Joseph Jenkins Roberts

Joseph Jenkins Roberts (born March 15, 1809, Petersburg, Va., U.S.—died February 24, 1876, Monrovia, Liberia) was an American-born individual who became the first president of Liberia (1848–56) and later served as president again (1872–76).

A native of Virginia, Roberts was the son of free Blacks whose heritage was more than seven-eighths white. At the age of 20 he, along with his mother and younger brothers, immigrated to the colony of Liberia. It had been established by the American Colonization Society(ACS), an American organization dedicated to transporting formerly enslaved and freeborn Black people to Africa. Roberts became a merchant and also served as sheriff of the colony. In 1839 Roberts was made lieutenant governor under the white governor of the colony, ACS member Thomas H. Buchanan. On Buchanan’s death in 1841, Roberts became the first Black governor of the colony, initially as acting governor before being appointed to the post in 1842.

In efforts to establish the political and economic stability of the colony, Roberts and other colonists sought treaties with Indigenous Africans and recognition from foreign powers. In 1847 they proclaimed the new republic of Liberia; Roberts was elected the first president. In 1849, during a visit to England, he secured British recognition of Liberia as a sovereign nation; and in 1852, in another trip to continental Europe, he acquired recognition from other powers.

From 1856 he served as president of the new Liberia College and, during a prolonged financial crisis, served again as president of the republic from 1872 to 1876.