African leaders in Sierra Leone played a key role in ending the transatlantic slave trade
FREETOWN, the capital of Sierra Leone on the west African coast, was named for the freed slaves who were returned to Africa by British members of the movement to end slavery. Founded in 1787 by a group of 400 black Britons from London, the colony ultimately became a refuge for nearly 100,000 people resettled by the British Anti-Slavery Naval Squadron. As a historian focusing on the impact of abolitionism, I have studied this history and the founding of modern Sierra Leone. Author BRONWEN EVERILL, Director, Centre for African Studies, University of Cambridge There is a misconception that Britain was the…