The Grandma has been reading about the Morant Bay Rebellion, a protest march in Jamaica that meant the end of slavery in this country, on a day like today in 1865.
The Morant Bay Rebellion (11 October 1865) began with a protest march to the courthouse by hundreds of people led by preacher Paul Bogle in Morant Bay, Jamaica.
Some were armed with sticks and stones. After seven men were shot and killed by the volunteer militia, the protesters attacked and burned the courthouse and nearby buildings. A total of 25 people died. Over the next two days, poor freedmen, many ex-slaves, rose in rebellion across most of St. Thomas-in-the-East parish.
The Jamaicans were protesting injustice and widespread poverty. Most freedmen were prevented from voting by high poll taxes, and their living conditions had worsened following crop damage by floods, cholera and smallpox epidemics, and a long drought. A few days before the march, when police tried to arrest a man for disrupting a trial, a fight broke out against them by spectators. Officials then issued a warrant for the arrest of preacher Bogle, who had called for reforms, and was charged with inciting to riot.
Governor Edward John Eyre declared martial law in the area, ordering in troops to hunt down the rebels. They killed many innocent black individuals, including women and children, with an initial death toll of more than 400. Troops arrested more than 300 persons, including Bogle. Many of these were also innocent, but were quickly tried and executed under martial law; both men and women were punished by whipping and long sentences.
This was the most severe suppression of unrest in the history of the British West Indies.
More information: Medium
The governor had George William Gordon, a mixed-race representative of the parish in the House of Assembly, arrested in Kingston and brought back to Morant Bay, where he tried the politician under martial law. Gordon was quickly convicted and executed.
The violent suppression and numerous executions generated a fierce debate in England, with some protesting about the unconstitutional actions of the governor John Eyre, and others praising him for his response to a crisis. The rebellion and its suppression remain controversial, and it is frequently debated by specialists in black and colonial studies.
Slavery in Jamaica was abolished on 1 August 1834 with the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act.
The act also stipulated that all formerly enslaved persons in Jamaica over the age of six would work as apprentices for a period of four to six years for their former enslavers, though British abolitionists protested against the apprenticeship system, and it was fully abolished by 1 August 1838.
This date marked the start of Jamaicans formerly in the apprenticeship system being allowed to choose their employer and profession; though they also gained the right to vote, most Jamaicans could not afford to pay the poll tax required to participate in Jamaica's political system. The poll tax was introduced by the colonial government to disfranchise the majority of emancipated Jamaicans, being fearful of causing an anti-colonial uprising (such as the Haitian Revolution) if they granted too much political power.
More information: Branch
A few days later on 11 October, Paul Bogle with hundreds of Jamaican peasant-labourers, again marched to Morant Bay. The marchers had taken oaths, to cleave to the black and leave the white, a sign that they were preparing for insurrection, or so Gad Heuman argues, indicating that oath taking in African tradition was a way to bring the group together and prepare for war.
When the group arrived at the courthouse in Morant Bay, they were met by local officials and a small and inexperienced volunteer militia, gathered from personnel from the plantations. The crowd began pelting the militia with rocks and sticks, and the militia opened fire on the protesters. This angered the crowd, who reacted violently, burning the courthouse and nearby buildings.
In response, Governor John Eyre sent government troops, under Brigadier-General Alexander Nelson, to hunt down the poorly armed rebels and bring Bogle back to Morant Bay for trial. The troops met with no organized resistance, but they killed blacks indiscriminately, most of whom had not been involved in either the riot at the courthouse or the later rebellion. Heuman has described it as a reign of terror.
The Jamaican Maroons of Moore Town, under the command of former Charles Town superintendent Alexander Fyfe, committed a number of atrocities and extrajudicial murders before they captured and arrested Bogle, and delivered him to the colonial authorities.
Believing that the blacks could not have planned such events themselves, as he shared the widespread white assumption of the time that they were not capable of it, Governor John Eyre had representative George William Gordon arrested. The mixed-race Jamaican businessman and politician was wealthy and well-known; he was openly critical of the governor and his policies. Eyre believed that Gordon had been behind the rebellion. Despite having very little to do with it, Gordon was quickly convicted and executed. Though he was arrested in Kingston, where martial law had not been declared, Eyre had him transferred to Morant Bay, where he could be tried under martial law.
The trial and execution of Gordon via martial law, following the excesses of suppressing the rebellion, added to the outrage felt by many in Britain.
They felt there were serious constitutional issues by Eyre's bringing Gordon under martial law. They were concerned about whether British dependencies should be ruled under the government of law, or through military licence. With a speedy trial, Gordon was convicted quickly and hanged on 23 October, just two days after his trial had begun.
More information: The Voice
On 25 October, Paul Bogle was hanged alongside 14 others, including his brother Moses.
Other punishments included flogging of more than 600 men and women, including some pregnant women, and long prison sentences.
The soldiers burned thousands of homes belonging to black Jamaicans without any justifiable reason, leaving families homeless throughout the parish. This was the most severe suppression of unrest in the history of the British West Indies, exceeding incidents during slavery years.
Eyre was replaced as governor by John Peter Grant who arrived in August 1866.
Since the 1830s free people of colour, like Gordon, Edward Jordon, and Robert Osborn, had been elected to the Jamaican House of Assembly in increasing numbers, and that alarmed the colonial authorities. In the wake of the Morant Bay Rebellion, Eyre, with the support of the Colonial Office, persuaded the Assembly to renounce its charter, thus ending two centuries of elected representation in the Colony of Jamaica.
White planters were appointed by the governor. However, this move deprived the black majority of a voice in the colony's government, and it was condemned by Jordon and Osborn.
Jamaica became a Crown Colony, under direct rule from London.
In 1969, Paul Bogle and George William Gordon were among several men who were named as Jamaican National Heroes, the highest honour in the nation.
More information: National Library of Jamaica
Jamaica is more than just the 'brand' the world recognizes so well;
it's a place of pride for the people who live here,
its educational institutions, its sports achievements,
its science and technology growth.
Portia Simpson-Miller
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