The political party was founded in the township of Clay-Ashland in 1869 as a reorganised version of the Opposition Party. It presided over a society in which black American settlers and their descendants, known as Americo-Liberians, though a small minority of the population, constituted nearly 100% of the citizens able to vote. It primarily represented them, often working in tandem with the Masonic Order of Liberia. The party first came to power after Edward James Roye won the 1869 Liberian general election and was sworn in as president the following year. The TWP's historic opponent was the Republican Party. The Republican Party had tended to be supported by Americo-Liberians of mixed African and European ancestry while darker skinned Americo-Liberians initially rallied around the TWP, however as the Republican Party began to decline in influence most Americo-Liberians transferred their support to the TWP.