Large-scale slave rebellions did take place in the Caribbean, and plantation slaves were capable of forming elaborate plans and keeping them secret. Nat Turner was somewhat of a mystic. About 500 slaves rose up, caused considerable damage and killed two white men. But before it was abolished, enslaved people had three available methods to resist a life in bondage: They could rebel against enslavers. The Jansens were able to retreat to their waiting boat and escape to Durloe's Plantation. John. Some plantations were destroyed by the violence and people killed. Two days later the slaves banded together and killed the son of their plantation owner. The French ships returned to Martinique on June 1, leaving the local militia to track down the remaining rebels, which they did over the next three months. While they found St. Croix to be a richer land, they had to have their slaves clear jungle before being able to live there readily. The 1733 slave insurrection on St. John (Sankt Jan) in the Danish West Indies (now St. John, United States Virgin Islands) started on November 23, 1733, when 150 African slaves from (present-day Ghana) revolted against the owners and managers of the island's plantations. Tacky, a Coromantee Chief was from the Guinea area of the West Coast of Africa, as were many of the slaves sold to plantations in the St. Mary’s Parish of Jamaica. Some were larger in ambition and sent a chill down the spines of countless Southern planters. Murdering a master was the ultimate act of individual rebellion. If there was one thing more difficult than being a black slave in the American South, it was being a black female slave… Some slaves assumed their owners surnames. Some slaves resisted by planning rebellions. Out of an estimated 74,000 slaves in the united colony of Essequibo-Demerara about 13,000 took part in the uprising. Two of the most famous revolts were in the early nineteenth century. The deadliest revolt in Colonial America takes place in Stono, SC. In retaliation for years of oppression, their enemies sold many Akwamu people into slavery to the Danes; they were transported to plantations in the West Indies, including estates on St. Before the uprising began, his plan was revealed and he was captured, tried, and hanged. The most successful slave rebellion in history, the Haitian Revolution began as a slave revolt and ended with the founding of an independent state. The strikers’ demands were ignored, and the strike turned into an open rebellion by tens of thousands of slaves. Slaves did sometimes act violently against whites, assaulting and even killing masters and overseers. In February, 1763 slaves on a … All artwork on the 1811 Slave Revolt exhibit at Destrehan Plantation is by local folk artist Lorraine Gendron. The Danish West India Company provided only six soldiers for the defense of St. John, which supplemented the local white militia. [8] An hour later, other slaves were admitted into the fort at Coral Bay to deliver wood, a regular event. Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica – 17th Century Slave Rebellions and Plots As one of the earliest plantation-society islands, Barbados first utilized indentured servants for sugar plantation labor. [2], In 1718 the Danish claimed the island of St. John to develop sugar plantations and crops such as indigo and cotton; there was an especially great demand for sugar and prices were high in Europe. This was even more shocking than any previous uprising. The Dutch either fled altogether or holed up on a well-fortified sugar plantation … The Dutch either fled altogether or holed up on a well-fortified sugar plantation … The insurrection began at the plantation of Manuel Andry in St. John the Baptist Parish. UNAUTHORIZED REPUBLICATION IS A COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONContent Usage Permissions, Gateway Virginia, The Richmond Times Dispatch. After meeting with the Tortola officials and the runaway slaves, Schmitz returned to St. John to relay the slaves' resolve to stay away because of abusive treatment by the overseers on the plantations. by Bill Evans. [2], When the Spanish first occupied the West Indies, they used the indigenous people as slave labor but most died as a result of infectious disease, overwork, and war. Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was a rebellion of black slaves that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831, led by Nat Turner. [3] The British won out before the Danes claimed Saint John in 1718, but numerous Dutch planters stayed on the island. [15], Great African Slave Revolt of Guamacaro, Matanzas, "The 1733 Slave Revolt on the Island of St. John: Continuity and Change from Africa to the Americas", "Part I: Establishment and Consolidation, 1718–1755", "Timeline of the Emancipation of the Danish West Indies", "St. John's Other Revolt: The Desertions of 1840", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1733_slave_insurrection_on_St._John&oldid=994662688, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2019, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from November 2014, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 December 2020, at 21:52. Scenes from Nat Turner’s 1831 Rebellion — this rebellion is well known, but many lesser-known slave rebellions preceded it. Colony militia continued to hunt down maroons and finally declared the rebellion at an end in late August 1734. While some plantations had been started, there was not an adequate supply of laborers among the settlers. Starting as early as 1663, slaves were organizing revolts to regain their freedom. The idea was to put off future rebels by showing them how any rebellion would be punished. Brother Schmitz, the local Moravian missionary, was sent to Tortola by the St. John police to persuade the slaves to return. The first plantations in Africa were founded between 1500 and 1800 on islands such as CAPE VERDE, SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, ZANZIBAR, MAURITIUS, and REUNION. On July 3, 1848, 114 years after the slave insurrection, enslaved Afro-Caribbeans of St. Croix held a non-violent, mass demonstration seeking abolition of slavery. […] Mississippi was settled by the French in the 1720s. [1], Planters regained control by the end of May 1734, after the Akwamu were defeated by several hundred better-armed French and Swiss troops sent in April from Martinique, a French colony. Defenders repelled the slaves' attack at Durloe's, and many planters and their families escaped to St. Thomas, an estimated 5–9 miles (8.0–14.5 km) by sea. It is noteworthy that the 1811 uprising in Orleans Territory was in a sense a direct continuation, on the American mainland, of the uprising in St. Domingue. On January 8, 1811, a slave revolt led by Charles Deslondes swept by Destrehan’s Plantation. During the revolt, former slaves organized a government and controlled most of the colony for almost a year. [13] On May 24, 1840, eleven slaves from St. John stole a boat and escaped to Tortola during the night. It was, however, large-scale and bloody rebellions that frightened slaveowners and brought into greater focus the anger and frustration of the enslaved to Northerners. The loyal Jansen slaves also escaped. [14], Slaves and free blacks petitioned the colonial government and Denmark to abolish slavery. Gabriel Prosser and his brother, Solomon, were preparing for the … Only a few organized revolts, in which the enslaved threatened white lives and property, ever actually took place. Two hundred and five years ago, on the night of January 8, 1811, more than 500 enslaved people took up arms in one of the largest slave rebellions … Gabriel Prosser's Rebellion Plot. [2] The rebel slaves moved along to the north shore of the island. The main insurrection started in 1791 in the valuable French colony of Saint-Domingue. They intended to resume crop production under their own control and use Africans of other tribes as slave labor. Forty-seven African-Americans were condemned to death for alleged involvement in the plot. From razing New York City to torching Louisiana plantations, these slave rebellions paved the way for the Civil War, and the eventual abolition of slavery. Some accounts tell of slaves poisoning their masters and mistresses. Turner and about 18 of his supporters were hanged. 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