Extreme mortality in nineteenth-century Africa: the case of Liberian immigrants

Demography. 1992 Nov;29(4):581-94.

Abstract

Several studies have examined the mortality of immigrants from Europe to Africa in the nineteenth century. This paper examines the level of mortality in Liberia of Africans who emigrated there from the United States. A life table is estimated from data collected by the American Colonization Society from 1820 to 1843. The analysis reflects the mortality experience of a population that is transplanted from one disease environment to another, more exacting, disease environment. The results of this analysis show that these Liberian immigrants experienced the highest mortality rates in accurately recorded human history.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Demography
  • Female
  • History, 19th Century
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Liberia
  • Life Tables*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Morbidity
  • Mortality
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Transients and Migrants*