The_Open_Door_deel1

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The closing of the Door: The Enactment of the Port of Entry Laws.
In 1847 the settler Government claimed a territory which
consisted of a coastal strip, 200 miles long and extending 45
miles inland (see Chapter 1), The colonists' ambitious plans are
reflected by the gradual expansion of the Republic's territory.
In 1850 the Sherbro and Galinhas territories, west of Cape Mount,
were bought. The purchase was facilitated by financial
assistance obtained in England (20). Seven years later an
eastward expansion added a coastline of 200 miles, a settler
population of some 900 Americo-Liberians, and a tribal population
numbering an estimated 60,000 people (21). This was the territory
of the State of Maryland in Africa which black colonists from the
U.S.A. had created as an Independent State in 1854- However, in
1856 they encountered such great difficulties with the tribal
people in this area (the Grebo people) that they appealed to
Monrovia for assistance. After the victory of the Liberian forces
the territory of the independent State of Maryland in Africa was
formally annexed by Liberia - with the consent of the Marylanders
(22). Thus, in 1857 the coastline of the Republic of Liberia
extended from the Sherbro-Galinhas territories in the west to the
San Pedro River in the east, a distance of about 460 miles. Ten
years later the territorial limits of the republic even covered
a coastline of an estimated 600 miles, extending approximately
50 miles inland (23).
The main European powers had recognised the Republic of Liberia.
Great Britain did so immediately after the Declaration of Independence.
France soon followed. In 1855 the German Hanse towns
of Lubeck, Bremen and Hamburg, and Denmark established official
relations with Liberia. In 1858 Belgium followed. In 1862 the
U.S.A. recognised Liberia. The fact that this country which had
contributed so much to the founding of Liberia and from which
most colonists originated did not recognise Liberia until fifteen
years after its creation can be explained by the embarrassment
a coloured Liberian ambassador would have provoked in
a country where the capital is located in slave territory. In
the 1860's Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Portugal,
Austria and the North German Confederation signed treaties recognising
Liberia (24).
The territorial expansion of Africa's only independent republic
met with resistance both from the African tribes living in this
region and from European, notably British, traders who had established
trading posts in this area. Furthermore, although the
settler Government claimed a certain territory, it lacked both
the financial and the military means to protect its interests
and to enforce its laws in the area involved. The following may
serve as an example. In 1848 the Liberian Legislature had passed
a law authorising the introduction of a Government monopoly on
the importation of certain goods, such as tobacco leaves, salt,