The village the slaves built

This tale of the Five Shilling Rebellion came to my notice through the people in Pniel, the old mission village near Cape Town, but the village has its own history. It was built on ground three farmers set aside in anticipation of the slaves being freed when slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1834. The farmers were sure the slaves would run off to find work in factories and leave them with no labour, so they set aside a piece of land on which the slaves could build houses, and would have a reason to stay in the area. The slaves stayed and prospered as free men and women and I felt honoured to know them. I doubt if they got much help to build the houses but they have created a model village, which sits behind the church with its slave bell to commemorate their forebears.

www.sullatoberdalton.com

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