William Tubman

Tubman family in 1917

William Tubman was born on November 29, 1895, in Harper. Tubman's father, Alexander Tubman, was a stonemason,[2] general in the Liberian army, and a former Speaker of the Liberian House of Representatives, as well as a Methodist preacher.[3] A strict disciplinarian, he required his five children to attend daily family prayer services, and to sleep on the floor because he thought beds were too soft and "degrading to character development".[2] Tubman's mother, Elizabeth Rebecca (née Barnes) Tubman, was from Atlanta, Georgia.[3] Alexander's parents, Sylvia and William Shadrach Tubman, were freedmen, part of a group of 69 freed slaves whose transportation to Liberia in 1844 was paid by their former mistress Emily Harvie Thomas Tubman,[4] a widow and philanthropist in Augusta, Georgia.

Emily Tubman was instrumental in the manumission of enslaved African Americans and paying for their transportation to Liberia for "repatriation".[4] Initially, she had great difficulty freeing her slaves in ante-bellum Georgia. Despite appeals to the Georgia State Legislature and financial donations to the University of Georgia, her efforts to manumit numerous slaves were disapproved. Since the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion in 1831, the state legislature had greatly restricted manumissions, requiring a legislative act for each, and posting of expensive bonds by the owner to guarantee the free black would leave the state within a short period of time.

Tubman sought the help of her friend and mentor, Henry Clay of Kentucky, president of the American Colonization Society. This organization, made up of both abolitionists and slaveholders, had proposed colonization in Africa as a solution for freedmen, rather than allowing them to remain in the United States. Their presence was considered to unsettle slaves in the South, and in both the North and South, lower-class whites resented competing with them for jobs. Clay assured her that sending her former slaves to Liberia would be a safe and suitable option.[4] After arriving in Liberia, this group of freedmen took "Tubman" as their surname and settled together. They named their community Tubman Hill after their benefactress.[5]

William Tubman, the second son,[2] went to primary school in Harper, followed by the Methodist Cape Palmas Seminary,[6] and Harper County High School.[3] Beginning in 1910, when he was 15, he participated in several military operations within the country through 1917, being promoted from private to officer.[3]

Planning to become a preacher, at age 19 Tubman was named as a Methodist lay preacher.[2] After studying law under various private tutors, he passed the bar examination and became a lawyer in 1917.[7]

Tubman was soon appointed as a recorder in the Maryland County Monthly and Probate Court[3] a tax collector, teacher, and as colonel in a militia.[7]

He was a Freemason and belonged to lodges of Prince Hall Freemasonry.

Having joined the True Whig Party (TWP), the dominant party of Liberia since 1878, Tubman began his career in politics. In 1923, aged 28, he was elected to the Senate of Liberia from Maryland County,[3] holding the record as the youngest senator in the history of Liberia.[8] Identifying as the "Convivial Cannibal from the Downcoast Hinterlands," he fought for constitutional rights for the members of indigenous tribal groups, who comprised the overwhelming number of Liberians.[2]

Re-elected as senator in 1929, Tubman became the legal adviser to vice president Allen Yancy.[7] He resigned from the Senate in 1931 to defend Liberia before the League of Nations amid allegations that his country was using slave labor.[9] Tubman was reelected to the national legislature in 1934;[7] he resigned in 1937 after being appointed by President Edwin Barclay as associate justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia,[3] where he served until 1943.[7] An official biography speculates that Barclay appointed Tubman to the Liberian Supreme Court to remove him as a competitor for the presidency.

In December 1942, Liberia had to elect a successor to President Edwin Barclay. Six candidates ran for office; the two favorites were Tubman and Foreign Minister Clarence L. Simpson.[10] Tubman was elected president on May 4, 1943, at the age of 48, and was inaugurated January 3, 1944.[11]

While the United States, its ally, began to base military operations in the country after it entered World War II, Liberia did not declare war on Germany and Japan until January 27, 1944.[12] In April 1944, Liberia signed the Declaration by United Nations.

Choosing to sever diplomatic relations with Germany and expel German citizens from Liberia was a difficult decision for Tubman for economic and social reasons: (1) German merchants were integral to the Liberian economy; (2) Germany was Liberia's major trading partner; and (3), most of the doctors in Liberia were Germans. Under the above declaration, Tubman agreed to expel all German residents and oppose the Axis powers.

Economic development

William Tubman and JFK at the White House in 1961

When Tubman was appointed to the Supreme Court in the 1930s, Liberia was seriously underdeveloped, lacking basic infrastructure of roads, railways, and sanitation systems.[22] Tubman said that Liberia had never received the "benefits of colonization", by which he meant the investment by a wealthy major power to develop the infrastructure of the country.[23] He established an economic policy, known as the "porte ouverte" ("open door"), to attract foreign investment.[8] Working to facilitate and encourage foreign businesses to locate in Liberia, he encouraged development. Between 1944 and 1970, the value of foreign investments, mainly from the United States,[22] increased by 200%.[8] From 1950 to 1960, Liberia experienced an average annual growth of 11.5%.[8]

With the expansion of the economy, Tubman gained revenues for the government to construct and modernize infrastructure: the streets of Monrovia were paved, a public sanitation system was installed,[23] hospitals were built,[7] and a literacy program was launched in 1948.[24][25] During Tubman's administration, several thousand kilometers of roads were built, as was a railway line to connect the iron mines to the coast for transport of this commodity for export.[22] During this period, he transformed the Port of Monrovia into a free port to encourage trade.[22]

By early 1960, Liberia began to enjoy its first era of prosperity, thanks in part to Tubman's policies and implementation of development.[8] It was during this time that Tubman became regarded as a pro-Western, stabilizing influence in West Africa, at a period when other countries were achieving independence—often amid violence. During the 1960s, Tubman was courted by many Western politicians, notably U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

In the past, the bulk of Liberia’s production depended on rubber. But with the modernization of the state’s infrastructure at the hands of Tubman, Liberia started to use its other national resources. Several Americo-Liberian nationalities, German, and Swedish companies became involved in the exploitation of iron mines—making Liberia the first source of iron in Africa, and the fourth worldwide. Tubman wanted to diversify the economy, rather than basing it on rubber and iron resources, which made up 90% of the country’s exports. He encouraged the development of coffee plantations, palm oil, sugar cane, and especially rice cultivation in 1966 (with the help of Taiwan).

In his personal life, Tubman courted Amy Ashwood Garvey, and had a long-term relationship with her.[26]

Tubman is best known for his policies of National Unification and the economic Open Door. He tried to reconcile the interests of the native tribes with those of the Americo-Liberian elite, and increased foreign investment in Liberia to stimulate economic growth.

During the 1950s, Liberia had the second-highest rate of economic growth in the world. By the time of his death in 1971, Liberia had the largest mercantile fleet in the world, the world's largest rubber industry, was the third-largest exporter of iron ore in the world, and had attracted more than US$1 billion in foreign investment.

Tubman died at a clinic in London, following post-operative complications from prostate gland surgery at the age of 75.[27] He was succeeded by his long-time vice president, William Tolbert. Political dissent increased following Tubman's autocratic rule, and new groups wanted a share of the nation's success. The dominance of the True Whig Party was overthrown in 1980 by the People's Redemption Council, a group of soldiers led by Samuel Doe. The ensuing civil wars and violence destroyed the economic prosperity of Liberia's golden age.

• History of Liberia
• Americo-Liberians
• President of Liberia
• William Tolbert
• Tubmanburg

• William V.S. Tubman University
• William V.S. Tubman Photograph Collection, Indiana University Libraries