U.S. Birthright Citizenship for Persons Born in Liberia

Course Purpose:

• This course examines the legal, historical, and moral arguments relating to citizenship, race, and equality as they affect persons born in Liberia, including descendants of African Americans and Indigenous people.
  It draws from foundational American and Liberian texts and from the history of slavery, colonization, resistance, and racial law.

Foundational Texts for the Course:

The reading base includes:

• American Declaration of Independence
• Massachusetts Constitution
• Brom and Bett v. Ashley
• Sheffield Declaration
• America’s constitutional compromise
• Text of the 1790 Naturalization Act
• Fugitive Slave Act
• Summary of David Walker
• Summary of William Lloyd Garrison
• Summary of John Brown’s life and confession
• Summary of Frederick Douglass’ life and two major speeches
• Summary of Nat Turner’s life and confession
• Summary of Jim Crow laws
• Summary of Nazi Germany’s racist laws
• Summary of Apartheid laws
• Summary of Haiti’s story and reparations to France
• Summary of the Indian Removal Act
• Summary of the Slave Trade Act of 1819
• Summary of Attorney General Opinion #229
• Liberian Constitutions of 1820, 1824, 1839, and 1847
• Article 95 of the 1986 Constitution

• Liberian Declaration of Independence
• Joseph Jenkins Roberts’ Will
• Esther Krua’s Bio
• Rev. Mahn C. Krua’s Bio
• Elizabeth Mumbett Freeman’s Bio

Course Information

Course Instructor

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