Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading content…
Loading…
Transcript

The Baptist War/Christmas Rebellion

Jayda Washington

Yoshiyah Fleet

Samuel Sharpe

Key People

One of the key people involved in the Baptist War was Samuel Sharpe. His nickname was ¨Daddy.¨ He had been given some but restricted freedom to move around the island of Jamaica. He used his freedom, especially the ability to travel on a traditional holiday or religious service, to discuss and plan for the Baptist revolt. These occasions in which Sharpe would meet with other Baptists during holiday, there was one in mid-December 1831, at the end of a prayer meeting, Sharpe and a selected group of leaders stayed behind to discuss the plans for the revolt. He would side with a rebel military group known as the Black Regiment led by a slave known as Colonel Johnson of Retrieve Estate in order to conduct his revolt.

Samuel Sharpe

Image of Sharpe

Since 1975, Samuel Sharpe has had his face on the front of the $50 Jamaican dollar.

Sharpe on modern day currency

There is not much documentation of Colonel Johnson, all that is known is his role in the revolt.

Colonel Johnson

When and Where

When & Where ?

The Baptist war happened in 1831-1832, in the British Caribbean colony Jamaica.

Jamaica

Jamaica

Reasons

Reasons

The reasons the Baptist war occurred were because in 1831, an economic depression hit Jamaica and affected some impoverished whites along with slaves. Tension was concentrated because the abolition of slavery was being debated in the British Parliament (the mother country of Jamaica). Upset with these debates, Jamaican planters spoke heated speeches and wrote articles in the newspapers, attacking the emancipation. Their attitudes and actions contributed to the agitation and discontent of the slave majority. This led to slaving going on strike, not to return to work unless they were presented with basic freedoms and a stable living wage. When rumors spread that British colonists planned to break the strike by force, the protest turned into an outright rebellion.

How it Happened

On Monday, December 27, 1831, the rebellion began. Starting with about 150 slaves with 50 guns among them, Colonel Johnson’s Black Regiment fought with a local militia led by Colonel Grignon at old Montpelier on December 28. on the Kensington Estate near Montego Bay. Sugar cane fields present on the farms were set ablaze. Whites not already in town for Christmas fled to Montego Bay and other communities. The rebel slaves burned and looted nearby plantations for several days. By the end of the revolt, over 60,000 of the 300,000 slaves participated in the revolt, and there was a $1.1 million loss in property damage caused by the chaos. By the time the British colonial army arrived and put a stop to the revolt, as many as 300 slaves and 14 whites had been killed. Along with the previous 300 slaves, three hundred more slaves, including the ringleader Sharpe, were later hanged for their involvement in the uprising.

Image

Outcomes & Significance

Outcome & Significance

The outcomes of the war was that 14 of the free slaves had been killed, and more than 300 enslaved men and women were executed. The Christmas rebellion was significant because it was the largest slave rebellion in the British West Indies, and helped towards the removal of slavery one year after the rebellion in 1833. Furthermore, by 1838, the system of apprenticeship (a lesser form of slavery) was abolished Britain, adopting full emancipation throughout all of its colonies which freed all slaves. In total, 311,000 enslaved Africans in Jamaica and hundreds of thousands more across the colonies gained freedom from British colonial slavery. A great number of slaves were also able to successfully run away.

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi