The
struggle between Krios and the earlier occupants of
the Western Area for control of the Sierra Leone peninsula is well
known and much discussed ( www.natinpasadvantage.com/essays/WHO
OWNS FREETOWN.htm ). Less well known is the battle between the Settlers
and the Sierra Leone Company in the early years, a struggle whose outcome
still lives with us today. Indeed a close reading of the early Colony days
indicates that notwithstanding King Jimmy’s attack on Granville Town, the Colony
was on reasonably friendly terms with Naimbana, the
overall ruler, whereas the contest for land between the Settlers and the
Sierra Leone Company was much more bitter
1787-1789
The Black Poor rule in their land
The
Black Poor were the first group of Settlers to arrive in the new colony. They
came from England
and were a disparate group, without much leadership or survival skills. They
were championed by Granville Sharp, whose dream was to establish an
independent, self-governing, democratic entity on the west coast of Africa. THE BLACK POOR WERE PROMISED THEY WOULD OWN THE
LAND AND WOULD GOVERN THEMSELVES. Indeed Granville Sharp’s great experiment was started. Indeed the land
was purchased for them (apart from money Sharp raised, funds were provided by
the British government, which supported the project at least in part to get
rid of undesirables from Britain), and indeed they operated a self-governing
community for a while (1787-1789), in which they made their own laws and
elected their own leaders. The land was theirs, to do as they pleased.
Unfortunately the great experiment was cut short by a dispute with King
Jimmy, who destroyed the town and scattered the Black Poor.
1791
Falconbridge rescues the Black Poor
Anna
Maria Falconbridge (https://www.natinpasadvantage.com/essays/Two_Voyages_to_Sierra_Leone,_Part_1.htm)
provides us with a fascinating picture of the early days of the colony. A young,
Englishwoman, she made two trips with her husband, in 1791 and 1792, to
rescue and reestablish the fledgling colony, after the original Granville
Town had been destroyed by King Jimmy. Mrs
Falconbridge was privy to the protracted negotiations with King Naimbana (which included paying for the land for a third
time), that led finally to the establishment of Freetown. She witnessed the landing of the
Nova Scotians, the group that were the backbone of
the early city. And she was intimately acquainted with all the hardships,
tensions and disputes of that event filled first year. Her book provides
invaluable insights into what went on in this critical period, as of course
does the doyen of Sierra
Leone history, Christopher Fyfe.
1791:
Freetown
handed over to the Sierra Leone Company
By
the time Granville Sharp’s dream was revived, in 1791, the great man, Sharp,
was running out of money and had to turn to investors for substantial
assistance. Commercial interests took over. The British government declined further
assistance. WHEREAS BEFORE THE LAND WAS OWNED BY THE BLACK POOR, NOW THE LAND
WAS HANDED OVER BY ACT OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT TO A NEW COMPANY, THE SIERRA
LEONE COMPANY, CONTROLLED BY BRITISH INVESTORS (IN PARTICULAR THE BANKER,
THORNTON), LOOKING FOR A PROFIT. These people saw in Africa agricultural
profits to rival those that were being made in the West Indies (where slaves
were planting sugar) and America
(where slaves were planting cotton). Although the company certainly banned
slave labour, it also, equally, was not willing to
give up its newly acquired control of the Sierra Leone peninsula. From the
very beginning the Company factored a cash value for land into its economic
projections (Fyfe, A History of Sierra
Leone, p30 “Land was to be subject to 2s an acre quit-rent for two years,
then to an annual tax. The Company would market goods and produce, taking 10
per cent on sales, 2 1/2 per cent on purchases. These charges,with the profit from land reserved for the
Company to plant or let, and an extensive trade to the interior,
would, it was hoped, yield the shareholders a return for their investment.”)
In addition to the agricultural potential, it was thought the peninsula might
be rich in minerals, and a mineralogist was sent out to do exploratory work.
1792
The Nova Scotians rescue the Colony
Around
the time the British government handed the Sierra Leone peninsula over to
the Company, the Nova Scotians were accepted as the
second set of settlers for the colony. These people had been slaves in America,
had fought on the side of the defeated British government in the American war
of independence, and THEY WERE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION FOR THEIR SERVICES
FROM THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. They had been shunted off to Canada with a promise of freehold
land for them there and had waited in vain for it for several years. When the
Sierra Leone
proposal was put forward,the British government responded with alacrity to an
opportunity to relieve itself of its commitments. The Nova Scotians were promised the long awaited land in Sierra Leone,
which they were assured was a welcoming and
hospitable place. At this point the Colony was failing. The Black Poor had
been dispersed all over the coast and the settlement had been destroyed. The
Sierra Leone Company well understood that they needed a strong group of
settlers to secure their project in Sierra Leone. Without a strong
group on the ground in Sierra
Leone the Company could not hope to hold
on to its possession. The Nova Scotians were in
many respects ideal candidates for settlers. They had been plantation slaves
and thus knew farming. Some were carpenters and they had acquired valuable
building and construction skills in America. They had fought with the
British in the American revolution and knew how to defend themselves. And
they had survived the bitter cold and hardship of exile in Canada. Perhaps just as
important, they were deeply religious and used their faith in the Almighty to
sustain them during trial.
Granville
Sharp, the visionary, John Clarkson, the implementor
The
Nova Scotians in Canada
were offered a minimum of 30 acres of land per family (20 for the husband, 10
for the wife and five for each child) if they agreed to resettle in Sierra Leone.
The British government readily supported the project IN SETTLEMENT OF THEIR
OBLIGATION TO THEIR EX-SERVICEMEN. The offer of land was made by John
Clarkson, who had been hired by the Sierra Leone Company to supervise the
process of transporting the Nova Scotians to Sierra Leone,
and who later became the first substantive governor of the new colony. The
transportation of the 1200 or so Nova Scotians was
fully funded by the British government, and the fleet of vessels arrived in Sierra Leone
in February/March 1792, after an arduous Atlantic crossing in which 67 fell
ill and died. The Nova Scotians arrived to find the
Sierra Leone Company already in control of the land. John Clarkson was
trusted by the Settlers and is generally thought to have been a champion of
their interests. However, by the end of that year, 1792, when he left Sierra Leone on leave to England, the Settlers still had
not been allotted their 30 acres, although he promised them faithfully that
he had made all necessary arrangements for this to be done before his return
from leave. He never did return to Sierra Leone, though – he was
dismissed from his position as governor by the Sierra Leone Company during
his leave.
The
Sierra Leone Company reneges on land promise, triumphs over the Settlers
With
the dismissal of Clarkson and the eclipse of Granville Sharp within the
Sierra Leone Company, the Settlers lost their two champions. The Sierra Leone
Company, with a management structure that stretched from directors in London to a Governor and subordinates in Freetown, reneged on the
promise to give the Settlers 30 acres of land, providing instead much smaller
allotments. Land that had been intended for the benefit of freed slaves to
build an independent, self-sustaining democratic community in West Africa
became the property of a group of investors in Britain. This was the source of
much grievance and bitterness among the Settlers for many years. These people
had been plantation workers in the USA and they well knew the value
of tracts of agricultural land put to productive use. They would have well
understood that they could make a good living planting on 30 acres of land,
but that working on just one or two acres would consign them to subsistence
agriculture.
Ultimately,
Granville Sharp’s dream of a productive, self-sustaining agricultural
community was abandoned completely. Most of the new immigrants were allotted,
and settled on, small town lots that form the basis of central Freetown today. The
Settlers turned their attention to trading and building homes for rent. Freetown became more or
less what it is today – a trading center dependent on customs tariffs on
goods flowing to the hinterland. This dependence affected political decision
making throughout the turmoil of colonization, the declaration of the
Protectorate, and Independence.
The shift, from production to trading, started more than two hundred years
ago, continues in this trader-saturated city to haunt us till this day.