|
William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman (November 29, 1895 – July 23, 1971) was a Liberian politician. He was the 19th President of Liberia, serving from his election in 1944 until his death in 1971. Tubman is regarded as the "father of modern Liberia"; his presidency was marked by attracting sufficient foreign investment to modernize the economy and infrastructure. During his tenure, Liberia experienced a period of prosperity. He also led a policy of national unity in order to reduce the social and political differences between his fellow Americo-Liberians and the indigenous Liberians. However, during his tenure, he became increasingly authoritarian in his exercise of power. ==Early life and education== William Tubman was born November 29, 1895, in Harper, Liberia. Tubman's father, the Reverend Alexander Tubman, was a stonemason,〔("William V. S. Tubman." ) Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 03, 2008.〕 general in the Liberian army, and a former Speaker of the Liberian House of Representatives, as well as a Methodist preacher.〔Mongrue, Jesse M. (''Liberia: America's Footprint in Africa: Making the Cultural, Social, and Political Connections.'' ) ISBN 9781462021659. Google Books. Retrieved May 17, 2014.〕 A strict disciplinarian, he required his five children to attend daily family prayer services and sleep on the floor because he thought beds were too soft and "degrading to character development."〔 Tubman's mother, Elizabeth Rebecca (née Barnes) Tubman, was from Atlanta, Georgia.〔 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 Tubman,〔("Emily Harvey Thomas Tubman (March 21, 1794 - June 9, 1885)" ) ''www.therestorationmovement.com.'' Retrieved November 18, 2013.〕 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."〔 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.〔 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.〔("William V.S. Tubman" ), ''Notable Kentucky African Americans Database,'' University of Kentucky Libraries. Retrieved November 18, 2013〕 Tubman, the second son,〔 went to primary school in Harper, followed by the Methodist Cape Palmas Seminary,〔Innis, Bishop John G. ("Evangelism and Mission: Their Impact on United Methodism in Liberia" ), Presented to Twelfth Oxford Institute, Oxford, England, August 17–19, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2013.〕 and Harper County High School.〔 Beginning at age 15 in 1910, he participated in several military operations within the country through 1917, being promoted from private to officer.〔 Planning to become a preacher, at age 19 Tubman was named as a Methodist lay pastor.〔 After studying law under various private tutors, he passed the bar examination and became a lawyer in 1917.〔Quentin, Dominique. "William V.S. Tubman," ''Encyclopédie Universalis'', 1999 Edition.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Tubman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|