The Republican Party, early named Liberian Party, was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

founded soon after the founding of

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� ...

in 1848. It was known to be made up primarily of

Americo-Liberians Americo-Liberian people or Congo people or Congau people in Liberian English,Cooper, Helene, ''The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood'' (United States: Simon and Schuster, 2008), p. 6 are a Liberian ethnic group of Afr ...

who had mixed African and European ancestry. Its main opponent was the

True Whig Party The True Whig Party (TWP), also known as the Liberian Whig Party (LWP), is the oldest List of political parties in Liberia, political party in Liberia and one of the oldest parties in Africa. Founded in 1869 by primarily darker-skinned Americo-L ...

. The first

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 ...

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 Liber ...

, 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 nearly a century of True Whig Party dominance in Liberian politics. In 1899, the Republican Party disappeared.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

References

{{Authority control Americo-Liberian organizations Defunct political parties in Liberia Political parties established in 1848 Political parties disestablished in 1899