Joseph Jenkins Roberts

Infobox_President
name=Joseph Jenkins Roberts


imagesize=200px
order=1st President of Liberia (1848)
7th President of Liberia (1872)
term_start=January 3 1848
term_end=January 7 1856
January 1 1872 – January 3 1876
vicepresident=Stephen Allen Benson (1848)
Anthony W. Gardiner (1872)
predecessor=None (1848)
James Skivring Smith (1872)
successor=Stephen Allen Benson (1848)
James Spriggs Payne (1872)
birth_date=birth date|1809|3|15|mf=y
birth_place=Norfolk, Virginia
death_date=death date and age|1876|2|24|1809|3|15|mf=y
death_place= Monrovia, Liberia
party=Republican Party

Joseph Jenkins Roberts (March 15, 1809 – February 24, 1876) was the first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–1876) president of Liberia. Roberts was born in Norfolk, Virginia and emigrated to Liberia in 1829. He opened a trading store in Monrovia, and later engaged in politics. When Liberia became independent in 1847 he became the first president and served until 1856. In 1872 he would serve again as Liberia's seventh president.

Early life

Roberts was born in Norfolk, Virginia as the eldest of seven children to a couple of mixed ancestry, James and Amelia Roberts.cite book
last = Pham
first = John-Peter
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Liberia - Portrait of a failed state
publisher = Reed Press
date = April 2004
location =
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 1594290121] His mother Amelia had gained freedom from slavery and had married his father James Roberts, a free negro. James Roberts owned a boating business on the James River and had, by the time of his death, acquired substantial wealth for an African American of his day.Citation
last = Matthews
first = Pat
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = The father of Liberia
newspaper = Virginia Cavalcade
pages = 5-11
year = 1973
date = Autumn 1973
url = ] Roberts had only one African great grandparent, and he was of more than one half European ancestry. As the Liberian historian Abayomi Karnga noted in 1926, "he was not really black; he was an octoroon and could have easily passed for a white man". [cite book
last = Karnga
first = Abayomi Wilfrid
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = History of Liberia
publisher = D. H. Tyte
date = 1926
location =
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn =] As a boy he began to work in his family business on a flatboat that transported goods from Petersburg to Norfolk on the James River.Citation
last = Evans Brown
first = Judith
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = Virginia's other presidents
newspaper = The Virginian-Pilot
pages =
year = 1968
date = March 17, 1968
url = .] After the death of his father his family moved to Petersburg, Virginia. He continued to work in his family's business, but also served as an apprentice in a barber shop. The owner of the barber shop, William Colson was also a minister of the gospel and one of Virginia's best educated black residents. He gave Roberts access to his private library, which was a source of much of his early education. ]

Emigrating to Liberia

After hearing of the plans of the American Colonization Society to colonize the African coast at Cape Mesurado near today's Monrovia the Roberts family decided to join an expedition. The reasons for this decision are unknown, but undoubtedly the restrictions of the Black Code in Virginia played an important part. Another probable reason for the decision to emigrate were the religious beliefs of the Roberts family and the desire to spread Christianity and civilization among the indigenous people of Africa. ] On February 9, 1829 they set off for Africa on the "Harriet". On the same ship was James Spriggs Payne, who would later become Liberia's fourth president. ]

In Monrovia the family established a business with the help of William Colson in Petersburg. The company exported palm products, camwood and ivory to the United States and traded imported American goods at the company store in Monrovia. In 1835 Colson would also emigrate to Liberia, but would shortly die after his arrival. The business quickly expanded into coastal trade and the Roberts family became a successful member of the local establishment. ] During this time his brother John Wright Roberts entered the ministry of the Liberia Methodist Church and later became a bishop. The youngest son of the family, Henry Roberts studied medicine at the Berkshire Medical School in Massachusetts and went back to Liberia to work as a physician.cite book
last = Davis
first = Stanley A.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = This is Liberia
publisher = William-Frederick Press
date = 1953
location =
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ]

In 1833 Roberts became high sheriff of the colony. One of his responsibilities was the organization of expeditions of the settler militia to the interior to collect taxes from the indigenous peoples and to put down rebellions. In 1839 he was appointed vice governor by the American Colonization Society. Two years later, after the death of governor Thomas Buchanan he was appointed as the first nonwhite governor of Liberia. In 1846 Roberts asked the legislature to declare the independence of Liberia, but also to maintain the cooperation with the American Colonization Society. A referendum was called which was in favor of independence. On July 26, 1847 he declared Liberia independent. He won the first election on October 5, 1847 and was sworn into office as Liberia's first president on January 3, 1848. ]

First presidency (1847-1856)

After Liberia declared its independence in 1847, Joseph J. Roberts, a freeborn Black who was born in Virginia, was elected Liberia's first president, and Stephen Benson was elected vice-president. Roberts was re-elected three more times to serve a total of eight years, until he lost the election in 1855 to his vice president Stephen Allen Benson. ] .

Attempts to found a state based upon some 3000 settlers proved difficult. Some coastal tribes became Protestants and learned English, but most of the indigenous Africans retained their traditional religion and language. The slave trade continued illicitly from Liberian ports, but this was ended by the British Navy in the 1850s.

Foreign relations

Roberts spent the first year of his presidency attempting to attain recognition from European countries and the United States.In 1848 he traveled to Europe to meet Queen Victoria and other heads of state. Great Britain was the first country to recognize Liberia, followed by France in 1848 or 1852 (accounts differ). In 1849, the German cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck recognized the new nation, as well as Portugal, Brazil, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Empire. Norway and Sweden did so in either 1849 or 1863, Haiti in either 1849 or 1864, Denmark in either 1849 or 1869 (accounts differ).However, the United States withheld recognition until 1862, during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, because the U.S. leaders believed that the southern states would not accept a black ambassador in Washington, D.C.

Relations with indigenous groups; expansion

Resistance from indigenous groups continued, and occasional port calls by American naval vessels provided, in the words of Duignan and Gann, a "definite object lesson to restive locals". One example was the visit of the USS "John Adams" in 1852, which had a noticeably quieting effect upon the chiefs at Grand Bassa, the coastal region to Monrovia's south.

Maryland Colony declared in 1854 its independence from the Maryland State Colonization Society but did not become part of the Republic of Liberia. It held the land along the coast between the Grand Cess and San Pedro Rivers. In 1856, the independent state of Maryland (Africa) requested military aid from Liberia in a war with the Grebo and Kru peoples who were resisting the Maryland settlers' efforts to control their trade. President Roberts assisted the Marylanders, and a joint military campaign by both groups of African American colonists resulted in victory.In 1857, the Republic of Maryland would join Liberia as Maryland County.

During his presidency Roberts expanded the borders of Liberia along the coast and made first attempts to integrate the indigenous people of the hinterland of Monrovia into the Republic. By 1860, through treaties and purchases with local African leaders, Liberia would have extended its boundaries to include a 600 mile (1000 km) coastline.

Economy, nation building

The settlers built schools and Liberia College (which later became the University of Liberia). During these early years, agriculture, shipbuilding, and trade flourished.

Assessment

Roberts has been describedwho? as a talented leader with diplomatic skills. His leadership was instrumental in giving Liberia independence and sovereignty. Later in his career his diplomatic skills helped him to deal effectively with the indigenous people and to maneuver in the complex field of international law and relations. ]

Between presidencies

After his first presidency Roberts served for fifteen years as a major general in the Liberian army as well as a diplomatic representative in France and Great Britain. In 1862, he helped to found and became the first president of Liberia College in Monrovia, remaining as president until 1876.Livingston, Thomas W. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2966902 “The Exportation of American Higher Education to West Africa: Liberia College, 1850-1900”.] "The Journal of Negro Education", Vol. 45, No. 3 (Summer, 1976), pp. 246-262.] Roberts frequently traveled to the United States to raise funds for the college. Until his death he held a professorship in jurisprudence and international law. ]

econd presidency (1872-1876)

In 1871 president Edward James Roye was deposed by elements loyal to the Republican Party on the grounds that he was planning to cancel the upcoming elections. Roberts, one of the Republican Party's leaders, won the ensuing presidential election and thus returned to office in 1872. He served for two terms until 1876. During the incapacitation of Roberts from 1875 until early 1876, Vice-President Gardiner was acting president.

The decades after 1868, escalating economic difficulties weakened the state's dominance over the coastal indigenous population. Conditions worsened, the cost of imports was far greater than the income generated by exports of coffee, rice, palm oil, sugarcane, and timber. Liberia tried desperately to modernize its largely agricultural economy.

Inheritance and legacy

Roberts died on February 24, 1876, less than two months after his second term had ended. In his testament he left $10,000 and his estate to the educational system of Liberia. ]

Liberia's main airport, Roberts International Airport, the town of Robertsport and Roberts Street in Monrovia are named in honor of Roberts. His face is also depicted on the Liberian ten dollar bill introduced in 1997 and the old five dollar bill in circulation between 1989 and 1991. His birthday, March 15, was a national holiday in Liberia until 1980. ]

ee also

*History of Liberia

Further reading

*see History of Liberia, further reading

References

External links

*
*see also: History of Liberia, external links

Persondata
NAME=Roberts, Joseph Jenkins
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Roberts, Joseph J.
SHORT DESCRIPTION=President of Liberia
DATE OF BIRTH=15 March 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH=Norfolk, Virginia
DATE OF DEATH=24 February 1876
PLACE OF DEATH=Monrovia, Liberia