Emigration to Liberia: From the Chattahoochee Valley of Georgia and Alabama, 1853-1903

Between 1853 and 1903, some 500 African Americans left the Chattahoochee Valley of Georgia and Alabama to start new lives in the West African Republic of Liberia. Most of the emigrants departed for Liberia during the uncertainty of the post-Civil War years of 1867 and 1868. Most sought safety and escape from a still-intact white supremacist society. The ready availability of land in Liberia also promised greater opportunities for prosperity there than in the South. Black nationalism and eva...