Liberia was founded in the political climate of the early 1800s that sought to find a place to deal with the growing "problem" of free blacks in the United States. So the American Colonization Society (ACS) was formed to help resolve this political program and searched for territory in West Africa to send free American blacks to. In conjunction with the American Government and Military Liberia was founded in 1847 and Monrovia was named its capital in honor of James Monroe who helped secure U.S. funding for the founding of Liberia.