XIXᵉ siècle
Sierra Leone Protectorate
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Hut Tax Rebellion was a 1898 uprising of Temne and Mende communities against the consolidation of British rule in Sierra Leone. Its immediate causes included taxation, land legislation, administrative expansion and colonial intervention in local authority. Under Bai Bureh and other Temne chiefs, rebel forces attacked trading stations and colonial personnel, reached the vicinity of Freetown, and involved much of the Protectorate.
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Le récit
The rebellion arose as Britain consolidated its rule over the Sierra Leone Protectorate. District commissioners and frontier police expanded, the slave trade and slavery were abolished, the government claimed powers over waste land, and the Protectorate Ordinance of 1896 altered the political and legal environment. The immediate financial burden was a hut tax of five shillings on two-roomed houses and ten shillings on larger houses.
Temne chiefs unanimously decided not to pay the tax and rose in rebellion under Bai Bureh. Mende communities joined them, bringing almost three-quarters of the Protectorate into the conflict. Rebel forces attacked and looted trading stations, killed British officials and troops, and targeted people suspected of assisting the colonial government.
By May 1898, rebel armies had advanced to within approximately 40 kilometers of Freetown. Two companies of troops were brought from Lagos to defend the town. The scale of the uprising demonstrated that taxation was connected to broader grievances over land, administration, coercion and the loss of political autonomy.
The governor interpreted the revolt as evidence of growing African political consciousness and an increasing sense of worth and autonomy. The rebellion therefore belonged to a wider pattern of West African resistance in which communities challenged colonial authority, economic exploitation and the assumption that African societies would accept imposed rule without protest.
XIXᵉ siècle
Sierra Leone Protectorate
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Hut Tax Rebellion was a 1898 uprising of Temne and Mende communities against the consolidation of British rule in Sierra Leone. Its immediate causes included taxation, land legislation, administrative expansion and colonial intervention in local authority. Under Bai Bureh and other Temne chiefs, rebel forces attacked trading stations and colonial personnel, reached the vicinity of Freetown, and involved much of the Protectorate.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The rebellion arose as Britain consolidated its rule over the Sierra Leone Protectorate. District commissioners and frontier police expanded, the slave trade and slavery were abolished, the government claimed powers over waste land, and the Protectorate Ordinance of 1896 altered the political and legal environment. The immediate financial burden was a hut tax of five shillings on two-roomed houses and ten shillings on larger houses.
Temne chiefs unanimously decided not to pay the tax and rose in rebellion under Bai Bureh. Mende communities joined them, bringing almost three-quarters of the Protectorate into the conflict. Rebel forces attacked and looted trading stations, killed British officials and troops, and targeted people suspected of assisting the colonial government.
By May 1898, rebel armies had advanced to within approximately 40 kilometers of Freetown. Two companies of troops were brought from Lagos to defend the town. The scale of the uprising demonstrated that taxation was connected to broader grievances over land, administration, coercion and the loss of political autonomy.
The governor interpreted the revolt as evidence of growing African political consciousness and an increasing sense of worth and autonomy. The rebellion therefore belonged to a wider pattern of West African resistance in which communities challenged colonial authority, economic exploitation and the assumption that African societies would accept imposed rule without protest.