History of Sierra Leone
| Timeline of riot and resistance in the high colonial period |
|---|
|
1884, Mechanics Alliance trade union is formed. 1885, Carpenters Defensive Union (trade union) formed. 1893, army barracks workers strike in Freetown; other workers stage sympathy strike. Governor Fleming swears-in 200 special constables to suppress it. 1919. Strike and riot. Railway and Public Works department strikes, in part "on account of the nonpayment of War Bonus gratuities to African workers, although these had been paid to other government employees, especially European personnel." Major riots occur in Freetown. The Creole intelligentsia remain neutral. 1920, Sierra Leone Railway Skilled Workmen Mutual Aid Union formed. 1923–1924. Moyamba riot. 1925. The 1920 union is renamed the Railway Workers' Union. 1926. Strike and riot. Railway Workers' Union strikes January 13 to February 26. Rioting erupts in Freetown. Creole intelligentsia supports the strikers. According to Wyse this is the first time workers and intelligentsia acted in harmony. The strike was viewed as a threat to stability by the government, and suppressed by troops and police. 1930. Kambia riot. 1930–1931. Haidara Kontorfilli rebellion, named after its charismatic Muslim leader. Wyse gives the causes as "heavy handedness of chiefly rule and the deteriorating social and economic conditions, as well as the erosive nature of colonial rule." Ended after Kontorfilli was killed by British forces. 1931. Pujehun riot. 1934. Kenema riot. 1938–39. Series of strikes and civil disobedience. WAYL blamed. 1939. Army mutiny. January, led by Creole gunner Emmanuel Cole. 1948. Riot at Baoma Chiefdom of Bo District. One hundred people committed for trial before supreme court for their part in it. 1950, October. African United Mine Workers' Union (Secretary-General was Siaka Stevens) strikes in Marampa and Pepel, Northern Province. Strikers riot and burn the house of the African personnel officer. 1950, 30 October, Kailahun. 5,000 people riot. Cause was a rumour that the Paramount Chief of Luawa Chiefdom would be upheld and reinstated by the government. 1951. Pujehun, South Eastern Province. 1955, February. Freetown General Strike over rising cost-of-living and low pay. Lasted several days: looting, property damage, including residences of government ministers. Leader: Marcus Grant. 1955–56 riots. From the Northern province district of Kambia to the South-Eastern Pujehun district. "It involved 'many tens of thousands' of peasants and hinterland town dwellers." |
The history of Sierra Leone began when the land became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago. The dense tropical rainforest partially isolated the region from other West African cultures, and it became a refuge for peoples escaping violence and jihads. Sierra Leone was named by Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, who mapped the region in 1462. The Freetown estuary provided a good natural harbour for ships to shelter and replenish drinking water, and gained more international attention as coastal and trans-Atlantic trade supplanted trans-Saharan trade.
In the mid-16th century, the Mane people invaded, subjugated nearly all of the indigenous coastal peoples, and militarised Sierra Leone. The Mane soon blended with the local populations and the various chiefdoms and kingdoms remained in a continual state of conflict, with many captives sold to European slave-traders. The Atlantic slave trade had a significant impact on Sierra Leone, as this trade flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries, and later as a centre of anti-slavery efforts when the trade was abolished in 1807. British abolitionists had organised a colony for Black Loyalists at Freetown, and this became the capital of British West Africa. A naval squadron was based there to intercept slave ships, and the colony quickly grew as liberated Africans were released, joined by West Indian and African soldiers who had fought for Britain in the Napoleonic Wars. The descendants of the black settlers were collectively referred to as the Creoles or Krios.
During the colonial era, the British and Creoles increased their control over the surrounding area, securing peace so that commerce would not be interrupted, suppressing slave-trading and inter-chiefdom war. In 1895, Britain drew borders for Sierra Leone which they declared to be their protectorate, leading to armed resistance and the Hut Tax War of 1898. Thereafter, there was dissent and reforms as the Creoles sought political rights, trade unions formed against colonial employers, and peasants sought greater justice from their chiefs.
...
Wikipedia