The Price of Liberty

African Americans and the Making of Liberia

Nonfiction, History, Africa, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies, Americas, United States, 19th Century
Cover of the book The Price of Liberty by Claude Andrew Clegg, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Claude Andrew Clegg ISBN: 9780807895580
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: September 11, 2009
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Claude Andrew Clegg
ISBN: 9780807895580
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: September 11, 2009
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

In nineteenth-century America, the belief that blacks and whites could not live in social harmony and political equality in the same country led to a movement to relocate African Americans to Liberia, a West African colony established by the United States government and the American Colonization Society in 1822. In The Price of Liberty, Claude Clegg accounts for 2,030 North Carolina blacks who left the state and took up residence in Liberia between 1825 and 1893. By examining both the American and African sides of this experience, Clegg produces a textured account of an important chapter in the historical evolution of the Atlantic world.

For almost a century, Liberian emigration connected African Americans to the broader cultures, commerce, communication networks, and epidemiological patterns of the Afro-Atlantic region. But for many individuals, dreams of a Pan-African utopia in Liberia were tempered by complicated relationships with the Africans, whom they dispossessed of land. Liberia soon became a politically unstable mix of newcomers, indigenous peoples, and "recaptured" Africans from westbound slave ships. Ultimately, Clegg argues, in the process of forging the world's second black-ruled republic, the emigrants constructed a settler society marred by many of the same exclusionary, oppressive characteristics common to modern colonial regimes.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In nineteenth-century America, the belief that blacks and whites could not live in social harmony and political equality in the same country led to a movement to relocate African Americans to Liberia, a West African colony established by the United States government and the American Colonization Society in 1822. In The Price of Liberty, Claude Clegg accounts for 2,030 North Carolina blacks who left the state and took up residence in Liberia between 1825 and 1893. By examining both the American and African sides of this experience, Clegg produces a textured account of an important chapter in the historical evolution of the Atlantic world.

For almost a century, Liberian emigration connected African Americans to the broader cultures, commerce, communication networks, and epidemiological patterns of the Afro-Atlantic region. But for many individuals, dreams of a Pan-African utopia in Liberia were tempered by complicated relationships with the Africans, whom they dispossessed of land. Liberia soon became a politically unstable mix of newcomers, indigenous peoples, and "recaptured" Africans from westbound slave ships. Ultimately, Clegg argues, in the process of forging the world's second black-ruled republic, the emigrants constructed a settler society marred by many of the same exclusionary, oppressive characteristics common to modern colonial regimes.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Crossroads of the Natural World by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book Contested Culture by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book The Look of Things by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book The Segregated Origins of Social Security by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book Forging Diaspora by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book Hatteras Blues by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book Covered with Glory by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book Mania for Freedom by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book The Sino-Soviet Alliance by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book The Harpsichord Owner's Guide by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book Rhythms of Race by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book The Press Gang by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book American Legal Realism and Empirical Social Science by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book The Chesapeake House by Claude Andrew Clegg
Cover of the book Nuclear Apartheid by Claude Andrew Clegg
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy