Liberia Declares Independence

On 26 July 1847, delegates gathered in Monrovia adopted the Liberian Declaration of Independence, officially transforming the Commonwealth of Liberia into an independent sovereign nation known as the Republic of Liberia. The territory had originated as a settlement project managed by the American Colonization Society, a private organization founded in Washington, D.C., in 1816. The society established the settlement for free people of color and formerly enslaved people migrating from the United States, retaining administrative control over the colony for several decades before gradually transferring governing authority to the settlers themselves.

The document was drafted by Hilary Teague and formally accepted during the Liberian Constitutional Convention alongside the nation's inaugural constitution. Delegates representing Liberia's three counties convened at the Providence Baptist Church in Monrovia to adopt both the declaration and the constitution. The anniversary of this simultaneous adoption remains recognized as Liberia's national Independence Day, marking the formal withdrawal of the American Colonization Society, which had fully surrendered its oversight of the colony in January 1846 and supported the move toward self-determination.