William Tubman | Liberia’s controversial modernizer

Liberia, the west African nation of freed slaves, was built on the oppression of native Africans when William Tubman was elected president. Besides uniting his people, he prepared the country for a prosperous future – that was ultimately not to be. William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman was born on November 29, 1895. He hailed from south-eastern Liberia, from a town called Harper in Maryland County. It is not by coincidence that most names of places alluded to people and places in the USA: The Republic of Liberia was proclaimed in 1847 by freed slaves, who had returned from the United States in various batches over the first half of the century. Tubman's father's parents were part of a group of 69 freed slaves brought back to Liberia in 1844. His mother was born in Atlanta, Georgia. #DWAfrica #Liberia #WillianTubman