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

At 00:00:02,121, Character said: [narrator] A devastated
Liberian landmark

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At 00:00:04,161, Character said: with American origins.

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At 00:00:08,081, Character said: They thought they could
only fulfil their potential
in Africa.

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At 00:00:14,441, Character said: [narrator] A Belgian town i
the shadow of its destroyer

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At 00:00:19,921, Character said: [woman] It had to
expand or die.

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At 00:00:21,914, Character said: But one group
of people decided
to do something about it.

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At 00:00:26,681, Character said: [narrator] And a mountainto
retreat in Bolivia

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At 00:00:29,241, Character said: drained of its lifeblood.

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At 00:00:32,481, Character said: This building
looks like it's teetering

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At 00:00:34,961, Character said: on the edge of the world.

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At 00:00:41,641, Character said: [narrator] Decaying relics.

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At 00:00:44,761, Character said: Ruins of lost worlds.

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At 00:00:48,241, Character said: Sites haunted by the past.

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At 00:00:51,474, Character said: Their secrets
waiting to be revealed.

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At 00:01:04,641, Character said: In the heart
of Liberia's capital,

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At 00:01:07,834, Character said: a disintegrating tower
dominates the skyline.

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At 00:01:20,041, Character said: In the middle of a busy street

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At 00:01:22,081, Character said: in downtown Monrovia
is a run-down skyscraper.

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At 00:01:28,241, Character said: [Dr. Mabry] What has survive

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At 00:01:30,114, Character said: are these
decorative concrete slabs.

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At 00:01:32,801, Character said: Who are the people
depicted here?

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At 00:01:37,601, Character said: The inside is every bit
as decrepit as the outside.

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At 00:01:41,601, Character said: Crumbling walls,

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At 00:01:43,401, Character said: rotting stairwells,

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At 00:01:45,441, Character said: it's just a mess.

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At 00:01:47,601, Character said: [narrator] There are still
a few lingering traces

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At 00:01:50,561, Character said: of its former grandeur.

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At 00:01:53,521, Character said: The standout feature
is this massive abstract
stained glass window.

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At 00:01:59,721, Character said: One large room
looks like an auditorium.

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At 00:02:03,241, Character said: Could this have been a cinem

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At 00:02:06,161, Character said: You would never believe
that this was once

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At 00:02:09,114, Character said: one of Liberia's
most important buildings.

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At 00:02:14,521, Character said: [narrator] Built by
a centuries-old organizatio

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At 00:02:17,801, Character said: with foundations
in an American exodus,

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At 00:02:21,921, Character said: this hollow skyscraper

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At 00:02:24,001, Character said: would witness
their spectacular downfall.

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At 00:02:35,521, Character said: Looking after
this decaying building

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At 00:02:38,241, Character said: is an impossible task
for its janitor, Losonny Gra

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At 00:02:46,041, Character said: [translation] This building
used to be very beautiful.

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At 00:02:49,001, Character said: Very modern.

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At 00:02:50,521, Character said: These were all offices.

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At 00:02:54,721, Character said: You can see
how this place was looted.

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At 00:02:58,401, Character said: Destroyed by human hands.

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At 00:03:04,721, Character said: [narrator] Before
its untimely demise,

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At 00:03:07,681, Character said: this was
Monrovia's cultural hub.

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At 00:03:11,801, Character said: The building was
a combination of offices

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At 00:03:14,361, Character said: and an entertainment center,

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At 00:03:16,121, Character said: housing the largest auditori
in the entire country.

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At 00:03:21,201, Character said: [translation]
This was a theater.

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At 00:03:23,121, Character said: They used to have
movies and shows here.

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At 00:03:25,521, Character said: All these things
used to happen.

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At 00:03:28,801, Character said: It even had the best
restaurants in Monrovia.

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At 00:03:33,121, Character said: [narrator]
But its original function

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At 00:03:34,601, Character said: was primarily political.

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At 00:03:40,521, Character said: [translation] This building
was constructed

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At 00:03:42,354, Character said: under the reign
of the True Whig Party.

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At 00:03:48,601, Character said: [narrator] Built as
the headquarters

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At 00:03:49,961, Character said: of the political party

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At 00:03:51,761, Character said: that would dominate a centur
of Liberian politics,

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At 00:03:56,401, Character said: it was named after
the organization's
first president,

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At 00:04:00,161, Character said: EJ Roye, an American.

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At 00:04:07,361, Character said: [Sascha Auerbach]
Edward James Roye
was born in Newark, Ohio,

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At 00:04:10,521, Character said: and when he was 31 he decide
to move himself to Liberia.

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At 00:04:15,441, Character said: He became a very wealthy
and successful merchant,

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At 00:04:18,561, Character said: to the point at which
he could even travel

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At 00:04:20,001, Character said: to the United States
in his own ship.

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At 00:04:25,001, Character said: [narrator] Roye's rise
to the head

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At 00:04:26,961, Character said: of one of the world's
oldest political parties

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At 00:04:30,401, Character said: and the Liberian presidency

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At 00:04:32,434, Character said: began in the turmoil
of 19th-century America.

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At 00:04:39,441, Character said: In 1816, a group
of influential white Americans

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At 00:04:43,801, Character said: g***t together to discuss
what they saw as

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At 00:04:46,361, Character said: the problem of growing numbers
of emancipated African slaves.

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At 00:04:53,641, Character said: They believed that
with their newfound freedom,

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At 00:04:56,641, Character said: the former slaves
would find it difficult

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At 00:04:58,881, Character said: to integrate
into white America,

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At 00:05:01,041, Character said: and they thought they could
only fulfil their potential

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At 00:05:03,521, Character said: in Africa.

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At 00:05:07,201, Character said: So they established
an organization

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At 00:05:09,161, Character said: called the American
Colonization Society, or ACS,

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At 00:05:13,921, Character said: to fund and organize
the transportation

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At 00:05:16,641, Character said: of former American slaves
to West Africa,

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At 00:05:20,001, Character said: and to set them up
when they arrived.

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At 00:05:24,001, Character said: The federal government
also assisted the ACS

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At 00:05:26,794, Character said: in buying an area of land.

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At 00:05:30,001, Character said: [narrator] This land
would eventually become

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At 00:05:32,914, Character said: part of modern Liberia.

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At 00:05:36,321, Character said: Tempted by a new life
away from the nation

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At 00:05:39,521, Character said: that had seen them
enslaved for generations,

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At 00:05:43,281, Character said: thousands set sail
for Liberia's shores.

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At 00:05:48,841, Character said: Altogether, some 15,000
African Americans settled,

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At 00:05:53,681, Character said: and they became known
as Americo-Liberians.

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At 00:05:59,161, Character said: They built
American-looking homes

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At 00:06:01,921, Character said: that resembled
plantation homes,

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At 00:06:03,794, Character said: they built
American-looking churches.

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At 00:06:05,714, Character said: They tried to create
an American society,

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At 00:06:08,754, Character said: essentially, in Africa.

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At 00:06:11,961, Character said: Even its flag reflects
this relationship

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At 00:06:14,401, Character said: to the United States,

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At 00:06:15,961, Character said: because the two flags
are strikingly similar.

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At 00:06:20,241, Character said: [narrator] In 1869, a group
of these Americo-Liberians

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At 00:06:25,001, Character said: established
the True Whig Party.

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At 00:06:32,161, Character said: Only American settlers
and their descendants

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At 00:06:35,754, Character said: were allowed to vote,

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At 00:06:36,961, Character said: so this eliminated
any possibility

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At 00:06:39,201, Character said: of competition
from competing parties.

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At 00:06:41,434, Character said: [narrator] When Roye
took office in 1870,

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At 00:06:44,241, Character said: he was immediately faced
with financial crisis.

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At 00:06:51,401, Character said: His goal was
to modernize Liberia,

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At 00:06:54,601, Character said: particularly its schools
and infrastructure.

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At 00:06:57,321, Character said: But the way that
he went about raising money

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At 00:06:59,961, Character said: for these projects
would be his downfall.

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At 00:07:04,041, Character said: [narrator] He took punishin
loans from British banks,

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At 00:07:07,601, Character said: which Liberia
soon defaulted on,

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At 00:07:09,914, Character said: spiraling into recession.

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At 00:07:14,921, Character said: Deep resentment
grew towards Roye.

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At 00:07:17,521, Character said: He was accused of embezzlement

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At 00:07:19,201, Character said: and even brought to trial,

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At 00:07:20,921, Character said: but managed to escape
before the sentencing.

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At 00:07:25,681, Character said: Less than two years
after coming into office,

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At 00:07:28,641, Character said: he was overthrown,
and died in 1872.

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At 00:07:35,281, Character said: [narrator]
The exact circumstances

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At 00:07:36,961, Character said: of Roye's death are unknown

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At 00:07:41,961, Character said: One theory...