The African American Odyssey of John Kizell: A South Carolina Slave Returns to Fight the Slave Trade in His African Homeland

Chronology

chronology of john kizell’s life 1760 | Born in the Gallinas region of modern-day Sierra Leone 1773 | Captured in an attack on his uncle’s village; subsequently accused of witchcraft, sold to a slave trader in the Gallinas, and shipped to Charleston, South Carolina 1780 | Joins the British military in a noncombat role following the American surrender of Charleston in May; taken prisoner by the Americans on October 7 at the battle of Kings Mountain; apparently escapes and returns to Charleston 1782 | Evacuated by British to New York with other loyalists and English soldiers 1783 | As a so-called black loyalist, evacuated in April to Nova Scotia and settled near Shelburne 1792 | With his young family, joins nearly 1,200 other black loyalists in an exodus to the new English colony of Sierra Leone 1794 | Travels to London as witness against alleged Nova Scotian dissidents 1796 | With two friends launches a small sloop and begins trading in the Sherbro; participates in the first Baptist mission in Africa in nearby Port Logo 1799 | Sends nine-year-old son, George, to school in England 1805 | Having settled in the Sherbro, negotiates a cease-fire in a widespread and long-standing local war 1810 | On behalf of the British governor, undertakes mission to persuade chiefs and people throughout the Sherbro to stop trading in slaves; his detailed reports and letters are published in London in 1812 by the African Institution 1811 | Meets African American shipowner Paul Cuffe on Cuffe’s visit to Freetown and establishes the Friendly Society to promote trade between settlers in Sierra Leone and black communities in the United States 1813 | Reunited with his father’s brother and his mother’s people 1816–18 | Encourages Cuffe and colonization supporters in America to consider the Sherbro to settle free blacks xx Chronology 1820 | Receives, at his village on Sherbro Island, the first black settlers sent by the American Colonization Society 1821 | Defends his role in the abortive settlement at Sherbro, which leads in the following year to the establishment of the African American colony of Liberia 1825 | Delivers to James Tucker, a powerful chief in the Sherbro, the governor’s threat of death if he does not cease trading in slaves 1826 | Testifies to a British commission inquiring into the history and status of the colony at Sierra Leone 1830 | Detains a fellow Nova Scotian for allegedly kidnapping five liberated African boys The date and circumstances of Kizell’s death are unknown. The African American Odyssey of John Kizell ...