Part 6/14:
The Long Road to Modernization and Internal Strife
In the 1940s and 1950s, then-President William Tubman sought to modernize Liberia through foreign investment, infrastructure development, and efforts to unify the country’s tribally diverse population. His policies aimed to bring tribal populations into the national fabric, expanding voting rights and government employment to native Liberians. Still, entrenched inequalities persisted; land, labor, and resources largely remained controlled by the American Liberian elite.
This unequal social structure bred dissatisfaction among indigenous tribes, often subjected to exploitative taxes and militarized suppression. Periodic uprisings and grievances simmered beneath the surface, threatening stability.