|
The history of Sierra Leone began when the lands became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago. Sierra Leone has played a significant part in modern African political liberty and nationalism, and became independent of the United Kingdom in 1961. The Afro-European colony was founded by a British organization for freed American slaves on March 11, 1792. These were about 1200 Black Loyalists who had relocated from Nova Scotia after being resettled in freedom by Great Britain following the American Revolutionary War. The residents, including women, voted that year for the first time in elections for their officers.〔(Sierra Leone’s struggle for progress )〕 Later other liberated slaves were also settled at Freetown. The people in this area developed as an ethnic group known as Krios, always a minority in the territory, which was dominated by the Temne and Mende peoples, together with several minority groups. ==Early history== Archaeological finds show that Sierra Leone has been inhabited continuously for at least 2,500 years,〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Culture of Sierra Leone ) 〕 populated by successive movements of peoples from other parts of Africa.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Sierra Leone History ) 〕 The use of iron was introduced to Sierra Leone by the 9th century, and by AD 1000 agriculture was being practiced by coastal tribes.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Sierra Leone - History ) 〕 Sierra Leone's dense tropical rainforest partly isolated it from other precolonial African cultures〔Utting (1931), p. 33〕 and from the spread of Islam. European contacts with Sierra Leone were among the first in West Africa. In 1462 Portuguese explorer Pedro da Cintra mapped the hills surrounding what is now Freetown Harbour, naming the oddly shaped formation ''Serra Lyoa'' (Lion Mountains). At this time the country was inhabited by numerous politically independent native groups. Several different languages were spoken, but there was similarity of religion. In the coastal rainforest belt there were Bulom speakers between the Sherbro and Freetown estuaries, Loko north of the Freetown estuary to the Little Scarcies, Temne at the mouth of the Scarcies and also inland, and Limba farther up the Scarcies. In the hilly savannah north of all of these were Susu and Fula. The Susu traded regularly with the coastal peoples along river valley routes, bringing salt, clothes woven by the Fula, good quality iron work, and some gold. 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「History of Sierra Leone」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|