At the close of his fourth administration President Roberts decided to decline reelection.  For eight years he had been at the helm, and had brought the ship of state safely through her first perilous voyages.  And now while the waters seemed smooth and skies serene he thought it best to intrust her guidance to other hands.  The election took place in May, 1855, amidst scenes of political strife and party violence at once intense and short-lived.  It resulted in the choice of Stephen A. Benson for President and Beverly P. Yates for Vice-President.  Both were distinctly the product of Liberian training.  Benson was brought over, at the age of six years, by his parents in 1822, and received his entire education in the country.  He became a successful merchant and entered political life in the wake of Roberts.  As chief magistrate he showed himself a practical and efficient man, with the interests of the country at heart.

One of the leading objects of Benson’s policy was the improvement and elevation of the aborigines; but his designs were in part frustrated by the outbreak of a stubborn and exhausting war with the native tribes dwelling about the Sinou River.  Details must be omitted for want of space; but this war devastated four settlements and sadly depleted the national treasury.  It was soon afterwards that the Maryland colony at Cape Palmas was almost overwhelmed in a similar native uprising, and united with the Republic, as elsewhere narrated.

A widespread scarcity of provisions followed these wars, which gave rise to much apprehension.  But this eventually did good in giving new emphasis to the fact that main reliance must be placed upon agriculture rather than trade.  The great resources of Liberia were shown at a National Fair, held in December, 1858; premiums were awarded for the best specimens of coffee, arrow-root, cotton, rice, ginger, potatoes, oxen, sheep, swine, turkeys, butter, preserves; cloth and socks of African cotton; boots; soap and candles from palm oil; ploughs, hoes and other implements from native iron and home manufacture; farina; chocolate; planks, shingles, cabinet work, and many other products of Liberian agriculture and industry.

President Benson was reelected without opposition, and entered upon his second term in January, 1858.  A fresh outbreak of the slave trade in this year was followed by a number of captures by U.S. cruisers, giving rise to the old difficulty in regard to the disposition of the cargoes.  The Act of March 3, 1819, which had long fallen into disuse, was revived, and a contract made with the Colonization Society to transport and maintain for a twelvemonth the recaptured Africans already on the Government’s hands.  The substitution of small, swift steamers for the craft of older days so increased the efficiency of the navy that captures were made in rapid succession.  Within two months 1,432 Africans were landed at Key West.  This state of affairs made further legislation