LiberiaData

In 1839, the various ACS settlements were reorganized into the Commonwealth of Liberia. Thomas Buchanan, a white American, was appointed the Commonwealth’s first governor. On his death in 1841, he was succeeded by Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first Black governor of the colony and the man who would go on to become Liberia’s first president (see LiberiaData Executive page for the full list of Liberian presidents).

External Pressures

The Commonwealth period was defined by increasing pressure from two directions. Internally, the settler population was growing in confidence and political sophistication. Externally, British and French colonial expansion in the surrounding region was intensifying, and Liberia’s status as a colony of a private American organization rather than a recognized sovereign state was creating serious practical problems.

The Customs Duty Crisis

The Commonwealth levied customs duties on trade along the coast; an important source of revenue for the colony’s administration. British merchants objected to paying duties to a private organization, and the British government formally advised the colonial authorities that it did not recognize the ACS’s right to levy such duties. This economic pressure transformed the question of independence from an aspiration into a practical necessity.

Sources:
Wikipedia — Colony of Liberia [4];
Britannica [5];
EBSCO Research Starters [9]