July · This Day in Africa
July 26
1847 — Liberia's Independence Day
On July 26, 1847, Africa got its first modern republic. The Americo-Liberian settlers in Monrovia declared the Republic of Liberia independent, the first African state of the modern era. Joseph Jenkins Roberts became its first president, and Liberia's flag, eleven stripes and a lone star, flew free over Monrovia.
Freed Black Americans had been arriving since 1822, building a nation on the West African coast. Liberia stayed independent through the Scramble for Africa, one of only two African nations never colonized. Its independence inspired Pan-African dreams everywhere, and Marcus Garvey later pointed to Liberia as proof that Black self-rule was possible.
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