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Bunce Island (also spelled "Bence," "Bense," or "Bance" at different periods) is the site of an 18th-century British slave castle, or trading site, located in the Sierra Leone River in the present-day Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Thousands of slaves were shipped from here to the North American colonies of South Carolina and Georgia, and were ancestors to many African Americans of the United States. Located about upriver from Sierra Leone's capital city of Freetown on the coast, Bunce Island lies in what was later called the "Freetown Harbour", the vast estuary formed by the Rokel River and Port Loko Creek. Although a small island, about long and wide, its strategic position at the limit of navigation for ocean-going ships, in Africa's largest natural harbor, made it an ideal base for European slave traders. For the 2007-2008 bicentennial of Great Britain's and the United States' abolition of the African slave trade, a team at James Madison University created an exhibit, a 3-D animation of the castle as of 1805, and a video to tell the history of the site. It has been touring universities and other venues, and is permanently held by the Freetown Museum.〔(''Bunce Island: A British Slave Castle in Sierra Leone” ), Official website, Bunce Island exhibit, accessed 25 February 2014〕 ==History== Bunce Island was first settled and fortified by English slave traders about 1670. During its early history, the castle was operated by two London-based firms, the Gambia Adventurers and the Royal African Company of England, the latter a "Crown-chartered company," or parastatal, subsidized by the British government. The castle was not commercially successful at this period, but it served as a symbol of English influence in the region, where Portuguese slave traders had been established since the 1500s. This early phase of the castle's history came to an end in 1728, when Bunce Island was raided by José Lopez da Moura, an Afro-Portuguese competitor in the slave trade based in the area. The richest man in present-day territory of Sierra Leone, he was the grandson of a Mande king and part of the Mestiza Afro-Portuguese community that had developed along the lower rivers. This mulatto class acted as middlemen, resisting efforts by the Royal African Company to build a monopoly on trade with African rulers. Lopez led others in destroying the Bunce Island factory.〔(Bethwell A. Ogot, ''Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century'' ), ''General History of Africa, Vol. 5'', UNESCO, 1992, pp. 396-397〕 Bunce Island was abandoned until the mid-1740s. It was later operated by two London-based companies: Grant, Oswald & Company and John & Alexander Anderson, and in the late 18th century, it was a highly profitable enterprise. During the second half of the 18th century, the companies sent thousands of African captives from Bunce Island to sales for plantations on the British- and French-controlled islands in the West Indies and to Britain's North American colonies. The London-based owners grew wealthy from the castle's operations. The slave traders who did business at Bunce Island came from a variety of different backgrounds. During the castle's early history, Afro-Portuguese, part of what historian Ira Berlin described as the "Atlantic Creole generation," sold slaves and local products there. They were well-established along the rivers near the coast. They were descendants of Portuguese men in the slave trade, known as ''lançados,'' and African women, and were often bilingual.〔 During the island's later history, Afro-English dynasties had become established in their turn in communities along the West African coast, beginning in the 17th century. By 1800, there were about 12,000 Afro-English in this area.〔 Mulatto men from such families as the Caulkers, Tuckers, and Clevelands, sold slaves and traded goods at Bunce Island. Like the Portuguese descendants, they occupied a middle ground, often marrying into the upper classes of some of the African tribes.〔 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. They transported slaves from there mostly to British markets of the Caribbean and the American South. Important as a British commercial outpost, Bunce Island was an attractive target during times of war. French naval forces attacked the castle four times (1695, 1704, 1779, and 1794), damaging or destroying it each time. The attack of 1779 took place during the American Revolutionary War when the rebel Continental Army's French allies took advantage of the conflict to attack British assets outside North America. Pirates, including Bartholomew Roberts, or "Black Bart," the most notorious pirate of the 18th century, attacked the castle in 1719 and 1720. 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 entrepôt. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bunce Island」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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