Free Black Settler & Early Colonial Sites of Freetown, Sierra Leone This tour takes you through the early years of free black settlement and early colonial rule of Freetown and the sites where history was made. In 1792, several thousand new immigrants from the freed communities in Nova Scotia established the current capital of Sierra Leone, … By 1792, former American slaves who had been living in Nova Scotia, Canada grew weary of their surroundings and headed to Africa, building Freetown where Granville Town … The area is named for Emmanuel Kline, a Hausa Liberated African who bought substantial property in the area. Cline Town is an area in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The first group of colonists to establish a colony in Sierra Leone were the Black Poor (also known as the “Old Settlers”) of Granville Town. These re-captives eventually blended into the community, created by the first three waves of freed slave settlers. From that point virtually all of the new settlers were “re-captives,” slaves rescued from slave ships and emancipated by the Royal Navy. In 1790 Granville Town was razed to the ground by indigenous people in retaliation for the burning of a native settlement. When these provisions were gone, the settlers of Granville Town - as their little … All asserted a British identity. Sharp also wrote a constitution based on the British legal tradition and on a framework of Christian principles. Freetown is the capital, principal port, commercial center, and largest city of Sierra Leone. By the 1830s Sierra Leone became an important site of missionary activity and education. See more ideas about sierra leone, postage stamps, postage. … Their colony was known as the "Province of Freedom" and their settlement was called "Granville Town"' after … They arrived in February 1791 and built a settlement on the original Granville Town site and named the new settlement Freetown. Media/News Company. Many of the Nova Scotian migrants were carpenters. Granville Sharpwas featured on the 50p postal stamp of the Royal Mail during the commemoration of the 200thanniversary of the abolition of slave trade in 2007. [1] Granville Town (named for its benefactor and patron Granville Sharp) was established as the first town of the Province of Freedom before it was destroyed in 1789. The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) which broke out in Sierra Leone in 2014 is the most overwhelming disaster the country has faced in its post-conflict era. These settlers built a new Granville Town in a different area. However, enough survived to establish and build a colony. Their colony was known as the "Province of Freedom" … The Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor closed its books. On August 24, 1792, the Black Poor or Old Settlers of the second Granville Town were incorporated into the new Sierra Leone Colony but remained at Granville Town. Sierra Leone has the unique history of being the only former British colony in Africa that was actually founded in tune with the British settling emancipated Blacks in the UK and the nascent United States. Cline Town is an area in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Seventy white women accompanied the men to Sierra Leone, they were most likely wives and girlfriends of the Black settlers. [1] Although the Nova Scotians established Freetown in 1792, the Jamaican Maroons were settled in Granville Town in 1800 following their arrival from Nova Scotia. Kenneth Morgan, “Sierra Leone: Origins, 1787-1808,” Richard Fanthrope, That settlement was named Granville Town after Granville Sharp. Page Transparency See More. Eventually 411 African Americans, West Indians, and Black Britons … The link to Britain was through one man, Granville Sharp. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African Americans and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Alma Stephenson Dever Page on Afro-britons, With Pride: Uplifting LGBTQ History On Blackpast, Preserving Martin Luther King County’s African American History, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, African American Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals. All donations are tax deductible. Sierra Leone, history, rulers, politics World Statesmen.org HOME > ... (Granville Town 1787-1789, 1791-1792) Currency: Leone (SLL); 1913-1966 British West African Pound (XWAP) National ... Granville Town … Eventually 411 African Americans, West Indians, and … [2], This settlement differed from the Freetown Colony that was established on 11 March 1792 by the Nova Scotian Settlers. The immigrants arrived in Sierra Leone in May 1787 and established ‘Granville Town’. Freetown … The colony lasted until December 1789 as disease and hostility between the colonists and indigenous people left only 64 … Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone and a major port on the Atlantic Ocean is located in the western part of this West African country located at Latitude 8.30 N and Longitude 11.30 W. Do you find this information helpful? The first settlers faced both environmental and political problems. Some British wives also were part of the settlement. [1], Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cline_Town&oldid=995866985, 1787 establishments in the British Empire, Sierra Leone articles missing geocoordinate data, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 December 2020, at 08:35. It was not a colony, but a free and self-governing settlement which was to rise at Sierra Leone, and appropriately it was named Granville Town … Freetown, the colonial capital, was known as “Athens of West Africa.”  Also by that period, commerce replaced agriculture as the principal source of revenue in the colony. An Evangelical served as the advocate for the Nova Scotian Blacks and over one thousand chose to move to the settlement in Sierra Leone. On 14 May 1787, the Province of Freedom was founded by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor for freed slaves. Granville Town, as Cline Town was known at the time, was established in 1787 by the London-based Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor. They formed a unique Krio culture and language with Christianity as its base. Oct 21, 2016 - Explore La Dolca Vita's board "Postage Stamps - Sierra Leone", followed by 694 people on Pinterest. However, by 1800, the settlement had been largely abandoned following attacks by Temne tribesmen of the Koya Empire, and the Maroons were soon after moved to the Freetown settlement where they formed a district that would be known later as Maroon Town. It survived being … “Sierra Leone: Development of the Colony, Nineteenth Century,” Michael Encyclopedia of African History, ed. ... Cline Town was initially called Granville Town … Sierra Leone became a crown (British) colony in 1808. It survived being pillaged by the French in … This is a list of colonial administrators in Sierra Leone from the establishment of the Province of Freedom Colony by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor which lasted between 1787 and 1789 and the list of colonial administrators of the Colony of Sierra Leone and the settlement of Freetown established by the Sierra Leone Company in March 1792 until Sierra Leone… The company came about because of the work of the ardent abolitionists, Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, Henry Thornton, and Thomas's brother, John Clarkson, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Sierra Leone. In 1767, Granville Town was founded in Sierra Leone and it became the world’s first settlement for freed slaves in Africa and in the world. https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/founding-sierra-leone Many of the Nova Scotian migrants were carpenters. The neighborhood is in the vicinity of Granville Town, a settlement established in 1787 and re-established in 1789 prior to the founding of the Freetown settlement on 11 March 1792. Between 1980 and 2010 epidemics were the deadliest hazards in Sierra Leone. Jusu, “Sierra Leone: Protectorate: Administration and Government,” in Kevin Shillington (New York: The Sierra Leone Company was the corporate body involved in founding the second British colony in Africa on 11 March 1792 through the resettlement of Black Loyalists who had initially been settled in Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War. The Sierra Leone Company control of food, seeds and other vital supplies and its decision to charge one shilling per acre for land caused the Nova Scotian settlers to rise up in rebellion in 1800. Fitzroy Dearborn, 2005). On August 24, 1792, the Black Poor or Old Settlers of the second Granville Town were incorporated into the new Sierra Leone Colony but remained at Granville Town. The first group of colonists to establish a colony in Sierra Leone were the Black Poor (also known as the “Old Settlers”) of Granville Town. They arrived in February 1791 and built a settlement on the original Granville Town site and named the new settlement Freetown. On August 24, 1792, the Black Poor or Old Settlers of the second Granville Town were incorporated into the new Sierra Leone Colony but remained at Granville Town. The "Land of Freedom", as Sierra Leone was to be called, also happened to be the province of slavery. Although this rebellion was eventually put down by British naval forces, the company agreed to limit settlement to the blacks already in the colony. Granville Sharp was named after towns like Granville Town in Sierra Leone and the free village of Granville in Jamaica. Sierra Leone became a base for the navy’s operation and the number of re-captives soon outstripped the number of original freed slave settlers. Internal settler issues and conflicts also undermined the colony’s stability. A small donation would help us keep this accessible to all. Granville was named after Granville Sharp, a … Seventy white women accompanied the men to Sierra Leone; they were likely wives and girlfriends. They arranged for the transport of London's so-called Black Poor to Sierra Leone where they were amongst its original settlers. Eventually 411 … In 1767, Granville Town was founded in Sierra Leone and it became the world’s first settlement for freed slaves in Africa and in the world. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone! Some were formerly West Indian enslaved Africans. The Sierra Leone … Some Creole families such as the Clarkes and Reeds (Reids) may be descendants of the Old Settlers. The neighborhood is in the vicinity of Granville Town, a settlement established in 1787 and re-established in 1789 prior to the founding of the Freetown settlement on 11 March 1792. They arrived in February 1791 and built a settlement on the original … Facebook is showing information to help you better … More than 14,000 Sierra Leoneans were infected, of whom nearly 4,000 died. … Sierra Leone’s founding dates back to 1787 when several waves of freed black settlers originating from England, Nova Scotia, and Jamaica all arrived in the area. A memorial of has been erected in the Westminster Abbey in his honor. “The Black Poor and the Founding of Granville Town” The first group of colonists to establish a colony in Sierra Leone were the Black Poor (also known as the “Old Settlers”) of Granville Town. Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone … The town was rebuilt in 1791 with the assistance of Alexander Falconbridge, a former surgeon on a slave ship. BlackPast.org is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Utilizing some English government funding, The Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, an abolitionist group which included Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, and Granville Sharp, established the colony with the settlement of 411 London blacks on the Sierra Leone peninsula in what is now modern-day Freetown in May of 1787. Originally called Granville Town, it settled in 1787 by formerly enslaved black Britons sent from London through the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor. The Sierra Leone Company surveyors and the Settlers built Freetown on the American grid pattern, with parallel streets and wide roads, with the largest being Water Street. Two further waves of settlers came in 1792 and 1800 this included 1,200 blacks from Nova Scotia, and 550 Maroons who had been exiled from Jamaica following the 1795 Maroon War. The city was founded by British Naval Lieutenant John Clarkson and freed American slaves from Nova Scotia. 1933 Scott 154 1p brown & black "Slave Throwing Off Shackles" (Cline Town, now part of Freetown, was formerly known as Granville Town) Quick History Sierra Leone ("Lioness Mountains"- … Though Granville Town was rebuilt by St. George’s Bay Company (later re-named Sierra Leone Company), it was again attacked by the French navy in 1794. The area is named for Emmanuel Kline, a Hausa Liberated African who bought substantial property in the area. Many of these Black Poor were Black Loyalists who had decided or were forced to leave the United States after the American War of Independence; some came via several years in Nova Scotia, another British North American colony and so are known as Black Nova Scotians. New conflicts with indigenous people over disputed land clams prompted attacks on the colony by the Koya Temne between 1801 and 1807. Diseases and food crop scarcity along with conflicts with indigenous local African communities whose land they had settled on made survival difficult.