From Slavery to Freetown

Introduction      1

Part I. The War for Independence
1. Mary Perth of Norfolk, Virginia      9
2. Moses Wilkinson of Nansemond County, Virginia      15
3. David George of Essex County, Virginia      19
4. Four Men from Charleston: Boston King, IsaacAnderson, Cato Perkins, and John Kizell      23
5. Thomas Peters of Wilmington, North Carolina      26
6. Refuge in British New York      29
7. Peace Treaty Terms      32
8. Evacuation from New York      36

Part II. Nova Scotia
9. The Founding of Birchtown      43
10. Education Mattered      51
11. Black Preachers Offer Hope      53
12. Farms for White Loyalists      58
13. Thomas Peters in Annapolis County      61

Part III. The Province of Freedom
14. Refuge in London      67
15. The Founding of Granville Town      73
16. Thomas Peters Travels to London      80
17. An Emissary from the Sierra Leone Company      84
18. Bonds Forged in Nova Scotia Congregations      90
19. Still Searching for Freedom and Security      97

Part IV. Freetown
20. Plans to Govern Freetown      105
21. To the Cotton Tree      109
22. An Erratic Beginning      112
23. Continuing Confusion      118
24. Ill Will Between John Clarkson and Thomas Peters      124
25. Baptists and Methodists Follow Different Paths      130
26. The Calypso Passengers Interrupt      140
27. New Company Officials      143
28. Land Grants at Last      145
29. Angry Settlers Choose Emissaries to the Sierra Leone Company Directors      152
30. Two Governors: Richard Dawes and Zachary Macaulay      158
31. A Chosen People      166
32. The Outside World Intrudes      170
33. Mary Perth as Housekeeper      176
34. Quarrels Over Religion      178
35. Growing Prosperity      183
36. Insurrection and Defeat      189
37. Transition      197
38. The Crown Replaces the Sierra Leone Company      204
39. Farewell, Cotton Tree      211

Epilogue      214
Appendix: Roster of Prominent Emigrants to Freetown      217
Notes      223
Bibliography      239
Index      243