Liberia

B

Judiciary

The Liberian judicial system is largely modelled on that of the United States. The People’s Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and six associate justices. Subordinate courts are established by the legislature, and all judges are appointed by the president for life terms.

C

Health and Welfare

Malaria, tuberculosis, yaws, and leprosy are prevalent in Liberia. In 2007 average life expectancy was 42 years for women and 39 years for men; the infant mortality rate was 150 deaths per 1,000 live births. Some hospitals are operated by the central government, but no national social welfare system exists. In 2004 there were around 43,478 people per doctor; 8.4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product was spent on health care in 1995.

D

International Organizations

Liberia is a member of the United Nations (UN), the African Union, African Development Bank, and ECOWAS.

VI

History

Liberia owes its establishment to the American Colonization Society, founded in 1816 to enable freed American slaves to resettle in Africa (see Slavery). An attempt at colonization in Sierra Leone had failed in 1815. Six years later native rulers granted a tract of land on Cape Mesurado, at the mouth of the St Paul River, to US representatives, and the first Americo-Liberians, led by Jehudi Ashmun, began a settlement in 1822 near where Monrovia now stands. In 1824 an American agent for the society, Ralph Randolph Gurley, named the new colony Liberia and the Cape Mesurado settlement Monrovia, after the then US president, James Monroe.

Other separate settlements were established along the coast during the next 20 years. Soon, however, conflicts arose between the settlers and the society in the United States. By the time Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first black governor in 1841, the decision had been made to give the colonists almost full control of the government. A constitution modelled on that of the United States was drawn up, and Liberia became an independent republic in July 1847. Roberts was its first president, serving until 1856. Great Britain recognized Liberia in 1848, France in 1852, and the United States in 1862.

A

Relations with Indigenous People

The Americo-Liberian communities eked out a precarious existence during the 19th century. Claims over interior territory were disputed not only by the indigenous peoples, but also by European states that did not recognize Liberian jurisdiction over the interior. US support led to a series of agreements with Britain and France between 1892 and 1911, which marked the present boundaries. (Liberian control over the interior peoples, however, was not completely assured until the 1940s.) Loans from Britain and the United States partially eased the country’s financial difficulties.

Liberia declared war on Germany on August 14, 1917, which gave the Allies an additional base in West Africa during World War I. In 1926 the Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company opened a rubber plantation on 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land granted by the Liberian government the year before. Rubber production quickly became the mainstay of the nation’s economy.

In 1931 the League of Nations confirmed that Americo-Liberians were using indigenous people for forced labour, tantamount to slavery. The ensuing scandal implicated the highest government officials; the president and vice-president resigned. By 1936 the new government had succeeded in abolishing forced-labour practices, but the indigenous population was still treated as second-class citizens, without voting rights.