Maroon Town, Sierra Leone

Maroon Town, Sierra Leone, is a district in the settlement of Freetown, a colony founded in West Africa by Great Britain.

History

Following their defeat in the American Revolutionary War, the British had resettled African Americans in the British colony of Nova Scotia (now a province of Canada).[1][2] However, many did not like the colder climate and poor treatment they received,[3] so in 1792, 1192,[4] about 1200[5] or 1800[1] of them emigrated to Sierra Leone. This move was welcomed by the Sierra Leone Company, which wanted to reestablish a colony, but lacked colonists.[5][6] Once there, the Nova Scotian Settlers (as they came to be called) and Sierra Leone Company surveyors founded Freetown.[6]

A second group, the Jamaican Maroons, originally numbering just under 600 men, women and children who had surrendered following the Second Maroon War in Jamaica, were transported to Nova Scotia in 1796.[3] In 1800, unhappy with their new home, 550 Maroons emigrated to Freetown.[1] The Nova Scotian Settlers had sought to obtain better treatment and more power, clashing constantly with the colonial governors and the Sierra Leone Company since first setting foot in the colony in 1792, but the timely arrival of the "battle-tested" Maroons and a detachment of 45 soldiers and two officers aboard the ship Asia enabled the authorities to put down a rebellion by some of the Nova Scotian Settlers and win the power struggle.[5][6][7][8] Three rebels were tried and executed,[8] and the other 33[8] or 34[6] prisoners were banished. The Maroons were granted land west of Settler Town, between Walpole Street and King Tom, which became known as Maroon Town.[7]

In 1822, uncomfortable worshipping in Nova Scotian chapels, the Maroons built the Methodist St. John's Maroon Church, in the centre of Maroon Town.[7]

By the 1830s, the Maroons had integrated into Freetown society[7] and become a part of the Sierra Leone Creole people.[9]

See also

References
  • Back to Africa: George Ross and the Maroons: From Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone, by Mavis Christine Campbell
  1. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 1887. p. 301.
  2. "Jamaica-Sierra Leone ties strong". The Gleaner. 29 October 2014.
  3. "African Nova Scotians". Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management.
  4. Clarkson's mission to America 1791-1792, edited by Charles Bruce Fergusson, Public Archives of Nova Scotia (1971) p. 28
  5. Land, Isaac; Schocket, Andrew M. (2008). "New Approaches to the Founding of the Sierra Leone Colony, 1786–1808". Bowling Green University History Faculty Publications.
  6. Taylor, Bankole Kamara (February 2014). Sierra Leone: The Land, Its People and History. New Africa Pres. pp. 69–71. ISBN 9789987160389.
  7. "St. John's Maron (sic) Church". Monuments and Relics Commission. Archived from the original on 2017-02-16.
  8. The Church of England Mission in Sierra Leone; Including an Introductory Account of that Colony, and a Comprehensive Sketch of the Niger Expedition in 1841. 1847. pp. xxvi–xxvii.
  9. Daniel Flynn (9 September 2007). "Krio heritage rich but crumbling in Sierra Leone". Reuters.

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