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1855 Liberian General Election
General elections were held in Liberia in 1855 to elect the president of Liberia, with incumbent president Joseph Jenkins Roberts declining to run for a fifth term in office. The presidential election resulted in a victory for Vice-President Stephen Allen Benson of the True Liberian Party, who defeated Edward James Roye of the Whig Party. Beverly P. Yates was elected vice-president. Benson took office as the country's second president on 7 January 1856, with Roberts making a speech at Benson's inauguration. The Perspective, 26 September 2017 References {{Liberian elections |
Stephen Allen Benson
Stephen Allen Benson (May 21, 1816 – January 24, 1865) was a Liberian politician who served as the second president of Liberia from 1856 to 1864. He previously served as the third vice president of Liberia from 1854 to 1856 under President Joseph Jenkins Roberts. Born in the United States, Benson arrived in Liberia with his family in 1822. Early life Benson was born in Cambridge, Maryland, United States, to freeborn African-American parents. In 1822, his family emigrated to the newly established country of Liberia, sailing aboard the brig ''Strong''. For four years, he was a military shopkeeper. He was also a private secretary to Thomas Buchanan, the last of Liberia's white governors. Benson later became a successful businessman, and joined the militia in 1835. In 1841, Benson married Nancy Moore. In 1842, he became a delegate to the Colonial Council. After Liberia's independence in 1847, he became a judge. He was also a Methodist preacher, and the Secretary of the Treasury be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republican Party (Liberia)
The Republican Party, originally named the True Liberian Party until 1857, was a political party founded soon after the founding of Liberia in 1848. It was known to be made up primarily of Americo-Liberians who had mixed African and European ancestry. Its main opponent was the True Whig Party. The first President of Liberia, Joseph Jenkins Roberts Joseph Jenkins Roberts (March 15, 1809 – February 24, 1876) was an African-American merchant who emigrated to Liberia in 1829, where he became a politician. Elected as the first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–1876) president of Liberi ..., supported the party, which had the first candidates elected to office in the independent nation. The party weakened soon after the death of Roberts. After the end of President James Spriggs Payne's term in 1878, the election of Anthony W. Gardiner to the presidency marked the beginning of more than a century of True Whig Party dominance in Liberian politics. In 1899, the Republican Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward James Roye
Edward James Roye (February 3, 1815 – February 11, 1872) was a Liberian merchant and politician who served as the fifth president of Liberia from 1870 until his overthrow in the 1871 Liberian coup d'état and subsequent death. He had previously served as the fourth Chief Justice of Liberia from 1865 until 1868. He was the first member of Liberia's True Whig Party to serve as president. Early life Roye was born on February 3, 1815, in Newark, Ohio. He was the son of John and Nancy Roye, freed African-American slaves who had moved to Ohio from Kentucky and bought a property in Newark. They were reportedly of Igbo origin. Roye's father managed a ferry across the Wabash River at Terre Haute, Indiana. He owned property in Newark, Terre Haute and Vandalia, Illinois. Due to his family's prosperity, Roye was able to attend Ohio University. He moved to Terre Haute after his father's death in 1836, where he established the African-American community's largest barbershop. Emigrati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
True Whig Party
The True Whig Party (TWP), also known as the Liberian Whig Party (LWP), is the oldest political party in Liberia and Africa as a whole. Founded in 1869 by primarily darker-skinned Americo-Liberians in rural areas, its historic rival was the Republican Party. Following the decline of the latter, it dominated Liberian politics from 1878 until 1980. The nation was virtually governed as a one-party state under the TWP, although opposition parties were never outlawed."Liberia Country Study: The True Whig Ascendancy" Global Security Initially, its ideology was strongly influenced by that of the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Jenkins Roberts
Joseph Jenkins Roberts (March 15, 1809 – February 24, 1876) was an African-American merchant who emigrated to Liberia in 1829, where he became a politician. Elected as the first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–1876) president of Liberia after independence, he was the first man of African descent to govern the country, serving previously as governor from 1841 to 1848. He later returned to office following the 1871 Liberian coup d'état. Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, Roberts emigrated as a young man with his mother, siblings, wife, and child to the young West African colony. He opened a trading firm in Monrovia and later engaged in politics. Early life Joseph Jenkins 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, described as a "mulatto" who was quite fair, was the planter's slave mistress or concubine, and he freed her when she was still young, before Joseph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Liberia border, its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It has a population of around 5.5million and covers an area of . The official language is English. Languages of Liberia, Over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, reflecting the country's ethnic and cultural diversity. The capital and largest List of cities in Liberia, city is Monrovia. Liberia began in the early 19th century as a project of the American Colonization Society (ACS), which believed that black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. Between 1822 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born African Americans, along with 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
President Of Liberia
The president of the Republic of Liberia is the head of state and government of Liberia. The president serves as the leader of the executive branch and as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. Prior to the independence of Liberia in 1847, executive power in the Commonwealth of Liberia was held by the governor of Liberia, who was appointed by the American Colonization Society. The 1847 Constitution transferred the executive powers of the governorship to the presidency, which was largely modeled on the presidency of the United States. Between 1847 and 1980, the presidency was exclusively held by Americo-Liberians, the original American settlers of Liberia and their descendants. The original two-party system, with the Republican Party and the True Whig Party, ended in 1878, when the election of Anthony W. Gardiner marked the beginning of 102 years of one-party rule by the True Whigs. Following a ''coup d'état'' by disgruntled army NCOs and soldiers led by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1855 Elections In Africa
Events January–March * January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city.' * January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru. * January 23 ** The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in modern-day Minneapolis, a predecessor of the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge. ** The 8.2–8.3 Wairarapa earthquake claims between five and nine lives near the Cook Strait area of New Zealand. * January 26 – The Point No Point Treaty is signed in the Washington Territory. * January 27 – The Panama Railway becomes the first railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. * January 29 – Lord Aberdeen resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, over the management of the Crimean War. * February 5 – Lord Palmerston becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. * February 11 – Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia. * February 12 – Michigan State University (the "pioneer" land-g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
