Sierra Leone is one of only two countries that were founded as a home for freed slaves brought back to the African continent after the abolition of slavery. Sixty-three years ago today, it lifted the final yoke - by attaining independence from Britain.
Obviously, the country’s history didn’t begin with colonialism. The area that is modern-day Sierra Leone has been inhabited continuously for millennia by indigenous Africans. But one key event in its history is hardly ever talked about.
At the tail-end of the 18th century, a group of African-Americans who had once been enslaved in the USA were at a crossroads. They had been promised freedom by the British in exchange for fighting on their side during the American war of independence, and were later settled in Nova Scotia, Canada. However, they still faced racial discrimination there - and many yearned to return to their ancestral homeland in Africa.
Starting in 1787, a number of ex-slaves - including about 300 Black Britons known as the Black Poor of London - were resettled in Sierra Leone. Over time, their numbers were swelled by the arrival of Jamaican Maroons, who had first been transported to Nova Scotia before being taken to Sierra Leone in 1800.
The histories of Sierra Leone and Liberia are similar. Neither started as a native state, nor as a European colony. But Sierra Leone stands out because the locals were not colonised by the freed slaves who docked at their shores.
Happy Independence Day to all Sierra Leoneans!
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