BERBICE 1763 REBELLION

Hello My BLOGGY PIES. In today's Blog I will be talking about The Berbice 1763 Rebellion.

 BERBICE 1763 REBELLION

THE BERBICE 1763 REVOLT ALSO KNOWN AS THE "CUFFY REBELLION

on  23 February 1763 the enslaved people in the Dutch colony of Berbice revolted. The population of Berbice consisted of roughly 350 Europeans and approximately 5000 enslaved Africans. Almost all of the Europeans fled from their plantations – forty of them were killed. It took more than 10 months to recapture the colony from the enslaved people, during which more than 1800 enslaved persons were killed.

THE CAUSES OF THE BERBICE 1763 REBELLION/ CUFFY REBELLION ARE:

1. THE SHORTAGE OF FOOD- A private company named the Berbice Association who ran the colony economized the imports of food. This meant that the plantocracy reduced the spending money on food and did not grow enough provision on the estate. Therefore many slaves were underfed.

2.  THE TERRIBLE TREATMENT AND INJUSTICE BY THE PLANTOCRACY- Slaves were seen as properties and as inferior by the plantocracy. Thus, the plantocracy treated them less than themselves and would employ brutal punishment on slaves by the slightest provocations. 

 The pictures below is illustrating the terrible treatment and injustice faced by the enslaved Africans. 

3. THE LACK OF FREEDOM- The enslaved Africans always wanted their freedom, it was always in their mind to get back to their homeland Africa because they never accepted slavery.

4. The estate were often left in the hands of managers and overseers who did not give a thought o the welfare of the slaves.

It should be noted that the Governor of Berbice Van Hoogenheim sympathized with the plight of the slaves before the rebellion. This sounds strange but it should be taken into account that not all plantation owners was evil. Some even granted their slaves manumission. However, on the February 23rd on the Magdelenenburg on the Canje river Van Hoogenheim he lost sympathy for the slaves. 

BELOW IS A VIDEO THAT EXPLAINS IN FULL DETAILS ABOUT THE BERBICE 1763 REBELLION

The Berbice Revolt began on February 23rd 1763 and many whites took refuge on plantation Peerboom but it was attacked by 600 slaves. Kofi who referred to himself as the governor of the slaves guaranteed safety of the whites if they surrendered the estates to him . The food and water the whites had was running out so they agreed to Kofi's terms and tried to convince Van Hoogenheim that the estates should be handed over to  Kofi in exchange for their lives. However van Hoogenheim tricked Kofi and told him that he should  wait 2 months for a reply from  Howland . This was the BIGGEST mistake that Kofi  made. In the meantime Van Hoogenheim  sent out letters for reinforcements  to fight with him against the slaves . By the time Kofi had realized Van Hoogenheims  what was Van Hoogenheims plans it was already too late.  Kofi and his men was outnumbered and  the ball was now in van Hoogenheims  court. He was back in full control.  The revolt lasted for about 10 months and in the process Kofi took his life. This happened because there was a conflict between Kofi and his second in command named Atta  about the approach in which they should take the revolt. Thus Kofi and Atta went separate ways and as a result of this internal conflict and separation Kofi lost and he committed suicide. Atta was however leading a loss cause because the white shad more help coming. Most of the slaves ran away into the forest and some was haunted down and killed.

REASONS WHY THE REVOLT WAS UNSUCESSFUL:

1. The rebels had different aim and reasons for revolting which made it confusing 

2. The Division among the Rebels 

3.Failure to seize on the momentum- Kofi did not take full advantage of the chance he had to win the revolt  and delayed.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING. I HOPE THAT YOU LEARNT SOMETHING NEW FROM THIS BLOG. UNTIL NEXT TIME.QUEENRCIA SIGNING OUT.😘😘