Slavery has been implemented by societies since the beginning of human civilization. Jamaica, which is the jewel of the British Empire in the New World, is built upon slavery and sugar plantations. The whole economy of Jamaica is dependent on slavery meanwhile slave owners are making enormous profits off the labor of these slaves that are treated horribly and oppressed by the white men in Jamaica. After being deprived of their freedom and their rights for so long, slaves revolted against their masters and began to fight for their freedom. This is apparent in the novel Wide Sargasso Sea, where slaves in Jamaica have begun a revolution for emancipation.

In Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette was a white creole girl who was living with her mother, Annette, and Mr. Mason, her step father who was a slave owner. Annette had warned Mr. Mason that the slaves were dangerous and hostile, but Mr. Mason assured her that no harm will come from the slaves. One night Antoinette wakes up to hear a crowd of slaves outside her house. It was a big protest from the many slaves. They burn the house down, killing Antoinette’s little brother, Pierre. This scene from the novel illustrates the violence that broke out during these revolts, innocents are harmed and chaos ensues. Annette breaks down and blames Mr. Mason for the revolt happening, “So it was all the more dreadful when she began to scream abuse at Mr Mason, calling him a fool, a cruel stupid fool. ‘I told you,’ she said, ‘I told you what would happen again and again! Her voice broke, but still she screamed, ‘You would not listen, you sneered at me, you grinning hypocrite.” (Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea, 22). Being a Creole woman, Annette understood the slaves and she did not trust them. The slaves fought for their own freedom, but many innocent people were caught in the crossfire of these revolt, serving as collateral damage.

Events similar to this depicted in Wide Sargasso Sea was not uncommon in Jamaica during these times however. Slave revolts occurred quite often, Trevor Burnard says in Weapons of the Strong and Responses of the Weak, “Whites were right to be afraid. Jamaican history was punctuated by numerous slave revolts and rumors of revolt… Thistlewood experienced a number of revolts and near revolts in Jamaica.” (Burnard 140). Slaves who attacked whites had severe consequences, many slaves were punished and just obeyed their white masters, but there were many slaves who were ready to act upon violence and ready to attack the whites in their fight for freedom. Through many years of revolutions and fighting, slavery was abolished in Jamaica on August 20, 1833. Many of the white owners were not pleased and the economy of Jamaica would suffer in their loss of slavery. The main problem of the British and the Jamaican government was to give freedom to the slaves without changing the social order in the society. As a result, the slaves were emancipated, but they would have to keep the existing social order intact. Holt states, “They would be free, but only after resocialized to accept the internal discipline that ensured the survival of the existing social order… They would be free to pursue their own self interest but not free to reject the cultural conditioning that defined what that self interest should be.” (Holt 53). Slaves do what they want to do, but they cannot ignore what the society expects them to do. Slaves would be free, but they still have a role in society to keep the social order from changing.

Slaves in Jamaica had been fighting for their freedom for years. Revolts against their masters have finally sent a message to Britain and pressured them to abolish slavery in Jamaica. Wide Sargasso Sea displayed the experiences that these revolts bring to people. Whether it would be the slaves or white people living in Jamaica at the time, everyone was affected. Innocent people were hurt and many people died for their cause. Emancipation came after a long fight against slavery, but slaves weren’t completely free. They still had obligations to work and make sure the social order and economy in Jamaica was stable.