v37_1586 - LIBERIA - REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA 20 dollars 1964 Berne

LIBERIA - REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA

(since 1822)

The founding of Liberia in 1822 by an American colonization company with the aim of settling freed black slaves there marked the beginning of a malaise between the Americo-Liberians and the indigenous population. Twenty five years later, on July 26, 1847, Liberia became an independent republic. The suffrage allows the American-Liberian elite and the True Whig party to retain power for a century. The condemnation, by the League of Nations (SDN) in 1931, of the conditions of forced labor imposed on the natives by the Americo-Liberians on behalf of the multinationals of the rubber industry, will force the government to resign. In 1936, the new government banned forced labor. Nevertheless, the natives, deprived of the right to vote, remain second-class citizens. It was not until May 1945 that President William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman granted the right to vote to the natives..