1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: in history today. Heads up that you also might hear 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: two different hosts, Me and Tracy V. Wilson. With that said, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: on with the show, Welcome to this day in History Class. 5 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: It's July twenty six. Liberia declared its independence on this 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: day in eighteen forty seven, making it Africa's oldest republic, 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: and Liberia occupies a complicated place in African history. It 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: is very widely cited as the only African nation never 9 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: subject to colonial rule, but that's not entirely accurate. It's 10 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: definitely true that it wasn't subject to white colonial rule 11 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: in the way that its neighbors were. The continent of 12 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: Africa is huge. It's incredibly diverse, home to an enormous 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: collection of people's and cultures, all with their own social systems, 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: their own art, their own cultures, their own languages. Literally 15 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: thousands of languages exist and have existed for thousands of 16 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: years on the continent of Africa. During the Scramble for 17 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: Africa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, major 18 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: European powers basically divided up the continent in this rush 19 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: to try to claim territory and resources, and basically drew 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: their own map of what Africa should look like without 21 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: really talking to any Africans about it. That's why people 22 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: usually think of when they hear colonial rule in the 23 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: context of Africa and Liberia was definitely different from that. 24 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: Liberia was founded as a home for the formerly enslaved 25 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: population of the America's but like the rest of the continent, 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: West Africa, where Liberia would be established, was already home 27 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: to its own cultures, its own people's people with their 28 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: own beliefs, their own art, their own languages. Again, here's 29 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: what happened and the years before the Civil War in 30 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: the United States, there was one prevailing motive thought at 31 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: Africans and their descendants either couldn't or shouldn't assimilate with 32 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: white society, and people who held this view were really 33 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: all over the map in terms of their feelings and 34 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: thoughts about race and slavery. There were black abolitionists and 35 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: other black leaders who thought that they and other black 36 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: people would be better off if they went back to Africa. 37 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: There were white abolitionists who thought that that was what 38 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: would be best. They had sort of a paternalistic view 39 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: towards the enslaved people and thought that it would be 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: better for them if they went back to Africa. And 41 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,959 Speaker 1: then there were people, both slaveholders and non who were 42 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,679 Speaker 1: just motivated by racism, and they if they thought if 43 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: Africans weren't going to be in the United States to 44 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: be enslaved anymore, that they should just go and get out. 45 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: So all of these people with these and other viewpoints 46 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: were united in this overall thought that there needed to 47 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: be a colony in Africa to receive these formerly enslaved people, 48 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: Africa ends and people of African descent. They formed organizations 49 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: to try to do this, and the most famous was 50 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color 51 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: of the United States, also known as the American Colonization Society. 52 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,679 Speaker 1: And this and in most of the other organizations that 53 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: were dedicated to this cause, pretty much all of the 54 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: leadership were white. In eighteen sixteen, the American Colonization Society 55 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: started trying unsuccessfully to buy land in what's now Liberia 56 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: to establish this home for the formerly enslaved. It took 57 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: them five years to convince local African leaders to let 58 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: them take possession of some land along the coast that 59 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: would eventually become the Liberian capital of Monrovia. Monrovia is 60 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: actually named for President James Monroe, who convinced the government 61 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: to provide some more funding for this project. For about 62 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: twenty years, people continued moving from the Americas and the 63 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: Caribbean uh and the American Colonization Society was heavily involved 64 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: in the administration of this colony. About fifteen thousand African 65 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: Americans wound up immigrating to Liberia during this time. Things 66 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: progressed from there, and then Joseph Jenkins Roberts, who was 67 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: a black man from Virginia, proclaimed Liberia to be an 68 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,239 Speaker 1: independent republic on July eighteen forty seven. There had been 69 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: some talk within the American Colonization Society and elsewhere about 70 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: maybe trying to wean Liberia off of aid from the 71 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: United States and from these organizations. Other nations formally acknowledged 72 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 1: Liberian independence over the next couple of years, and while 73 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: the United States did to an extent, it wasn't until 74 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two that they really officially did so, so 75 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: it's really not completely accurate to say that Liberia was 76 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: free from colonial influence. White Americans were heavily involved in 77 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: its creation and its founding. The original constitution was modeled 78 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: after the United States Constitution. It's first president was from Virginia, 79 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: and for a long time, its official currency was the 80 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: American dollar. In its early years were marked by ongoing 81 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: conflicts between the indigenous African population and black colonists from 82 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: the Americas. Some of these divisions are still ongoing today. 83 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: They've never really been addressed. And while the indigenous population 84 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: was in the majority during this time, America Liberians that 85 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: was the people from the Americas that moved to Liberia, 86 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: they were completely controlling the government. They controlled the government 87 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: completely for decades. Today, America Liberrians make up about five 88 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: of Liberia's population, while sixteen other indigenous ethnic groups make 89 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,039 Speaker 1: up the rest. So that's a very brief story of Liberia. 90 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: Thanks to Christopher Hasiotis for his research on today's episode 91 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: and to Tari Harrison for editing work on all of 92 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: these episodes. You can learn more about Liberia in the 93 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: September for episode of Stuff You Miss and History Class, 94 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: which is actually on Thomas Morris Chester who was a 95 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: war correspondent, And you can subscribe to the Day in 96 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: History Class on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and whatever else 97 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Tune in tomorrow for the sixty 98 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: five anniversary of an Armistice. Hi, I'm eves and welcome 99 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class, a show that uncovers 100 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 1: history one day at a time. The day was July seven. 101 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: Unoa Libro, the first book to describe the international language 102 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: of Esperanto, was published in Warsaw. Esperanto is now the 103 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: most popular international auxiliary language in the world. International auxiliary languages, 104 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 1: or i a L are relatively simple and easy to 105 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: learn languages created to facilitate communication between people who do 106 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: not have any other languages in common. I a l 107 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: s have been criticized as being useless because of the 108 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: use of English as the international language of business, but 109 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: i a l s are designed to be additional, culturally 110 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: neutral languages that people used to make international communication easier. 111 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: So we're so. An auxiliary language based on musical notes, 112 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: created in the nineteenth century, was one of the first 113 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: to gain widespread attention. In the late nineteenth century, the 114 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: auxiliary language Volapook also gained a large following around the world. 115 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 1: Polish physician and oculist L. L. Zamenhoff grew up in 116 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: what was then the Russian Empire. He saw how much 117 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: ethnic and religious conflict was happening when he was growing up, 118 00:07:55,880 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: including anti Semitic violence. In a letter to nicol Ibarafco, 119 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: Zalmenhoff wrote about the division between Russians, Poles, Germans, and 120 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: Jewish people in the town where he was born and 121 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: grew up, and how each group spoke its own language 122 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: and viewed other groups as enemies. He said, the diversity 123 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: of languages is the first, or at least the most 124 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: influential basis for the separation of the human family into 125 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: groups of enemies. Zamenhoff spoke several languages, and as he 126 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: began to believe that a common language could help promote 127 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: peace and unity, he decided to construct a language that 128 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: would bring people together. While he was studying medicine in Moscow, 129 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: he worked on Esperanto, and he attempted to standardize Yiddish. 130 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: Though he later gave up his efforts on Yiddish, Esperanto 131 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: was the language that Zamenhoff would continue to develop. The 132 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: word esperanto means one who hopes. Zamenhoff translated literature into 133 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: Esperanto and wrote original works in the language. When Zalmenhoff 134 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: was ready to publish the first book on Esperanto after 135 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: he'd worked on it for years. The Russian Empire was 136 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: censoring all books. First, a book had to be permitted 137 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: to publish based on a manuscript. Then, once the book 138 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: was printed, the authorities had to grant a permit to 139 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: release it. Authorities allowed the book, titled International Language to 140 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: be published on June two seven, and it was allowed 141 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: to be released on July. The next version published was 142 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: the Polish one, released on September six. Zamenhoff published the 143 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: book under the name Dr Esperanto. He used his wife's 144 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: dowry to publish and promote his book and language. Though 145 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: the language was initially called the International Language, early adopters 146 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,680 Speaker 1: were fond of the name Esperanto. The title Unua Libro 147 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,959 Speaker 1: was retroactively applied to the first book at this point. 148 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: Esperanto was made up of about nine roots and fixes 149 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: that could form ten thousand to twelve thousand words. The 150 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: vocabulary of the language was taken mainly from the Romance languages. 151 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: Some words also came from Germanic and Slavic languages. The 152 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: grammar of the language resembles Chinese and Turkish do a 153 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: Libro or second book was published in eighteen eighty eight, 154 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: and Fundamento de Esperanto or Foundation of Esperanto was published 155 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen o five. Nineteen o five was also the 156 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: year that the first World Congress of Esperanto was held 157 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: in France. After World War One. It was proposed to 158 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,199 Speaker 1: the League of Nations that Esperanto should be the body's 159 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: working language, but the French delegate was the only one 160 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: to reject the proposal. Stalin's Soviet Union viewed Esperanto as 161 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: an international spy organization. Hitler said it was a Bolshevist 162 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: plot in mine coomp Esperantis were executed in the Holocaust. Italy, 163 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: on the other hand, embraced Esperanto to a agree because 164 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 1: of the similarities it had with Italian conscientious objectors in 165 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,439 Speaker 1: Britain during wartime, anarchists and socialists in China and Imperial 166 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: Japan studied Esperanto. Esperanto supporters have included names such as 167 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: Helen Keller, Leo Tolstoi, and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though 168 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: it had a mixed reception, with some embracing it and 169 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: others mocking and even persecuting people for it, Esperanto grew 170 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: in popularity in the twentieth century. Other languages were developed 171 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 1: from and branched off of Esperanto. Esperanto publications and groups 172 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: formed around the world, and it is still used as 173 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 1: a first and second language around the globe. The World 174 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: Esperanto Congress still takes place annually. I'm Eve Jeff Coote 175 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 176 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If there's something that I missed 177 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: in an episode, you can share it with everybody else 178 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at t d i h 179 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: C podcast. Thank you for joining me today. See you 180 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: same place, same time tomorrow. For more podcasts from my 181 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 182 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.