The Liberated Slaves and the Question of the Return to Africa

This a small book of 35 pages written by Dr Florenc Mahoney. Its title The Liberated Slaves and the Question of the Return to Africa is followed by a subtitle From the Slave Trade to the Challenge of Development. The purpose of this book is not only to express the obstacles faced by liberated slaves after returning to their motherland but also to show the important development roles they played in commerce, religion, politics, language and education in the lands they return to.

Among the extraordinary stories Dr Mahoney narrates as an example is that of Ayuba Suleiman ibn Ibrahima Jallow. Here is a young Muslim Fula from the upper Gambia region caught in 1731 and sent to America where he is sold as a slave. His frailty, his religion and his skills in writing Arabic fascinated his master who finally, after several arrangements, helped buy his freedom. He was sent to London where he had the singular privilege to be invited to the king’s court. He finally returned home, three years after his captivity, laden with exquisite gifts from the nobles and the queen. He served as a useful intermediary for the British merchants.

Here is another case of Johnson, Mungo Park’s guide during his first journey. Johnson is a Mandinka who was enslaved in Jamaica for several years before he was liberated. He returned to The Gambia where he worked with British merchants before setting off with Mungo Park from which journey he never returned. The most extraordinary is the case of Thomas Joiner, who was a slave who worked and paid for his freedom. He will settle in Bathurst in the 1820s where he became a successful merchant and an influential Christian.

The most significant of all however, is the mass return to the motherland after slavery was abolished some of which were the Maroons from New Scotland, Canada. Most of them settled in Freetown. Others came from Jamaica. In the 1820s, some 20,000 liberated slaves arrived in Freetown. Most of these, skilled in different areas, were unable to integrate with the indigenous people and therefore formed their own communities. They played a significant role in the early development of the places they settled in. Some of them became pastors, administrative clerks and successful merchants. Naturally, they became the first to occupy high positions in government. That is the case, in The Gambia, of J. D. Richard who was a nominated member of the Legislative Council in 1883 and later joined by S. J. Forster in 1886. Gambia’s history is therefore intricately linked to this community.

This small book therefore gives vivid details of extraordinary stories concerning the liberated slaves and their contribution to national development. A must read!