LIBERIA, a negro republic on the grain coast of Upper Guinea. The territory of the republic extends, from long. 5° 54' to 12° 22' west. The length of coast is about 500 in.,•the average breadth of the territory about 50 miles. On Dec. 31. 1815. itti association, of which Henry Clay (q.v.) was president, styled the American colonization society, was formed, for the purpose of founding a colony of emancipated neg,roes,and of giving them favorable opportunities of self-imprcvement. The first attempt in consequence of the selection of an unhealthy IGeality; but in Dec., 1821, a treaty was concluded with the native princes, by which a tract of land fit for the purpose wan acquired. The association immediately commenced operations, and allotted to each man 30 acres of land, with the means of cultivating it. A town, called Monrovia, was founded at cape Mesurado; the boundaries of the colony were enlarged by the purchase of new tracts; and a second town; called Caldwell, in honor of the originator of the association, was founded upon the river Mesnrado. New settlements were afterwards formed at cape Monte and in the newly acquired Bassa land, in which, in 1834, a town was founded, and called Edina, in acknowledgment of pecuniary aid sent to the colony from Edinburgh. Many of the neighboring chiefs were received into the colony, whilst others were subdued. In 1847, Liberia was left to its own resources, declared an inde pendent republic, and the government committed to a president, senate, and house of representatives. The president and representatives are elected for 2, and the senators for 4 years, all citizens being qualified electors when they reach 21 years of age, and possess real estate. The judicial power is vested in one supreme and several subordinate courts. Slavery and the slave-trade are prohibited, and the right of petition established.
Whites are excluded from rights of citizenship, .but this is only a temporary measure. The prosperity of the colony soon became very obvious; churches and schools were founded in greater proportion to the population than in most parts of Britain or America; a regular postal system was established, newspapers published, and slavery in the neighboring states abolished. Negroes from the neighboring regions, settling in the republic and submitting to its laws, were admitted to participation in civil and politi cal freedom equally with the colonists. The new republic was recognized by Britain in 1848, and since by other European powers. The British government made it a pres ent of a corvette of war with four guns. The prosperity and usefulness of Liberia have since continued to increase, hut the number of settlers from North America has never been great in any year, and the whole number in the country is reckoned not to exceed 19,000. Additional negro tribes, are, however, from time to time -included within its territory. The native inhabitants of Liberia were recently estimated at 700,000, and about 50,000 had acquired the English language, of whom about 3,000 were members of the Christian church. Agriculture is carried on with increasing success. Sugar is the principal article of produce, and also of manufacture. Cocoa; cotton, coffee, arrow root, and rice are also cultivated. Trade is rapidly extending, and palm-oil, ivory, gold-dust, camwood, wax, coffee, indigo, ginger, arrow-root, and hides are amongst the vincipal articles of export. The exports to the United States in 1809 were valued at 1'18,646. Revenue '73, £23,000.—See Stock well's Republic of Liberia (New York, 1868); and The Republic of Liberia, by Blyden (Metlwdist Quarterly Review, New York, 1872).