US Independence was, thus, negotiated, in part, between the British owner of Bunce Island and his American business agent in South Carolina. In 1948 Bunce Island became Sierra Leone's first officially protected historic site. Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolitionat theWhitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale. Deeply moved by the experience, Powell spoke of his reaction to the slave castle in a farewell speech he made before leaving the country. Where once its inhabitants cultivated crops on nearly eight square kilometres of land, farming activities are no longer possible because most of the land has been lost to the sea. It is the full breadth of theignoble, ignominous, and evil endeavours that slavery was in human history that Bunce Island preserves. Our boat faced away from the Atlantic Ocean. The attack of 1779 took place during the American War of Independence when the Continental Army's French allies took advantage of the conflict to attack British assets outside North America. Ensuring that World Heritage sites sustain their outstanding universal value is an increasingly challenging mission in todays complex world, where sites are vulnerable to the effects of uncontrolled urban development, unsustainable tourism practices, neglect, natural calamities, pollution, political instability, and conflict. He organised the Gullah "homecomings" portrayed in the documentary films: Family Across the Sea (1990), The Language You Cry In (1998), and the website Priscilla's Homecoming (2005). He was the richest man in present-day territory of Sierra Leone, the grandson of a Mane king and part of the hybrid Luso-African community that had developed along the lower rivers. 25th Floor [8] The slave ships came from London, Liverpool and Bristol; from Newport, Rhode Island in the North American colonies; and from France and Denmark. What You Should Know About Sierra Leone's Bunce Island - Culture Trip The trading fort was subjected to attacks a number of times by other Europeans. The British traders rebuilt the castle after each attack, gradually altering its architecture during the roughly 140 years it was used as a slave trade entrept. Its very important that this place is preserved so that descendants of captives who were taken will come back to visit this place as a pilgrimage to their ancestors who were enslaved.. [14][19], American colonist Henry Laurens served as Bunce Island's business agent in Charleston, and was a wealthy planter and slave trader. Bunce Island was the largest British slave castle on the Rice Coast of West Africa. Bunce Island - UNESCO World Heritage Centre In 1989 a group of Gullahs (members of a Black community in coastal South Carolina and Georgia) made a historic homecoming visit to Sierra Leone and toured the ruins of Bunce Island. Despite its size, its location roughly where the broad Sierra Leone River grows shallow made it an ideal spot for slave vessels to anchor safely, sheltered from the Atlantic by the larger Tasso Island while maintaining access to the complex river system of the interior and . The structures that remain, including bastions, walls of the merchants quarters, the gunpowder magazine, and the gate to the slave house, were constructed of local stones and imported brick. Bunce Island - Wikipedia Bunce Island compares with them in full measure in this regard. (PDF) Archaeological fieldwork at Bunce Island: A slave trading [5][6][7], The early phase of the castle's history ended in 1728 when Bunce Island was raided by Jos Lopez da Moura, a Luso-African slave trader based in the area. Bunce Island immediately shut down for slave trading, and British firms now used the castle for other purposes -- a cotton plantation, a trading post and a sawmill. These activities were ultimately unsuccessful, though, and the island was abandoned around 1840. "America and West Indies: September 1690. "I am an AmericanBut today, I am something moreI am an African tooI feel my roots here in this continent.". Bunce Adas Metadata This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. Bunce Island was the largest British slave castle on the Rice Coast of West Africa. Bunce Island has a high degree of authenticity in respect of materials and substance, use and function, location and setting. The castle was not commercially successful then, but it symbolized British influence in the region. The sole responsibility for the content of each Tentative List lies with the State Party concerned. African farmers with rice-growing skills were kidnapped from inland areas and sold at the castle or at one of its many "outfactories" (trading posts) along the coast before being transported to North America. The world remembers the slave trade as an evil endeavours in human history. [27], In 1948, Bunce Island was designated Sierra Leone's first officially protected historic site. Remnants of two watchtowers, a fortification with places for eight cannons, and a gunpowder magazine remain standing. It was later operated by the London-based firm Grant, Oswald & Company, founded by Scottish merchants Richard Oswald and Alexander Grant, who took over in 1748. World Monuments Fund and World Monuments Watch are registered service marks. This early phase of the castle's history came to an end in 1728 when Bunce Island was raided by an Afro-Portuguese competitor in the slave trade named Jos Lopez da Moura. The most favoured buyers of slaves from Bunce Island were rice planters in the States of South Carolina and Georgia who were willing to pay high for Africans with rice panting backgrounds. Many walls have already collapsed. Compared with Bunce Island James Island (Kunta Kinteh Island) in the Gambia was very much smaller in size and in operations. In a second dimension Bunce Island has a sub-story that elucidate the nexus between slave trade wealth and political power. Visit the National Railway Museum One of the most interesting attractions in Freetown, this museum first opened in 2005 and is entirely dedicated to the history and works of the Sierra Leone Government Railway, which ceased to function in 1975 (that's when the last train ran). Slave trade is a past event but it is also a living tradition in another aspect. Gateway "Bunce (Bance) Island and Fort, Sierra Leone, 1727", Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African Diaspora, accessed October 23, 2019, http://www.slaveryimages.org/s/slaveryimages/item/565. World Heritage partnerships for conservation. Remnants stand of two watchtowers, a fortification with places for eight cannons, and a gunpowder magazine. Although tens of thousands of Africans passed through Bunce Island into slavery, in general, slaves from other parts of Africa outnumbered those from Sierra Leone in the Americas. Located about 20 miles upriver from Sierra Leone's capital city of Freetown, Bunce Island lies in the Sierra Leone River (also called the "Freetown Harbour"), the vast estuary formed by the Rokel River and Port Loko Creek. Bunce Island, used to be the departure place of no return for West Africans who were taken to the Americas and Europe as slaves. In the name of the product produced, Bunce Island is best known as one of the chief suppliers of slaves to planters for the rice industry in the British colonies of Charleston (South Carolina) and Savannah (Georgia) during the second half of the 18th century. Sierra Leone River, near Freetown, Sierra Leone, Heritage and Sustainable Urbanization: Freetown, Sierra Leone, Discover the History of Bunce Island, Sierra Leone, on Google Arts & Culture, Bunce Island: A Memorial to the Dark History of Mans Inhumanity, Reflecting on Landmark Sites in African American History, Bunce Island: Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. Exterior view of the main house on Bunce Island, 2019. Bunce Island immediately shut down for slave trading, and British firms now used the castle for other purposes -- a cotton plantation, a trading post and a sawmill. Won't you tell me where my love can be? Rockefeller Center There are tombstones marking the burial places of Europeans and Africans. Freetown became a Crown Colony the following year, and the British Navy based its Africa Squadron there. The Chief Agents residence at the center of the castle stood in front of a slave yard, where captive men, women, and children were held before being loaded aboard commercial ships by the hundreds. Established in 1670, Bunce Island was one of more than sixty slave trading forts on the West African coast. "But today, I am something moreI am an African tooI feel my roots here in this continent". But no historic preservation work has ever been done. African traders brought the enslaved to the fort where they were exchanged for European goods. At the south end of the island there are several inscribed tombstones marking the graves of slave traders, slave ship captains, and the foreman of the African workers. South Carolina and Georgia rice planters came to prefer slaves from the region stretching from Senegal down to Liberia, which was referred to as the Rice Coast. [14] Immediately behind it was the open-air slave yard, which was divided between a large area for men and a smaller one for women and children. Bunce Island - Sierra Leone Travel and Tourism Operator - VSL TRAVEL The world stands to understand the slave trade and mass movement of people in newer ways when future land and sea archaeological study is pursued at Bunce Island. Bunce Island lies in the Sierra Leone river and this fortress on the island was a place where enslaved Africans were imprisoned, bought and sold between 1670 and 1807. Bunce Island became Sierra Leone's first officially protected historic site in 1948. This means that Bunce Island is more authentic. In the summer of 2016, the Monuments and Relics Commission of Sierra Leone organized a three-day workshop for 40 youths from neighboring communities. Sierra Leone: Where Colin Powell Felt His Roots The urgent need to recognize the history of the Atlantic slave trade and its lasting effect on our lives was made clear this summer when massive protests swept across the United States, calling for social justice in the name of Black Lives Matter and demanding acknowledgment not only of the systemic racism pervading society but also of its deep roots. . Opala, Joseph (2007), "Bunce Island: A British Slave Castle in Sierra Leone (Historical Summary)" in DeCorse (2007). In this segment, she talks about slavery intersectionality then and now and the difficult but needed choices to act on ones beliefs. This first attempt at colonisation was unsuccessful and in March 1792, the settlement of Freetown was founded as the basis for the second and only permanent Colony of Sierra Leone. In October 2011, a $5 million historical preservation project sponsored by the Bunce Island Coalition was announced. Rice requires a great deal of technical knowledge for its successful cultivation, and South Carolina and Georgia planters were willing to pay premium prices for slave labour brought from what they called the "Rice Coast" of West Africa, the traditional rice-growing region stretching from what is now Senegal and Gambia in the north down to Sierra Leone and Liberia in the south. In 2013, historians reported learning that two U.S. presidents, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, are directly descended from a slave-ship captain who operated out of Bunce Island and other ports in the Sierra Leone region in the late 1700s. Prior to the mass deployment of slaves from the Rice Coast and Bunce Island in particular in the rice fields of South Carolina and Georgia the American colonies largely relied on rice imported from Asia. It was however in the 1840 that the Bunce Island fort was finally abandoned. The castle was not commercially successful at this period, but it served as a symbol of British influence in the region. French naval forces attacked Bunce Island four times (1695, 1704, 1779, and 1794), damaging or destroying it each time. Washington later donated $25,000 to a project to create a computer reconstruction of Bunce Island as it appeared in the year 1805. In 2010, the Bunce Island Coalition (US) and its partner organization, the Bunce Island Coalition (SL), announced the start of the Bunce Island preservation project, a five-year, $5 million effort to preserve the ruins of the castle and to build a museum in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital city, devoted to the history of Bunce Island and the impact of the Atlantic slave trade in Sierra Leone. Skylark, have you anything to say to me, There are also remnants of two watchtowers, a fortification with places for eight cannons, and a gunpowder magazine. At the end of the war Laurens was one of the American Peace Commissioners that negotiated United States independence under the Treaty of Paris. The government is working to preserve the castle as an important historic site and as a destination for tourists, especially African Americans. General view of the work to conserve the interiors of the main house, 2020. File:Bunce Island map.JPG - Wikimedia Commons Located along the rice coast of West Africa, Bunce Island was considered a privileged access point for slave trade operations targeting individuals from rice cultivating areas to sell to rice plantation owners in South Carolina and Georgia. For Watch Day, students had the opportunity to see the site for the first time, after learning about it at school. Bunce Island | Sierra Leone Tourism During its early history, the castle was operated by two London-based firms, the Gambia Adventurers and the Royal African Company of England, a "Crown-chartered company" subsidized by the British government. Bunce Island Coalitions preservation of the island and assets will follow the recommendations of the 2006 Bunce Island Cultural Resource Assessment Mission. The world remembers the slave trade as an evil endeavours in human history. 'Slave trade ghost town': The dark history of Bunce Island | CNN The structures have never been interfered with; and most of the important features of the slave fort can still be identified. Bunce Island compares with them in full measure in this regard. The centre-piece recommendation in the missions report is that the appropriate approach to the development of the site is one of conservation, preservation and stabilization of the existing structures. Pirates also attacked the castle twice (1719 & 1720), including Bartholomew Roberts, or "Black Bart," the most notorious pirate of the 18th century. [26] Washington later donated US$25,000 to a project to create a computer reconstruction of Bunce Island as it appeared in 1805, to mark the bicentennial of the abolition of the African slave trade by the UK and the United States. Bunce Island is best known as one of the chief suppliers of slaves to the rice industry in the North American Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. "[12], In 1785 Bunce and a number of other dependent islands were conveyed to the company of John and Alexander Anderson. The castle's ruins are deteriorating rapidly in Sierra Leone's tropical climate. After hostilities ended, he became one of the Peace Commissioners who negotiated United States independence under the Treaty of Paris. Bunce Island, used to - Sierra Leone - The Lion Mountain | Facebook Over more than a century, an estimated 30,000 people were sent to slavery from Bunce Island. The island measures about 1,650 feet (502.9 metres) by 350 feet (106.7 metres) and houses a castle that was built by the Royal Africa Company in c.1670. Bunce Island is different from these two slave trading facilities in that there has been no reconstruction of structures with interpretive aims. Bunce Island: Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition Most slave trade forts along the West African coast including Elmina Castle in Ghana and Goree Island in Senegal on the World Heritage List merely tell the story of the agony of passage of people into slavery. Bunce Island is the site of an 18th century British slave castle in the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Established by the British Royal . Bunce Island, UNESCO, Sierra Leone - Heroes Of Adventure Walker made sizable investments in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but his crew killed him in 1797 when they could no longer bear the brutality he inflicted on them. [26], Evidence of numerous historical and genealogical links between Bunce Island and the United States has been found. Bunce is a 1600 feet uninhabitted island lying approximately 20 miles up the Sierra Leone River from Freetown, the Capital city of Sierra Leone. Additionally, conflict and a weak economy that is still recovering from the effects of the 2014 Ebola epidemichamperedplans for the preservation of Bunce Island. Bunce Island is different from other former slave trading facilities such as Elmina Castle in Ghana and Goree Island in Senegal in that it has never been inhabited after the end of active commerce there in the early 1800s. The Tentative Lists of States Parties are published by the World Heritage Centre at its website and/or in working documents in order to ensure transparency, access to information and to facilitate harmonization of Tentative Lists at regional and thematic levels. Bunce Island is tangibly associated with the expansion and deepening of rice cultivation in America.
