Liberia: A Brief Historical Timeline

1807
Congress bans the importation of slaves into the U.S.

1816
The American Colonization Society (ACS) formed in Washington DC, for the purpose of sending free Blacks to Africa.

1822
The first African-American settlers arrive from the United States. Over 13,000 would be sent between 1822 and 1862.

1823
The ACS names the colony Liberia, for liberty, and the capital Monrovia, after U.S. president James Monroe.

1847
Liberia becomes an independent republic with the signing of the Liberian Declaration of Independence. Voting is restricted to immigrants who were formerly slaves. Indigenous Liberians quickly became second class citizens, serving as exploited laborers.

1860s
Liberia’s territorial boundaries are expanded, with assistance from the U.S. following various treaties, purchases, and battles with indigenous chiefs. The True Whig Party wins the first presidential election. It becomes the dominant political party until 1980.

1926
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company gains the right to lease one million acres of land for 99 years to establish rubber plantations in Liberia.

1930
A League of Nations report exposes forced-labor practices in Liberia.

1944
President William Tubman comes to office, pursuing a policy of national unification to draw the indigenous people into the state and society, formally establishing laws to rid Liberia of practices that favor those of settler descent. Tubman encourages economic development through foreign investment. Liberia becomes wealthier, though the wealth is still concentrated in the hands of the Americo-Liberian elite.

1951
Women and indigenous property owners vote for the first time in a presidential election.

1971
William Tolbert becomes president.

1980s
Tolbert is assassinated; a bloody military coup brings Sgt. Samuel Doe to power. Doe, with no political experience and little formal education, is installed as the first indigenous Liberian president after winning controversial elections in 1986. Ethnic tensions rise and the economy begins steady decline, despite heavy financial support from the U.S.

1990s
Civil war breaks out, leading to the eventual death of more than 200,000 Liberians and the displacement of a million others, and the destruction of the country’s infrastructure. Samuel Doe is executed by a rebel faction leader. Charles Taylor’s troops, invading Liberia from Ivory Coast, capture most of the country.

1997
After seven years of civil war, failed cease fires and broken peace accords, Charles Taylor is elected president of Liberia.

2000
Charles Taylor is accused of supporting Sierra Leone’s rebel movement against the government by trading arms and other resources for diamonds. The U.N. bans diamond exports from Liberia and reinforces its ban or arms exports to Liberia.

2003
In June and July, fighting escalates in Monrovia, killing more than 1,500 people, despite peace talks beginning in Ghana. On August 11, Charles Taylor, under international pressure to quit and hemmed in by rebels – steps down and goes into exile. All-party peace talks lead to a transitional, power-sharing government that is to steer the country towards elections in 2005. The two rebel movements (LURD and MODEL) and the transitional government headed by Monrovia businessman Gyude Bryant struggle for power, control and influence within the country.

2004
In February, an international donor conference results in pledges of more than $520 milion dollars. The US pledges $200 million for humanitarian and reconstruction needs. In April, nearly 15,000 United Nations peacekeeping forces assist in beginning the Disarmament, Demobilization, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Program (DDRR). The first step is to disarm the estimated 60,000 ex-combatants, including many women and children among the fighting forces. The first batch of internally displaced people begin their journeys home.

2005
Internationally supervised presidential and legislative elections are held. Retired soccer star millionaire George Weah and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf qualify for a second round run-off poll. On November 8, 2005  Liberians go to the polls for a second time to choose between the two remaining presidential candidates, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and George Weah. The national electoral commission declares Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf winner of the run-off election.

2006
January 16, - President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is inaugurated as Liberia's and Africa's first elected female president.