Reading in a single sitting 一口气读完这段历史

Liberia（利比里亚）was set up by citizens of the United States as a colony for former African-American slaves. It is one of only two sovereign states in the world that were started by citizens of a political power as a settlement for former slaves from the same political power: Sierra Leone（塞拉利昂）, begun for that same purpose by Britain, being the other.

From around 1800, in the United States of America ideas and plans were being conceived, to set up a colony in Africa for freed African-American slaves. Between 1821 and 1847, by a combination of purchase and conquest, American "Societies" developed the colony "Liberia", which in 1847 declared itself an independent nation.

As early as the period of the American Revolution, many white members of American society could see no way for African Americans to live in "their" society as free people, either because they considered blacks physically and mentally inferior to whites, or because they saw racism and societal polarization as insurmountable obstacles for harmonious integration of the races, or for a number of other reasons. As a solution acceptable for these worried whites as well as for those proposing immediate, nationwide abolition of slavery, the young politician Thomas Jefferson proposed colonization; relocating free blacks outside the new nation.

After 1783 the ranks of free blacks expanded, due to manumission efforts sparked by the Revolutionary War and to the abolition of slavery in Northern states of the U.S.In 1800 and 1802, unsuccessful slave rebellions occurred in Virginia, which were brutally suppressed , and Americans in Southern states feared free blacks would encourage slaves to run away or revolt. Meanwhile, the number of free African-Americans in the United States kept increasing. In 1790, there were 59, 467 free blacks, out of a total U.S. population of almost four million and a total black U.S. population of 800, 000. By 1800, there were 108, 378 free blacks in a population of 7.2 million. These factors significantly influenced the popularity of the concept of colonization as a "solution" to the "problem" of free blacks.

American Paul Cuffee（保罗·库非）saw as a viable option to bring African-Americans out of the United States to the British colony of Sierra Leone. With support from some members of Congress, and from British officials, he in 1816 took thirty-eight American blacks at his own expense to Freetown（弗里敦）. Subsequent voyages of this kind were precluded by Cuffe' s death in 1817. This private initiative again added to the favor in the U.S. for the concept of colonization.

In this same period, in 1816 the American Colonization Society (ACS) （美国殖民协会）was established in Washington D.C. by American politicians, senators and religious leaders from a variety of orientations , who, with sometimes divergent reasoning, united themselves on the project of "colonizing" free blacks out of the U.S., to Africa. From January, 1820, the ACS sent ships from New York to West Africa, the first one with 88 free black emigrants and three white ACS agents on board. After several attempts and hardships, ACS representatives in December 1821 succeeded to buy Cape Mesurado（蒙塞拉多角）, a 36-mile long strip of land near current day Monrovia, from indigenous ruler King Peter. From the beginning, the colonists were attacked by indigenous peoples like the Malinkétribes, and suffered from diseases, the harsh climate, lack of food and medicine, and poor housing conditions.

Up until 1835, five more colonies were started by American Societies other than the ACS, and one by the U.S. government, all on the same West African coast. The first colony on Cape Mesurado was extended, along the coast as well as inland, sometimes by use of force, and in 1824 named Liberia, with capital Monrovia. By 1842, four of the other American colonies were incorporated into Liberia, one was destroyed by natives. The colonists of African-American descent, varying from slightly less "black" than the indigenous Africans to nearly "white", were soon indicated as America-Liberians. The maturing colony was gradually given more self-governance. In 1839, it was renamed the Commonwealth of Liberia.

利比里亚的缔造者是一个美国民间组织，这个组织的名称非常“殖民”——美国殖民协会。美国殖民协会主张“奴役有止境”，黑奴的最终解放是不可避免的，但“黑人应该获得黑人的自由”，而不应跟美国白人混杂在一起，因此，把他们送回非洲是最好的选择。而为了确保几十万陆续遣返的黑人在非洲的生计，需要建立一个独立的“黑人家园”。1847年7月26日，这个“独立的黑人家园”正式宣告诞生，国名被定为“利比里亚”即“自由之国”，据说这一名字的灵感来自移民抵达西非第一站弗里敦（意即自由城），国旗是星条旗的翻版，下辖14个县。

Key Words in History 历史关键词

1. Paul Cuffee 保罗·库非

Paul Cuffee was a Quaker businessman, patriot, and abolitionist of Aquinnah Wampanoag and African Ashanti descent. Cuffee built a lucrative shipping empire. He established the first school in Westport, Massachusetts to be racially integrated.

A devout Christian, Cuffee often preached and spoke at the Sunday services at the multi-racial Society of Friends meeting house in Westport. In 1813, he donated most of the money to build a new meeting house. He became involved in the British effort to resettle former slaves in the colony of Sierra Leone; many had been transported from the US to Nova Scotia after the American Revolution after gaining freedom with the British. Cuffee helped to establish The Friendly Society of Sierra Leone, to gather financial support for the colony.

2. The American Colonization Society 美国殖民协会

The American Colonization Society (in full, The Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America), founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821-1822 as a place for freedmen. Its founders were Henry Clay, John Randolph, and Richard Bland Lee.

The ACS was a coalition made up mostly of Quakers who supported abolition, and slaveholders who wanted to remove the perceived threat of free blacks to their society. They found common ground in support of so-called "repatriation". They believed blacks would face better chances for full lives in Africa than in the U.S.The slaveholders opposed abolition, but saw repatriation as a way to remove free blacks and avoid slave rebellions. From 1821, thousands of free black Americans moved to Liberia from the United States. Over 20 years, the colony continued to grow and establish economic stability. In 1847, the legislature of Liberia declared the nation an independent state.

3. Jehudi Ashmun and The African Intelligencer 阿什蒙和《非洲理念》

In July 1820, the ACS published The African Intelligencer, edited by Jehudi Ashmun (1794-1828), a young teacher who hoped to become a missionary to Africa. Its thirty-two pages contained articles on the slave trade, African geography, the expedition of the Elizabeth (the ship that carried the first group of colonists to Liberia), and the ACS constitution. Upset by the expense and the lack of public support for the journal, ACS managers canceled the monthly journal after one issue.

Ashmun went to Africa in 1822, where he became an early leader of the Liberian colony before from a fever in 1828. This copy belonged to William Thornton, architect of the United States Capitol and a supporter of colonization.

Background Knowledge 背景知识补充

在南方的种植园里，多达50万左右的黑奴从事着繁重的劳役，饱受种植园主的压榨欺凌，没有丝毫的人身自由。然而废奴主义者也非铁板一块，虽然他们都主张解放黑奴，但其中一派认为，黑人和白人“天生不同”，他们不会接受美国的司法和制度，如果将他们解放并留在美国，结果对双方都没好处，应该想办法让他们拥有“自己的黑人家园”；而另一派则认为，人和人之间并无本质区别，黑人也是人，既然他们生在美国，就有资格成为美国公民。他们留在美国，有助于改善美国的人权状况，更有助于打破美国根深蒂固的肤色和种族鸿沟。

其实两派冠冕堂皇理由的背后，都存在着难以启齿的实利考量：“黑人家园派”或惟恐大批自由黑奴挤占白人的就业机会，或担心越来越多的自由黑人，会成为社会治安的重大威胁；而“黑人公民派”则希望，大量获得人身自由的黑奴，会成为最廉价、最有活力的产业工人。

由于包括开国总统华盛顿本人在内的许多早期美国领导人均蓄奴，因此从一开始，“黑人家园派”就成为废奴运动的主流，他们中包括慈善家、神职人员和废除死刑主义者等。他们认为，将解放的黑奴送去一个“不会被歧视的地方”，既可以让白人和黑人各得其所，又能利用这些“被文明熏陶过的黑人”，去感化“未被文明熏陶过的人”，实在是一举两得。而最理想的所在，莫过于黑奴昔日的家园——非洲了。早在独立战争尚未结束时，杰斐逊等人就曾提出过设想，打算将自由黑人送到“一个美国国境以外的新国家”，只是由于条件不具备而只能暂时作罢。

18世纪末19世纪初，自由黑人数量急剧增加，这引起了包括废奴主义者和蓄奴主义者的共同恐慌，他们担心自由黑人会造成大批白人工人失业，担心城市犯罪率提高，担心自由黑人在南方鼓动黑奴暴动，甚至担心“没有教养的黑人”让美国社会“贬值”……总之，整个社会形成了一种有利于“黑人家园派”的氛围：赶紧把这批黑人送到他们该去的地方吧，不管花多大代价，不管那究竟是什么所在。 SIcq/jd7+W/yZRit3WcjLTQJ1DJL32gdi1lR6jmWJOJUGrSMeHpnX1L3AefyH4gN