Joseph James Cheeseman (March 7, 1843 – November 12, 1896) was the 12th

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 Liber ...

. Born at

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Grand Bassa County Grand Bassa is a county in the west-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has eight districts. Buchanan serves as the capital with th ...

, he was elected three times on the True Whig ticket. Cheeseman was educated at Liberia College (now

University of Liberia The University of Liberia (UL or LU in older versions of abbreviation) is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the university opened in 1862 as Liberia Coll ...

Early life

Cheeseman was well educated and began his career as a teacher before coming into politics. He served in various government roles, including as a legislator before coming as president.

Presidency (1892–1896)

Economy

In the decades after 1868, escalating economic difficulties weakened the state's dominance over the coastal indigenous population. Conditions worsened, as the cost of imports was far greater than the income generated by exports of coffee, rice,

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, sugarcane, and timber. Liberia tried desperately to modernize its largely agricultural economy.

Territorial conflicts

In 1892, the French forced Liberia to cede to the Ivory Coast the area beyond

Cape Palmas Cape Palmas is a headland on the extreme southeast end of the coast of Liberia, Africa, at the extreme southwest corner of the northern half of the continent. The Cape itself consists of a small, rocky peninsula connected to the mainland by a san ...

which Liberia had long controlled. President Johnson (1884–92) was responsible for this negotiation but retired before the treaty was signed. The boundaries of Liberia were beginning to be officially established from this year onwards. Whenever the British and French seemed intent on enlarging at Liberia's expense the neighboring territories they already controlled, periodic appearances by U.S. warships helped discourage encroachment, even though successive American administrations rejected appeals from Monrovia for more forceful support.Liebenow, J. Gus, ''Liberia: the Quest for Democracy''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987

Ethnic uprisings

Some tribal people living in the hinterland of Montserrado County and further north were at war since the mid-1880s and would stay at war until the late 1890s. On the one hand there was a war between Gola and Mandingo over trading routes in the region, while various factions of the Gola were fighting with each other too. Ethnic struggles with the

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, Gola, and Grebo tribe who resented incursions into their territory occurred several times during Cheeseman's reign. Cheeseman initially attempted to settle tribal conflicts by peaceful negotiations. One notable uprising occurred in 1893 when the Grebo tribe attacked the settlement of

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. Troops and the gunboat Gorronomah were sent to defeat the tribesmen.

Death

President Cheeseman died in office on November 12, 1896, and vice president William David Coleman served the remainder of the term and well as another four years until 1900. Cheeseman and his wife are buried in Edina in elaborate graves adjacent to their mansion, which is now in ruins and overgrown with vegetation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheeseman, Joseph James Americo-Liberian people Presidents of Liberia 1843 births 1896 deaths University of Liberia alumni True Whig Party politicians People from Grand Bassa County 19th-century Liberian politicians