Bunce Island House, the headquarters building where the Chief Agent lived with his senior officers, is at the castle's center. . [25], In 2006, television actor Isaiah Washington visited the island after learning through a DNA test he was descended from the indigenous Mende people of Sierra Leone. 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. There is therefore very little evidence of alteration of the natural environment. Despite being only 600 meters long, Bunce Island was settled and fortified by English slave traders in 1670, and before that it was used by Portuguese slave traders since the 1500s. World Monuments Fund and World Monuments Watch are registered service marks. Bunce Island (also spelled "Bence," "Bense," or "Bance" at different periods) is an island in the Sierra Leone River. South Carolinan and Georgian 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 present-day Sierra Leone and Liberia in the south. This is a must see for anyone interested in the history of the slave trade. From 1670 to 1728 two companies- the Gambia Adventurers and the Royal African Company of England ran Bunce Island one after the other. Tel: +1 646 424-9594. Included on the 2016 World Monuments Watch, WMF has been working to document and stabilize this very important site in the transatlantic slave trade.Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://www.wmf.org/subscribeSubscribe to our YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/worldmonumentsfund?sub_confirmation=1Follow us:Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/worldmonumentsTwitter | https://twitter.com/worldmonumentsInstagram | https://instagram.com/worldmonumentsfund/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-monuments-fundSupport our Work:https://www.wmf.org/donate Bunce Island has been handed over to the Bunce Island Coalition for the purposes of preservation and conservation action. [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 Coalitions preservation of the island and assets will follow the recommendations of the 2006 Bunce Island Cultural Resource Assessment Mission. On the British side at the Treaty of Paris was the London-based owner of Bunce Island Richard Oswald. This page was last edited on 4 April 2023, at 18:40. The castle was not commercially successful at this period, but it served as a symbol of British influence in the region. Bunce Island is featured in a collection of immersive Google Arts & Culture exhibits entitled The Black Atlantic. Easmon, a Sierra Leonean medical doctor and amateur historian, led an expedition that year that cleared the vegetation and mapped and photographed the ruins for the first time. ", Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor, Sierra Leonean Monuments and Relics Commission, "Bunce Island: A British Slave Castle in Sierra Leone", "Forgotten Island: How Sierra Leone Plans To Use Slavery Legacy To Boost Tourism", Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution, "From Which Port Was Slave Ancestor Sold? (Some of the cannons bear the royal cipher of King George III.) Criterion (iii): Bunce Island is tangibly associated with the slave trade as a tradition that spanned over two centuries. The London-based owners grew wealthy from the castle's operations. Bunce Island compares with them in full measure in this regard. Bunce Island Visit the remains of the largest slave fort in Sierra Leone, where thousands of enslaved Africans saw their homeland for the last time before being shipped off to the Americas. 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 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. Oswald headed the British negotiating team. Bunce Island, Slave Trade Facility Opens - African American Registry Located in the Sierra Leone River, a few miles north of Freetown, Bunce Island was home to one of the most lucrative slave trading operations in West Africa. The report recommends that archaeological survey and evaluation is undertaken prior to any construction and stabilization work. One of the companies that used to run Bunce Island was the Royal Africa Company whose Governor was the future Stuart King, James Duke of York. Bunce Island - Wikipedia Established in 1670, Bunce Island was one of more than sixty slave trading forts on the West African coast. Controlled by the British in the 17th and 18th centuries until it was closed in 1808, the fort now lies in ruin and is engulfed by wild forest. Pirates also attacked the castle twice (1719 & 1720), including Bartholomew Roberts, or "Black Bart," the most notorious pirate of the 18th century. They helped to establish a colony of freed slaves that would become Freetown, the capital of modern Sierra Leone. 2022World Monuments Fund. This reflects the wealth generated by the trade in rice and slaves. A British abolitionist campaign had started in the 1780s. Bunce Island holds Outstanding Universal Value in the high potential it has for both land and sea archaeological study. in that it has never been inhabited after the end of active commerce there in the early 1800s. 600 Fifth Avenue Bunce Islands prosperity ran from 1744 to 1807 during private management by a consortium of London firms. 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). Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, The Sounds of Slavery: Discovering African American History Through Songs, Sermons and Speech, Can Slaves Practice Politics? Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party. The trading fort was subjected to attacks a number of times by other Europeans. Washington later donated $25,000 to a project to create a computer reconstruction of Bunce Island as it appeared in the year 1805. There are remains of towers from which guards kept day and night watch. The slave ships came from the British ports of London, Liverpool, and Bristol; from Newport, Rhode Island, in the North American colonies; and from France and Denmark. 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.. Won't you tell me where my love can be? The wooden verandas decayed, the slate roofs collapsed, some stone walls toppled . Purposive mass deployment of slaves from the Rice Coast and Bunce Island in particular with rice cultivation skills in the fields of South Carolina and Georgia transformed rice growing in America and took it to levels previously unknown. The castle's ruins are deteriorating rapidly in Sierra Leone's tropical climate. These activities were ultimately unsuccessful, though, and the island was abandoned around 1840. BUNCE Island, just off the Sierra Leone coast in west Africa, stands as a symbol of Scotland's forgotten role in the Atlantic slave trade. The property stands today to testify in the greatest measure the only instance in the slave trade were slaves were valued on account of their skills. Opala, Joseph (2007) 'Bunce Island: A British Slave Castle in Sierra Leone (Historical Summary)' in DeCorse (2007). In particular, Bunce Island provides a unique testament to the cultural interchange between the United States and the African continent. Freetown finally gained the upper hand when the British Parliament outlawed the Atlantic slave trade in 1807. Bunce Island is a British slave castle located near Freetown, the capital city of the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Slave trade has disappeared as a legitimate economic activity, but there is a practice however today called modern day slavery It is different from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in the sense that it is illegal and not condoned by nations. It is the only instance where Africans were particularly targeted for buying and selling on account of their skills. General view of the work to conserve the interiors of the main house, 2020. Captured by the British enroute to his post in Europe, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. The world remembers the slave trade as an evil endeavours in human history. New York, NY 10020 During the second half of the eighteenth century, the companies sent thousands of slaves from Bunce Island to plantations on the British and French colonies in the West Indies, and to Britain's North American colonies. Located just a few miles off the coast of Freetown, Sierra Leone, the fort on Bunce Island played a major role in the trans-Atlantic trade of enslaved Africans.Today, the American descendants of the tens of thousands of Africans who passed through Bunce Island have preserved the cultural legacy of their forebears; as such, the surviving fort is both a monument to a deeply traumatic past and a . Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [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. The castle was not commercially successful then, but it symbolized British influence in the region. The island housed merchants quarters, a gunpowder magazine, a slave house, a cookhouse, and an office tower. 600 Fifth Avenue Slave trading ceased on the island with the abolition of slace trade in 1808. From its shores, tens of thousands of Africans were forcefully shipped to the American colonies. I feel my roots here in this continent". Cannon were the massive weapons of the times; therefore it is common to find them at nearly all slave trading forts in Africa. A hurricane struck in 1974, damaging structures. All rights reserved. Purposive mass deployment of slaves from the Rice Coast and Bunce Island in particular with rice cultivation skills in the fields of South Carolina and Georgia transformed rice growing in America and took it to levels previously unknown. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) at the U.S. Department of State, and by the U.S. Embassy in Freetown. Modern day slavery however holds all the other abhorred elements of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in respect of trading in persons, holding of persons in bondage, and forced labour. It was however in the 1840 that the Bunce Island fort was finally abandoned. 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. Bunce Island stands as a testament to a transformative and traumatic period in local and regional history whose impact on the Atlantic world continues to this day. 'Slave trade ghost town': The dark history of Bunce Island | CNN *Bunce Island, Sierra Leone, from 1670, is affirmed on this date. 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. Bunce Island serves as a constant reminder of a truly dark period in . Thomas Walker (AKA "Beau Walker") came from Bristol, one of Britain's principal slaving ports. At their slave trading heights British traders shipped tens of thousands of African slaves to the Americas from this place. Bunce Island was established as a slave trading station in 1670. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the . World Monuments Fund and World Monuments Watch are registered service marks. 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. Bunce Island has been called "the most important historic site in Africa for the United States"[3] because thousands of slaves were shipped from here to ports in the American South. All that is needed and that has been agreed by government is to stabilize the ruins and make them more comprehensible through interpretation strategies. 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. At the island's south end, several inscribed tombstones mark the graves of slave traders, slave ship captains, and the foreman of African workers. "Bance Island House", the headquarters building where the Chief Agent lived with his senior officers, is at the centre of the castle; and parts of the building still rise to second-story level. The trading fort was subjected to attacks a number of times by other Europeans. Ellsworth Kelly Foundation generously supported the development of this site. 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. Ed asked me to take him to Bunce Island, the British slave castle, and as we cruised upriver he told me about his ancestor Elias Ball II the South Carolina planter who purchased a little girl he called "Priscilla" from a slave ship that came from Sierra Leone. Organized trainings for tour guides focused on a detailed history of Sierra Leone and the relationship between the United States Gullahs, descendants of enslaved people from the rice coast, and Sierra Leoneans. Bunce Island, a site that testifies to a dark chapter in world history, is being slowly eroded by exposure to the elements and overwhelmed by the social and economic problems facing Sierra Leone. Slave ships based in northern ports frequently called at Bunce Island, taking on supplies such as fresh water and provisions for the Atlantic crossing, and buying slaves for sale in the British islands of the West Indies and the Southern Colonies. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 [17][18], Bunce Island was the largest British slave castle on the Rice Coast. World Museum Liverpool Sierra Leone Collection, Earthworks and Live Stockade at Masakpaidu, Kono, Ruins of John Newtons House and slave barracoons, Plantain Island, Old Wharf Steps and Guard House, Freetown, Old Fourah Bay College building, Freetown, Firing point and guns near Old Wharf, Dublin, Banana Island. A couple of cannons from different nations still lay in position and around, untouched. Bunce Island has never been exploited for tourism returns. Bunce Island is the site of an 18th century British slave castle in the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. It was however in the 1840 that the Bunce Island fort was finally abandoned. Farrow, Anne, Joel Lang & Jenifer Frank (2005). General Colin Powell, then Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Bunce Island in 1992 while on an official visit to Sierra Leone. These activities were economically unsuccessful and the island was abandoned around 1840, after which the buildings and stone walls fell into decay. "But today, I am something moreI am an African tooI feel my roots here in this continent". Although just a tiny island only about 1650 feet long and 350 feet wide, its strategic position at the limit of navigation in Africa's largest natural harbour made it an ideal base for European slave merchants. 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. However, Bunce Islands story has sub-stories that elucidate the slave trade in unique dimensions. Bunce Island is different from Saint James Island in the Gambia, Most slave trade forts along the West African coast including. The full exhibit is permanently displayed at the Sierra Leone National Museum in Freetown. Excursion to what was once "The island of no return" In recent years, studies have revealed clear connections between the linguistic traits and cultural traditions of the Gullah people in the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina and the people of Sierra Leone. Also in 2006, Black TV actor Isaiah Washington visited Bunce Island after learning through a DNA test that some of his ancestors came from Sierra Leone. This tiny island has the ruins of a British fort used in the transport of slaves to North America. BBC World Service | Focus On Africa | Bunce Island slave post 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. Bunce Island was the largest British slave castle on the Rice Coast of West Africa. During the second half of the 18th century, the companies sent thousands of African captives from Bunce Island to British- and French-controlled islands in the West Indies and to Britain's North American colonies. There are also remnants of two watchtowers, a fortification with places for eight cannons, and a gunpowder magazine. Bunce Island has been called "the most important historic site in Africa for the United States." The attack of 1779 took place during the American Revolutionary War when America's French allies took advantage of the conflict to attack British assets outside North America. They transported slaves mostly to European colonies in the Caribbean and the American South. Rockefeller Center They sent out regular patrols to search for slave vessels violating the ban. Upon abandonment of the trade in slaves Newton became a devout Christian and composed the song Amazing Grace. 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. The same year, Sierra Leonean amateur historian and medical doctor M.C.F. Several organizations in Sierra Leone, the United States, and Great Britain are now promoting popular awareness of Bunce Island and its history and working toward the preservation of the castle. They were well-established along the rivers near the coast and were descendants of male Portuguese slave traders known as lanados and African women, and were often bilingual. [15] The Atlantic slave trade continued to be legal for the next two decades. You cannot hear the story of Bunce Island without being moved by its history. On October 31, 1678, at Gresham College the latter offered the former the contents of their investment on the island for 4,644l. It is one of the 40 slave fortresses built on the coastlines of West Africa. One of his descendants, Dorothy (Walker) Bush, was the mother of George H.W. Bunce Island; World Monuments Watch List 2016; Usage on www.wikidata.org Q1004939; Metadata. 9d. The whole layout indicating bastions, stores, residential blocks, the slave quarters, and powder magazine can be seen. Uncontrolled growth of vegetation in and around the ruins and coastal erosion threaten the preservation of the site. [1][2] To mark the 20072008 bicentennial of Britain's abolition of the slave trade, a team at James Madison University created a three-dimensional animation of the castle as it was in 1805, and an exhibit on the site that was displayed to museums all across the U.S. which is now held by the Sierra Leone National Museum. Vegetation has grown over many sections of the remaining walls. While it is easy to see snippets of African influences in the cultures and sub-cultures of descendants of slaves from Africa in the Americas, there is still an intact community of descendants of slaves in the United States known as the Gullah, with roots directly traceable to Sierra Leone. Bance Island (now Bunce) is located in the Sierra Leone River about twenty miles above modern Freetown. It is a small island, only one-third of a mile long and uninhabited today, but in the days of the Atlantic slave trade it was an economically strategic point. Immediately behind it is the open-air slave yard, divided between a large area for men and a smaller one for women and children.
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