“Jamaican planters and British policymakers were most disturbed by the unique character of this revolt. Investigations in Jamaica had uncovered a deep involvement of the plantation elite…The rebel leaders were men who had enjoyed their masters’ trust.”
The Jamaican rebellion was unique in that there was only one revolt that occurred before the king abolished slavery. The rebellion was largely nonviolent; only fourteen whites were killed and much of the damage was inflicted on sugar cane trash and residences. The slaves had planned on saving the growing crops to later make a profit themselves. There is evidence that leaders encouraged their followers to rebel without bloodshed through “sit downs,” property damage, and on some occasions, disarm their masters and held them prisoners but never actually hurting them.
One of the interesting things to note about this rebellions is that the leaders consisted mainly of slaves who enjoyed more privileges and freedom than others. These slaves were allowed to travel freely, acquired non field work, and escaped the brutal lashes of a whip. Robert Gardner, one of the rebellion leaders claimed, “If Dove and I were to be stripped, our skin would be found to be as smooth as any white man’s, for we have never been flogged. I was quite happy.” One can ask why then, did these slaves decide to revolt? It was through this freedom that these privileged slaves were able to acquire an education as some of them were found to be quite literate. This literacy allowed them to discover the anti-slavery abolitionist movements that were taking place elsewhere, which in turn encouraged them to rise up and fight for their own freedom. Additionally, they also used the bible as a scapegoat as they quoted from it, “No man can serve two masters.” Their identification with the Baptists, led the slaves to label the revolt “the Baptist War.”
- What was unique about this particular rebellion as compared to say the Haitian Revolution?
- Why did the privileged slaves decide to revolt when they were living much happier lives compared to other slaves?
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