Kentucky in Africa

Kentucky in Africa
1828–c. 1847
Status	Colony (American Colonization Society)
Capital	Clay-Ashland
Government	Colonial
Historical era	Imperialism
• Established	1828
• Disestablished	c. 1847
Area
• Total	100 km2 (39 sq mi)
Preceded by American Colonization Society
Today part of	Liberia

Kentucky in Africa was a colony settled by freed African-American slaves in present-day Montserrado County, Liberia.

A Kentucky state affiliate of the American Colonization Society was formed in 1828, and members raised money to transport Kentucky blacks — freeborn volunteers as well as slaves set free on the stipulation that they leave the United States — to Africa.^[1] The Kentucky society bought a 40-square-mile (100 km²) site along the Saint Paul River (quite near the site of the present-day capital city of Monrovia) and named it Kentucky in Africa.^[1] Clay-Ashland was the colony's main town.^[1]

Notable residents of Kentucky in Africa include William D. Coleman, the 13th President of Liberia, whose family settled in Clay-Ashland after immigrating from Fayette County, Kentucky, when he was a boy.^[2] Alfred Francis Russell, the 10th President of Liberia, also resided in Clay-Ashland.^[3]

Kentucky in Africa was annexed by Liberia about 1847.^{[citation needed]}

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