Republic of Maryland
| Republic of Maryland | ||||||||
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| Capital | Harper (1854) | |||||||
| Languages | English (de facto) African American Vernacular English | |||||||
| Religion | Christianity | |||||||
| Government | Republic | |||||||
| Governor | ||||||||
| • | 1854 | Samuel Ford McGill | ||||||
| • | 1854-1856 | William A. Prout | ||||||
| • | 1856-1857 | Boston Jenkins Drayton | ||||||
| Historical era | Victorian | |||||||
| • | Establishment as colony of Maryland-in-Africa | February 12, 1834 | ||||||
| • | Referendum | January 31, 1853 | ||||||
| • | Republic of Maryland declares Independence | May 29, 1854 | ||||||
| • | Annexed by Liberia. | March 18, 1857 | ||||||
| Currency | United States Dollar ($) | |||||||
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Flag (1854-57)
The Republic of Maryland (also known variously as the Independent State of Maryland, Maryland-in-Africa, and Maryland in Liberia) was a small country that existed from 1854 to 1857, when it was merged into what is now Liberia. The area was first settled in 1834 by freed African-American slaves and freeborn African Americans primarily from the U.S. state of Maryland, under the auspices of the Maryland State Colonization Society.
The larger American Colonization Society was founded in 1816; it supported the settlement of thousands of free African Americans to their colony based in Monrovia in West Africa, along the coast. There were also initially separate settlements founded by state colonization societies of Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. In 1838, these African-American settlements were united into the Commonwealth of Liberia, which declared its independence from the American Colonization Society in July 26, 1847. The Maryland colony remained separate from Commonwealth of Liberia, as the colonization society wished to maintain its trade monopoly in the area. On February 2, 1841, Maryland-in-Africa became the Independent State of Maryland. Following an independence referendum in 1853, the state declared its independence on May 29, 1854 under the name Maryland in Liberia, with its capital at Harper.
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Wikipedia