AfricaBib 
bibliographic database
| Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
 WorldCat |
| Title: | The American Colonization Society and the Origin of Undemocratic Institutions in Liberia in Historical Perspective |
| Author: | Beyan, Amos J. |
| Year: | 1989 |
| Periodical: | Liberian Studies Journal |
| Volume: | 14 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 140-151 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Liberia |
| Subjects: | colonists freedmen American Colonization Society colonialism History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
| Abstract: | This study surveys the institutional legacies introduced in Liberia by the American Colonization Society (ACS), which was founded in 1816 in response to the issue of slavery. Its aim was the colonization of blacks in Africa. The study argues that the social, political, economic, and religious culture of paternalism which characterized the relationships between the ruling class and the lower classes of the southern slaveholding States of America was transferred to Liberia by the ACS. Until 1841, the ACS appointed only whites as governor of the Liberian colony. Even when blacks inherited power from the whites in 1841, this legacy of paternalism continued. The black leaders were very religious; they emphasized that they came to Africa to civilize the indigenous people; they dressed, worshipped, and built their houses like the members of the ruling class in the American South; and they thought that a strong leader was crucial to their survival. The author argues that unless Liberia radically modifies this legacy of paternalism, it will remain a victim of underdevelopment and political instability. Notes, ref. |