Page 165 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

Nineteenth-Century Challenges and Progress

had high hopes. Nevertheless, soon idealism met reality as settlers faced
problems of land, food, and hostility from local residents. The Sierra
Leone Company, which was formed to make profits, soon reported losses.
Furthermore, the local ruler, King Jimmy, felt the company had invaded
territorial rights and he retaliated.

Since the harsh climate, disease, and death took such a terrible toll
on the community within the first few years, attempts were made to
recruit more volunteer residents. In 1792, ex-slaves from Nova Scotia
(now Canada) arrived. Fyfe describes their landing in Freetown:

Their pastors led them ashore, singing a hymn of praise.… Like
the Children of Israel which were come out again out of the
captivity, they rejoiced before the Lord, who had brought them
from bondage to the land of their forefathers. When all had
arrived, the whole colony assembled in worship, to proclaim to
the…continent whence they or their forbears had been carried in
chains—”The day of Jubilee is come; Return ye ransomed sinners
home.” (quoted in Sanneh 1983, 58)

The settlement needed the enthusiasm of the Nova Scotians in order
to survive. Over the next year, more than 100 died, and in 1794 the
French attacked the settlement and additional life and property were
lost. By 1805, the Sierra Leone Company was near financial collapse
and productivity from farms was dismal. However, in 1807, the British
Parliament voted to make the settlement a Crown Colony. This was the
same year in which the Parliament abolished the slave trade. Sierra
Leone survived primarily because Nova Scotians became tradesmen
and sold European goods in areas beyond Freetown. Many of the
Nova Scotians were Baptists and they planted churches according to
their faith.

After the abolition of slavery, the British Navy deployed warships to
patrol the waters off the West African coast. Shaw observes:

Slave ships that were intercepted were forced to transfer their
human cargo to the care of the British Navy. Freetown became
the primary destination for these “recaptives” [slaves captured
from their slave masters]. In 1808 the settlement numbered about

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