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Edward James Roye (February 3, 1815—February 11, 1872) served as the fifth President of Liberia from 1870 to his overthrow and subsequent violent death in 1871. He is the first member of the True Whig Party to have served as President.
[edit] Early LifeRoye was born into a prosperous African American family in Newark, Ohio. Roye was a pure descendant of the Igbo people.[1][2] His father, John Roye, managed a ferry across the Wabash River at Terre Haute, Indiana and, through conservative management of his resources, acquired considerable land in Terre Haute as well as Vandalia in the neighboring state of Illinois. As a result of the family's financial standing, young Edward was able to attend the then-30-year-old (founded 1804) Ohio University in the other neighboring state's town of Athens. In 1836, upon the premature death of his father, Edward relocated to Terre Haute where he established the community's largest barber shop, boasting a 79-foot (24 m) high barber pole, "the tallest in western Indiana". In 1846, attracted by the American Colonization Society, Roye immigrated to Liberia and set up business as a merchant. Within three years of his arrival, he became active in Liberian politics. Before being elected president he served as Speaker of the Liberian House of Representatives and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia. [edit] Presidency (1870-71)Edward J. Roye was inaugurated as President of Liberia on January 3, 1870. The decades after 1868, escalating economic difficulties weakened the state's dominance over the coastal indigenous population. Conditions worsened, the cost of imports was far greater than the income generated by exports of coffee, rice, palm oil, sugarcane, and timber. Liberia tried desperately to modernize its largely agricultural economy. [edit] Financial problemsAs Roye took office, the country was in the midst of political instability exacerbated by a fiscal crisis. Roye began a program of reconstruction for his nation intending to build new roads and schools. In order to raise the funds for these projects, Roye sailed for England where he began negotiations with London banks. The results proved ruinous. The terms of the loans were severe; among other things, the interest rate on the loan was 7 percent. Roye hastily agreed to the loans without consulting the legislature. Liberia actually received about $90,000, while bonds were issued for $400,000. Because of increasing world competition from Brazilian coffee, European sugar beets, and steamers, Liberia was unable to generate sufficient export revenue, and defaulted on the loan negotiated by Roye. Recession forced Liberia into a series of ever larger loans. The decline of Liberia's exports and its inability to pay its debts resulted in a large measure of foreign interference. [edit] ImpeachmentThe whole affair caused great resentment against Roye and when he returned home from England, he was accused of embezzlement. He then tried to extend his two-year term of president by edict after the people rose up against him. On October 26, 1871, after less than 22 months in office, Edward J. Roye was deposed from office. He was brought to trial, but escaped in the night. [edit] DeathNo specific historical record is available detailing the date and circumstances of his death, although varying accounts indicate that he was brutally killed on February 11 or February 12, 1872. Another account suggests that he drowned while trying to reach a British ship in Monrovia harbor, on Feb. 12, 1872. A portrait of President Roye in the gallery of the Presidential Mansion in Monrovia gives the date of his death as February 11.[1] [edit] See also[edit] Further reading[edit] External links
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