Liberia Founded

In 1820 the colony of Liberia was founded in Africa. African Americans were encouraged to migrate there.

On January 31, 1820, 88 African Americans boarded a ship in New York Harbor to travel to Liberia. The American Colonization Society founded the colony to encourage American African Americans to emigrate there. The capital of Liberia was Monrovia, named after President Monroe. Of the 4,571 emigrants who arrived in Liberia between 1820 and 1843, only 1,819 survived. Liberia was never an official colony of the United States, but it maintained a moral responsibility that kept European powers from taking over the settlement. The Republic of Liberia was officially established on July 26, 1847. It elected the Virginia-born Joseph Jenkins Roberts as the nation's first president.

In total, 20,000 American Blacks migrated to Liberia.