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Joseph Jenkins Roberts

For other people named Joe Roberts, see   Joe Roberts

(disambiguation).

Joseph Jenkins Roberts  (March 15, 1809 – February

24, 1876) was the first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–

1876) President of  Liberia. Born free in Norfolk, Vir-

ginia, US, Roberts emigrated to Liberia in 1829 as a

young man. He opened a trading store in  Monrovia, and

later engaged in politics. When Liberia became indepen-

dent in July 26, 1847 and Roberts was elected the first

Black American president for the  Republic of Liberia,serving until 1856. In 1872 he was elected again to serve

as Liberia’s seventh president.

1 Early life

Roberts was born free in Norfolk, Virginia, the second

oldest of seven children. His father was said to be a

planter of  Welsh  origin. Joseph’s mother Amelia, de-

scribed as a mulatto who was quite fair, was the planter’sslave mistress or  concubine. He freed Amelia and her

children when she was still young.[1] Amelia gave all of

her children but one the middle name of Jenkins, which

suggests that may have been the name of their biological

father.

Once free, Amelia married James Roberts, a free black.

Roberts gave her children his surname and raised them as

his own. Roberts owned a boating business on the James

River. By the time of his death, he had acquired substan-

tial wealth for an African-American of those times.[2]

Joseph Roberts and his siblings by the planter were esti-

mated to be seven-eighths European in 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.”[3] As a boy, Joseph be-

gan to work in his stepfather’s business, handling goods

on a flatboat that transported materials from Petersburg to

Norfolk on the James River.[4] The family moved to Pe-

tersburg, which was an industrial city. Shortly after the

move, the stepfather James Roberts died. Joseph contin-

ued 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 and one of Vir-

ginia’s best-educated black residents. He gave Robertsaccess to his private library, which provided much of the

youth’s early education.[2]

2 Marriage and family

In 1828 Roberts married an 18-year-old woman named

Sarah. They had an infant child whom they took with

them when they emigrated to Liberia, under the auspices

of the American Colonization Society. Both Sarah and

the child died in the first year in the colony. [5]

Some time after his wife’s death, Roberts married again,

to Jane Rose Waring. She was a daughter of Colston War-

ing and Harriet Graves, Virginians who had also migrated

to the colony.[6]

3 Immigrating to Liberia

Daguerreotype taken in the 1850s.

After hearing of the plans of the American Colonization

Society to colonize the African coast at Cape Mesurado

near modern-day Monrovia, Roberts decided to join an

expedition. The restrictions in Virginia on free Negroes

played an important part in his decision. The Roberts

family was strongly religious and they felt called to evan-

gelize the indigenous people of Africa.[2] On February 9,1829 they sailed for Africa on the  Harriet .[7] along with

his mother and five of his six siblings. Travelling the same

1

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2   5 BETWEEN PRESIDENCIES 

ship was James Spriggs Payne, who would later become

Liberia’s fourth president.[1]

Once in Monrovia, Roberts and two of his brothers es-

tablished a business with the help of their friend William

Colson of Petersburg. The company exported palm prod-

ucts, camwood, and ivory to the United States, and tradedimported American goods at the company store in Mon-

rovia. In 1835, Colson emigrated to Liberia, but died

shortly after his arrival. Expanding into coastal trade,

the Roberts family became successful members of the

local establishment.[2] During this time, Joseph’s brother

John Wright Roberts entered the ministry of the Liberia

Methodist Church, founded by Americans. Later he be-

came a bishop. After starting as a trader, the youngest

son, Henry Roberts, studied medicine at the  Berkshire

Medical College  in Massachusetts. Joseph Roberts was

successful enough to pay for his brother’s studies. Henry

returned to Liberia to work as a physician.[8]

In 1833, Joseph Roberts became  high sheriff   of the

colony. One of his responsibilities was to organize mili-

tias to travel to the interior to collect taxes from the in-

digenous peoples and put down their rebellions against

colonial rule. In 1839, the American Colonization So-

ciety appointed Roberts vice governor. Two years later,

after the death of governor  Thomas Buchanan, Roberts

was appointed as the first black governor of Liberia. In

1846, Roberts asked the legislature to declare the inde-

pendence of Liberia, but also to maintain cooperation

with the American Colonization Society. The legislature

called for a referendum, in which voters chose indepen-

dence. On July 26, 1847, Roberts declared Liberia inde-pendent. He won the first presidential election on October

5, 1847, and was sworn into office on January 3, 1848,

with Stephen Allen Benson as vice president.[1]

4 First presidency (1847-1856)

Roberts was re-elected three more times to serve a total

of eight years, until he lost the election in 1855 to Vice

President Benson.[1]

Attempts to found a state based upon some 3000 settlersproved difficult. Some coastal tribes converted to Chris-

tianity and learned English, but most of the indigenous

Africans retained their traditional religion and language.

The slave trade continued illicitly from Liberian ports, but

the British Royal Navy finally closed it down in the 1850s.

4.1 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 Britainwas the first country to recognize Liberia,[9] followed

by France in 1848 or 1852 (accounts differ). In 1849,

the German cities of   Hamburg,   Bremen   and   Lübeck

recognized the new nation, as did  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).

The United States withheld recognition until February 5,

1862, during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Re-

portedly, the government feared that the southern con-

gressmen would not accept a black ambassador in Wash-

ington, D.C.

4.2 Relations with indigenous groups; ex-

pansion

Maryland Colony declared in 1854 its independence from

the Maryland State Colonization Society but did not be-

come part of the Republic of Liberia. It held the landalong the coast between the Grand Cess and San Pe-

dro Rivers. In 1856, the  independent state of Mary-

land (Africa) requested military aid from Liberia in a war

with the Grebo and Kru peoples. They were resisting the

Maryland colonists’ efforts to control their trade. Roberts

assisted the Marylanders, and a joint military campaign

by the two groups of African-American colonists resulted

in victory. In 1857, the  Republic of Maryland   joined

Liberia as Maryland County.

During his presidency, Roberts expanded the borders of

Liberia along the coast and made attempts to integrate

the indigenous people of Monrovia into the Republic. By1860, through treaties and purchases with local African

leaders, Liberia extended its boundaries to include a 600-

mile (1000 km) coastline.

4.3 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.

4.4 Assessment

Roberts has been described as a talented leader with

diplomatic skills. His leadership was instrumental in giv-

ing 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 com-

plex field of international law and relations.[2]

5 Between presidencies

After his first presidency, Roberts served for fifteen years

as a major general in the Liberian army, as well as a

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3

Lithograph of the former home of Joseph Roberts in Monrovia

diplomatic representative in France and Great Britain.

In 1862, he helped to found and became the first pres-

ident of Liberia College  in Monrovia, where he served

as president until 1876.

[10]

Roberts frequently traveled tothe United States to raise funds for the college. Until his

death he held a professorship in jurisprudence and inter-

national law.[4]

6 Second 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 officein 1872. He served for two terms until 1876. While he

was incapacitated by illness from 1875 until early 1876,

Vice-President  Anthony W. Gardiner  was acting presi-

dent.

In the decades after 1868, escalating economic difficul-

ties weakened the state’s dominance over the coastal in-

digenous population. Conditions worsened—the cost of

imports was far greater than the income generated by ex-

ports of coffee, rice, palm oil, sugarcane, and timber.

Liberia tried desperately to modernize its largely agricul-

tural economy.

7 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.[1] 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 depicted on the Liberian ten dollar bill intro-

duced in 1997, and the old five dollar bill in circulationbetween 1989 and 1991.

His birthday, March 15, is a national holiday in Liberia.[4]

8 See also

•  History of Liberia

9 References[1] Pham, John-Peter (April 2004).  Liberia — Portrait of a

 failed state . Reed Press. ISBN 1-59429-012-1.

[2] Matthews, Pat (Autumn 1973). “The father of Liberia”.

Virginia Cavalcade. pp. 5–11.

[3] Karnga, Abayomi Wilfrid (1926).  History of Liberia. D.

H. Tyte.

[4] Evans Brown, Judith (March 17, 1968). “Virginia’s other

presidents”.  The Virginian-Pilot ..

[5]  Mary Tyler-McGraw, “The Roberts Family”, 2008,  Vir-

 ginia Emigrants to Liberia, Virginia Center for Digital His-tory, University of Virginia, accessed 4 Jun 2010

[6]   Mary Tyler-McGraw, “The Roberts Family” and “Har-

riet Graves: Reluctant Founding Mother”, 2008, Virginia

Emigrants to Liberia, Virginia Center for Digital History,

University of Virginia, accessed 4 Jun 2010

[7]  “Search Emigrants”,   Virginia Emigrants to Liberia, Vir-

ginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia,

accessed 4 Jun 2010

[8] Davis, Stanley A. (1953).   This is Liberia. William-

Frederick Press.

[9] The Times, London. Jul 10, 1962; pg. 11; Issue 55439

[10] Livingston, Thomas W.  “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.

10 External links

•   Tazewell, Calvert Walke (1992).   Virginia’s ninth

 president — An anthology on President Joseph Jenk-

ins Roberts (1809-1876). W.S. Dawson Co.   ISBN1-878515-23-3.

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4   11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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