The_Open_Door_deel1

in honor of the 5th President of the U.S.A.. At that time the
settlement numbered approximately 100 persons.
Gradually the colony expanded as more immigrants arrived from
the United States. More land was acquired from the native chiefs
and new settlements were started: Caldwell, Marshall, Millsburg,
New Georgia. In the last-mentioned town many re-captives, from
the intercepted slave vessels, settled.
The apparent success of the American Colonization Society inspired
other Americans to create similar organisations. The
Maryland Colonization Society, created in 1832, sent, in 1833,
a group of freed slaves and mulattoes to the Grain Coast where
they negotiated for and subsequently settled on a piece of land
which consisted of Cape Palmas and a surrounding area. The colony
was named "Maryland in Africa" and the town Harper (in commemoration
of General Harper) (23). By 1843, the colony's territory
covered an area extending from about ten miles west of
Cape Palmas to the San Pedro river in the east (at present part
of the Republic of Ivory Coast).
In 1834, the two other American colonisation societies (the
"Young Men's Colonization Society of Pennsylvania" and the
"Colonization Society of New York") started a settlement at
Bassa Cove, near the St. John's river (24). Meanwhile, the colonists
of the colony of Liberia had built two towns in the same
area: Edina and Bexley. Half a year after its creation the colony
at Bassa Cove was attacked by the Krus and most of the immigrants
were butchered (25).
The "Mississippi Colonization Society", a society which was
mainly concerned with removing the menace to white supremacy (26),
established the fourth colony. This colonisation society was
able to purchase land at the mouth of the Sinoe river and in 1838
negroes and "persons of colour" were sent for the first time to
this colony, which was called "Mississippi in Africa". In the
same year, 1838, Governor Finley of the Colony was murdered by
Krus, possibly in connivance with the notorious slave trader
Canot, who sought revenge for his defeat in Trade Town by the
colonists of Monrovia (27).
The settlers, however, did not only have conflicts and fights
with the aborigines, whose land they had acquired. The immigrants
also encountered problems with slave traders who persisted in
their obnoxious activities in the vicinity of and even within
their territory (28). Also the relations with the American Colonization
Society were often far from good, for which the attitude
of the Colonization Society's Directors was responsible,
who continued to tutor the colonists. Furthermore, the settlers
were not a homogeneous group (29), despite their small number and
their common enemies. Lastly, repeated refusals of the British
and French governments to recognise the authority and jurisdiction
of this American colony on the West Coast of Africa provided
a fifth source of conflicts, resulting in clashes that occurred
more frequently as the trading activities of the colonists increased.
The U.S. Government, however, did not allow Britain,
France or any other nation to encroach upon this area and provided