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Essay / Liberia - 2719
Liberia owes its creation to the American Colonization Society; founded in 1816 to resettle freed American slaves in Africa. An attempt at colonization in Sierra Leone had failed in 1815. Six years later, indigenous leaders granted a plot of land at Cape Mesurado, at the mouth of the Saint Paul River, to American representatives and the first Americo-Liberians, led by Jehudi Ashmun. , began the settlement. In 1824, an American agent for the company, Ralph Randolph Gurley, named the new colony Liberia and the Cape Mesurado colony Monrovia. Other separate settlements were established along the coast over the next 20 years. Soon, however, conflicts arose between the colonists and American society. By the time Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first black governor in 1841, the decision had been made to give the colonists almost complete control of the government. A constitution modeled on that of the United States was drafted and Liberia became an independent republic in July 1847. Roberts served as its first president, serving until 1856. Liberia was recognized by Great Britain in 1848, by France in 1852 and by the United States. in 1862. Americo-Liberian communities led a precarious existence during the 19th century. Claims to the interior territory were contested not only by the Mandinka (also known as Mandinka or Malinké), Kru and Gola indigenous peoples, but also by European states who did not recognize Liberian jurisdiction over the interior. American support led to a series of agreements with Britain and France between 1892 and 1911, which marked today's borders. (However, Liberian control over the peoples of the interior was not fully assured until the 1940s.) Loans from Britain and the United States partially alleviated the country's financial difficulties. Liberia declared war on Germany on August 14, 1917, which gave the Allies an additional base in West Africa during World War I (1914–1918). In 1926, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company opened a rubber plantation on 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land granted by the Liberian government the previous year. Rubber production has become the mainstay of the country's economy. In 1931, the League of Nations confirmed that Americo-Liberians used indigenous Africans for forced labor, amounting to slavery. The ensuing scandal involved top government officials; the president and vice president......middle of paper......testing. Islam made progress among the populations of the interior, who largely retained their animist religions. In total, around 70 percent of the population follows traditional religions and 20 percent are Muslims. English is the official language of Liberia but is spoken by only about a fifth of the population. The others speak various African languages which mainly belong to the Mandé, West Atlantic or Kwa linguistic groups. Malaria, tuberculosis, yaws and leprosy are widespread in Liberia. In 2001, average life expectancy at birth was 53 years for women and 50 years for men; the infant mortality rate was 132 per 1,000 live births. Some hospitals are run by the central government, but there is no national social protection system. The Compulsory Education Act of 1912 provides for compulsory and free education for children aged 6 to 16. However, the government's attempts to implement this law are hampered. due to the lack of educational facilities, and only 33 percent of school-age children..