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Edward James Roye

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Edward James Roye
Roye c. 1850
5th President of Liberia
In office
January 3, 1870 – October 26, 1871
Vice PresidentJames Skivring Smith
Preceded byJames Spriggs Payne
Succeeded byJames Skivring Smith
4th Chief Justice of Liberia
In office
1865–1868
Nominated byDaniel Bashiel Warner
Preceded byBoston Jenkins Drayton
Succeeded byC. L. Parsons
Personal details
Born(1815-02-03)February 3, 1815
Newark, Ohio, United States
DiedFebruary 11, 1872 (aged 57) or February 12, 1872 (disputed)
Political partyTrue Whig

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

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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.[1] They were reportedly of Igbo origin.[2][3]

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,[4] where he established the African-American community's largest barbershop.[1]

Emigration to Liberia

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In 1846, attracted by the American Colonization Society's promotion of the relocation of African Americans to the colony of Liberia in West Africa, Roye emigrated to the colony with his family at the age of 31. There he set up business as a merchant, reportedly bringing $1,000 of capital (equivalent to $30,000 in 2023) with him.[5] The next year, the colony gained independence. Within three years of his arrival, Roye became active in Liberian politics, serving as a representative and speaker (1849–1850)[6] of the Liberian House of Representatives, and as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, He was also the Secretary of the Treasury.[7] and unsuccessfully contested the presidential elections in 1855.[8]

In 1857, Roye purchased the brig Eusebia for the purposes of conducting a trading business between Monrovia and New York City. His typical cargo included camwood, palm oil and ivory.[9] By 1870 he reportedly had a fortune estimated at $200,000 (equivalent to $4,800,000 in 2023).[5]

Presidency (1870–71)

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Daguerrotype of Roye (date uncertain)

Roye was inaugurated as President of Liberia on January 3, 1870. In the decades after 1868, escalating economic difficulties weakened the state's dominance over the coastal indigenous tribal peoples. Conditions worsened, the cost of imports was far greater than the income generated by exports of its commodity crops of coffee, rice, palm oil, sugarcane, and timber. Liberia tried desperately to modernize its largely agricultural economy.

Financial problems

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In 1871, Roye tasked the speaker of the House of Representatives, William Spencer Anderson, with negotiating a new loan from British financiers. Anderson secured $500,000 under strict terms from the British consul-general, David Chinery, but was heavily criticised and eventually arrested. Anderson was apparently tried the following year for his part in securing the loan. He was found not guilty, but he was shot to death while leaving the courthouse.[10]

End of presidency

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Further information: 1871 Liberian coup d'état

Roye was removed from the presidency on October 26, 1871, in what some allies called a coup d'état. The circumstances surrounding his removal from office, however, remain murky and highly partisan. What is known is that he was jailed for several months following his ousting and soon died under equally mysterious circumstances. His unpopular loans with Britain as well as fears from the Republican Party that he was planning to cancel the upcoming presidential election were among the reasons for his forced removal.[11]

Death and legacy

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No specific historical record is available about the date and circumstances of Roye's death. Varying accounts indicate that he was killed on February 11 or February 12, 1872. Another account suggests that he drowned on February 12, 1872, while trying to reach a British ship in Monrovia harbor.[citation needed]

The portrait of President Roye in the gallery of the Presidential Mansion in Monrovia notes his date of death as February 11, 1872.[12]

The town of Royesville, bordering the city of Brewerville, was named after Roye. President William Tubman named the presidential yacht "The Edward J. Roye," after President Roye.[13] The headquarters of the True Whig Party was named the Edward J. Roye Building.[14] His portrait his featured on the front of the five-dollar banknote of the Liberian dollar.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Whyde, L. B. (February 16, 2021). "Black History Month: Roye had long road from Newark to becoming president of Liberia". Newark Advocate. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  2. ^ Lynch, Hollis R. (1970). Edward Wilmot Blyden. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780195012682.
  3. ^ "E.J. Roye, President of Liberia 1870–71". Archived from the original on February 23, 2004. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
  4. ^ MacDonald, Megan. "The Svend Holsoe Collection: Edward James Roye Materials, 1811–1986". Archives Online at Indiana University. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Edward James Roye (1815–1872)". A Durable Memento: Portraits by Augustus Washington, African American Daguerrotypist. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  6. ^ Dunn, D. Elwood (2011). The Annual Messages of the Presidents of Liberia 1848–2010: State of the Nation Addresses to the National Legislature. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783598441691 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Edward J. Roye » LiberiaInfo". LiberiaInfo. March 6, 2012.
  8. ^ Hollis R. Lynch (1970). Edward Wilmot Blyden: Pan-Negro Patriot, 1832–1912. Oxford University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-19-536546-7.
  9. ^ "Colored Men Trading to Africa". The Sailor's Magazine. 31–32. American Seamen's Friend Society. December 1859.
  10. ^ Shavit, David (1989). The United States in Africa – A Historical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood press. p. 11. ISBN 0-313-25887-2.
  11. ^ Burrowes, Carl Patrick (2004). Power and Press Freedom in Liberia, 1830–1870. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press. pp. 86–88. ISBN 9781592212934.
  12. ^ "E.J. Roye" Archived February 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Liberia Past and Present
  13. ^ "Edward James Roye, Fifth President of Liberia". Liberia Today. 1 (8). Embassy of the Republic of Liberia in the United States: 7. August 1952. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  14. ^ "Concerned TWP Members Take Gov't To Court". The Inquirer. February 12, 2014. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  15. ^ "Central Bank of Liberia". Central Bank of Liberia. May 27, 2006. Archived from the original on May 27, 2006. Retrieved September 28, 2023.

Further reading

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Political offices
Preceded by President of Liberia
1870–1871 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Chief Justice of Liberia
1865–1868 		Succeeded by
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