Afterword

Abstract

The author’s concerted efforts to discover the fate of the surviving Majors and Harlans in Liberia are unsuccessful. However, the epilogue reveals what happened to Ben’s widow, Lucy, and the rest of his family after his death; summarizes the remaining years of George Harlan, who had freed Agnes Harlan and her family; examines the continued work of the American Colonization Society; and looks at the subsequent and rocky history of the Republic of Liberia. The afterword concludes by noting that the vine-and-fig-tree passage in Micah is preceded by this one: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” The author ends by expressing her hope that the people of Liberia will be able to build a stable nation where they can all live in peace under their own vines and fig trees.