Liberian Literary Magazine
later taken over by the American
Missionary
Association.
The
chapter concludes with a seeming
contradiction, that anti-slavery
activity on the ground was revived
‘as a result of the negative public
perceptions of their efficacy’ (p.
127). This renewed vigour and
energy would ultimately lead to
increased tensions between the
colonies.
In ‘Commercial rivalry and
Liberian independence’, Everill
shows how the diverted focus away
from African intervention on the
part of metropolitan actors, led to
new, vibrant roles for settler
leaders. From the outset, antislavery colonies were intended to
demonstrate
the benefits of
‘legitimate trade’ with Africans
over the evil trade in Africans. The
proximity and overlapping aims of
Liberia and Sierra Leone naturally
led to conflicts between traders.
However, while Sierra Leoneans
remained firmly enmeshed in the
networks of the British Empire,
attending
British
universities,
working up through the ranks of
British trading houses and serving
ably in the Colonial Service;
Liberians faced a period of
rejection from the United States,
prompted by a perceived lack of
strategic value and exacerbated by
growing racial tensions. This slow
dis-coupling
was
officially
cemented
by
the
Liberian
declaration of independence in
1847. Again, the key theme of the
work is clear, the development of
distinct settler cultures in Sierra
Leone and Liberia had a profound
impact on the development of the
colonies, their relationships with
their respective metropoles and
practices of anti-slavery.
The final substantive chapter,
‘Arguments
for
colonial
expansion’,
highlights
the
extraordinary efforts of Sierra
Leoneans to expand the British
imperial remit in West Africa.
These expansionist and imperialist
visions were accompanied by even
more organised and strenuous
February Issue 0215
demands for rights and privileges
within the colony. Meanwhile, in
Liberia, the
declaration
of
independence seems to have
marked continuity rather than
dramatic change. While Liberian
and American missionaries also
embarked
on
expansionist
missions in surrounding areas, the
Liberi an government was stymied
by its lack of formal recognition on
the international level. Again, the
complex rivalries and divergent
interests in the colonisation
movement in the US would result
in a lack of effective support for the
settlers. Only in their trade efforts
did they receive backing from
Americans and, in that, they often
lost out to British competition.
In general, section two offers a
strong argument regarding the
diverging fortunes of Sierra Leone
and Liberia, which manages to
incorporate metropolitan debate as
well as the anti-slavery practice and
settler activities in West Africa.
Everill’s overall thesis, that a
comparison of Liberia and Sierra
Leone reveals important lessons
about the relationship between
imperialism and humanitarianism,
is convincingly argued and this
work not only builds on the current
revival of interest in the settlements
but also provides a launch for
further
investigations
into
humanitarian
intervention,
civilising missions and the role of
empire in the history of the African
diaspora. The power of this
argument,
though,
may
overwhelm some of the interesting
and somewhat contradictory detail
of the period. While, in the
epilogue, she emphasises the role
of ‘civilisation, commerce and
Christianity’ as the metaphorical
tools of imperialism for both Sierra
Leone and Liberia, the evidence
suggests that not only was
Christianity a ‘broad church’ but
the role of Islam and animist
religions also figured prominently.
The
promotion
of
Islam,
particularly, would form an
interesting thread with which to
30
link these histories to later PanAfrican discourses. Civilisation is
also an umbrella term, and further
attention to the different meanings
of the word is needed. Reading the
work, the reader also might wish to
add ‘education’ to the tool-box.
New work on the history of
transfers of knowledge about
education, child-care and training
for work and domestic labour
could provide useful insights.
The work touches on a number
of areas of concern to students and
teachers of history. It adds to a
growing historical literature on
humanitarian
intervention
in
Africa, sheds new light on the early
expansion of Western colonial
powers and, rightfully, focuses
attention on settler communities
that existed outside the standar d
mould of white, elite adventurers.
For those reasons it would work
perfectly as a course reading on
imperial history and the history of
humanitarianism as well as in
West African studies. For students
of African history audience,
though, it would need to be
carefully contextualised in the
broader historiography of Sierra
Leone and Liberia, to balance the
emphasis on settlers at the expense
of indigenous inhabitants. Some of
the notions of ‘hybridity’, for
example in religious belief, need to
be handled with care in order to
prevent the presentation of African
ideas
as
an
unchangi ng
‘traditional’ backdrop to the action
in Freetown and Monrovia.
In proposing his co-operative
scheme to the enslaved Django in
Django
Unchained,
German
bounty hunter Dr. King Schulze
says, ‘On one hand I despise
slavery, on the other hand I need
your help, if you're not in a position
to refuse, all the better.’ His words
illustrate the, sometimes murky,
relationship between humanitarian
impulse and selfish expediency.
The abolitionist cause in the mid19th century was no different. So
many people’s lives were touched
by slavery in the Atlantic World,