from the eighteenth century there had been proposals to return slaves to africa, considered as if it were a single country and ethnicity, where the slaves presumably "wanted to go back to". the u. s. congress appropriated money, and a variety of churches and philanthropic organizations contributed to the endeavor. slaves set free in the district of columbia in 1862 were offered $100 if they would emigrate to haiti or liberia. the american colonization society eventually succeeded in creating the "colony", then country, of liberia. the legal status of liberia prior to its independence was never clarified; it was not a colony in the sense that rhode island or pennsylvania had been colonies. when liberia declared its independence in 1847, no country recognized it at first. recognition by the united states was impeded by the southerners who controlled congress. when they departed "en masse" for the confederacy, recognition quickly followed (1862), just as slavery was prohibited in the district of columbia at almost the same time—another measure, discussed for decades, that the southern contingent had blocked.