The_Open_Door_deel1

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the Declaration of Independence. The seal shows a sailing-vessel
approaching the coast, a palm tree, a plow and a spade on the
shore, a dove on the wing with an open scroll in its claws and
the sun just emerging from the waters. Above the emblem the
national motto: THE LOVE OF LIBERTY BROUGHT US HERE and beneath
it, the words REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA, (see Figure 1)
The symbols of the seal are obvious: a peace-bringing bird, the
dove, arrives with a message from overseas (the United States),
the granting of independence. The ship represents the arrival
of the colonists, as does the national motto: THE LOVE OF
LIBERTY BROUGHT US HERE. Also the spade and the plough refer to
the colonists as they brought these tools with them. The palm
tree may symbolize one of the main products of the region.
The 'territory of the Republic of Liberia in 1847 covered a much
smaller area than it does nowadays. Broadly speaking, in 1847 it
covered the area from Cape Mount in the west to the boundary with
the colony of "Maryland in Africa" in the east and extended only
some 45 miles inland (40). Everything within this territory,
including all the peoples of this region, fell within the
jurisdiction of this new Republic.
Art. V, Section 13th of the Constituion of 1847 stipulates that
"(...) none but persons of color shall Le admitted to citizenship
in this RepuLlic". Liberia became with this clause one of
the few nations in the world that restricts its citizenship on
the basis of colour and descent. Whites, whether resident or
non-resident, are thus excluded from citizenship. Art. V,
section 12th of the Constitution declares: "No person shall be
entitled to hold real estate in this RepuLlic, unless he Le
citizen of the same."
Just as the whites had done in the country they came from, the
black and coloured colonists who founded the Republic of Liberia
did not grant citizenship to peoples they considered inferior to
themselves. In the U.S.A. black and coloured people only
obtained citizenship nearly one century after the country's
independence - after the Civil War (I8t>8). The Indians, the
original population even had to wait until 1940 before becoming
citizens of the U.S.A. In Liberia, the indigenous population
was granted citizenship in the 20th century - although in both
countries the granting (and full exercise) of actual civil rights
(e.g. franchise) took many more years.
As citizenship was withheld from the aborigines, they were also
denied the right to own land. Furthermore, they were not eligible
to public office nor did they have the suffrage.