Editing History of Liberia (section)

===Politics===
[[File:Map of Liberian Republic 1856.jpg|thumb|right|Map of Liberia {{circa}}1856]]
Politically, Liberia was dominated by two political parties. The Americo-Liberians had limited the [[Suffrage|franchise]] to prevent indigenous Liberians from voting in elections.{{sfn|Jones|1974|p=316}} The [[Republican Party (Liberia)|Liberian Party]] (later the Republican Party), was supported primarily by mixed-race African Americans from poorer backgrounds, while the [[True Whig Party]] received much of its following from richer blacks.{{sfn|Jones|1974|pp=315-6}} From the first presidential election in 1847, the Liberian Party held political dominance. It used its position of power to attempt to cripple its opposition.{{sfn|Jones|1974|p=316}}

In 1869, however, the Whigs won the presidential election under [[Edward James Roye]]. Although Roye was deposed after two years and the Republicans returned to government, the Whigs regained power in 1878 and maintained power constantly thereafter for over a century.{{sfn|Jones|1974|p=316}}

A series of rebellions among the indigenous Liberian population took place between the 1850s and 1920s. In 1854, a newly independent African-American state in the region, the [[Republic of Maryland]], was forced by an insurgency of the [[Grebo (ethnic group)|Grebo]] and the [[Kru people]] to join Liberia. Liberia's expansion brought the colony into border disputes with the [[French colonial empire|French]] and [[British Empire|British]] in [[French Guinea]] and [[Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate|Sierra Leone]], respectively. The presence and protection of the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] in West Africa until 1916 ensured that Liberia's territorial acquisitions or independence were never under threat.{{sfn|Jones|1974|p=320}}