Liberia is an nation on Africa's West Coast that is bordered by Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, and Guinea. The history of Liberia is quite unique among the nations of Africa in that it is one of the few countries in Africa without ties to European colonization. The country of Liberia founded and colonized by freed African-American slaves from 1821 to 1822.

In 1822, Liberia was established by the American Colonization Society (ACS), which was a private organization itself founded by former slaves. This was done on the premise that former African-American slaves would have greater equality and freedom in Africa, than in the United States. Supporting this view were Henry Clay and James Monroe, both members of the ACS, who believed that the migration of former slaves was preferable to emancipation in the United States. African-Americans migrated to the colony and became known there as Americo-Liberians. Slaves freed from slave ships were also sent there instead of being returned to their respective countries.

These colonists formed an "elite" group in Liberian society, referring to themselves as "Americans", and being recognized as such by local Africans and British colonial authorities in the region. Mutual hostility and mistrust between the "savage" natives and "American" colonists quickly became a recurrent theme in Liberia's history. The colonists named the land "Liberia", which means "Land of the Free" in Latin. It is a sad irony that the Americo-Liberians, former slaves, treated the indigenous people with the same regard as slaves in the United States.

In 1847, the Americo-Liberians established a capital city, Monrovia, which was named after James Monroe. Liberia's government was modeled after that of the United States. Three branches of the government were established, the executive, legislative, and judicial branch. However, there was one key difference in the power of the executive office, which was also copied by other African nations upon independence. The executive power of the president did not extend to power over the armed forces, as in the United States. For example, in the United States, a president is both head of state and chief of the armed forces. In Liberia, a separate post was created for the commander of the armed forces. Such a key difference has led to the possibility and ease of coup d'etats, and thus instability, in Liberia, as well as other African nations. This only became an evident problem in post-colonial Africa, where the existence of sizable but not powerful armed forces, access to weapons, and lack of backed jurisdiction allowed for instability.

Following the founding of Liberia, successive administrations were plagued by a number of problems. Pressure from the neighbouring colonial powers of the British Empire and France challenged Liberia's sovereignty. The threat of financial insolvency, due to a decline in the market of Liberian goods and a series of defaulted loans, remained a persistent. In 1877, the multi-party system of politics was monopolized by the True Whig Party, after which nomination ensured election. However, despite corruption, Liberia remained fairly stable, and living conditions were on the rise until the end of The First Republic in 1980.

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