Hilary Teague

Hilary Teague (1802 – May 21, 1853), sometimes written as Hilary Teage, was a Liberian merchant, journalist, and politician in the early years of the West African nation of Liberia. A native of the state of Virginia in the United States, he was known for his oratory skills and was prominent in early Liberian colonial politics. A leading advocate for Liberian independence from the American Colonization Society, he drafted the Liberian Declaration of Independence in 1847, serving as both a senator and the first Secretary of State for the new nation in the years that followed.[1]

Hilary Teage
1st Secretary of State of the Republic of Liberia
In office
1848–1850
PresidentJoseph Jenkins Roberts
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJohn N. Lewis
Personal details
Born1802
Virginia, United States
DiedMay 21, 1853
Monrovia, Liberia
ProfessionMerchant, journalist

Early life

Teague was born free in Virginia, United States, in 1805.[2][3][4] His mother was Frances Teage[5] and his father Colin Teague, a former slave who became a Baptist missionary during early efforts to establish the colony of Liberia.[6] The family emigrated to West Africa in 1821.[2]

Hilary Teague also served as a Baptist minister in Monrovia and was a merchant trading in palm oil.[7] In 1835, Teage became the owner and editor of the Liberia Herald in Monrovia, after John Brown Russwurm left to become governor of the Republic of Maryland.[3] As editor, Teage became a dedicated promoter of Liberian independence and combined republicanism, black nationalism, and Christianity to make his case.[8] He remained the newspaper's head until 1849, when he left to devote full attention to politics.[3]

Political career

In 1835, Teague became Colonial Secretary for the Liberian colony. In 1839, he was the clerk of the convention which presented the settlers' views to the American Colonization Society regarding constitutional reform.[3] He was later an instrumental figure at the Constitutional Convention of 1847—representing Montserrado County[9]—in both debating and ratifying the Liberian Constitution of 1847.[3] He also wrote the Liberian Declaration of Independence, which railed against their treatment as slaves and second-class citizens in the United States.[2] Teague became the republic's first Secretary of State after Liberia declared independence in 1847.[10][11] Teage also composed Liberia’s hymn of independence.[3]

He died in Liberia on May 21, 1853, and at the time was the country's attorney general.[12][13]

References
  1. "Calumny refuted by facts from Liberia; with extracts from the inaugural address of the coloured President Roberts; an eloquent speech of Hilary Teage, a coloured senator", 1848
  2. Temperly, Howard (2000). After Slavery: Emancipation And Its Discontents. Routledge. p. 77. ISBN 0-7146-5022-6.
  3. July, Robert William (2004). The Origins of Modern African Thought: Its Development in West Africa During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Africa World Press. p. 93. ISBN 1-59221-199-2.
  4. Burrowes, Carl Patrick (2005). "A Taste of Teage". Sea Breeze. Africa World Press.
  5. "The African Repository". 1865.
  6. Poe, William A. (Mar 1970). "Lott Cary: Man of Purchased Freedom". Church History. Cambridge University Press. 39 (1): 44–61, 52. doi:10.2307/3163213. JSTOR 3163213.
  7. Syfert, Dwight N. (1977). "The Liberian Coasting Trade, 1822–1900". The Journal of African History. Cambridge University Press. 18 (2): 217–235, 225. doi:10.1017/S0021853700015504.
  8. Carl Patrick Burrowes, "Black Christian republicanism: a Southern ideology in early Liberia, 1822 to 1847, The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 86, 2001
  9. 1847 Constitution of Liberia
  10. Starr, Frederick (1913). Liberia: Description, History, Problems. pp. 276. ISBN 1-4446-8008-0. Hilary Teague liberia.
  11. The Challenge of Our National Purpose and Agenda...
  12. Gerard, Albert S. (1986). European-language Writing in Sub-Saharan Africa. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 80. ISBN 963-05-3833-4.
  13. "Recent Deaths" (PDF). The New York Times. August 24, 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
Political offices
New office Secretary of State of Liberia
1848–1850		 Succeeded by
John N. Lewis
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