Founding of Liberia

In 1820, freed African Americans set sail from New York to Sierra Leone in an effort largely organized by the American Colonization Society, which aimed to resettle freed African Americans in Africa. This effort drew partial funding from the U.S. Congress, inspired by similar British resettlements of freed people in Sierra Leone after the abolition of the slave trade. Although the American Colonization Society faced criticism, especially from abolitionists, Liberia was eventually established in 1821 as a U.S.-backed colony for African Americans, gaining independence in 1847 and becoming Africa’s first democratic republic.