Liberia-American History

In 1820, the American Colonization Society (ACS) began sending African American volunteers to the Pepper Coast to establish a colony for freed African Americans.
By 1867, the ACS had assisted in the movement of more than 13,000 Americans to Liberia.[citation needed] These free African Americans came to identify themselves as Americo-Liberian, developing a cultural tradition infused with American notions of racial supremacy, and political republicanism.
The ACS, a private organization supported by prominent American politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and James Monroe, believed repatriation was preferable to emancipation of slaves.
Similar organizations established colonies in Mississippi-in-Africa and the Republic of Maryland, which were later annexed by Liberia. On July 26, 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and promulgated a constitution, which, based on the political principles denoted in the United States Constitution, created the independent Republic of Liberia.

The leadership of the new nation consisted largely of the Americo-Liberians. The 1865 Ports of Entry Act prohibited foreign commerce with the inland tribes.
In 1877, the Americo-Liberian True Whig Party was the most powerful political power in the country.
Competition for office was usually contained within the party, whose nomination virtually ensured election.