18th century
Sierra Leone and England
The Sierra Leone repatriation experiment was an 1787 attempt to resettle liberated Africans from England in Africa. More than 400 people were sent to Sierra Leone to establish a society based on free labor, Christianity, and a Western-style economy, with the wider aim of supporting the abolition of slavery. The initiative became an early model for later projects of African repatriation.
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The Story
In late eighteenth-century London, abolitionists proposed resettling liberated Africans in Africa. Their goal was to establish a society organized around free labor, Christian religion, and a Western-style economy. The project also carried an emancipatory ambition: its supporters hoped that such a settlement would contribute to the wider abolition of slavery.
In 1787, more than 400 liberated Africans were sent from England and settled in Sierra Leone. The initiative is described as the first attempt to repatriate former African slaves to Africa. It joined the practical movement of people with a larger argument about whether African freedom could be secured through a community rooted in Africa.
The Sierra Leone experiment inspired later efforts by Africans themselves. In the United States, Paul Cuffee organized a self-financed initiative to reunite people who wished to return to Africa. His efforts resulted in the repatriation of 38 black people in 1814, showing how the 1787 settlement became a reference point for subsequent Atlantic projects of return.
18th century
Sierra Leone and England
The Sierra Leone repatriation experiment was an 1787 attempt to resettle liberated Africans from England in Africa. More than 400 people were sent to Sierra Leone to establish a society based on free labor, Christianity, and a Western-style economy, with the wider aim of supporting the abolition of slavery. The initiative became an early model for later projects of African repatriation.
Continue exploring
The Story
In late eighteenth-century London, abolitionists proposed resettling liberated Africans in Africa. Their goal was to establish a society organized around free labor, Christian religion, and a Western-style economy. The project also carried an emancipatory ambition: its supporters hoped that such a settlement would contribute to the wider abolition of slavery.
In 1787, more than 400 liberated Africans were sent from England and settled in Sierra Leone. The initiative is described as the first attempt to repatriate former African slaves to Africa. It joined the practical movement of people with a larger argument about whether African freedom could be secured through a community rooted in Africa.
The Sierra Leone experiment inspired later efforts by Africans themselves. In the United States, Paul Cuffee organized a self-financed initiative to reunite people who wished to return to Africa. His efforts resulted in the repatriation of 38 black people in 1814, showing how the 1787 settlement became a reference point for subsequent Atlantic projects of return.
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