Maryland in Liberia

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Flag of the State of Maryland in Liberia (1854–57)

Maryland in Liberia , also Maryland in Africa , was a state in West Africa . The stretch of coast acquired through purchase in 1834 formed a colony and declared independence in the same year, but united in 1857 with the neighboring Republic of Liberia .

history

lili rere
James Hall
John B. Russwurm
Title page of the constitution of 1834

On February 12, 1834, the West African state of Maryland in Africa was officially founded as a colony at the instigation of the Maryland State Colonization Society . The intended state establishment on Cape Palmas was part of a scheduled transfer of former slaves from the area of ​​the US state of Maryland to West Africa.

The town of Harper was founded as the capital . The place name is reminiscent of the US politician General Robert Goodloe Harper (1765-1825), who was a supporter of the repatriation efforts of African Americans by the American colonization societies . It was also General Harper's idea to give the land he had bought on the West African coast the auspicious name "LIBERIA - Land of Freedom".

James Hall had been appointed the first governor of the colony, and he held this post until his return to the United States due to illness (malaria?) In 1839. He was succeeded by John Brown Russwurm , an ambitious Ameriko-Liberian who had already worked as a teacher in Monrovia and considered the newly founded colony of Maryland to be his life's work. John B. Russwurm also took care of the economic affairs of the colony; during his tenure as governor he personally controlled foreign trade, income and expenses of the colonial administration and ensured the monetary stability of his own currency.

In 1856 a bloody war began with the Grebo and Kru peoples who wanted to drive the immigrants from their territories. There were several raids on mission stations, farms and plantations, and 26 colonists were killed. In this emergency, Boston asked Jenkins Drayton , President of Maryland, in Monrovia for military assistance, which was immediately given to him. At that time, Drayton and his colonists realized that they could no longer secure the state independence and development of Maryland on their own in the future, so on March 18, 1857, state independence was given up and the union with the brother state Liberia was completed.

Today's Liberian County Maryland was formed from the larger, western part of the state . The eastern part of Maryland was ceded to the colony of French West Africa as early as 1891 under pressure from the French government and is currently part of the Ivory Coast state .

Illustrations

  • Map section of West Africa (1868)

  • St. Mark's Church, the episcopal church of the colony

  • Cape Palmas with lighthouse

  • Mission station on Mount Vaugn

  • A typical native village

literature

  • Daniel Elwood Dunn, Svend E. Holsoe: Historical dictionary of Liberia . In: African historical dictionaries . tape 83 . Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, NJ 2001, ISBN 0-8108-1767-5 , pp. 436 .
  • Alan Huffman: Mississippi in Africa . Gotham Books, New York 2004, ISBN 1-59240-044-2 , pp. 328 .
  • Lester S. Hyman: United States policy towards Liberia, 1822 to 2003 . Africana Homestead Legacy Publ., Cherry Hill, NJ 2003, ISBN 0-9653308-8-5 , pp. 281 .
  • Winston James: The struggles of John Brown Russwurm. The life and writings of a pan-Africanist pioneer, 1799-1851 . University Press, New York 2010, ISBN 0-8147-4289-0 , pp. 305 .
  • Robert Kappel: Economy, Classes and State in Liberia. Development of social contradictions in peripheral capitalism during the 19th and 20th centuries . Haag & Herchen, Frankfurt aM 1982, ISBN 3-88129-537-2 , pp. 369 .
  • Jack Rummel: African-American social leaders and activists. A to Z of African Americans . Facts on File, New York 2003, ISBN 0-8160-4840-1 , pp. 246 .
  • The State of Maryland (Ed.): Constitution and Laws of Maryland in Liberia . John D. Toy, Baltimore 1847, p. 212 ( books.google.com - full text as digitized version).
  • New England Anti-Slavery Convention . In: The Maryland Colonization Society (Ed.): Maryland Colonization Journal . tape 2 . Baltimore 1843, p. 384 ( books.google.de - full text).

Web links

Commons : Maryland in Liberia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Maryland Historical Society Library: Harper-Pennington Papers. 1701-1899, MS. 431
  2. ↑ Winston James: The struggles of John Brown Russwurm. The life and writings of a pan-Africanist pioneer, 1799-1851 . University Press, New York 2010, ISBN 0-8147-4289-0 , pp. 305 .
  3. ↑ Frederick Starr: Liberia. Description, history, problems . Chicago 1913, Liberian Officials, pp. 275 .