Liberated Africans in Sierra Leone

<p>The liberated Africans of Sierra Leone, also known as recaptives, were Africans who had been illegally enslaved onboard <a href="/facts/Slave_ship/Vdyb5ESe">slave ships</a> and rescued by <a href="/facts/Blockade_of_Africa/QTyx10C6">anti-slavery patrols</a> from the <a href="/facts/West_Africa_Squadron/wbx13lNS">West Africa Squadron</a> of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Navy/Xdy8YCH7">Royal Navy</a>. After the <a href="/facts/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom/7bFbPI9g">British Parliament</a> passed the <a href="/facts/Slave_Trade_Act_1807/gXn9UDwX">Slave Trade Act 1807</a>, which abolished Britain's involvement in the <a href="/facts/Atlantic_slave_trade/No8T5Jhl">slave trade</a>, the <a href="/facts/Admiralty_(United_Kingdom)/wqcXukJs">Admiralty</a> established the West Africa Squadron to suppress the trade in cooperation with other Western powers. All illegally enslaved Africans liberated by the Royal Navy were taken to Freetown, where <a href="/facts/Admiralty_court/FXPKCoyw">Admiralty courts</a> legally confirmed their <a href="/facts/Freedmen/12NuMqwR">free</a> status. Afterwards, they were consigned to a variety of unfree labor apprenticeships at the hands of the <a href="/facts/Nova_Scotian_Settlers/Vwo7KSGp">Nova Scotian Settlers</a> and <a href="/facts/Jamaican_Maroons/qoQCm3sF">Jamaican Maroons</a> in Sierra Leone. During the 19th century, it has been estimated by historians that roughly 80,000 illegally enslaved Africans were liberated by the Royal Navy.
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Liberated Africans in Sierra Leone open-in-new

Liberated Africans in Sierra Leone