The Love of Liberty Brought us Here

Abstract

Early on the morning of August 24, 1847, a single cannon shot booms from Monrovia’s Central Fort Hill to announce the dawn. The shot could have awakened the whole town, except most people are already up and preparing to celebrate the birth of their new republic: the country had officially declared its independence the month before. In fewer than three decades, Liberia had expanded from a tiny, almost-failed settlement into a commonwealth, and finally into a true republic. Many of Liberia’s citizens write about finding a new sense of personhood, dignity, and autonomy in Liberia. Many letter writers allude to the scripture Micah 4:4: “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid. . . .”