Almost exactly 200 years since freed black slaves from the United States of America were resettled in what is now the Republic of Liberia, the agreement for the sale of a piece of land to the American Colonization Society (ACS) by the indigenous people has surfaced in its original form: handwritten.
A Liberian historian, who goes by the name C. Patrick Burrowes, in August 2021, uncovered the original purchase agreement between the ACS and the indigenous Africans among the files of Elias B. Caldwell, a U.S. Supreme Court clerk and part-time ACS secretary, in the microfilm archive of the Chicago History Museum’s Bushrod Washington collection.
Burrowes was born in Liberia and has taught at Penn State Harrisburg and Marshall University. He uncovered the handwritten version of the document, with details of the sale of a tract of West African land that later became Monrovia, the Liberian capital.
The selling price of the land, which happens to be the Providence Island and beyond, was about US$300 worth of weapons, rum and other merchandise. The purchase, according to the land deed, was made on December 15, 1821, and signed by U.S. Naval Lt. Robert Stockton and Eli Ayres, an agent of the ACS, on behalf of the American government on one hand, and King Peter, King George, King Long Peter, King Governor, King Zoda and King Jimmy on behalf of the native Africans on the other hand.
No land surveys of the territory were conducted, so its precise dimensions went unspecified. Various sources would later provide hugely inflated numbers, but Burrowes deduced from an 1824 map that the initial purchase involved only about 140 acres. He added that a similar piece of land in much of the United States would have sold for considerably less in that era.
However, this piece of history, which sheds light on the acquisition of the only U.S. colony in Africa, was sorely lacking in primary-source documents since 1835—until the recent discovery of Burrowes.
The document’s whereabouts had been unknown for so long that there was speculation it had never existed at all. For the historian, finding the purchase agreement has been the most significant discovery of his career.
“The details of the land transfer have been shrouded in some controversy, so the recent discovery by Dr. Burrowes is timely, especially so close to the 200th anniversary of the event,” said Herbert Brewer, a Morgan State University historian who studies slavery and the African American diaspora.
Cognizant of the historical facts provided by the purchase agreement, December 15, 2021 will mark exactly 200 years since the ACS purchased the piece of land for the freed slaves in Monrovia.
Liberians, home and abroad, are already gearing up for the bicentennial celebration—a celebration marking the 200th year anniversary of the nation’s existence (1822—2022), and Burrowes’ discovery is just in time to raise the momentum for the 2022 year-long celebrations.
There are lots of unknown facts about Liberia, and it is expected that the bicentennial celebration will help to uncover these hidden secrets, as well as showcase the nation’s landscape and natural features—mountains, rivers, capes, parks, rainforests, lakes, beaches, etc.
The celebrations are also expected to explore the nation’s beautiful culture, and popularize what Liberia and the United States of America share in common, as those expected to grace the celebrations are mostly based in the U.S.
Before Burrowes’ historical milestone, there were circulated myths about the acquisition of the Providence Island by the ACS from the people they met on the ground.
The first myth is that the local West African rulers rejected the contract because their societies prohibited the buying and selling of land; the second is that the local rulers were unable to comprehend the content of the contract because they did not understand English; and the third is that the land was purchased at gunpoint.
But these myths have been countered by many historians, including Patrick Burrowes, who argued that, aside from the fact that the purchase agreement itself shows formal approval of the land sale, the nascent Liberian colony expanded through four additional land purchases between 1825 and 1828. He said the second myth seems to ignore the historical reality that the region, where the land purchase took place, had already seen centuries of contact with European traders, their goods and their contractual documents.
Burrowes alluded that the third myth has some appearance of credibility: Stockton, a veteran of several duels, was no stranger to gunplay, and that he did brandish two pistols during the negotiations. “However, popular accounts sensationalize his actions and strip them of context,” said Burrowes, who noted that Stockton pulled his guns in response to two pro-slavery outsiders who had come seeking to sabotage the negotiations.
He said the date on the purchase agreement reveals that it was signed a full day after Stockton drew his pistols. “So even if he had been sufficiently rash to threaten local rulers, they would have had more than enough time to mobilize their own gun-toting forces,” he argued.
Officially, Liberia began in the early 19th century as a project of the American Colonization Society (ACS), which believed black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. Between 1822 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born black people who faced social and legal oppression in the U.S., along with 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to Liberia
Gradually developing an “Americo-Liberian” identity, the settlers carried their culture and tradition with them; the Liberian constitution and flag were modeled after those of the U.S., while its capital was named after ACS supporter and U.S. President, James Monroe. Liberia declared independence on July 26, 1847, which the U.S. did not recognize until February 5, 1862. On January 3, 1848, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a wealthy, free-born African American from the U.S. state of Virginia who settled in Liberia, was elected Liberia’s first president after the people proclaimed independence.