/><ref name="autogenerated3"/>

==Diaspora and legacy{{anchor|Americo-Liberian legacy}}== ===Americo-Liberian diaspora=== Following the 1980 Liberian coup d'état and the First and the Second Liberian Civil Wars, thousands of Americo-Liberians left the country while others were killed in the conflicts. The 1980 coup brought an end to the dominant political position that Americo-Liberians had held on Liberian society and resulted in influential Americo-Liberian individuals and families leaving the country either by being forced or voluntarily going into exile. The higher socio-economic status of Americo-Liberians also enabled them to emigrate from the country more easily compared to other ethnic groups during times of conflict. In 1991, American President George H. W. Bush granted Liberians immigration protection in 1991 under "temporary protected status" during the first civil war.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/08/why-this-descendant-black-american-slave-is-being-deported/| title = Her ancestors were enslaved in the U.S. Now a Trump decision could lead to her deportation to Africa. - The Washington Post| newspaper = The Washington Post}}</ref> Americo-Liberians have settled predominantly in the United States in places such as Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, as well as in smaller numbers in Canada and the United Kingdom. Some of the children of Americo-Liberian immigrants to the United States are known to identify themselves as African-American as opposed to Liberian and have adopted American accents and culture.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> Although the Americo-Liberian diaspora is extensive in the United States, there remain communities of Americo-Liberians in the larger Liberian cities and towns such as Monrovia, Crozerville, and Careysburg. In 2009, it was estimated that a population of 150,000 Americo-Liberians existed within the total Liberian population of 3.5 million people.<ref name="Americo-Liberians •"/>

===Americo-Liberian cultural legacy=== While globalization has carried African-American culture around the world, Americo-Liberians reproduced their own cultural American continuity in Liberia. Its name means "land of the free", and it is considered the most American of African countries in terms of its political institutions.<ref name="Wegmann 2010 thesis"/>

The Liberian constitution, structure of government, and flag resemble those of the United States. The former residences of Americo-Liberian families were built in the style of antebellum plantation homes they may have admired in the American South.<ref name="autogenerated3"/> Their language continued to carry elements of African-American Vernacular English.<ref name="lang">{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110280128.358 |chapter=Liberian Settler English |title=The Mouton World Atlas of Variation in English |date=2012 |last1=Singler |first1=John Victor |pages=358–368 |isbn=978-3-11-027988-7 }}</ref> By many accounts, Liberians easily integrate into African-American communities. Liberian immigrants to the United States have the highest passport acceptance rates and the longest extension rates of any citizens of African nations.<ref name="registry">{{Cite web|url=https://aaregistry.org/story/the-americo-liberian-community-a-brief-story/#:~:text=By%20many%20accounts%2C%20Liberians%20easily,any%20citizens%20of%20African%20nations.|title=The Americo-Liberian community: A Brief Story|website=www.aaregistry.org}}</ref>

Although many of the upper-class Americo-Liberians left the country or were killed during the civil wars, and their houses and monuments crumbled, ordinary Liberians look to the United States for aid. In 2007, BET founder Robert Johnson called for "African Americans to support Liberia like Jewish Americans support Israel".<ref>Robert L. Johnson, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/13/AR2007051301123.html "Liberia's Moment of Opportunity"], ''The Washington Post'', 13 May 2007</ref>

==Notable Americo-Liberians== {{More citations needed|section|date=October 2023}} The Americo-Liberian or Congau ethnic group has produced several notable politicians, businessmen, and professionals including:

===Politicians=== * Wilmot Collins, Liberian-born American politician serving as the mayor of Helena, Montana * William V.S. Tubman, Liberian President and father of modern Liberia * William Tolbert, Last True Whig Party President * Nathaniel Barnes, Liberian businessman and politician * Charles Cecil Dennis, Liberian diplomat and politician * C. Cyvette M. Gibson, Mayor of Paynesville, Liberia * Louis Arthur Grimes, Liberian jurist * Richard Abrom Henries, Liberian politician * Elijah Johnson, Liberian pioneer and founding father of Liberia * James A. A. Pierre, Liberian politician * Charles Taylor, convicted war criminal and last Americo-Liberian President * Hilary Teague, Liberian pioneer and author of the Liberian Declaration of Independence * Frank E. Tolbert, Liberian politician and businessman * E. Reginald Townsend, Liberian politician and journalist * Winston Tubman, Liberian lawyer and politician * Clarence Lorenzo Simpson Sr., Liberian politician and former Vice President * Kimmie Weeks, Liberian human rights activist

===Education and writers=== * Edward Wilmot Blyden, Liberian intellectual scholar and Pan-Africanist pioneer * Mary Antoinette Brown-Sherman, Liberian educator and first African woman to serve as president of a university * Anna E. Cooper, educator, dean of the University of Liberia * Helene Cooper, journalist for ''The New York Times'' * John Payne Jackson, influential journalist in the Lagos Colony and founder of the ''Lagos Weekly Record'' * Wayétu Moore, author

===Business=== * Romeo A. Horton, a founder of the Africa Development Bank * Clarence Lorenzo Simpson Jr., Liberian judge and businessman * Benoni Urey, Liberian businessman and the wealthiest Liberian<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/baobab/2014/01/17/goldfinger-and-the-presidency|title='Goldfinger' and the presidency|date=17 January 2014|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=23 October 2019|issn=0013-0613}}</ref> *Rhoda Weeks-Brown, General counsel to the IMF

===Science and medicine=== * Solomon Carter Fuller, Liberian pioneer and African-American psychiatrist and physician

===American-born presidents of Liberia=== Americo-Liberians formed a cultural elite in Liberia. The following presidents of Liberia were born in the United States: * Joseph Jenkins Roberts, first and seventh president. Born in Norfolk, Virginia * Stephen Allen Benson, second president. Born in Cambridge, Dorchester County, Maryland * Daniel Bashiel Warner, third president. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland * James Spriggs-Payne, fourth and eighth president. Born in Richmond, Virginia * Edward James Roye, fifth president. Born in Newark, Licking County, Ohio. * James Skivring Smith, sixth president. Born in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina * Anthony W. Gardiner, ninth president. Born in Southampton County, Virginia * Alfred F. Russell, tenth president. Born in Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky * William D. Coleman, thirteenth president. Born in Fayette County, Kentucky * Garretson W. Gibson, fourteenth president. Born in Baltimore, Maryland

Also one Americo-Liberian president of Liberia was born in the British West Indies: * Arthur Barclay, the fifteenth president of Liberia, was born in Bridgetown, Barbados

All subsequent presidents were born in Liberia.<ref name=aa>{{cite web |url= http://africanarguments.org/2015/09/09/25-years-after-his-demise-samuel-doe-continues-to-cast-a-long-shadow-across-liberian-politics/|title=25 years after his demise, Samuel Doe continues to cast a long shadow across Liberian politics |date=9 September 2015 |website=African Arguments |access-date=30 November 2015 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

===Sources=== * {{cite book |last=Grant |first=Colin |title=Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey |location=London |publisher=Jonathan Cape |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-09-950145-9 }}

== External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070809123601/http://www.uniboa.org/migration.html History, Migration and Settlement of the Americo-Liberian] {{Americans abroad}} {{African American topics}} {{African diaspora}} {{Ethnic groups in Liberia}}

Category:Americo-Liberian people Category:Creole peoples Category:Ethnic groups in Liberia Category:Repatriated Africans Category:African-American diaspora in Africa Category:Afro-Caribbean history Category:People of Liberated African descent Category:Peoples of the African-American diaspora