William Pitt the Younger, prime minister and leader of the Tory party, had an active interest in the Scheme because he saw it as a means to repatriate the Black Poor to Africa, since "it was necessary they should be sent somewhere, and be no longer suffered to infest the streets of London". === The Province of Freedom === In January 1787, the Atlantic and the Belisarius set sail for Sierra Leone, but bad weather forced them to divert to Plymouth, during which time about 50 passengers died.
Eventually, with some more recruitment, 411 passengers sailed to Sierra Leone in April 1787.
On the voyage between Plymouth and Sierra Leone, 96 passengers died en route. In 1787 the British Crown founded a settlement in Sierra Leone in what was called the "Province of Freedom".
About 400 blacks and 60 whites reached Sierra Leone on 15 May 1787.
In addition, many continued to practise Methodism in Freetown. In the 1790s, the Settlers, including adult women, voted for the first time in elections.
In 1792 nearly 1200 persons from Nova Scotia crossed the Atlantic to build the second (and only permanent) Colony of Sierra Leone and the settlement of Freetown on 11 March 1792.
In 1792, in a move that pre-empted the women's suffrage movements in Britain, the heads of all households, of which a third were women, were given the right to vote.
In 1799 some of the settlers revolted.
The Crown subdued the revolt by bringing in forces of more than 500 Jamaican Maroons, whom they transported from Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) via Nova Scotia in 1800.
Together these peoples created a new creole ethnicity called the Krio people (initially called Creoles) and a trading language, Krio, which became commonly used among many of the ethnicities in the country. === Colonial era (1800–1961) === The settlement of Sierra Leone in the 1800s was unique in that the population was composed of displaced Africans who were brought to the colony after the British abolition of the slave trade in 1807.
Its members represented both British who hoped to inspire local entrepreneurs and those with interest in the Macauley & Babington Company, which held the (British) monopoly on Sierra Leone trade. At about the same time (following the abolition of the slave trade in 1807), British crews delivered thousands of formerly enslaved Africans to Freetown, after liberating them from illegal slave ships.
Together these peoples created a new creole ethnicity called the Krio people (initially called Creoles) and a trading language, Krio, which became commonly used among many of the ethnicities in the country. === Colonial era (1800–1961) === The settlement of Sierra Leone in the 1800s was unique in that the population was composed of displaced Africans who were brought to the colony after the British abolition of the slave trade in 1807.
Led by Colonel Montague James, the Maroons helped the colonial forces to put down the revolt, and in the process the Jamaican Maroons in Sierra Leone secured the best houses and farms. On 1 January 1808, Thomas Ludlam, the Governor of the Sierra Leone Company and a leading abolitionist, surrendered the company's charter.
According to Suzanne Schwartz, a historian on colonial Sierra Leone, in June 1808 a group of 21 men and women ran away to the nearby native settlement of Robiss and upon recapture were imprisoned by the settlers in Sierra Leone, thus contributing to the slavery-like qualities of the apprenticeship system.
To the north, from 1820 to 1906 there was a Limba chief named Almamy Suluku who ruled his territory for many years, fighting different tribes to protect his territory, while at the same time using diplomacy to trick the protectorate and sending fighters to assist Bai Bureh. Another prominent figure in Sierra Leone history is Bai Sherbro ().
The British established Fourah Bay College here in 1827, which rapidly became a magnet for English-speaking Africans on the West Coast.
Following the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the UK decided that it needed to establish more dominion over the inland areas, to satisfy what was described by the European powers as "effective occupation" of territories.
In 1896 it annexed these areas, declaring them the Sierra Leone Protectorate.
He was later unfairly portrayed as a prime instigator of the Hut Tax war in 1898. Colonel Frederic Cardew, military governor of the Protectorate, in 1898 established a new tax on dwellings and demanded that the chiefs use their peoples to maintain roads.
Tensions over the new colonial requirements, and the administration's suspicions towards the chiefs, led to the Hut Tax war of 1898, also called the Temne-Mende War.
Bai Bureh finally surrendered on 11 November 1898 to end the destruction of his people's territory and dwellings.
Bai Bureh was allowed to return in 1905, when he resumed his chieftaincy of Kasseh. The defeat of the Temne and Mende in the Hut Tax war ended mass resistance to the Protectorate and colonial government, but intermittent rioting and labour unrest continued throughout the colonial period.
To the north, from 1820 to 1906 there was a Limba chief named Almamy Suluku who ruled his territory for many years, fighting different tribes to protect his territory, while at the same time using diplomacy to trick the protectorate and sending fighters to assist Bai Bureh. Another prominent figure in Sierra Leone history is Bai Sherbro ().
Until 1906 Madam Yoko ruled as a paramount chief in the new British Protectorate.
Mining of diamonds in the east and other minerals expanded, drawing labourers there from other parts of the country. In 1924, the UK government divided Sierra Leone into a Colony and a Protectorate, with different political systems constitutionally defined for each.
Riots in 1955 and 1956 involved "many tens of thousands" of Sierra Leonians in the protectorate. Domestic slavery, which continued to be practised by local African elites, was abolished in 1928.
A notable event in 1935 was the granting of a monopoly on mineral mining to the Sierra Leone Selection Trust, run by De Beers.
Antagonism between the two entities escalated to a heated debate in 1947, when proposals were introduced to provide for a single political system for both the Colony and the Protectorate.
In November 1951, Margai oversaw the drafting of a new constitution, which united the separate Colonial and Protectorate legislatures and provided a framework for decolonisation.
In 1953, Sierra Leone was granted local ministerial powers and Margai was elected Chief Minister of Sierra Leone.
Riots in 1955 and 1956 involved "many tens of thousands" of Sierra Leonians in the protectorate. Domestic slavery, which continued to be practised by local African elites, was abolished in 1928.
Riots in 1955 and 1956 involved "many tens of thousands" of Sierra Leonians in the protectorate. Domestic slavery, which continued to be practised by local African elites, was abolished in 1928.
In May 1957, Sierra Leone held its first parliamentary election.
Muslims and Christians in Sierra Leone are extremely tolerant of each other, and all the major Muslim and Christian holidays are officially national holidays in the country. Sierra Leone achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 27 April 1961, and Milton Margai became the country's first Prime Minister.
Sierra Leone held its first general election as an independent nation on May 27, 1962.
The leader of the main opposition All People's Congress (APC), Siaka Stevens, along with Isaac Wallace-Johnson, another outspoken critic of the SLPP government, were arrested and placed under [arrest] in Freetown, along with sixteen others charged with disrupting the independence celebration. In May 1962, Sierra Leone held its first general election as an independent nation.
Margai employed a brokerage style of politics, by sharing political power among political parties and interest groups; and with the powerful paramount chiefs in the provinces, most of whom were key allies of his government. ===Final years of democracy (1964–1967)=== Upon Milton Margai's unexpected death in 1964, his [Sir
From 1968 to 1985 Sierra Leone was governed by strongman president Siaka Stevens.
From 1978 to 1985 Sierra Leone was officially a one-party state, as President Stevens' political party, the All People's Congress, was the only legal political party in the country. The multiparty democratic constitution of Sierra Leone was again adopted in 1991 by President Joseph Saidu Momoh, Stevens' hand-picked choice.
From 1968 to 1985 Sierra Leone was governed by strongman president Siaka Stevens.
From 1978 to 1985 Sierra Leone was officially a one-party state, as President Stevens' political party, the All People's Congress, was the only legal political party in the country. The multiparty democratic constitution of Sierra Leone was again adopted in 1991 by President Joseph Saidu Momoh, Stevens' hand-picked choice.
From 1978 to 1985 Sierra Leone was officially a one-party state, as President Stevens' political party, the All People's Congress, was the only legal political party in the country. The multiparty democratic constitution of Sierra Leone was again adopted in 1991 by President Joseph Saidu Momoh, Stevens' hand-picked choice.
From March 23, 1991 to 2002, a group of former Sierra Leone soldiers launched a brutal civil war in a failed attempt to overthrow the Sierra Leone government.
The APC's 24-year rule of Sierra Leone ended on April 29, 1992 in a military coup and a 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser ruled the country from 1992 to 1996 in a junta government. Sierra Leone returned to a democratically elected government in 1996 when Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party was sworn in as president after his victory in that year's election.
The APC's 24-year rule of Sierra Leone ended on April 29, 1992 in a military coup and a 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser ruled the country from 1992 to 1996 in a junta government. Sierra Leone returned to a democratically elected government in 1996 when Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party was sworn in as president after his victory in that year's election.
However, the Sierra Leone military overthrew President Kabbah in a coup on May 25, 1997.
A coalition of West African ECOWAS armed forces led by Nigeria reinstated President Kabbah in February 1998.
Sierra Leone has had uninterrupted democratic government from 1998 to the present day. Sixteen ethnic groups inhabit Sierra Leone, the two largest and most influential being the Temne and Mende peoples.
From March 23, 1991 to 2002, a group of former Sierra Leone soldiers launched a brutal civil war in a failed attempt to overthrow the Sierra Leone government.
In January 2002, President Kabbah officially announced the end of the civil war.
Sierra Leone has a tropical climate with a diverse environment ranging from savanna to rainforests, a total area of and a population of 7,092,113 as of the 2015 census.
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