The Paradox of Protection

“Trina Hogg makes a major historiographical intervention by showing that land and labor mattered considerably more to political decision-making for nineteenth-century leaders in Sierra Leone than scholars have shown. In lucid writing, she convincingly details how protection emerged as a driving concern that shaped the contours of rule of law, even before the formal implementation of indirect British rule. The book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand West African history, debates about the legitimate commerce, and rule of law in African history.”—Emily Burrill, author of States of Marriage

“What did it mean to live under protection when conflict abounded? How did Sierra Leonean peoples experience subject colonized status and challenge imperial authority? Trina Hogg offers a striking historical narrative centering the real lived experience of coastal Africans. Richly archival and testimonial, The Paradox of Protection cuts an exciting new path through received wisdoms about indirect rule and British colonization.”—Benjamin N. Lawrance, author of Amistad’s Orphans

“This rich and remarkable history of politics and law in the Sherbro region of Sierra Leone reveals a central paradox of British imperial expansion: that of African leaders who sought protection to secure their own positions but found themselves disempowered by their ‘protectors.’ It makes an important contribution to the history of colonialism in Africa.”—Michael Lobban, professor of legal history, University of Oxford, author of Imperial Incarceration