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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Historical Methodology and Writing the Liberian Past: The Case of Agriculture in the Nineteenth Century |
Author: | Allen, William E. |
Year: | 2005 |
Periodical: | History in Africa |
Volume: | 32 |
Pages: | 21-39 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Liberia |
Subjects: | agricultural history historiography History and Exploration Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
External link: | http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v032/32.1allen.pdf |
Abstract: | This paper examines the methodology employed by scholars to determine how they arrived at what is turning out to be a misrepresentation: Americo-Liberians' disdain for agriculture. Not only does the very rural background of immigrants to Liberia render such attitude unlikely, but the facts point to a different conclusion. The methodology that has generated this misrepresentation tends to focus primarily on narrating events, rather than attempting to discover connective trends between a series of historical events. Several examples demonstrate that, when interrelationships are established, the allegation of the Americo-Liberian antipathy toward agriculture loses credibility. First, the interconnection between the success in agriculture after 1850 and the earlier period proves that agriculture was not neglected in the first half of the century. Second, the overseas trade in sugar and coffee after 1850 can be traced to the early progress the colonists made in overcoming the challenges posed by farming in an alien tropical environment. Third, historical sources indicate that the absence of draft animals was a major setback for agriculture. Finally, the suggestion that mulatto exaggerated malarial illness to skip farming becomes questionable, when one considers the epidemiological factors that made them highly susceptible to this epidemic. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |