Tag: Freetown

Why the name: Liberia?

On By Dr. Y.In Great Trivia1 Comment
Liberia
Liberia

What comes to mind when you hear the name of the country Liberia? … Liberty, freedom?

Exactly, the colony of Liberia was started by the American Colonization Society (ACS) in 1820 which repatriated free slaves from the United States to Liberia.  Why exactly was that territory chosen versus any other is a mystery.  I suspect that it was just a replica of what the British were doing, as they had started repatriating free slaves from Nova Scotia (Canada) to Sierra Leone as early as 1792.  It is therefore no surprise that Liberia is a neighboring country to Sierra Leone.  On July 26, 1847, the free slave settlers issued a Declaration of independence (modeled after that of the US), and created the Republic of Liberia, with its capital Monrovia named after the American president James Monroe, one of the supporters of the ACS.

Flag of Liberia
Flag of Liberia

However, before the arrival of the 500+ free slaves from America, modern-day Liberia was located in an area known as the Pepper Coast or Grain Coast (La côte des graines) or Melegueta Coast in honor of the grains of paradise or melegueta pepper, a very common in West African cuisines.  The Portuguese actually named it Costa da Pimenta, meaning Pepper Coast, in the 1500s.  The area was inhabited by Mende people, Dei, Bassa (not to be confused with the Bassa people of Cameroon), Kru, Gola, and Kissi people.  The Pepper Coast has been inhabited at least as far back as the 12th century and perhaps earlier.

Mme President
President of Liberia: Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

There was actually a clash between the free African Americans who came to identify themselves as Americo-Liberian, and the local indigenous people.  The Americo-Liberians developed a culture based around American notions of superiority and racial supremacy: they felt superior to the indigenous people.  This was probably at the root of the Liberian civil wars which lasted several years.  As Liberia struggles to heal the wounds of war, it is making big steps toward democracy, peace, and freedom.  It was also the first country in Africa to elect a woman president: Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Today, as you enjoy the video below on Liberia, I would like to ask a question: with all the wars and political instabilities seen in Liberia, has the country’s name affected its history or destiny? Has its name been a curse or a blessing?

Sierra Leone: Why the Name?

On By Dr. Y.In Great Trivia15 Comments
Modern-day Freetown
Modern-day Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone

I always thought the name of the country Sierra Leone was rather strange: how could a predominantly Muslim, English-speaking, African country have an Italian name?  There was never an Italian presence in that region of Africa.  So why in the world, is an ex-British colony with slaves returning from America, slaves who had fought on the British side during the American revolutionary war from 1775 to 1783, carrying an Italian name, and what does it mean?

Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1856
Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 1856

Well, in 1462, the Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra sailing down the West African coast, saw the tall mountains rising from what is now Freetown peninsula or harbor, and named the area ‘Serra de Leão,’ which means ‘mountains of the lion’, or ‘hills of the lion,’ because of the shape formed by the hills surrounding the harbor.  The  rendering of this geographic formation is Sierra Leone, Leone being the Italian for Lion, while Sierra is Spanish for hills or mountain, thus the name. In reality, it is said that it was leona in Spanish which was accidentally changed to Leone; so the origin should be Spanish. Sierra Leone has the third largest natural harbor in the world.  Archaeologically, that area has been inhabited continuously for the past 2500 years, from successive movements from other parts of Africa.  In 1495, the Portuguese established a port there, and were later joined by the Dutch and French, who used the area as a slave trading point.  In 1787, a first settlement of those called Black poors was founded in the Province of Freedom.  They were later decimated by the indigenous population.  A second settlement came in composed of Nova Scotian settlers, and Jamaican Maroons.  Sometime, at the beginning of the 19th century, Sierra Leone became a British colony.  Sierra Leone today is a true melting pot of Temne, Mende, Limba, Fula, Mandingo, Kono, and Krio (descendants of African American, West Indies slaves, etc) people.  In 2006, the country was featured in the movie Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio.

So there goes the story of a British colony, English-speaking country, predominantly Muslim, with an Italian name in an area where no Italian explorer had set foot.  Enjoy this video on Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.

Libreville: Why the Name?

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great Trivia6 Comments
Libreville today
Libreville today, 2012

Two capitals in Africa share the same name: Freetown in Sierra Leone, and Libreville in Gabon; one in English, the other in French.  I always knew that Freetown was named the way it was because it was a city founded in 1792 by freed African American Slaves also called Nova Scotian who had fought on the side of the British during the American Revolutionary war.  The land was named Freetown as a land for freed slaves.

Libreville in 1846
Libreville in 1846

But why on earth is Libreville named free town?  Since, there were apparently no freed slaves returning from the colonies, or running away from slavery?  I recently found out that the story of Libreville is very similar to that of Freetown, as it does involve slaves!  Yes… that’s right!  In the old days, i.e. prior to French occupation (the French acquired land there in 1839), the area that is today Libreville was inhabited by the Mpongwé people since the 11th century.  In 1846, l’Elizia, a slave ship en route for Brazil, carrying slaves for sale was captured by the French navy near Loango, offshore from the Mbongwé’s kingdom.  260 negroes were thus freed and taken to the Island of Gorée in Senegal in 1846.  After an intervention from Paris, 30 – 50 of these slaves will return to Gabon, where the French governor Bouët-Willaumez will take advantage of this, and found Libreville (French for ‘free town’ or ‘free city’) in 1849, in close proximity to Fort d’Aumale, where the French navy was installed to “fight” against slavery.  The small town, Libreville, was then organized as a “French christian village” around 5 places: the Mpongwé’s place, the freedom place, the Bakélé place, the Pahué place, and the Bulu place, after the main tribes in the area at the time.