[2] As an adult, he was appointed by the Liberian government to work to complete the severance of Liberia's ties to the American Colonization Society.

[2] During his first term, he improved government relations with the indigenous communities in Liberia, whom he believed early settlers and leaders had for the most part ignored.

[5] gaining recognition from Denmark and Sweden but struggling to maintain Liberia's economy as both Europe and the United States began to industrialize.

When the financially burdened ACS withdrew its support from the young republic in the years after the American Civil War, conditions had worsened as Liberia struggled to modernize its largely agricultural economy.

The cost of imported goods was far greater than the income generated by the nation's exports of coffee, rice, palm oil, sugarcane, and timber.

Indeed, the Liberian dollar lost more than 70% of its value due to decreasing exports and excessive imports from the industrial nations of the Atlantic.