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P A S T |
P R E S E N T |
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George
Weah Made History! |
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1848
First President of Liberia
J.J. Roberts |
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Introduction
The Pepper Coast before 1822
According to the traditions of many African tribes their ancestors were
persons of small size. Although no trace of their existence was ever
discovered in West Africa they are well-known to the peoples of this
subregion. The Sousou in what is now Guinea call them �Doki�, the
Ouolofs in Senegal call them �Kondrong� while in Liberia they are called
�Jinna�.
It is generally believed
that before 1822 there were 16 different tribes living in what was
called the �Pepper Coast�, �Grain Coast� or �Malaguetta Coast�.
One of them was (...)
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2018
First democratically elected
indigenous president of Liberia |
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Providence Island where the first
colonists settled |
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Liberia Colony, showing the American
colonization societies, 1839 (Mitchel) |
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The Colony
The creation of Liberia (1822-47)
In the beginning of the 19th century, groups of free-born blacks, freed slaves and mulattoes from the United States of America emigrated
to the west coast of Africa. In 1847, 25 years after the first successful colonization, they proclaimed an independent Republic,
which they named Liberia. At that time they numbered about 3,000: men, women and children.
more
The American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society (ASC)
was created in 1816. Its objective: the settlement of free
blacks in West Africa ('Back to Africa').
The Colony based on US newspapers
(1817-47)
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The national anthem: text |
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The national
anthem:
sound
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Click
on map to zoom in on
Google map of Liberia
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Liberia and the
United Nations
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Embargoes
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Arms A UN Security Council arms embargo on Liberia
existed in various forms from 1992 to 2016
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Timber
UN timber embargo lifted June 20, 2006
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Diamonds
UN diamond embargo lifted Nov. 1, 2009 |
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Truth and
Reconciliation
Commission
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Economic History
The subsistence economy:
Foreign investments:
The Open Door
Policy of Liberia. An Economic History of Modern Liberia
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The original publication of 'The Open Door Policy of Liberia.
An Economic History of Modern Liberia' by Fred van
der Kraaij (Bremen, 1983) available as pdf-file.
The study covers the
prelude, introduction, growth and zenith of
foreign investments in Liberia. |
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Volume
1
(460 pp.)
Chapter 1: The Pepper Coast
Before 1847
Chapter 2: The origin of the Closed Door and Open Door
Policies 1847 - 1947
Chapter 3-10: Agriculture, Mining, Forestry (Firestone,
Lamco etc.)
Chapter 10-13: Analysis of impact (Fiscal contribution,
transfer of technology, transport and communication)
Chapter 13: The change from a subsistence economy into a
developing economy 1900 - 1979
Chapter 14: Conclusions and Recommendations
Volume
2 (234
pp.)
(Annexes, Bibliography, Footnotes, Index)
Buy the book:
Amazon.com
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External debt:
The 1871 loan: Prelude to a coup d'�tat
The 1906 loan: Foreigners in strategic
positions
The 1912 loan: More foreigners appointed
The 1926 Firestone loan: Sovereignty impaired
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf realizes a
historic debt relief for Liberia
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Under construction
Foreign investments after 2000
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| Oil & Gaz |
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| Mining |
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| Agriculture & Forestry |
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| President Tubman and Queen Juliana during
a State visit to the Netherlands in 1956 |
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International Relations
Liberia and the Netherlands:
Timber baron Guus Kouwenhoven, 'The Godfather of Liberia'
In 2000,
the United Nations accused a Dutchman, Guus Kouwenhoven, of
illegal arms trading and war crimes in Liberia during the
country's civil war.
After leaving Liberia in 2003, Kouwenhoven went to
Congo-Brazzaville (in violation of a UN travel ban). He invested
part of the Liberia profits in local enterprises - a clear example of money laundering - and building
and maintaining good relations with the country's political
elite including President Dennis Sassou Nguesso.
Kouwenhoven was arrested in the Netherlands in
2005, convicted (2006), acquitted, released from jail (2008), acquittal
overturned, but not re-arrested (2010).
Early 2017 his
trial re-opened and on
April 21 (2017), the Appeal
Court found him guilty and
sentenced him to 19 years in prison.
Guus Kouwenhoven, then 75 years old, fled to South Africa where Interpol South Africa arrested
him on December 8, 2017. The Dutch authorities asked for his extradition.
The extradition saga dragged on for years.
On December 19, 2017 a South African judge granted Kouwenhoven release on bail.
Subsequently, his
lawyers were successful in obtaining
multiple postponements of a
final decision on the Dutch extradition request.
On February 21, 2020, a Cape Town magistrate decided that Kouwenhoven could not be extradited to the
Netherlands because, in her view, under the Extradition Act people could
only be extradited for offences alleged to have been
committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the state
requesting extradition.
Because Kouwenhoven had committed the crimes in Liberia he could not
be extradited to the Netherlands.
However, a procedure challenging the decision of the Department
of Home Affairs (DHA) to grant a visitor's visa to Kouwenhoven -
started by the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) in 2019
- proved successful. In an unexpected move, on November 5, 2020
DHA declared Kouwenhoven an 'undesirable person� and cancelled
his visitor�s visa.
Then, to the surprise of many, on September 22, 2021 the Supreme
Court of Appeal of South Africa dismissed Kouwenhoven's appeal.
As one newspaper reported: 'The South African Government is now
free to extradite Mr. Kouwenhoven to the Netherlands.'
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Kissi Money |
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One dollar banknote Liberia 1862, signed by Vice-President
Daniel Bashiel Warner |
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Colony of Liberia coin issued 1833
American Colonization Society |
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Money
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Traditional 'Kissi' money: still in the 20th
century, bars of twisted iron were used by the
Loma and Kissi as a currency
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Modern coins: illustrations and the story behind
them
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Banknotes: illustrations and the story behind
them
Monetary development
The decision of
President Edwin Barclay (1930-1944) to adopt the US dollar as
the sole legal tender in Liberia
as from December 31, 1943 very
clearly symbolizes the political orientation of the first
African Republic as well as it's financial and economic
dependence more |
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1743 map by Professor Johann Matthias Haas (or
Hasias), Heirs of Homann |
The Colony of Maryland
(1831-41) became Maryland in Liberia (1841-57) which
was admitted into the Republic of Liberia on February 28,
1857, ten years after the creation of the first African
republic.
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8�" solid brass ring known as 'waterspirit' or 'nitien', sometimes called Kru money.
Weighs nearly 9 lbs.
Collected 1975 near Tchien, Grand Gedeh
County |
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Culture
Ritual
object or 'Kru money'?
The origin of these objects is not known with certainty.
They were used among the Kru and the Grebo in southeastern
Liberia. They call them 'Dwin', 'tien' or 'nitien', meaning
water spirits, or 'Gods of water'. More
The mystery of the Kru or Grebo
rings � Part I
More than 30 different languages are spoken in Liberia. They are
subdivided into three language groups: the West Atlantic or Mel
group, the Mande group and the Kru speaking peoples.
More�
The mystery of the Kru or Grebo
rings � Part II
Part I which focuses on the lost history of the Kru or Grebo
rings gave rise to valuable comments from Mark Clayton and Scott
Shepperd, probably the two most authoritative non-Liberian
experts on nitien.
More...
The mystery of the Kru or Grebo
rings � an important discovery
In 2015, the American expert and collector of nitien Mark
Clayton made an important discovery. He discovered a nitien
on the ground of a medicine man�s hut as shown on
a photo published online by the Peabody Museum of
Archaeology and Ethnology of Harvard University. The original
photo had been published in �Tribes of the Liberian
Hinterland�, the report of the Peabody Museum Expedition to
Liberia in 1929-1930.
More�
A �Kru ring� found in a thrift
shop in the Netherlands
In 2017, I received a letter from a Dutchman who had found a
strange object in a local thrift shop. Attracted by its shape,
weight and material (�)
More...
Liberian Music
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