Barbados Rebellion, 1816

Question 1

when

Answer 1

easter sunday

crushed on the 2nd day

destroyed sixty estate buildings and many cane fields

Question 2

reasons for revolt

Answer 2

1. in 1815, william wilberforce introduced a bill called the registration act, this act was widely misunderstood. free nergos told the slaves they would be freed on jan 1st 1816, when they realised they would be disappointed, they revolted.
2. planters opposed the registration act which made slaves believe even more that the planters were withholding their freedom
3. some slaves believed barbados belonged to them
4. desire for freedom, freedom to create their own laws
5. burtality of plantation slavery/system
6. some slaves were literate like nanny grigg, and they had access to english and newspapers where they learnt about what was happening in England and haiti.
   the haitian rev inspired them
7. bussa emerged as an able leader

Question 3

registration act

Answer 3

all slaves in the WI were to be entered in offical registers to prevent the smuggling of slaves which was being carried on extensively, as well as to keep a check on the morality DEATH RATE among slaves.

Question 4

actions of slaves course of revolt

Answer 4

1. slaves set trash piles and cane fields afire
2. plantation buildings were destroyed
3. mills were turned into the wind
4. one white person was killed
5. bell was rung to signal to the slaves on other plantations

Question 5

reasons for speedy action by commander of the garrison (colonel edward codd)

Answer 5

1. wanted to prevent any further disorder
2. he wanted to avoid an outright/full on revolution in order to prevent economic ruin
3. colonel wanted to teach the slaves that any efforts to rebel were futile and costly to their lives. hopelessness.
4. the destruction of haiti was still fresh in the whites minds

Question 6

reasons for initial success

Answer 6

1. planters were complacent and wrongly belived their slaves were happy and content
2. planned for 5 months from xmas to april and the revolt coincided with easter sunday as the slaves knew many whites would be away from plantations
3. that long planning time gave them ample time to organise
4. guerilla warfare and most had very violent tactics
5. revolt spread to over 70 of the largest estates
6. got weapons when they invaded st phillip
7. effective leadership in bussa nanny grigg joesph washington franklin
8. some slaves were forced and threatened to join the rebellion

Question 7

measures taken against rebel slaves

Answer 7

1. martial law was proclaimed
2. troops were mobilised
3. slaves caught off their estate were murdered right where they stood
4. 176 were killed by troops
5. executions were carried out by the orders of a makeshift court
6. 214 slaves were hanged and their heads were placed on poles
7. leaders like joesph wasinghton franklin were executed
8. several slaves were deported to british honduras but then there wasn’t enough space so they were shipped to sierra leone

Question 8

factors that caused the failure of the revolt

Answer 8

• martial law caused fear among the slaves
• destroyed the houses of the slaves- no place to hide
• some free coloureds helped the whites
• slaves lacked proper communication and fighting skills
• bussa’s death led to a loss of morale killed in a fight

Question 9

consequences

Answer 9

1. the slaves were defeated and many of them lost their lives
2. there was a reduction in the size of the labour force
3. there was widespread destruction of property including 1/5 of all sugar crop
4. the whites turned against the missionaries as they blamed them from telling the slaves ‘‘all men are equal’’ and that they deserved their freedom, chapels were destroyed and william shrewsbury was banished off the island, this poor treatment swayed public opinion in britain and more people in britain become for emancipation and against the planters

Question 10

why bussa was regarded as the leader

Answer 10

1. he had a high position on bayley’s plantation and he commanded the respect of the other slave rebels
2. the final showdown against the troops took place on bayley’s
3. head coordinator from historal data documents
4. other names have been associated with the revolt but bussa has been attributed to the head by historians

Question 11

nanny grigg- two parishes

Answer 11

the revolt was crushed on the second day, by which time it had spread to the parishes of st.john and st.george. the slaves had succeded in destroying 60 estate buildings and many cane fields