[3] Although the terms "Americo-Liberian" and "Congo" had distinct definitions in the nineteenth century, they are currently interchangeable and refer to an ethnic group composed of the descendants of the various free and ex-slave African American, Caribbean, recaptive, and Sierra Leone Creoles who settled in Liberia from 1822.

[5] In addition to indigenous Liberian elites, chiefs, and royalty, upper-class Americo-Liberians led the political, social, cultural and economic sectors of the country and ruled the new state from the 1800s all the way to 1980 as a small but dominant minority.

Some members of the abolitionist movement, such as Gerrit Smith, opposed the idea, arguing that African-American families had lived in the United States for generations, and their prevailing sentiment was that they were no more African than white Americans were European.

However, other African Americans believed they would face better economic opportunities in Africa and be free from racial prejudice, a sentiment that was endorsed by the Back-to-Africa movement.

[9][10] As black American emigration to Liberia continued steadily into the mid to late nineteenth century, the movement gained support from an assortment of influential figures, including UNIA president Marcus Garvey, who would go on to become president of the Black Star Line which encouraged emigration and economic shipping commerce between the United States and Liberia.

[11] The early African-American settlers who arrived in the region that was established as Liberia between 1820 and 1843 were mainly free blacks from Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, while smaller numbers came from northern states like New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Connecticut.

In 1877, the Liberian Exodus Joint Stock Steamship Company was formed in Charleston, South Carolina with a fund of $6,000 (~$158,449 in 2023) to assist the emigration of black Americans to Africa.

The company then purchased a bark called the Azor, which arrived in Charleston in March 1878 to start shipping African American migrants to Liberia.

[12] Enthusiasm for the Liberian exodus had been fed partly by exaggerated reports of Liberia's fertility, including claims that potatoes grew so large that a single one could feed a family for a day, and that certain trees produced bacon.

[12] However, passengers from the Azor who stayed did find success and established themselves as some of the most prominent Americo-Liberians, including farmer and agricultural businessman Saul Hill, Liberian Senator Reverend David Frazier and Daniel Frank Tolbert who was the grandfather of future Liberian president William R. Tolbert, Jr.[13] The American Navy was responsible for the recapture of illegal slave vessels seeking to transport enslaved Africans to the Americas following the American abolition of the slave trade in 1808.

[15] According to the website BlackPast, “They retained preferences for Western style of dress, Southern plantation-style homes, American food, Protestantism, the English language, and monogamous kinship practices.” Demographically, the Americo-Liberians tended to concentrate in larger cities and towns while native Africans remained in more poorly developed areas before the two groups started to intermingle in the twentieth century.

[16] The settler community developed an Americo-Liberian society, culture, and political organization that was strongly influenced by their roots in the American South as well as the Anglophone Caribbean.

[18] The Americo-Liberians settled in Monrovia, Careysburg, Clay-Ashland, Buchanan, Maryland, Mississippi-in-Africa, Cape Mount, Greenville, and in a number of small towns along the St. Paul River.

Notably, the families originally from Barbados, which included the Barclays, Morgans, Bests, Thorpes, Weeks, and Portemans, settled in Crozierville.

[21] In 1821, the ship Elizabeth from New York landed on Sherbro Island, Sierra Leone with 86 freed African Americans, who were later resettled in Monrovia.

The Tubman administration embarked on a mass modernization program, including improving literacy among the population, agricultural development, updating the nation's infrastructure, courting close relationships with the United States, and attracting foreign investment to stimulate the economy.

[26][27] During his presidency, Liberia usually supported U.S. interests in foreign affairs including cutting off critical ties with Germany to side with the Allied powers and voting with the U.S. at the United Nations on Cold War matters.

Tubman's Open Door Policy primary goal was to solicit foreign investment, business or allied countries, in Liberia's development.

"[32] The policy aimed to assimilate interior indigenous Liberians population more fully into the political, economic, and social fabric of Liberia.

After coming to power Tolbert sought to introduce more liberal reforms which also included addressing imbalances between Americo-Liberians and the indigenous peoples by bringing more native figures into the government.

[34][35] The U.S.-Liberia relationship also became strained during this time as Tolbert welcomed leaders from communist nations such as China, Cuba, and the Soviet Union.

Doe's tenure as leader of Liberia led to a period of civil wars, resulting in destruction of the country's economy.

In the early 21st century, Liberia has been reduced to one of the most impoverished nations in the world, in which most of the population lives below the international poverty line.

In addition to modeling their political institutions after the United States, Americo-Liberians were known to prefer Western modes of dress, African-American Southern food, and followed American social norms such as monogamous relationships and class structure.

Americo-Liberian houses were a variation of different architectural styles from the American South and were built of weather-board or stone frame and had both verandahs.

The higher socio-economic status of Americo-Liberians also enabled them to emigrate from the country more easily compared to other ethnic groups during times of conflict.

Some of the children of Americo-Liberian immigrants to the United States are known to identify themselves as African-American as opposed to Liberian and have adopted American accents and culture.

[49] Although many of the upper-class Americo-Liberians left the country or were killed during the civil wars, and their houses and monuments crumbled, ordinary Liberians look to the United States for aid.