The U.S. Responsibilities of Issues in Liberia
. Liberia is located in Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and is between Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone. It is a country of foreign companies owning most of its land and wealth. It was first settled in by Americo-Liberians in 1817. This was the first cause of conflict in Liberia. The country was, and still is, in political and tribal conflict. Charles Taylor, the man who declared a revolution against the Liberian government, starting the country’s civil war, and, consequently, was convicted of countless war crimes and crimes against humanity, is one of the root causes of the country’s condition today. Lastly, because of neglectance of Firestone and the United States, Liberia …show more content…
In the early 1800’s, freed slaves from the United States were “sent back” to Africa when there seemed to be no use of them since slavery was outlawed. When shipped off to Africa by the American Colonization Society, there they settled on land later created to be Liberia which is where they got their name of Americo-Liberians. Through this was a demonstration of indirect control done by the United States. Since their arrival, Americo-Liberians were treated with a higher status and moreover had plentiful advantages. They lived with a more luxurious life and were also in government. “The Americo-Liberians consolidated power by creating a one-party state and ruled through the Americo-Liberian dominated True Whig Party for 133 years.” Along with the legislature imitating and modeling American political institutions, Americo-Liberians were more American than African as ever. Not only bringing along their government, they brought along their culture from the United States. “They retained preferences for western modes of dress, Southern plantation-style homes, American food, Christianity, the English language, and monogamous kinship practices.” Ultimately, though, after more than 100 years, the Americo-Liberian government was overthrown. After rioting broke out in the country from the leader's orders of firing at protest demonstrations and killing close to 50 demonstrators, president William Tolbert was killed along with …show more content…
Doe, who lead the Coup d’état against Tolbert, was a member of a small tribe called Krahn. He established a military regime called the People’s Redemption Council. This appealed to the civilians because it favored those who were excluded from power in the country. Though this definitely was a shift from the prior government, Doe made some drastic changes. He appointed uneducated and ill-prepared people for positions. One of the only educated members of his government, though, was Charles Taylor. Taylor abused his position and used it to benefit him- scandling money from the Liberian Government. Doe’s accusation of his led to Taylor's’ arrest, but not long after he escaped and started building his army. Soon enough, Taylor took control over the country and was abusing his power to wipe out the Krahn tribe (those belonging to the same tribe as Doe). During his revolution, Taylor had caused Firestone to close down. Essentially, it aided the war that Taylor had started. “it agreed to pay millions of dollars to Taylor in exchange for being able to operate (money that, in Taylor’s own words, provided the “financial assistance that we needed for the revolution”)”. As demonstrated, Firestone played a role in the destruction of Liberia but the United States neglected the country as
. Liberia is located in Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and is between Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone. It is a country of foreign companies owning most of its land and wealth. It was first settled in by Americo-Liberians in 1817. This was the first cause of conflict in Liberia. The country was, and still is, in political and tribal conflict. Charles Taylor, the man who declared a revolution against the Liberian government, starting the country’s civil war, and, consequently, was convicted of countless war crimes and crimes against humanity, is one of the root causes of the country’s condition today. Lastly, because of neglectance of Firestone and the United States, Liberia …show more content…
In the early 1800’s, freed slaves from the United States were “sent back” to Africa when there seemed to be no use of them since slavery was outlawed. When shipped off to Africa by the American Colonization Society, there they settled on land later created to be Liberia which is where they got their name of Americo-Liberians. Through this was a demonstration of indirect control done by the United States. Since their arrival, Americo-Liberians were treated with a higher status and moreover had plentiful advantages. They lived with a more luxurious life and were also in government. “The Americo-Liberians consolidated power by creating a one-party state and ruled through the Americo-Liberian dominated True Whig Party for 133 years.” Along with the legislature imitating and modeling American political institutions, Americo-Liberians were more American than African as ever. Not only bringing along their government, they brought along their culture from the United States. “They retained preferences for western modes of dress, Southern plantation-style homes, American food, Christianity, the English language, and monogamous kinship practices.” Ultimately, though, after more than 100 years, the Americo-Liberian government was overthrown. After rioting broke out in the country from the leader's orders of firing at protest demonstrations and killing close to 50 demonstrators, president William Tolbert was killed along with …show more content…
Doe, who lead the Coup d’état against Tolbert, was a member of a small tribe called Krahn. He established a military regime called the People’s Redemption Council. This appealed to the civilians because it favored those who were excluded from power in the country. Though this definitely was a shift from the prior government, Doe made some drastic changes. He appointed uneducated and ill-prepared people for positions. One of the only educated members of his government, though, was Charles Taylor. Taylor abused his position and used it to benefit him- scandling money from the Liberian Government. Doe’s accusation of his led to Taylor's’ arrest, but not long after he escaped and started building his army. Soon enough, Taylor took control over the country and was abusing his power to wipe out the Krahn tribe (those belonging to the same tribe as Doe). During his revolution, Taylor had caused Firestone to close down. Essentially, it aided the war that Taylor had started. “it agreed to pay millions of dollars to Taylor in exchange for being able to operate (money that, in Taylor’s own words, provided the “financial assistance that we needed for the revolution”)”. As demonstrated, Firestone played a role in the destruction of Liberia but the United States neglected the country as