SLAVE REVOLTS IN THE CARIBBEANS

Originally a Spanish empire, Jamaica had grown to become the largest, the richest and very important possession of England in the Caribbean (Weinstein). The sugar plantations worked by a number of slaves was the main source of wealth; hence the need for constant supervision and fierce discipline. The dawn of revolution began in 1760 during the Easter holidays. Roughly 400 men were involved in the initial revolts, which later articulated to thousands of slaves all over the island. Edward long a well-known planter, describes the revolution as being the most formidable uprising in the whole of West Indies. This led to the signing of a peace treaty in 1738 that saw maroons have their territory, freedom and independence. The peace treaty of 1738 came with few conditions attached to it.

Among them was the surrender of all runaway slaves in the course of time. Two white residents were to help them in solving disputes that may arise between the blacks and the whites. Additionally, the maroons pledged to offered assistance against British enemies; they fulfilled their promise during the 1760 slave revolts. In 1766, another rebellion broke out with thirty-three Coromantins attacking and killing about twenty white persons. Their revolt was short lived as they were apprehended with some being killed on the spot while others were sent to island of Roatan where they were executed. This never marked the end of rebellion as later in 1772, a new rebellion came to rise. The March, 1772 rebellion was on British island of St. Vincent. The black Caribs occupied most parts of the land in question as it provided a societal feel.

Roads began to be built in 1771, with surveyors who were under the protection of forty Britain soldiers being sent to the hill to survey the land and sell it, later placing the Caribs in reserves. Joseph Chatoyer the leader of the rebellion organized armed Caribs to make the surveys end. They managed to halt the survey for the better part of the year until 1772 where Chatoyer and other forty Carib chiefs were in a negotiation table with Sir William Young (Weinstein). According to Young, the Caribs had a fixed resolution that disallowed the white settlers a consent to set up plantations in any part of the Caribbean. ’ A new negotiation started that same year with Chatoyer signing a treaty that would allow the Caribs to remain in occupation of the northern third of the island (Howard).

The plantation owners went against the treaty in 1779 as the French troops took control of the island. Chatoyer ignited a counter resistance in 1785 and 1791 preventing the return of the Britons to the island. Their resistance was again short lived as Chatoyers death was a big blow to the black Caribs. The survivors were expelled to Roatan Island where their descendants live to this day. The Jews despite listening to this calls, they declined to join the rebellion. The news on Tacky’s rebellion was whispered all over the island and lasted for many months. At the end, Tacky was captured by the Maroons and finally shot dead. His head hung on a pole in a town in Spain. His counterparts Fortune and Kingston were later hanged in irons on a gibbet in Kingston.

In his pamphlets, he gave an ultimatum to the black men working in the plantations, he asked those who feel oppressed and deprived of their freedom, to fight and destroy such oppressions (Oats et al. In an attempt to gain freedom, it was the duty of both blacks as well as the whites to help such creatures be free. Tacky’s rebellion, and this subsequent appeal to whites for revolutionary solidarity with the slaves, was to feed into the anti-slavery movement of the eighteenth century that eventually secured an end to the slave trade within the British Empire in 1807. The Haitian Revolution It is recognized as the only slave rebellion that was successfully. An independent republic was made as a result of this rebellion.

Different colonist had different take on the word ‘rights. ’ To some, it meant rights to own and accumulate wealth. But lifts on trade restrictions were among the rights demanded by many. Petit blancs, on the other hand, wanted citizenship and equal rights. The Blacks and mullatos wanted an end to racial discrimination, freedom and citizenship to all. The years between 1792 and 1802 signified anarchy, mayhem and revolution. The free slaves’ campaign had gained momentum, with the petits blancs and the grand blancs invading the Spanish and English troops. In the early days of rebellion, Jean-Francois, Biassou and Jeannot were the black generals. In 1791, Pierre-Dominique Toussaint joined the slave rebels by offering medical assistance. The Spanish troops joined the rebellion. Article 3; There cannot exist slaves on this territory, servitude is therein forever abolished.