Land of My Fathers

The proud Republic of Liberia was founded in the nineteenth-century with the triumphant return of the freed slaves from America to Africa. Once back “home,” however, these Americo-Liberians had to integrate with the resident tribes—who did not want or welcome them. Against a background of French and British colonialists busily carving up Mother Africa, while local tribes were still unashamedly trading in slaves . . . the vulnerable newcomers felt trapped and out of place. Where men should h...