Gambia
International Human Rights Year Issue
of 1968
The one penny denomination depicts the shackles that were placed on slaves.
The one penny denomination depicts Fort Bullen whose guns closed the Gambia River to slave traders.
The five shilling denomination depicts the Methodist Church that advanced the cause of the abolition of slavery.
On July 15, 1968 Gambia issued a set of three stamps to celebrate International Human Rights Year. All three values feature the human rights flame in gold. The one penny denomination depicts handcuffs or shackles which are artefacts of the West African slave trade. The one shilling value features Fort Bullen, the gun battery built by the British in 1826 to give their cannons the range to close the Gambia River to slave traders. The high value five shilling stamp depicts the Methodist Church. The British Methodist's championed the movement to abolish slavery in West Africa even before establishing their missionary presence in Gambia in 1821. John Wesley, the minister who was one of the early leaders of the movement preached, "Give liberty to whom liberty is due, that is, to every child of man, to every partaker of human nature. Let none serve you but by his own act and deed, by his own voluntary action. Away with all whips, all chains, all compulsion. Be gentle toward all men; and see that you invariably do with every one as you would he should do unto you."
Bibliography
"Gambia." Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. 2015.
Goode, Dominic. "Fort Bullen." Fortified Places. nd. Web. 30 Aug. 2020
www.fortified-places.com/bullen/default.htm.
"John Wesley (1703-1791): The Methodist Minister." The Abolition Project. 2009. Web. 30 Aug. 2020.
abolition.e2bn.org/index.php.
Lamb, Bob. "World in a Nutshell - Gambia." American Philatelist. Dec. 2017: 1216.
"(MMAP) Methodist Mission Agricultural Programme, Gambia." Gambia Information Site. 2020. Web. 30 Aug. 2020.
www.accessgambia.com/biz1/mmap-methodist-mission-agricultural-programme.html.
Direct comments, questions and corrections to:
stampquestions@hotmail.com
© Grose Educational Media, 2020
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