The 1828 Deed for Liberian Territory, Unvarnished: A Holding of the Library of Congress

• Main Author: John Daniel Saillant
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: ISCA, University of Oxford 2016-06-01
• Series: Vestiges: Traces of Record
• Subjects: Liberia; colonization; settlers; Americo-Liberians; Dei
• Online Access: http://www.vestiges-journal.info/index.php/Vestiges/article/view/8

A deed executed in 1828 by an Americo-Liberian settler and four African kings procured for the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United States the territory that would become the nucleus of the Republic of Liberia. The deed was published in an American periodical in 1828, but in a manner that changed its meaning and significance. The current transcription returns to the document that was sent from Monrovia to Washington, D.C., in 1828. It is significant for scholars since all who have analyzed it have used the periodical publication. It is significant for Liberian history since, by its conveyance to the U.S., it was saved from the destruction of the Liberian National Archives that occurred in the 1990s, during the civil war.