history montrope revolt Flashcards
PROBLEMS WHICH CREATED THE ENVIRONMENT FOR FAILURE IN JAMAICAN REVOLT
Evidence of Poor Planning
According to Hart, the rebellion planned by Sharpe was not well planned. In fact, Sharpe did not plan beyond the initial stages where the rioting occurred. Hart went on to say that Sharpe’s plan to form a slave army was very last minute and left the slaves confused. This led to many of the rebels being unarmed during the rebellion. The slave rebels therefore suffered significantly as a consequence.
Turner argues and makes the point that there was hardly any secrecy as it relates to the rebellion. Missionaries for example became aware of the plans of the rebellion days before it occurred and accounts show that they actively tried to discourage the members of their congregation from taking part. Several plantations owners were also told about the revolt from their loyal slaves and they were able to take steps to discourage and deter any planned activities by the enslaved. Additionally, some rebels took it upon themselves to start the revolt ahead of time. This created suspicion.
Notable Poor Leadership/Notable Poor Quality of Leadership
Although Sharpe played an active role in planning the rebellion, he was hardly a leader. In fact, he appointed several slaves as captains and colonels. These appointees were unable to advise the rebels on how to fight and utilise guerrilla warfare. More importantly each captain and colonel had his own motives and this too destroyed any cohesion among the slaves.
Conflict also developed between those slaves who wanted freedom and those who wanted to keep their status as a slave.
Arguably, it could be said that the rebels were somewhat passive and this was reflected by the insistence that whites remained unharmed. This is seen in Holt’s assessment. According to him, the enslaved were challenged to burn buildings and fields but shed no blood.
Other Notable Factors
Other than poor planning and poor leadership, there are some other factors which led to the failure of the Jamaican rebellion.
The rebels did not gain the support of the maroons.
The local army was able to suppress the rebellion because they were better trained and had superior weapons.
Causes of the Bussa rebellion
The Haitian revolution and its implications for freedom among slave colonies (the impact of the Haitian revolution) presented blacks with a success story and many were willing to achieve ultimate freedom.
Barbados was compromised by the economic backlash of the Haitian revolution which led to falling sugar prices and starvation. With a reduce in profits, many slaves in the south-east of the island faced many hardships in terms of living conditions and punishments.
Registry Bill - The enslaved blacks in Barbados were aware of Wilberforce’s attempt to pass a Registry Bill through parliament. Slaves saw this as an opportunity as the first steps to freedom. Some slaves made the mistake of believing that the Registration Bill of 1816 was intended to grant them freedom. Nanny Grigg, one of the rebellion leaders was somewhat to blame as she relied on hearsay to inform the slaves.
The Outcomes of Bussa Rebellion
The rebellion lasted three days and it was dismissed by the militia army rather easily. Arguably this was expected as Barbados was not particularly rebellious. No slaves uprising occurred in Barbados over 100 years. The slaves were restricted by topography. Barbados was quite small and lacked mountains and forests.
African-born slaves were more willing to fight than the creole slaves (those slaved born in Barbados) because they knew what freedom was like. In Barbados 90% of the slaves were creole. This therefore dampened any spirit of rebellion.
The freed mulattoes were pro-white and gave support to the planter class in the hope of getting greater privileges after the rebellion. As with most rebellions in the Caribbean, the Barbados rebellion suffered from poor leadership as a lack of planning was evident.
