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====First Settlers colonize Scherbo Island====
[[File:Monrovia,_Liberia_-_panoramio_(77).jpg|thumbnail|left|250px300px|Monorovia, 2013]]
In 1820, 88 free black settlers and 3 society members sailed for Sierra Leone. Before departing they had signed a constitution requiring that an agent of the Society administer the settlement under U.S. laws. They found shelter on Scherbo Island off the west coast of Africa, but many died from malaria. In 1821, a U.S. Navy vessel resumed the search for a place of permanent settlement in what is now Liberia. Once again the local leaders resisted American attempts to purchase land.
