Q: Apart from the Haitian Revolution, what was the largest revolt led by enslaved African people in the Americas?
– Black History Questions and Answers Admin Team
A: There were a few mass uprisings of enslaved people in the Americas that were on a similar scale to the revolution in Haiti.
In our research, one stands out the most.
That would be the Baptist War (also commonly referred to as the Sam Sharpe Rebellion), which happened on the island of Jamaica during the years of 1831 and 1832. What is most surprising about the Baptist War is how well it had been organized and executed.
Based on reports from that time, more than 60,000 rebels were involved. This was an entire fifth of the total population of enslaved people in Jamaica. In other words, one out of every five slaves was down for the struggle. Even more remarkable is the fact that this revolt was actually a non-violent demonstration. Sam Sharpe made it clear to his disciples from the very beginning that this was to be a strike for wages. So although it was within their power to attempt an overthrow of the colonial government and to establish a settlement of their own, this “war” was virtually bloodless. Only a handful of planters lost their lives.
The rebels thought that their masters would be moved by their protests. Maybe they would have a change of heart and, eventually, they would come to respect their former stepladders as equals. Needless to say, the rebels of the Sam Sharpe Rebellion were massacred in droves. This, perhaps, is why we don’t hear about Deacon Sam Sharpe’s Rebellion in Jamaica as much as we hear about General Toussaint’s revolution in Haiti, which had already laid the foundations of a new nation thirty years prior.
But the Baptist War was by no means a failure. It was quite the opposite. The Black people of Jamaica had shown to the establishment a fraction of the damage that they were capable of. And for both sides of the struggle, enough was enough. This crusade for Black liberation added to mounting pressures against pro-slavery factions in mainland Britain. Public fears of further disturbances in the colonies had suddenly reached a boiling point. The following year, the British parliament enacted the Slave Emancipation Act, outlawing the practice of slavery altogether.
It is for this reason that Tom Zoellner, who wrote the book Island on Fire: The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire (2020), refers to the Baptist War as “a politically successful revolution.” The Baptist War did not just end slavery in Jamaica. It opened the floodgates for the freedom of enslaved men, women, and children all around the world.
– Omri Coke, Black Researchers United Admin Team
Read More on this topic here:
https://theblackresearcher.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-other-black-revolutions.html
