In 1440, the first European, the Portuguese navigator Gil Eanes, reached the coast of Sierra Leone. In 1462, the Portuguese Pedro da Cintra named the rugged mountain range on the coast Serra Lyoa, meaning "Lion Mountains," which gave rise to the name of the state, now spelled Serra Leoa in Portuguese and Sierra Leona in Spanish. With the arrival of the Portuguese in Sierra Leone and the conquest of parts of the American continent by the Europeans, there was a demand for labor that was met with slaves from West Africa. In 1562, it began with the first slave ship of the English trader John Hawkins. From then on, Englishmen dominated the slave trade on the West African coast, and from 1672 it was the British Royal African Company that established fortified bases on the islands of Bunce and Sherbro. Many slaves tried to take their fate into their own hands and fought for their freedom. Sengbe Pieh, won many abolitionists with his uprising on the ship Amistad. By the end of the 18th century, 5,000 to 7,000 former slaves were living in English towns, often in extreme poverty. Abolitionists then developed the idea of settling the former slaves in one place on the African continent.
Adina Sommer
Antique and Contemporary Art
Winzerer Str. 154
80797 München
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