Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S09E22.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[und] Subtitles

00:00:02,121 --> 00:00:04,[narrator] A devastated
Liberian landmark

00:00:04,161 --> 00:00:06,with American origins.

00:00:08,081 --> 00:00:11,They thought they could
only fulfil their potential
in Africa.

00:00:14,441 --> 00:00:18,[narrator] A Belgian town i
the shadow of its destroyer

00:00:19,921 --> 00:00:21,[woman] It had to
expand or die.

00:00:21,914 --> 00:00:24,But one group
of people decided
to do something about it.

00:00:26,681 --> 00:00:29,[narrator] And a mountainto
retreat in Bolivia

00:00:29,241 --> 00:00:31,drained of its lifeblood.

00:00:32,481 --> 00:00:34,This building
looks like it's teetering

00:00:34,961 --> 00:00:36,on the edge of the world.

00:00:41,641 --> 00:00:43,[narrator] Decaying relics.

00:00:44,761 --> 00:00:46,Ruins of lost worlds.

00:00:48,241 --> 00:00:51,Sites haunted by the past.

00:00:51,474 --> 00:00:54,Their secrets
waiting to be revealed.

00:01:04,641 --> 00:01:07,In the heart
of Liberia's capital,

00:01:07,834 --> 00:01:11,a disintegrating tower
dominates the skyline.

00:01:20,041 --> 00:01:22,In the middle of a busy street

00:01:22,081 --> 00:01:25,in downtown Monrovia
is a run-down skyscraper.

00:01:28,241 --> 00:01:30,[Dr. Mabry] What has survive

00:01:30,114 --> 00:01:32,are these
decorative concrete slabs.

00:01:32,801 --> 00:01:34,Who are the people
depicted here?

00:01:37,601 --> 00:01:41,The inside is every bit
as decrepit as the outside.

00:01:41,601 --> 00:01:43,Crumbling walls,

00:01:43,401 --> 00:01:45,rotting stairwells,

00:01:45,441 --> 00:01:47,it's just a mess.

00:01:47,601 --> 00:01:50,[narrator] There are still
a few lingering traces

00:01:50,561 --> 00:01:52,of its former grandeur.

00:01:53,521 --> 00:01:58,The standout feature
is this massive abstract
stained glass window.

00:01:59,721 --> 00:02:03,One large room
looks like an auditorium.

00:02:03,241 --> 00:02:06,Could this have been a cinem

00:02:06,161 --> 00:02:09,You would never believe
that this was once

00:02:09,114 --> 00:02:12,one of Liberia's
most important buildings.

00:02:14,521 --> 00:02:17,[narrator] Built by
a centuries-old organizatio

00:02:17,801 --> 00:02:20,with foundations
in an American exodus,

00:02:21,921 --> 00:02:23,this hollow skyscraper

00:02:24,001 --> 00:02:27,would witness
their spectacular downfall.

00:02:35,521 --> 00:02:38,Looking after
this decaying building

00:02:38,241 --> 00:02:42,is an impossible task
for its janitor, Losonny Gra

00:02:46,041 --> 00:02:48,[translation] This building
used to be very beautiful.

00:02:49,001 --> 00:02:50,Very modern.

00:02:50,521 --> 00:02:52,These were all offices.

00:02:54,721 --> 00:02:57,You can see
how this place was looted.

00:02:58,401 --> 00:03:01,Destroyed by human hands.

00:03:04,721 --> 00:03:07,[narrator] Before
its untimely demise,

00:03:07,681 --> 00:03:10,this was
Monrovia's cultural hub.

00:03:11,801 --> 00:03:14,The building was
a combination of offices

00:03:14,361 --> 00:03:16,and an entertainment center,

00:03:16,121 --> 00:03:20,housing the largest auditori
in the entire country.

00:03:21,201 --> 00:03:23,[translation]
This was a theater.

00:03:23,121 --> 00:03:25,They used to have
movies and shows here.

00:03:25,521 --> 00:03:27,All these things
used to happen.

00:03:28,801 --> 00:03:31,It even had the best
restaurants in Monrovia.

00:03:33,121 --> 00:03:34,[narrator]
But its original function

00:03:34,601 --> 00:03:37,was primarily political.

00:03:40,521 --> 00:03:42,[translation] This building
was constructed

00:03:42,354 --> 00:03:45,under the reign
of the True Whig Party.

00:03:48,601 --> 00:03:49,[narrator] Built as
the headquarters

00:03:49,961 --> 00:03:51,of the political party

00:03:51,761 --> 00:03:56,that would dominate a centur
of Liberian politics,

00:03:56,401 --> 00:04:00,it was named after
the organization's
first president,

00:04:00,161 --> 00:04:04,EJ Roye, an American.

00:04:07,361 --> 00:04:10,[Sascha Auerbach]
Edward James Roye
was born in Newark, Ohio,

00:04:10,521 --> 00:04:15,and when he was 31 he decide
to move himself to Liberia.

00:04:15,441 --> 00:04:18,He became a very wealthy
and successful merchant,

00:04:18,561 --> 00:04:19,to the point at which
he could even travel

00:04:20,001 --> 00:04:22,to the United States
in his own ship.

00:04:25,001 --> 00:04:26,[narrator] Roye's rise
to the head

00:04:26,961 --> 00:04:30,of one of the world's
oldest political parties

00:04:30,401 --> 00:04:32,and the Liberian presidency

00:04:32,434 --> 00:04:36,began in the turmoil
of 19th-century America.

00:04:39,441 --> 00:04:43,In 1816, a group
of influential white Americans

00:04:43,801 --> 00:04:46,g***t together to discuss
what they saw as

00:04:46,361 --> 00:04:51,the problem of growing numbers
of emancipated African slaves.

00:04:53,641 --> 00:04:56,They believed that
with their newfound freedom,

00:04:56,641 --> 00:04:58,the former slaves
would find it difficult

00:04:58,881 --> 00:05:01,to integrate
into white America,

00:05:01,041 --> 00:05:03,and they thought they could
only fulfil their potential

00:05:03,521 --> 00:05:04,in Africa.

00:05:07,201 --> 00:05:09,So they established
an organization

00:05:09,161 --> 00:05:13,called the American
Colonization Society, or ACS,

00:05:13,921 --> 00:05:16,to fund and organize
the transportation

00:05:16,641 --> 00:05:19,of former American slaves
to West Africa,

00:05:20,001 --> 00:05:21,and to set them up
when they arrived.

00:05:24,001 --> 00:05:26,The federal government
also assisted the ACS

00:05:26,794 --> 00:05:29,in buying an area of land.

00:05:30,001 --> 00:05:32,[narrator] This land
would eventually become

00:05:32,914 --> 00:05:34,part of modern Liberia.

00:05:36,321 --> 00:05:39,Tempted by a new life
away from the nation

00:05:39,521 --> 00:05:43,that had seen them
enslaved for generations,

00:05:43,281 --> 00:05:46,thousands set sail
for Liberia's shores.

00:05:48,841 --> 00:05:53,Altogether, some 15,African Americans settled,

00:05:53,681 --> 00:05:57,and they became known
as Americo-Liberians.

00:05:59,161 --> 00:06:01,They built
American-looking homes

00:06:01,921 --> 00:06:03,that resembled
plantation homes,

00:06:03,794 --> 00:06:05,they built
American-looking churches.

00:06:05,714 --> 00:06:08,They tried to create
an American society,

00:06:08,754 --> 00:06:10,essentially, in Africa.

00:06:11,961 --> 00:06:14,Even its flag reflects
this relationship

00:06:14,401 --> 00:06:15,to the United States,

00:06:15,961 --> 00:06:18,because the two flags
are strikingly similar.

00:06:20,241 --> 00:06:24,[narrator] In 1869, a group
of these Americo-Liberians

00:06:25,001 --> 00:06:28,established
the True Whig Party.

00:06:32,161 --> 00:06:35,Only American settlers
and their descendants

00:06:35,754 --> 00:06:36,were allowed to vote,

00:06:36,961 --> 00:06:39,so this eliminated
any possibility

00:06:39,201 --> 00:06:41,of competition
from competing parties.

00:06:41,434 --> 00:06:44,[narrator] When Roye
took office in 1870,

00:06:44,241 --> 00:06:47,he was immediately faced
with financial crisis.

00:06:51,401 --> 00:06:54,His goal was
to modernize Liberia,

00:06:54,601 --> 00:06:57,particularly its schools
and infrastructure.

00:06:57,321 --> 00:06:59,But the way that
he went about raising money

00:06:59,961 --> 00:07:01,for these projects
would be his downfall.

00:07:04,041 --> 00:07:07,[narrator] He took punishin
loans from British banks,

00:07:07,601 --> 00:07:09,which Liberia
soon defaulted on,

00:07:09,914 --> 00:07:12,spiraling into recession.

00:07:14,921 --> 00:07:17,Deep resentment
grew towards Roye.

00:07:17,521 --> 00:07:19,He was accused of embezzlement

00:07:19,201 --> 00:07:20,and even brought to trial,

00:07:20,921 --> 00:07:24,but managed to escape
before the sentencing.

00:07:25,681 --> 00:07:28,Less than two years
after coming into office,

00:07:28,641 --> 00:07:33,he was overthrown,
and died in 1872.

00:07:35,281 --> 00:07:36,[narrator]
The exact circumstances

00:07:36,961 --> 00:07:39,of Roye's death are unknown

00:07:41,961 --> 00:07:44,One theory...