The Republican Party, originally named the True Liberian Party until 1857,[2] was a political party founded soon after the founding of Liberia in 1848. It was known to be made up primarily of Americo-Liberians who had mixed African and European ancestry. Its main opponent was the True Whig Party.[3]
The first President of Liberia, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, 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 more than a century of True Whig Party dominance in Liberian politics. In 1899, the Republican Party disappeared.[1]
