Social Change and Social Class in the Sierra Leone Protectorate

The main factor promoting change in African society today is the desire for a higher standard of living than is attainable under the tribal system. Having had a few years at school places the individual on the fringe of a new society. In the Sierra Leone Protectorate the Europeanized African "Creole" from the original Sierra Leone Colony is the main cultural medium and, alogn with the European official, sets the princiapl social standars. "Creolization" is giving rise to a system of social classes in the Protectorate which, though still embryonic, can be clearly conceptualized in terms of "Creole," "literate native," and "illiterate native".