Outsourcing African Labor: Kru Migratory Workers in Global Ports, Estates and Battlefields until the End of the 19th Century

277 Pages·2021·32.995 MB·English

by  Jeffrey Gunn

Jeffrey Gunn
Outsourcing African Labor
Africa in Global History
Edited by
Joël Glasman, Omar Gueye, Alexander Keese,
and Christine Whyte
Advisory Board:
Joe Alie, Felicitas Becker, William Gervase Clarence-Smith, Lynda Day,
Scholastique Diazinga, Andreas Eckert, Babacar Fall, Toyin Falola, Matt Graham,
Emma Hunter, Erin Jessee, Isabella Kentridge, Colleen Kriger, Kristin Mann,
Patrick Manning, Conceição Neto, Vanessa S. Oliveira, Lorelle Semley, Ibrahim
Sundiata
Volume 4
Jeffrey Gunn
Outsourcing
African Labor
Kru Migratory Workers in Global Ports, Estates
and Battlefields until the End of the 19th Century
ISBN 978-3-11-068022-5
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-068033-1
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-068041-6
ISSN 2628-1767
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021936032
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Cover image: “Kroomen launching a boat”, Sketch by Captain‘s Clerk Charles F. Sands,
reproduced from his journal kept on board the U.S. Brig Porpoise during her anti-slavery
cruise off West Africa, 1848. Courtesy of Mr. W. F. Sands, 1939.
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
I dedicate this book to my Kru brothers and sisters and my family: Saowakhon
Pansri, Sandra and David Gunn,Julie, Frank, Logan, Blake, and Hailey Rozsas.

Acknowledgements
Nogreatundertakingcanbecompletedalone.Inthisspirit,Iwouldliketothank
mywife,SaowakhonPansri,myparents,SandraandDavidGunn,mysisterand
her family,Julie, Frank, Blake, Logan, and Hailey Rozsas, mycousins,Terrence
Jon and Jay Craig, and my lifelong friends Jon Brohman, Jeff Vanderby, Josh
Mills,MattLindsay,MichaelMorris,JulieQuinn,JulieTamaki,KristianShepherd,
andBillMerrittfortheirencouragement,love,andsupportthroughoutthecom-
pletion of this book.
I am extremely grateful to my mentor and friend Paul Lovejoy for always
driving me to perform at my best and for the incredible opportunity to travel
theworldforresearchandconferences.IgivespecialmentiontoGeorgeBrooks
at Indiana University for generously providing me with many boxes of unpub-
lishedsourcesfromthe1970s,andSuzanneSchwarzandStephenRockelforen-
thusiastically sharing information on the Kru when they came upon it in their
own research. And, Ithank Mark Williamson for his sketches.
Thecompletionofthisbookhasbeenamonumentaljourney,whichhasled
me to conduct research in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, the United Kingdom,
Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and the United States. None of these research
trips would have been possible without the support of several scholarship pro-
gramsandfundingfromkeyinstitutions.Iwouldliketogratefullyacknowledge
the support I received to finance my doctoral studies,which inform this book,
from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
(SSHRC),theOntarioGraduateScholarshipProgram(OGS),TheHarrietTubman
Institute, and the Department of History at York University.
IextendadeepsenseofgratitudetomembersoftheKrucommunitiesIvis-
ited in Sierra Leone including Chief Tuleh Davis, Rev. Joseph Kamara, and Doe
Smith;inLiberia,KruGovernorAliceWeah,DeputyGovernorS.TugbeWorjloh,
Rev.NyanfordGibson,AnthonyTeah,JacobP.Myers,MosesBaryor,EdwinWiah,
andL.SlewionKontons;andinGhana,OkyeemeGikafoandAllweiBonsoIII.It
isanhonortoshareyourstoriesandmemoriesofKruworkersinyourcommun-
ities.
Iwouldliketogivethankstothosefriendswhoseeffortsmadeforsuccessful
research trips including Aiah Yendeh, Taziff Koroma, and Abdullai Brima, for
theirguidanceandlodgingsinFreetown,andtoCharlesformotorcycletransport
from Sierra Leone to Liberia; Kae Sun for arranging lodgings in Accra, Rev.
Kwaku Darko-Mensah for his hospitality, and Sidney Palupa for his guidance,
transportation,andtranslations;ConnieAbbeandSilvastoneforprovidinglodg-
ingsinLondonwhileIworkedattheBritishLibrary,TheNationalArchivesand
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110680331-001
VIII Acknowledgements
SOAS;Nigel Baptiste and his familyfor providinglodgingswhile researchingat
the National Archives andthe Universityof the West Indies in Trinidad and To-
bago;EonandMarilynSinclairforprovidingcontactsinGuyana,andOsricBest
for his time and generosity; George and Elaine Brooks for their hospitality in
Bloomington, Indiana; and Bruno Véras, Leidy Alpízar,Vanessa Oliveira, and
Dina Issakova for assistance with logistics. Sections of this book were written
invariouslocations includingToronto,RiceLake,Thailand, andtheHollywood
Hills.IwouldliketothankthePansrifamilyinNakhonRatchasimafortheirhos-
pitality,aswellasDonaldColhourandTerrenceJonfortheirgenerosityandthe
opportunity to write at the Luftschloss in the Hollywood Hills.
It is a great privilege to share the story of the Kru. It has been a grand
adventure.
Contents
List of Tables XI
List of Figures XIII
Foreword XV
Introduction: A Free Wage Labor African Diaspora 1
Diaspora 10
Identifying the Kru 15
Significance of Hiring the Kru 24
Tracing Surfboats 29
Chapter 1: Surfboats 34
European Contact 34
Social Organization 38
Transformations on the Coast 43
Slave Trade 48
Chapter 2: Freetown – A Catalyst for Diaspora 72
Founding of Freetown 72
Freetown and British Anti-Slavery Patrols 79
Krutown 93
Relationship with the Homeland 99
Chapter 3: The Expansion of Kru Labor in the Royal Navy 103
Atlantic Ocean Network 104
Freetown 104
Cape Coast 105
Ascension Island 107
Fernando Po 109
Simon’s Town 115
Indian Ocean Network 121
Zanzibar 126
Chapter 4: Kru Labor in Expeditions and Military Campaigns 129
Expeditions 130
Clapperton’s Second Expedition, 1825–27 130
Lander Brothers’ Expedition, 1830 132
Laird Expedition, 1832–33 132