XXᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Sierra Leone
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Sierra Leone’s decolonisation unfolded through constitutional reform, competing claims between the Freetown Colony and the Protectorate, nationalist party formation, and negotiated independence in 1961. Political authority gradually shifted toward Protectorate-based leadership, while Creole influence remained important in public services and the professions. The period was marked by labour unrest, opposition to chiefly malpractice, diamond smuggling, and unresolved territorial and social divisions.
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In 1951, Sierra Leone still possessed a Legislative Council dominated by British officials, despite the highly educated population produced by Freetown schools and Fourah Bay College. The central political problem was the division between the Creoles of Freetown and the Colony, descended from liberated or repatriated Africans, and the peoples of the Protectorate. Mende communities predominated in the south and Temne communities in the north and west, while the two territories possessed sharply unequal political representation.
The constitutional settlement of 1951 introduced an elected Legislative Council in which most members were expected to come from the Protectorate, as well as an Executive Council with a majority of unofficial members who would become ministers. Creole resistance to increased Protectorate representation was reinforced by fears that chiefly representatives lacked the education required for legislation. Yet Protectorate leaders prepared for the election, and Sierra Leonean politics increasingly became centred on the Protectorate rather than on Freetown alone.
I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson had established the West African Youth League in 1938, Sierra Leone’s first nationalist group, although it was suppressed during the war. By 1951 he stood alongside Dr Bankole-Bright in the National Council of the Colony. The decisive political figure, however, was Dr Milton Margai, a Mende physician born in 1896 and the first Protectorate person to obtain a degree at Fourah Bay College and to become a physician. His Protectorate Educational Progressive Union gave rise to the Sierra Leone People’s Party, whose platform, “One Country, One People,” deliberately included Creoles among its officers.
Margai built authority by working through chiefs, conciliating Creoles, and appealing across tribal groups. Following an easy electoral victory, he became Leader of Government Business in the new Executive Council, alongside figures such as Albert Margai and Siaka Stevens. His government secured independence in 1961, but the appearance of stability concealed serious pressures: diamond smuggling, corruption, violent strikes in Freetown in 1955, and a northern uprising in 1956 against abuses by chiefs. Stevens entered opposition after the independence agreement and was detained with followers at independence.
XXᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Sierra Leone
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Sierra Leone’s decolonisation unfolded through constitutional reform, competing claims between the Freetown Colony and the Protectorate, nationalist party formation, and negotiated independence in 1961. Political authority gradually shifted toward Protectorate-based leadership, while Creole influence remained important in public services and the professions. The period was marked by labour unrest, opposition to chiefly malpractice, diamond smuggling, and unresolved territorial and social divisions.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
In 1951, Sierra Leone still possessed a Legislative Council dominated by British officials, despite the highly educated population produced by Freetown schools and Fourah Bay College. The central political problem was the division between the Creoles of Freetown and the Colony, descended from liberated or repatriated Africans, and the peoples of the Protectorate. Mende communities predominated in the south and Temne communities in the north and west, while the two territories possessed sharply unequal political representation.
The constitutional settlement of 1951 introduced an elected Legislative Council in which most members were expected to come from the Protectorate, as well as an Executive Council with a majority of unofficial members who would become ministers. Creole resistance to increased Protectorate representation was reinforced by fears that chiefly representatives lacked the education required for legislation. Yet Protectorate leaders prepared for the election, and Sierra Leonean politics increasingly became centred on the Protectorate rather than on Freetown alone.
I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson had established the West African Youth League in 1938, Sierra Leone’s first nationalist group, although it was suppressed during the war. By 1951 he stood alongside Dr Bankole-Bright in the National Council of the Colony. The decisive political figure, however, was Dr Milton Margai, a Mende physician born in 1896 and the first Protectorate person to obtain a degree at Fourah Bay College and to become a physician. His Protectorate Educational Progressive Union gave rise to the Sierra Leone People’s Party, whose platform, “One Country, One People,” deliberately included Creoles among its officers.
Margai built authority by working through chiefs, conciliating Creoles, and appealing across tribal groups. Following an easy electoral victory, he became Leader of Government Business in the new Executive Council, alongside figures such as Albert Margai and Siaka Stevens. His government secured independence in 1961, but the appearance of stability concealed serious pressures: diamond smuggling, corruption, violent strikes in Freetown in 1955, and a northern uprising in 1956 against abuses by chiefs. Stevens entered opposition after the independence agreement and was detained with followers at independence.