Homelands For Freed Slaves : Blacks and Jews

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                   

                              Ships in 1819 used to return to Africa for Liberia

In 1821, the American Colonization Society founded the colony of Liberia south of Sierra Leone as a homeland for freed U.S. slaves outside of British jurisdiction. Most Americans of African descent were not enthusiastic to abandon their homes in the United States for the West African coast.   Liberia stretches over 38,250 square miles)

                                                     

The first organized immigration of freed enslaved people to Africa from the United States departed New York harbor on a journey to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. The immigration was largely the work of the American Colonization Society, a U.S. organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to return formerly enslaved African people to Africa. However, the expedition was also partially funded by the U.S. Congress, which in 1819 had appropriated $100,000 to be used in returning displaced Africans, illegally brought to the United States after the abolishment of the slave trade in 1808, to Africa.  It took the Civil War (April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865) to end slavery in the USA, so they were taking slaves illegally since 1808--practicing Slave Trading for 57 years!  

That $100, 000 in 1819 would be the same as  $2,087,412.70 today.

Liberia began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society (ACS), who believed black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. The country declared its independence on July 26, 1847. The U.S. did not recognize Liberia's independence until February 5, 1862, during the American Civil War. 

Between January 7, 1822, and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born people of color who faced social and legal oppression in the United States, as well as 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to the settlement, a total of 18,198 former slaves.  

 The settlers carried their culture and tradition with them. The Liberian constitution and flag were modeled after those of the U.S. On January 3, 1848, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a wealthy, free-born African American from Virginia who settled in Liberia, was elected Liberia's first president after the people proclaimed independence. it took from 1821 to 1848 to develop their state, only 27 years.  

As of the 2017 national census, Liberia was home to 4,694,608 people.  The Greater Monrovia District has 970,824 residents. As revealed in the 2008 census, Monrovia is more than four times more populous than all the county capitals combined.   As of 2006, Liberia had the highest population growth rate in the world (4.50% per annum). In 2010 some 43.5% of Liberians were below the age of 15.                                                

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia 2006-2018 Sirleaf was born in Monrovia to a Gola father and Kru-German mother. She was educated at the College of West Africa. She completed her education in the United States, where she studied at Madison Business College and Harvard University.

Sirleaf  forged close relations with the United States, Liberia's traditional ally. Following the establishment of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) by the United States military, Sirleaf offered to allow the US to headquarter the new command in Liberia, the only African leader to do so. President Sirleaf addressed a joint meeting of the United States Congress, asking for American support to help her country "become a brilliant beacon, an example to Africa and the world of what love of liberty can achieve."

Sirleaf has also strengthened relations with the People's Republic of China, reaffirming Liberia's commitment to the One-China policy. In return, China has contributed to Liberia's reconstruction, building several transmitters to extend the Liberia Broadcasting System nationwide and constructing a new campus for the University of Liberia.

Corruption is endemic at every level of the Liberian government. When President Sirleaf took office in 2006, she announced that corruption was "the major public enemy." In 2014 the US ambassador to Liberia said that corruption there was harming people through "unnecessary costs to products and services that are already difficult for many Liberians to afford. "

Liberia has the highest ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP in the world, with US$16 billion in investment since 2006. Following Sirleaf's inauguration in 2006, Liberia signed several multi-billion-dollar concession agreements in the iron ore and palm oil industries with numerous multinational corporations, including BHP Billiton, ArcelorMittal, and Sime Darby. Palm oil companies like Sime Darby (Malaysia) and Golden Veroleum (USA) have been accused of destroying livelihoods and displacing local communities, enabled by government concessions. Since 1926 The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company has operated the world's largest rubber plantation in Harbel, Margibi County.   As of 2015 it had more than 8,000 mostly Liberian employees, making it the country's largest private employer.

This is so reminiscent of the Israelites of Judah who were kidnapped, made slaves and taken to Babylon. The Fall of Babylon denotes the end of the Neo-Babylonian Empire after it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BCE.  The Achaemenid Empire , also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire based in Western Asia founded by Cyrus the Great. The politics here affected the lands they had taken by force.  

      The Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nabonidus (r.  556–539 BCE)

2,359 years before 1819  in 597 BCE, 8,000 of the local aristocratic  Israelites were kidnapped and taken away from Judah  as slaves  by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561 BCE) .  The same forces under  Nebuchadnezzar 8 years later in 586 BCE attacked Judah and destroyed the Temple of Solomon and took away masses more of the population.                                     

Cyrus II, King of Persia( d 539 BCE)  in 538 BCE allowed the exiles to return to Jerusalem some 70 years later to rebuild both their country and Temple.  Not all the people exiled to Babylon were willing to leave it. Who was left out of the original exiles?  Probably none.  

The trek from Jerusalem to Babylonia had been a hard one.   If we leave Portland, Oregon and drive to Lubbock, Texas, we'd be covering the same mileage. As being slaves with soldiers, it would have been 100 times worse by having to walk much of the way.   The miles based distance from Babylon to Jerusalem is 1678.2 miles.  Of those who were 20 years old then would now be 80 or deceased.  Those choosing to return to their homeland had never been there nor had seen the original Temple.  it would take a camel two months at the bare minimum under ideal conditions; and up to around six months under non-ideal circumstances to walk 1,400 miles.  I'd say it would take 6 months to have moved exiles slaves from Jerusalem to Babylon.                                                                                                       

Those that did return joined up with Zerubbabel (b:480 BCE) grandson of King Jehohachin (598-597 BCE) of Judah , who acted as the leader,  Under his directions, they rebuilt the Temple and held a dedication of it in 515 BCE.  Zerubbabel was one of the 1st Jews to return to Judah from Babylon with the assent of Cyrus.  He was appointed satrap after the death of Sheshbazzar, a Jewish official appointed by Cyrus over Judah in 538 BCE.  He was entrusted with the Temple vessels which he returned from Babylon to Jerusalem.  He also laid the foundation for the building of the 2nd Temple.  

Zerubbabel set up an altar, re-established the festivals, and took steps toward the rebuilding of the Temple.  He was the last satrap of Davidic descent in Jerusalem and after his time, the high priest increased in influence, possibly as a consequence of Persian apprehension concerning the renewal of Davidic dynasty.  

                                                

Ezra (of 5th century BCE)  was a Cohen, descendant of the high Priest Zadok who was among those kidnapped.  He had become a scribe to the Persian government.  After some 60 years, word reached him of the spiritual deterioration of the Jewish community  in Jerusalem and other places in Judah.  Ezra decided to lead a new party of settlers who would firmly establish the Mosaic law in Judah.  In 438 BCE, he received the requisite permission from Artaxerxes I of Persia and went to Jerusalem with 1,734 returning exiles.  Ezra, together with Nehemiah, persuaded the people to keep the Torah, to observe the Sabbath and the sabbatical year, to pay their Temple dues, and to reject intermarriage with gentiles by 444 BCE. 

                                               

Nehemiah was the governor of Judah, but when a slave, had been serving as a cupbearer to the Persian King Artaxerxes I.  He also had heard of the deplorable conditions in Jerusalem and requested permission from the king to go there.  Artaxerxes acceded and appointed him the governor of Judah in 444 BCE.  When he reached Jerusalem, he organized the repair of its walls--an activity that was completed in 52 days despite interference by the neighboring population.  Nehemiah then devoted himself to social reforms, including the stimulation of Sabbath observance and the cancellation of debts owed by the poor.  The leaders of the people had to pledge themselves to maintain the Temple regulations and pay their tithes.  The security of Jerusalem was ensured by arranging for 1/10 of the people to take up residence there. 

 After 12 years, Nehemiah returned to Susa, Persia, but later went back to Jerusalem to renew his drastic activity.  In 433-432 BCE, he took steps against mixed marriages, etc, in conjunction with Ezra.  His work was decisive in the rebuilding of Judah.  Nehemiah's memoirs form the basis of the biblical book of Nehamiah which is a continuation of the Book of Ezra in the Hagiographa.  

The beginnings of Jewish history in Iran date back to late biblical times (mid-1st millenium BC). The biblical books of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Persia. In the book of Ezra, the Persian kings are credited with permitting and enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple; its reconstruction was carried out "according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia" (Ezra 6:14). This great event in Jewish history took place in the late 6th century BC, by which time there was a well-established and influential Jewish community in Persia.

What did the Judeans have that Nebuchadnezzar had to have?  Was all that effort worth taking so many slaves?  One exile in 587 BC saw around 1,500 people make the perilous journey via modern-day Lebanon and Syria to the fertile crescent of southern Iraq, where the Judeans traded, ran businesses and helped the administration of the kingdom.  “They were free to go about their lives, they weren’t slaves,” Vukosavovic said. “Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t a brutal ruler in that respect. He knew he needed the Judeans to help revive the struggling Babylonian economy.”  (It sounds like the same reason Jews were invited into European countries.  They were needed for their expertise.)  They must have had quite the reputation for an Empire to go to such lengths to take a whole people away to their own land.  This way, we must remember, they kept the Judah Empire, now shrunk from the Empire of Israel, to be able to attack Babylon.  Perhaps they were so bold because they had been shrunk by the Assyrians in 721 BCE.  and they knew they had been weakened.  Taking Judah's best of the population was like grabbing computers by people who had none at all.  

The USA backed their slaves and helped them receive Liberia as a homeland and in return they are gaining a foothold and port in Africa.  They reduced the population of Black Slaves in return.  Babylonia and Persia backed the Jews leaving their land after all that expense of getting them and gained a foothold in their Empire in return.  

Resource:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/freed-u-s-slaves-depart-on-journey-to-africa

https://www.history.com/news/slavery-american-colonization-society-liberia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Johnson_Sirleaf

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-archaeology-babylon/ancient-tablets-reveal-life-of-jews-in-nebuchadnezzars-babylon-idUSKBN0L71EK20150203

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire#:~:text=The%20Achaemenid%20Empire%20(%2F%C9%99%CB%88,founded%20by%20Cyrus%20the%20Great.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Babylon