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1764 - 1834 - Bussa and the Road to Emancipation
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The black slaves brought from West Africa to Barbados were treated cruelly and like property. If they died, they were simply replaced by new ones. They had no rights and all aspects of their culture were suppressed to try and prevent them gathering in song and dance. If a slave wanted to leave a plantation he first had to receive permission from his owner, the Plantation owner.
Black slaves were forced to work from dawn to dusk with a break of two hours at noon. It was all manual labour that involved digging and ploughing the soil, planting the sugar cane, cropping the sugar cane at its root where it was most thick, and carrying the cane to the factories. The work was demanding and physically exhausting, resulting in many slaves dying from exhaustion.
Despite the treatment being likened to the treatment of the rest of Europe in the eighteenth century, where sailors were regularly whipped and beaten, the slaves did not benefit from any wages. They were allowed Sunday off as a day of rest but that was it. Work was arduous and relentless. Whilst they were essential to the success of the plantation, they were considered on a similar level to the horses and oxen required to work the land too.
The plantation owners who controlled the government, the plantocracy, knew full well of the turbulent undertones in their society. However, they felt that the best way to control the population was to keep them suppressed so a vicious cycle of bad treatment building resentment building more bad treatment was effected.
However, not all the plantation owners were the same. Some tried to alleviate the conditions and allow the slaves some freedoms such as Saturday afternoons off, as well as Sunday's, to dance and play music. Some plantation owners would also grant their favoured slaves freedom, particularly the women who they would regularly move into their homes. Any children of the women would also be granted their freedom and so a new class of free coloured people started to emerge.
At the same time, a Humanitarian movement grew in England. In 1765, Granville Sharp secured the freedom of a slave, Jonathan Strong, who had been brought to England by a Barbadian planter. In 1772, Sharp won another case that would prove to be a huge stepping-stone in the path to slave freedom.
In this judgement, the Chief Justice of England, Lord Mansfield declared that all slaves in the country should be declared free. This landmark ruling paved the way for William Wilberforce who fought successfully in British Parliament for the slave trade to be utterly abolished across all the colonies in 1807.
Whilst this did not grant the slaves freedom it did prevent any further shipment of slaves to the colonies. This was a huge milestone in the development of slave freedom and Wilberforce had to fight hard against the plantation owners of the West Indies to achieve this historical victory.
Three weeks after the abolition of slavery, the African Institution was formed to ensure that the abolition of the slave trade was actually carried out. The African Institution received vast sums of money from wealthy families in England, as well donations from poorer people through their churches. The African Institution kept the matter alive in Parliament and reached out to Africa to tackle the source of slavery.
The African Institution also believed that the best way to ensure that no new slaves were arriving was to create a system of registration. That way every slave would be accounted for and any new arrivals would be easy to spot. They put forward the Slave Registry Bill, which was presented to the British Parliament by Wilberforce in June 1815.
The Barbadian plantocracy (plantation aristocracy) were opposed to any further changes to the existing system. They argued that the registration fee was an unfair tax that they could not afford.
The Barbadian slaves were kept informed of the developments of the humanitarian movement by the free coloured class. They would hold meetings where the free coloured would read newspapers and explain how the tide was turning.
The slaves began to feel that Wilberforce would be able to set them free. They felt that the plantocracy were deliberately preventing any further changes to slave laws in order to avoid the inevitable emancipation that Wilberforce was working towards.
Underlying resentment in the communities grew. Following the passing of the abolition of slavery in 1807, a relaxation of the rules had been allowed in Barbados. The Barbadian slaves were allowed to communally meet at weekends and hold dances. At these meetings, an uprising was planned.
The mastermind was Washington Francklyn, a freeman. The other members were the free coloured men Cain Davis, John Richard Sarjeant and Roach; and black slaves Bussa, Jackey, John Ranger and Mingo.
Bussa and Sarjeant evolved as the lead conspirators and on Good Friday, April 12th, 1816 they put the final plans in place. They instructed the others that when the uprising was to begin they would set fire to the cane fields as a starting beacon.
On Easter Sunday, the conspirators spread the word through the slaves and warned that any slaves that did not take part would have their houses burnt down. At around 8pm that Easter Sunday, April 14th 1816 two cane fields were set alight. Cane fields across all the parishes were set alight and the uprising began.
The alarm was sounded in Bridgetown at around 1.30am on Easter Monday, April 15th 1816, by the firing of a cannon. Martial law was put in place and the militia were sent out, armed with guns, to suppress the uprising.
The black slaves never stood a chance. Around 170 slaves died in the uprising, including Bussa and other conspirators. Around 200 were later tried and executed, including the original mastermind Francklyn.
The news of the uprising quickly reached England and the humanitarian movement were appalled. Barbados was forced to accept the registration of slaves, and so brought into place their own slave registry bill.
The momentum towards full emancipation had now begun.
The African Institution now merged with the Society for the Migration and Gradual Abolition of Slavery.
In British parliament, George Canning put forward radical changes called the "Plan for the improvement of the Condition of Negroes". These were initially repelled by parliament but on July 7th, 1823 instructions were sent to Demerara to improve the conditions of slaves.
News of the instructions leaked out to the slaves, and when changes were not quickly put into place, an uprising took place. News of the uprising reached Barbados, but this time the slaves did not plan another uprising. However, the plantocracy could not ignore that the general tide was once again turning against them.
Finally in 1830, the humanitarian movement in England complained to Parliament that nothing was being done to improve the conditions of slaves. They argued that only through true emancipation and freedom would the slaves be able to regain the dignity that they deserved.
In 1831, the slaves in Jamaica, fuelled by the uprisings in Barbados and then Demerara, rose up against their plantation owners.
The British government could ill afford to ignore the rising anger of the slaves against their masters and so on 28th August, 1833 the Slavery Abolition Act was passed in parliament and on 1st August, 1834, slaves across the British empire finally received emancipation.
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Information Assumed Accurate On: May 5, 2011
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Visitor Comments:
By: sharon Skinner nee Dalligan
There is much mentioned about indentured white servants , yes thats true but in most cases their contracts were not honoured in freedom or land promised,all were not indentured they were just slaves and irish, treated with the same inhumannity as the african slaves ...... Put into breeding programes because a brown skin child could be sold for more money ..... These irish slaves are your redlegs .... They and their ancestors up to present day are ignored, indeed so ingrained is the shame which was promoted at the time back then , that today they are forgotten in history, and lessons, they are referred to as the white
Date: Feb 5, 2009
By: narguis
Thank you for this well researched, exellent article.
It will help my son Rafique to gain a deeper understanding of the attrocities behind the sugar trade.
He is 10 years old , living in Brighton and has been given the subject of " trade in Barbados" as his homework.
Can you assist?
Thank you ,
Narguis
Date: Jun 5, 2007
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