Methodist missionary Thomas Birch Freeman (1809-1890) was one of the most successful missionaries of his day, founding churches in Nigeria and the Gold Coast. The son of an African father and English mother, he possessed great diplomatic skills in dealing with colonial administrators and native rulers, and Methodist churches spread rapidly using literate converts as lay preachers, particularly among freed and repatriated slaves. His resignation was caused by financial problems due to poor accounting. His Journal was serialised in a Methodist periodical between 1840 and 1843, published as a book in 1843, and revised the following year. His attempts to get the slave trade and the practice of human sacrifice abolished in Dahomey were frustrated, but he was much more successful in founding missions. The book is a fascinating picture of life in West Africa in the mid-nineteenth century.
- ISBN13 9780511782848
- Publish Date 7 September 2011 (first published 23 December 2010)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Cambridge University Press
- Imprint Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)
- Format eBook
- Language English