The US colonialism and interventions in Liberia were just

The American Colonization Society originally came up with the idea of sending Africans back to Africa. [1] It seemed like a good idea to them -- the origins of these former slaves were largely unknown, and the variety and complexity of African culture was still an enigma. The assumption that all Africans were the same led to the colonization effort in Liberia. I'm sorry, but this is terrible reasoning. Unfortunately, the ACS was underfunded, so it would of been virtually impossible to take Africans all back to their original homelands. Or did they have any right to build establishments in other kingdoms lands. It was quite noble that they were willing to take slaves across the ocean on a long expensive journey in the first place. Not to mention all the homes and ports that were built for no cost to anyone. The ACS was providing a free and complimentary service, which allowed many Africans to escape the abuse in America. To call their attempts anything but noble is questionable. Also, most of the former slaves were born in America, which means that they had little connection with African culture besides parental roots.http://personal.denison.edu...However, we have to look at the results of the experiment to see why it was such a failure. The Americo-Liberians, as the former slaves were called, immediately established a power structure in which they stood to gain. Liberia, which was a fledgling country when it finally declared itself a Republic, soon found itself borrowing heavily from Western Powers such as Great Britain and France, and its economic growth was hampered by debt. Unlike Ethiopia, which managed to remain independent, Liberia quickly fell under the imperial sphere of the United States and became a protectorate.I have a extreme amount of complaints to almost everything you said in this. I will go over them one by one.R1: You say right in the second sentence, that a structure was established where Americo-Liberians stood to gain. How is that a refutation? Is it not a good thing that freed slaves served to gain?R2: You also claim that Liberia borrowed heavily from the west, and was hurt by this. This is the fault of the goverhment, and not the US. We had little responcibilty for any mistakes made by their own government. By 1947, power had been almost completly put in the hands of Americo-Liberians. Then you go on to talk about debts.Do you want to know the reason why Liberia was never colonized by Europe? Because the American government forced them to back off. Many European powers used debt as a excuse to invade and occupy the country, but the president put intense pressure on them, that Liberia would be independent and sovereign of all European powers. The Monroe Doctrine had personally been extended to the fledgling republic.R3: I have the most problems with your last line. The US government had hardly exercised any demands or control over Liberia. We did help them on multiple occasions, but it was on request from the Liberian governent. We even gave them millions of dollars to pay off debts.http://www.sjsu.edu...http://www.globalsecurity.org...The new Americo-Liberians soon established a power structure in which they subjugated the natives. Citizenship for the local tribes was banned until 1904 [1], when they finally got their suffrage. In the 1980s, a coup d'etat led to violent uprisings, government repression and the execution of various members of certain tribes [1].R1: Once again, by 1847, the power had 100% been put back into Americo-Liberian hands. The US had no responcibility for further conflicts. As for the tribal uprisings, many natives were extremely violent to the Americo-Liberians. They would raid their towns and viciously kill them. This was strange, as the AL settlements were on the coast, where as the natives were inland. Liberia appealed to the US for aid, and we sent plenty of marines to protect settlements, which saved 100's of peoples lives.http://books.google.com...As for the Liberian civil wars, they were another example of just US aid. The first one saw no intervention from the US, and Charles Taylor overthrew the government. Charles Taylor commited war crimes, and crimes of humanity. A rebel government composed of former government officials before Charles Taylor took power, asked the US to overthrow the warlord. Together, the US, UK, and rebels overthrew Charles Taylor, and reinstalled the democratic republic back in power. The US then pushed for UN support, which led to peace troops and agreements that led the nation to stability.https://www.hrw.org...http://www.peacebuildingdata.org... That statement does not ring true. The United States wielded enormous economic control over Liberia, which depended on U.S. trade, along with British and French loans. The country existed as a protectorate of the United States for much of its history, dependent on the U.S. for economic growth of any sort.R1: My opponents first claim is false. The US government had no illegal control over Liberias finances, or economic future. America sent millions of recovery money and loans. Liberia benefitted greatly from trade with US companies, and capitalism prospered. A good example is the company Firestone, which people now know as a famous tire company. From mergers and land payments in Liberia, Firestone opened many plantations in Liberia. These plantations brought many jobs and much prosperity to the natives, and still does. The source below is made specifically for Liberians.http://www.firestonenaturalrubber.com...I will extend the arguments made in Round 1, specifically regarding the Americo-Liberians and their oppression of the local tribes whom they viewed as inferior. These have not been addressed by my opponent in his Round 2 speech.Sorry, but I explained my error in the comments. Apparently a glitch exists where the speaker button submitted my argument. I reported it to the site moderator. Conclusion--------------- The US sent millions of aid loans to Liberia.- The ACS built homes, schools, and roads for freed slaves.- The US pushed away european debt collectors, protecting them from the Scramble for Africa.- The US sent marines to protect settlements in times of upheaval.- The ACS established a democratic republic, and gave control to Americo-Liberians.- The ACS did this with almost no help from congress or any charge from freed slaves.- The US government gained absolutely nothing for helping Liberia, instead costing money and resources.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My opponent only pointed out times when the Liberian government made mistakes, and somehow tried to pin this on the US, despite the fact that the US had no control in Liberian politics.- My opponent claimed that the US had illegal economic control, but sourced not one thing to prove this. Anyways, good debate con, and I wish you a good future on this site. I hope the audience can now see that America only took burden in helping liberia out, and the work of the American Colonization Society was quite noble (Which is why they adopted our flag :)