A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

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Chapter Four
Finally, Liberian society since the arrival of the Americo-Liberian settlers has been characterized by
dual systems of education, governance, law, and cultural practice. Indigenous systems of education
(such as the Poro and Sande bush schools 31 ), customary law using traditional methods of trial by
ordeal, 32 reconciliation under the palava hut, 33 traditional punishment, 34 and the chieftaincy system of
governance are prominent in the interior areas of Liberia. In contrast, a more Western-styled system
of education, courts, and bureaucratic governance is found in Monrovia and other larger cities. 35
hiStorical overview
Liberian history is contested and, as in many countries, is perceived as a political undertaking. This
section seeks only to provide a general outline of certain historical events to provide the reader with
context for the following report. A timeline of events during the TRC’s mandate period, from 1979 to
2003, can be found at Appendix G.
Early History
Liberia’s current ethnic diversity reflects the many stages of migration to what today is known as
Liberia. The oldest inhabitants of the Liberian territory include the Gola, Kpelle, Loma, Gbandi,
Mende, and Mano peoples, who had settled in the area by 6000 B.C.E. 36 Later arrivals included the
Kru, Bassa, Dei, and Grebo peoples, who arrived during the sixteenth century from the west. 37 The
seventeenth century brought the arrival of the Vai and Mandingo, migrating from the north. 38
Beginning in the early nineteenth century, actors within the United States began to play a part in the
fortunes of the land that is now known as Liberia. As a reaction to America’s own social crisis created
by the use of Africans as slave labor, a group of prominent Americans began a movement to return
free African-Americans to Africa. 39 They formed an association of abolitionists and whites who
feared the growth of a free black population in the United States. This group became the American
Colonization Society and ultimately selected land near the present day capital of Liberia to serve as
the landing point for the first settlers. 40 Settlers officially founded the government of Liberia in 1847. 41
The indigenous African inhabitants of the Liberian territory were generally antagonistic to the
establishment of the Liberian nation and played no role in the decision-making around its founding
principles and documents. 42 According to Liberia scholar, Jeremy Levitt, the “Dei [the group located
in the territory initially claimed by the ACS] abhorred the settlers’ presence…[and] they forcefully
resisted the erection of a ‘colony,’ ‘settlement,’ or ‘dominion’ in Cape Mesurado or at any other location
on the coast.” 43 Indeed, the colonization society settlements and indigenous tribal communities were
at war over territory and trade routes throughout much of the nineteenth century. 44
The settler-led government in Monrovia engaged in the process of establishing an independent nation.