The American colonial origin of Liberia also left its mark in the form of a social contradiction that dominated 20th-century Liberia, and still deeply marks Liberian society. The Americo-Liberians were of African ancestry, but they did not think of themselves as Africans. Nor did they regard the indigenous African peoples of Liberia as their fellow-countrymen. They proudly adopted the declaration that "The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here" as Liberia's national motto, they offered no liberty to the indigenous majority of Liberians. Not until 1904 were the indigenous peoples even admitted to citizenship, which remained nominal for decades more.

Only after 1944 did efforts begin to forge a unified Liberian identity. Even then, Liberia remained essentially a colonialist society until 1980. Since 1980, Liberia has struggled with coups, rigged elections, dictatorship, and brutal civil war, but the seeds of this strife -- as elsewhere in Africa -- were planted in the colonial era.

The remainder of this essay will examine

Both components of the Open Door policy were supported by an extensive program of infrastructure improvements, particularly construction of new roads, bridges, and railroads, and by some effort to extend public services into the interior of the country. President Tubman regarded these investments as necessary to carry out both primary elements of the Open Door policy. On the one hand, the new roads and rail lines would encourage foreign investment in Liberia. On the other hand, they would further integrate the country itself.

The development of agriculture was also disrupted by the policy of subsidizing food prices in Monrovia. The subsidies served to placate the growing, under-employed restless urban population, who might pose the most immediate threat to the established order. In fact, as will be seen below, an increase in the price of subsidized rice in 1979 would be a major precipitating event to the coup of 1980.