Decolonization Of Liberia

The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery; but while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful that the one of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers. I could regard them in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery. (Douglass,

These courageous Liberian women – mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters - organized a protest at the fish market in Monrovia every day to dance and pray. During the rain or heat, these women armed only with a white T-shirt gathered at the market to demand a meeting with President Taylor to talk about a resolution to the country’s political struggle. They stood up to President Taylor for months by creating signs calling for peace and handed out fliers asking the NPFL’s government to stop killing their children. The women gathered at the side of the road that President Taylor traveled to his executive mansion twice a day. This moment was significant for the women’s peace movement who took brave stance in the name of peace. President Taylor invited

Imperialism was the start of decolonization, it is the rapid expansion of territory. Decolonization affected different countries in different ways. Some were forced to become independent and some independence came peacefully. Economics, political, and ideological are three major components of imperialism. After world war two the European powers attempted to restart their empire across Asia and Africa. Despite the Pan Africanist that are located outside of the united states they draw in many of their ideas from African Americans. Pan-Africanism is a movement that can change between the focus of politics, ideology, organizations, or culture. Pan-Africanism mainly

The majority of the decolonization process spanned from the early 1950s to 1970s with a few states under foreign control until the 1980s. The misconception, however, was that once the last African country was liberated, all ties with European colonizing powers would be cut loose and wealth accumulation would be redirected inwards. However, that is far from the truth. Liberation from colonial control failed to transform underlying realities; in actuality, a new form of colonialism was erected—neocolonialism, the “continuation of colonial exploitation without formal political control”.1 In other words, African states remained largely dependent on their colonizers.

“African societies developed diverse forms, from large centralized states to stateless societies organized around kinship or age sets rather than central authority. Within this diversity were many shared aspects of language and beliefs. Universalistic faiths penetrated the continent and served as the basis for important cultural development in Nubia and Ethiopia.

In the late 1800s, European influence started to snake its way into almost every part of the world (Spielvogel and McTighe 226). The African continent was no exception to this new wave of imperialism. For years prior, Europeans only ruled over small parts of the continent, working with African merchants and rulers to meet their interests. However, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Europeans would scramble to exert their influence over as much of Africa as possible. By 1914, there would only be 2 independent African nations left (Spielvogel and McTighe 231). As this imperialist invasion swept across Africa, centuries old institutions and nations would be crushed under the weight of European gun and cannon. Europeans then realized

In the second half of the twentieth-century, African countries were able to gain their independence and strive to create unified countries. However, many countries were plagued with civil wars and the issues left behind the colonial era. The adversities faced by these new African nations are at the hands of their old colonial powers and the neo-colonialism that has taken place. These new independent countries were left to unify their people of different backgrounds, create a strong government and economy, and leave the post-colonial legacy behind.

The continent of Africa represents a land of struggle, war, violence, disease, and many other distressing crises in the eyes of a resident of a first-world country. Epidemics such as HIV and Malaria supposedly run rampant throughout the country, millions lack access to amenities that are normally taken for granted, and governments lack the capital necessary to transform the trends of their nations. The root of this problem can be traced back to imperialism, or more specifically, the social degeneration of the African people by the European colonists. During the imperialist times, Europeans drew up arbitrary boundaries in Africa as European jurisdictions, set up systems where whites dominated the nation states, and forced Africans to labor under

Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, where a nation establishes and maintains its domination over dependent territories. The word Decolonization has been defined variously. The Oxford English Dictionary defines decolonization as “the withdrawal from its colonies of a colonial power; the acquisition of political or economic independence by such colonies” (Wiki.). The term refers particularly to the dismantlement, in the years after World War II, of the colonial empires established prior to World War I throughout the world. However, decolonization not only refers to the complete "removal of the domination of non-indigenous forces" within the geographical space and different institutions of the colonized, but it also refers to the "decolonizing

Sierra Leone is an African country where historically, multiple cultures have survived. Since the feudal and monarchal systems arrived in the region dating back to the 15th century, the Temne and Mendes cultures flourished (Coleman, 2014). The Mendes culture was entangled with many beliefs and discoveries. The culture was complex and known for medicines, ancestral worship, a belief in God, masked spirit manifestations and secret societies (Coleman, 2014). The Temne culture is known for the agriculture of rice and a system of laws (Coleman, 2014).

In “Using “Tribe” and “Tribalism”: to Misunderstand African Societies,” David Wiley discussed the problems using the words “tribe” and “tribalism” to classify African societies. Wiley argued throughout his article the problems of creating “ethnic” labels among African societies. Various African groups of people are different in their culture, ideas, customs, practices, and dialect. However, many African societies were classified and labeled as “tribes” rather than being understood differently. Each African society had and has today its own unique customs and practices. These customs and practices were seen abstract and obscure to many social scientists and scientists of the 19th century. During this time we see the rise of evolutionary

The first set of things said to be done by the African American negro is to gain freedom, being the victim to ills of slavery in an underdeveloped American society. The African American Negro being forced into slavery being sold as someone’s property, I’m not even to be considered

Beginning in November of 1884, representatives from several European countries convened in Germany to discuss Africa's borders. Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany, sent out an invitation to the other European nations involved in colonizing Africa, namely, Belgium, Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Representatives from each of these countries gathered in Berlin and traded African colonies back and forth as if it were all a game, as if they were exchanging cards and coins instead of actual land filled with actual people.

The first chapter in Boahen’s book is titled “Eve of Colonial Conquest” and this section gives the readers a background of the colonialism in Africa through a look at the fundamental economic, political, and social changes that occurred just a few decades before colonialism took root. Boahen states that the trade of “natural products” is the most significant economic change in Africa by 1880. Just before the trading of “natural products” slave trades were abolished.

The process of decolonization in Africa during the 1950’s through the 1970’s was a very smart yet risky idea. For some places independence was easily gained yet in other areas it was a battle. During the time periods where colonization existed, Africa was peaceful and kept things in order. People had control over their specific locations and there were no questions to be asked. Once it was decided to remove these rights, things got out of hand rather quickly. Violence was a main occurrence during the decolonization timeframe because rules, rights, leaderships, etc. got altered and drastically changed. Sometimes nonviolence was used but it usually wasn’t as effective. A major example of using nonviolence actions to gain independence is when