Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone on the west African coast, was named for the freed slaves who were returned to Africa by British members of the movement to end slavery. Founded in 1787 by a group of 400 black Britons from London, the colony ultimately became a refuge for nearly 100,000 people resettled by the British Anti-Slavery Naval Squadron.
Africans played an overlooked role in ending the transatlantic slave trade. Sierra Leone’s rich history is testament to that. In 1787, the first group of black Britons arrived on the peninsula as part of a project in self-government and with the support of the London-based abolitionist leaders Granville Sharp and Olaudah Equiano. The first settlement faced hardships and lacked support among the Temne, whose land they were renting.
African role in ending slavery As I found in my research, it was African demand that was shaping the success of the colony and its mission to shift the coast’s commerce away from the slave trade. Records held at the Huntington Library in California show that local buyers paid a higher price for the “SLC” mark – a price paid in goods and currency, rather than in enslaved captives.