Table of Contents

List of maps and figures; Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction: 'who is this man and from whence comes he to rule?'; Part I. Caribbean Emancipation: 1. Not free indeed; 2. African civilization and the West Indian avant-garde; 3. The Liberian president visits Barbados to trade visions of freedom; Part II. The Middle Passage: 4. Middle passage baggage; Part III. African Liberation: 5. Barbadians arrival and social integration in Liberia; 6. Making citizenship and blackness in Liberia; 7. A changing of the guards: Arthur Barclay and Barbadian Liberia political leadership; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.

Promotional Information

Offers a thorough examination of Afro-Barbadian migration to Liberia during the mid- to late nineteenth century.

About the Author

Caree A. Banton is Assistant Professor of Afro-Caribbean History at the University of Arkansas.

Reviews

'Caree A. Banton's book fills a significant gap in the story of Liberia's creation and its place in the larger Afro-Atlantic world. She skillfully renders the complex identities that Barbadians crafted at home and in Africa, while being mindful of their often conflicted notions of race, civilization, and empire.' Claude A. Clegg, III, Lyle V. Jones Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

'This book is a sustained, often stimulating, commentary on blackness and notions of social class that traverses two widely differing terrains, from post-slavery in Barbados to the political and social construction of the Liberian state. While one may not fully share the author's assertions about the 'failure' of emancipation in Barbados or about the class position that the migrant Barbadians had occupied in Barbadian society, or even about the content of the ideological baggage that they took to Liberia, one cannot help but be impressed by the verve and scholarly flourish with which the author states her case.' Woodville Marshall, University of the West Indies, Barbados

'In this highly original, well-researched monograph, Banton emphasizes the singular place of Barbadian migrants in Liberia's history.' R. M. Delson, Choice

'…the book is an important contribution to emancipation-era history in the Caribbean and Africa, and successfully presents the story of these Barbadian migrants as a vital chapter in the long formation of the Afro-Atlantic world.' Melanie J. Newton, New West Indian Guide