Zanzibar's Freed Slave Villages: The Wangwana Rise

In 1850s Zanzibar, a new social class emerged from the shadows of the slave trade: the Wangwana, or freed people. This episode follows the formation of freed slave villages like Mbweni, where former captives from the Mrima coast built independent communities under British missionary protection. We explore the tensions between Wangwana and plantation owners, their role in the clove economy as wage laborers, and how the Hamerton Treaty's anti-slavery patrols created a growing population of 'liberated' Africans. Meet figures like Bishop Edward Steere and the freedman Abraham, who navigated a precarious freedom between Omani power and British abolitionism. A story of resilience, land disputes, and the slow birth of a new Swahili society. #Zanzibar #Wangwana #FreedSlaves #Abolition #SlaveTrade #ClovePlantations #Mbweni #EdwardSteere #MrimaCoast #HamertonTreaty #BritishEmpire #IndianOceanHistory #SwahiliCoast #WageLabor #Mission #Slavery #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo