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Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster, a member of the American Colonization Society

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Independence for Liberia
July 26, 1847

Americans opposed to slavery back in the early 1800s were divided over the issue of colonization (forming separate colonies) for African Americans instead of integrating them into the United States. It was a very controversial notion among both blacks and whites. A group called the American Colonization Society was formed in 1816, with members such as James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, and Francis Scott Key. They knew the nation would face many difficulties in becoming a truly integrated country, so they bought a colony on the West Coast of Africa and named it Liberia. How did this little colony become an independent country?
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