Editing Liberia (section)

=== Political formation ===
[[File:T. WILLIAMS (c1850) Residence of Joseph Roberts, President of the Republic of Liberia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Residence of [[Joseph Jenkins Roberts]], first President of Liberia, between 1848 and 1852.]]
On July 26, 1847, the settlers issued a [[Liberian Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] and promulgated a [[Liberian Constitution of 1847|constitution]]. Based on the political principles of the [[United States Constitution]], it established the independent Republic of Liberia.<ref name=volume>
{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Harry Hamilton |last2=Stapf |first2=Otto |title=Liberia, Volume I |publisher=Hutchinson & Co |year=1906 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XTYbAAAAYAAJ|isbn=1143315057}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Adekeye Adebajo|date=2002|title=Liberia's Civil War: Nigeria, ECOMOG, and Regional Security in West Africa|publisher=International Peace Academy|page=21|isbn=1588260526}}</ref> On August 24, Liberia adopted its 11-striped [[Flag of Liberia|national flag]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Liberia: Open Door to Travel and Investment |date=1967 |publisher=Liberia. Department of Information and Cultural Affairs |page=19|quote=This symbol of Negro liberty was first unfurled on August 24, 1847}}</ref> The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] was the first country to recognize Liberia's independence.<ref name="Ricks">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40500884 "How a former slave gave a quilt to Queen Victoria"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614180140/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40500884 |date=June 14, 2021 }}. BBC. July 11, 2017</ref> The United States did not recognize Liberia until 1862, after the Southern states, which had strong political power in the American government, declared their secession and the formation of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Revolutionary Summer of 1862 |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2017/winter/summer-of-1862 |website=National Archives |access-date=September 20, 2020 |language=en |date=April 20, 2018 |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614180151/https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2017/winter/summer-of-1862 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Frontline/World – Liberia – No More War – Liberia's Historic Ties to America PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/liberia/history.html |website=www.pbs.org |access-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-date=May 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511022917/http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/liberia/history.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Independent Lens – Iron Ladies of Liberia – Liberian History PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/ironladies/history.html |website=www.pbs.org |access-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414114425/https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/ironladies/history.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The leadership of the new nation consisted largely of the [[Americo-Liberian]]s, who at the beginning established political and economic dominance in the coastal areas that the ACS had purchased; they maintained relations with the United States and contacts in developing these areas and the resulting trade. Their passage of the 1865 Ports of Entry Act prohibited foreign commerce with the inland tribes, ostensibly to "encourage the growth of civilized values" before such trade was allowed in the region.<ref name=volume/> <!--How? -->

[[File:(1896) Departure of colored emigrants for Liberia - The Illustrated American, March 21, 1896.jpg|thumb|left|African Americans depart for Liberia, 1896. The ACS sent its last emigrants to Liberia in 1904.]]
By 1877, the [[True Whig Party]] was the country's most powerful political entity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, The Near East and Africa, Volume V - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1951v05/d722 |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=history.state.gov |archive-date=July 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712124205/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1951v05/d722 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was made up primarily of Americo-Liberians, who maintained social, economic and political dominance well into the 20th century, repeating patterns of European colonists in other nations in Africa. Competition for office was usually contained within the party; a party nomination virtually ensured election.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Cuffee |first1=Paul |last2=Ashmun |first2=Jehudi |last3=Society |first3=American Colonization |date=2010-07-23 |title=Colonization - The African-American Mosaic Exhibition {{!}} Exhibitions (Library of Congress) |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=www.loc.gov |archive-date=February 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226111511/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam002.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Pressure from the United Kingdom, which controlled [[Sierra Leone]] to the northwest, and France, with its interests in the north and east, led to a loss of Liberia's claims to extensive territories. Both Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast annexed territories.<ref>{{Citation |last=Cole |first=Gibril R. |title=The History of Sierra Leone |date=2021-03-25 |url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-625 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |access-date=2023-07-12 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.625 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4}}</ref> Liberia struggled to attract investment to develop infrastructure and a larger, industrial economy.

There was a decline in the production of Liberian goods in the late 19th century, and the government struggled financially, resulting in indebtedness on a series of international loans.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Overview |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/liberia/overview |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=World Bank |language=en |archive-date=July 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712185824/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/liberia/overview |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 16, 1892, [[Martha Ann Erskine Ricks]] met [[Queen Victoria]] at Windsor Castle and presented her with a handmade quilt, Liberia's first diplomatic gift. Born into slavery in Tennessee, Ricks said, "I had heard it often, from the time I was a child, how good the Queen had been to my people—to slaves—and how she wanted us to be free."<ref name="Ricks"/>