Demerara 1823 Rebellion
Demerara 1823 Rebellion
Explain the course/nature of the Demerara 1823 revolt. (12marks )
The Demerara Revolt began in the year 1823. The following are the causes of Demerara Revolt; Misinterpretation of information, desire of the enslaved for their freedom, and poor treatment of the enslaved population.
In Demerara a man named Quamina who was a deacon at John Smith's Chapel heard news of Amelioration for the treatment of the enslaved. He accessed this information from John Smith a missionary who was from England. Since John Smith was from England, it is likely the he would gain information from his folks in England so it's a bit obvious that Quamina was able acquire such information relating to news from England as discussions may arise between Quamina and John Smith. Now, after acquiring such information Quamina decided to spread the news to his son jack who spreaded it to the enslaved. However the problem arose when the news of Amelioration for was misinterpreted as emancipation of the enslaved. The difference between Amelioration and Emancipation is that Amelioration the betterment of slave treatment and conditions whilst Emancipation is the freedom of the enslaved. After misinterpreting Amelioration for Emancipation, the slaves thought their slaves masters was withholding them from their freedom and this cause them to revolt.
Another reason why the enslaved of Demerara decided to revolt as because of their desire for freedom. Before slaves were brought from Africa to the Caribbean, they knew what freedom was, even though some were slaves in Africa, their treatment was not as brutal as slavery in the Caribbean. Also the enslaved Africans never accepted slavery even though years went by. The thoughts of their homeland were still fresh in their minds and they yearned each day to return to their homeland Africa. With that being the case the enslaved revolted.
Last but not least, the enslaved revolted because of the poor treatment they received from their slave masters on a daily basis. Quamina along with John Smith was consistently preaching to the enslaved about love, equality and freedom and how they should be treated according the Bible. The enslaved listened to Quamina especially because he was a black deacon. With his status as a deacon, the slaves listened to him. The enslaved were now getting more knowledgeable and they realized that their slave masters were not treating them according to the gospel Quamina and John Smith was preaching. They now believed that it was their right to be treat properly. Hence, they decided to revolt.
This revolt all started on the success and Le Resouvenir Estate in Demerara. In this revolt 30,000 enslaved Africans were involved. The numbers of slaves involved was so many because the revolt spreaded to other plantation and that increased the amount drastically. The burning of the cane field with it’s heavy smoke signals or let other estates know that a revolt was happening. In this revolt the enslaved used insurrectionary forms of resistances. Insurrectionary forms of resistance were methods used that were violent and caused more damage to the plantation and whole system of slavery. This included methods such as burning of the cane field, damaging or sabotaging Machineries and killing livestocks. It should be noted that although major acts of sabotaging happened in this revolt no whites were killed by the enslaved Africans.
Conclusively, the main cause of the Demerara Revolt was because of Misinterpretation of ameliorating better living conditions for the enslaved for Emancipation which Is the freedom of slaves. Even though it was the drive from the slaves to revolt In Demerara the slaves always desire their freedom and was not happy with their living conditions on the plantation. Quamina also played a major role in this revolt. He incited the slaves about the news of Amelioration and also his preaching with the Missionary John Smith from London also helped fueled the slaves to revolt.
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