In 1847, Joseph Jenkins Roberts was elected the first president of this country:
Congo
Haiti
Ivory Coast
Guyana
Liberia
Liberia.
In 1847, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the Virginia-born son of free blacks, was elected the first president of Liberia, an African nation that grew out of the efforts of the American Colonization Society. The American Colonization Society supported setting up a colony for freed slaves in Africa as an alternative to American integration. The first group of colonists landed in Liberia in 1822, and founded Monrovia, the colony?s capital city, named in honor of President James Monroe. By the time a mutual agreement between the settlers and the society created the republic of Liberia on July 26, 1847, more than 10,000 free blacks had moved there.
The HistoryNet.com is brought to you by the Weider History Group, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines.
If you are interested in a specific history subject, try searching our archives, you are bound to find something to pique your interest.