Daniel Bashiel Warner served as the 3rd President of Liberia from 1864 to 1868. Prior to this, he served as the 5th Vice President of Liberia under President Stephen Allen Benson

Stephen Allen Benson

Stephen Allen Benson served as the 2nd President of Liberia from 1856 to 1864. Prior to that, he served as the 3rd Vice President of Liberia from 1854 to 1856 under President Joseph Jenkins Roberts....

 from 1860 to 1864, and as the 3rd Secretary of State in the cabinet of Joseph Jenkins Roberts

Joseph Jenkins Roberts

Joseph Jenkins Roberts was the first and seventh President of Liberia. Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, Roberts emigrated to Liberia in 1829 as a young man. He opened a trading store in Monrovia, and later engaged in politics...

 from 1854 to 1856.

Background

Warner, an African-American, was born on Hookstown Road in Baltimore County, Maryland

Baltimore County, Maryland

Baltimore County is a county located in the northern part of the US state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 805,029. It is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Towson. The name of the county was derived from the barony of the Proprietor of the Maryland...

 to a father who was a farmer and ex-slave who acquired his freedom one year before Warner was born.

Warner's date of birth is unclear. Some records show that he was born on April 19, 1815. However, American Colonization Society

American Colonization Society

The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...

 documents list him as age nine when he emigrated to Liberia, with eight relatives, on the ship Oswego in 1823. That would put his birth year as 1814.

A member of the Americo-Liberian

Americo-Liberian

Americo-Liberians are a Liberian ethnicity of African American descent. The sister ethnic group of Americo Liberians are the Sierra Leone Creole people who are of African American, West Indian, and liberated African descent...

 elite, he also served as a member of the Liberian House of Representatives and Liberian Senate

Senate of Liberia

The Senate of Liberia is the upper house of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia, and together with the House of Representatives comprises the Legislature of Liberia...

. In 1877, he became an agent of the American Colonization Society.

He also wrote the lyrics to the Liberian national anthem

All Hail, Liberia, Hail!

"All Hail, Liberia, Hail!" is the national anthem of Liberia, lyrics written by President Daniel Bashiel Warner in English, and music by Olmstead Luca .It became the official national anthem in 1847....

, which the country officially adopted when it got independence from the American Colonization Society in 1847.

Presidency (1864-1868)

Warner's main concern as President was how the indigenous people, particularly the indigenous people in the interior, could be brought into society and become cooperating citizens. He organized the first expedition into the dense forest, led by Benjamin J. K. Anderson. In 1868, Anderson journeyed into Liberia's interior to sign a treaty with the king of Musardo. He took careful notes describing the peoples, the customs, and the natural resources of those areas he passed through, writing a published report of his journey. Using the information from Anderson's report, the Liberian government moved to assert limited control over the inland region.

External links

• History of Liberia, external links