Kentucky in Africa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kentucky in Africa
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| 1828–c. 1847 | |||||||
| Status | Colony (American Colonization Society) | ||||||
| Capital | Clay-Ashland | ||||||
| Government | Colonial | ||||||
| Historical era | Imperialism | ||||||
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• Established
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1828 | ||||||
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• Disestablished
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c. 1847 | ||||||
| Area | |||||||
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• Total
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100 km2 (39 sq mi) | ||||||
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| Today part of | Liberia | ||||||
Kentucky in Africa was a colony in present-day Montserrado County, Liberia, founded in 1828 and settled by American free people of color, many of them former slaves. A Kentucky state affiliate of the American Colonization Society, members raised money to transport black people from Kentucky — freeborn volunteers as well as slaves set free on the stipulation that they leave the United States — to Africa. The Kentucky society bought a 40-square-mile (100 km2) site along the Saint Paul River (quite near the site of the present-day capital city of Monrovia) and named it Kentucky in Africa. Clay-Ashland was the colony's main town.
Notable residents of Kentucky in Africa include William D. Coleman, the 13th President of Liberia, whose family settled in Clay-Ashland after immigrating from Fayette County, Kentucky, when he was a boy. Alfred Francis Russell, the 10th President of Liberia, also resided in Clay-Ashland.
Kentucky in Africa was annexed by Liberia in about 1847.
