Bushrod Island

Bushrod Island is an island near Monrovia, Liberia surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Saint Paul River,the Mesurado River and Stockton Creek. It contains the Freeport of Monrovia, the major national port of Liberia and a variety of businesses. It also contains numerous residential areas and government buildings.

Its proximity to the capital and industrial base make it an important commercial area for the country. End Point is a geographical feature on north end of Bushrod Island.

History

Bushrod Island was occupied by the Dei people from the 16th century until the early 19th century. Gawulun was the chief town of the Dei on the island, and served as the capital of the Dei when "King Peter" was selected as the chief spokesman for his fellow Dei chiefs in 1819.^[1]

In the late 1820s the community of New Georgia was established on Bushrod Island by people who had been freed from a slave ship in 1820, and kept in Georgia in the United States until 1827.^[2]

In 1878 a community of Vai people (called "Vai Town" by Williams) was located on Bushrod Island across the Mesurado River from Monrovia, while a few miles up the river on the island the community of New Georgia had about 500 residents.^[3]

References

• Clegg, Claude Andrew. (2004) The price of liberty: African Americans and the making of Liberia. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2845-9 Found at Google Books
• Swanson, Gail. (2005) Slave Ship Guerrero. West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Infinity Publishing. ISBN 0-7414-2765-6
• Williams, Alfred Brockenbrough. (1878) The Liberian Exodus. An Account of Voyage of the First Emigrants in the Bark "Azor," and Their Reception at Monrovia, with a Description of Liberia--Its Customs and Civilization, Romances and Prospects. Charleston, South Carolina: The News and Courier Book Presses. Found at University of North Carolina - Documenting the American South

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External links

• Encyclopædia Britannica