Joseph Jenkins Roberts

Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809–1876) was a Liberian statesman who served as Liberia’s first and seventh president and helped establish its independence.

James Monroe: James Monroe was the fifth president of the United States and namesake of Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. The American Colonization Society named Monrovia for Monroe during the settlement Roberts later governed.
American Colonization Society: The American Colonization Society was a U.S. organization founded in 1816 to promote Black emigration to Africa. The society sponsored the settlement whose administration Roberts joined.
President of Liberia: The president of Liberia is the head of state and government under the country’s republican system. Roberts held Liberia’s presidency in two nonconsecutive periods, first and seventh.
Americo-Liberians: Americo-Liberians are Liberians descended from freeborn and formerly enslaved African Americans who settled in Liberia. Roberts belonged to the settler community that dominated Liberia’s early political institutions.
Edward Wilmot Blyden: Edward Wilmot Blyden was a Liberian educator, diplomat, and writer who shaped Black intellectual life in West Africa. Blyden became a major Liberian public figure during Roberts’s later presidency.
Maryland in Liberia: Maryland in Liberia was a nineteenth-century African American settlement that became an independent republic before joining Liberia. Its existence shows the multiple settlements and political claims surrounding Liberia’s founding era.
Liberian–British relations: Liberian–British relations are the diplomatic and economic ties between Liberia and the United Kingdom. Roberts sought recognition and negotiated with Britain as Liberia asserted sovereignty.
True Whig Party: The True Whig Party was Liberia’s dominant political party from the nineteenth century until the 1980 coup. Its long dominance developed from the political order established during Roberts’s era.
Hilary Teague: Hilary Teague was a Liberian politician and diplomat who helped draft Liberia’s Declaration of Independence and constitution. Teague worked alongside Roberts in the political movement that established the republic.
Liberian Declaration of Independence: The 1847 document proclaimed Liberia an independent republic and set out its justification for self-government. Roberts led the transition whose independence this declaration formally announced.

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