Final answer:
Free people of color and formerly enslaved blacks from the United States were the first to emigrate to Liberia in 1821, assisted by the American Colonization Society, but the colony faced high death rates and significant tensions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first emigrants to establish the colony of Liberia in 1821 were free people of color and formerly enslaved blacks who relocated from the United States. These emigration efforts were facilitated by the American Colonization Society (ACS), a group dominated by white abolitionists who supported the idea of relocating blacks "back to Africa." Despite the support from the ACS and endorsements from figures like President James Monroe, after whom the capital of Liberia, Monrovia, was named, this initiative was fraught with difficulties. Many of the emigrants faced high mortality rates due to disease, and the colony suffered from profound social, cultural, and political tensions between the settlers and local populations. The governance structure established by the American minorities also led to disenfranchisement and political dominance over the majority indigenous populations until the 1980s.