In 1868 French missionaries established Freedom Village at Bagamoyo as a shelter for freed slaves. These slaves had been bought by the missionaries and were now free to live as human beings again. Unfortunately a lot of these former slaves had not lived in freedom for years, had been marched hundreds of miles from their homes and did not know how to return home. At the time, most African people lived in tribes and did not mix beyond their own tribe. Each tribe spoke their own language and had their own customs. Going back was really not an option as it was so far, they were not sure where they came from and their families had all been killed or taken as slaves.
The missionaries set up schools and workshops educating the freed slaves and teaching them vocational skills to enable them to work and support themselves.
From 1887 to 1891 Bagamoyo was actually the capital of German East Africa but in 1991 the capital was transferred to Dar es Salaam.