The_Open_Door_deel1

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sailed back to Sierra Leone, picked up the immigrants who had
been waiting there and went back with them - on a U.S. Navy
Ship - to the area they had bought. They landed with the colonists
at Cape Mesurado on January 7, 1822. However, upon return
it soon became clear that the attitude of the Africans
had completely changed. They would not even allow the ship to
be unloaded.
The main explanation for this changed attitude of the tribal
people lies within the concept of land tenureship. One of the
main negotiators with Ayres and Stockton, King Peter, had
traded land belonging to other chiefs and tribes on which he
could never have any claim whatsoever. Secondly, ownership of
land in the traditional African countries was never absolute
and King Peter could never sell any land belonging to his
tribe. Thirdly, part of the land bought by Ayres and Stockton
consisted of a sacred area, and could never be disposed of (20).
Through tenacity and threat Ayres managed to stay and when the
group, which first settled on Dozoa Island, wanted to move to
the mainland, he used the same means. On 24th April, 1822, he
threatened with a war if the tribal people would not listen to
him and give in: "(...) / would bring ships and Latter down
all the towns of those who opposed us from Cape. Clouni to the
Line (...)" (21). A squadron of the U.S. Navy was due to arrive
and he, Ayres, knew it. One day later, on April 25, the
colonists hoisted the American flag-on Gape Mesurado, the
mainland.
The year 1822 brought many more conflicts and wars between the
colonists and the natives. Most famous are the Battle of Crown
Hill - where Lott Carey saved the colony - and the Battle of
Fort Hill - which made a heroine of Mathilde Newport. Both
have become national heroes, after whom towns and streets were
name'dj.i.arid forwwhram national days were proclaimed.
The purchase of Dozea Island, named by Ayres "Perseverance Island",
now known as "Providence Island", and a strip of land
marked the beginning of a series of transactions and events by
which a growing number of settlers acquired land along the
coast and, later, further inland. The colony extended its area
by purchase, conquest, deceit, friendship treaties and voluntary
deedings by the native Kings ("protectorates"). This colonisation
did not take place without difficulties, as "the immigrants
had never Seen Africa Lefore, the indigenous Africans
had never seen them before." (22). The emergence of problems
is not surprising as the differences between the two groups,
the colonists and the tribal population were vast. There were
differences in clothing, language, habits, education, religion,
even in colour as many of the newly arrived people were
mulattoes.
The American Colonization Society had named the colony "Liberia"
upon the proposal of the American General Robert Godloe Harper.
The colonists build a town which, in 1824, they named "Monrovia",