Caribbean Secondary

Examination Council
(CSEC)
Caribbean History
School Based assessment
Candidates Name: Genell Drummonds
School: Wolmers Trust High School for Girls
Year of examination: 2014
Date submitted: 19th April 2013
Center number: 100129
Teachers name: Mrs. Irons

S.B.A Question:
What evidence is there to prove that the
Haitian revolution
was the only successful rebellion in the
Caribbean.

Introduction
It has been argued by many historians that the Haitian revolution was the only successful
slave revolt in the region. The researcher will seek to prove or refuse this claim. The researcher
will do so by focusing on the following rebellions (simply because they are noted as the most
famous and important revolts in the region).The Barbados or the Bussa Revolt, the Jamaican
Baptist War or Christmas Rebellion, the Guyanese Berbice revolt or the Cuffy Revolt, the
Demerara Revolt, and the Haitian Revolution. This will be done with the use of both primary and
secondary sources. These sources will be critically assessed in order to prevent a rational
response to the claim in the concluding paragraph.

Body of Research
Slavery was a common system in the Caribbean where enslaved Africans (black people)
were considered slaves by the whites their masters. However these slaves were not content
with the positions, they yearned for freedom and knew that they had to fight for it in order to be
emancipated.
The Haitian revolution compared to the other three major revolts of the Caribbean had the
elements of time, thorough preparation, fully determined and devoted participants, and was also
armed unlike the others. The Berbice revolt which took place in Guyana 1763 was triggered by
the harsh treatment, injustice, and the underfeeding of the slaves as their owners saved money by
not importing enough supplies to feed them properly, as well as their cruel overseers were left in
charge in the absence of the owners. However, many of the followers aimed at far more than
protest at bad conditions. They began to seize plantations; Governor Van Hoogenheim was
handicapped at first by the small number of soldiers in the colony and could not do much to stem
its spread.
However he got the chance to out maneuver Cuffy the moment Cuffy wrote to the him,
this back n forth communication was an advantage to the governor as he kept delaying the
agreement of a partition of the land (Whites on the coasts and the blacks the interior of the
colony) and making time for reinforcements to rush in and attack, two well armed ships with 158
soldiers arrived in Berbice, by the time cuffy agreed to an attack on dageraad it was too late as he
as his force only numbered about 2000 while the Whites had 150 armed men. The ships in the
river maintain a steady firing of their heavy guns on the attackers leaving them forced to

withdraw after suffering a loss of 58 dead, with only eight (8) of the heads of the enslavement
dead. This revolt from the beginning kept encountering difficulties as some sections Cuffy forces
felt that by defeating the Whites meant that they could now act as they pleased. Some remained
loyal to their masters. Tribal jealousies also emerged and fights broke out between members of
different tribes. Creole blacks also at times attacked those who recently arrived from Africa.
These divisions seriously undermined the military strength of the rebels and helped to encourage
the Whites to regroup their forces. The British and planters convinced them to lay down their
revolt with promises of abolition. However these promises were never met, instead 3440 slaves
which were identified as leaders were hung by the British. Moreover Cuffys negotiation with
the governor rather than leading an all-out war to take the whole colony (that some of his
followers suggested) played a major part in the reason this revolt failed.
The Barbados revolt of 1816 came about as the slaves mistook the abolition of the British
slave trade for emancipation. There was a registration of slaves {1812-1815} in which planters
or owners had to register their slaves, so that the British government could detect planters who
were buying them illegally from other colonies owned by Britain or another European country.
The planters were infuriated over the passing of this bill and saw it as interference in their
domestic affairs. The slaves misinterpreted this as being anger about a plan for their
emancipation. The slaves attacked and destroyed the plantations and other buildings while the
heads of power were off the island for the Easter holiday instead of fighting the source of their
enslavement like the Haitians did. The Bussa Rebellion was geared towards overthrowing the
racist white planter class in an aggressive attempt to regain freedom, restructure the politics of
the island and create a better life for black and colored people. When the news of disturbances
reached Bridgetown, Martial law was immediately proclaimed. The slaves scarcely resisted the

troops, mainly because many were not yet ready to seek by violence what they believed the
abolitionists might bring about by peaceful means. Bussa was killed in battle and the revolt
forced into submission by the Regiment who had an armory of superior weapons at their
disposal. The revolt lasted no more than two days; it had been entirely suppressed by the British
military forces.
The slaves in East Demerara were convinced that the Governor and their masters were
withholding their freedom from them and many of them felt they had no other option than to rise
up against those who were not carrying out the King's orders. It was at first suggested that the
slaves should go on a strike instead of a bloody revolt.
Their plan was to seize all guns on the plantations, lock up the Whites during the night
and then send them to the Governor on the following morning to bring the "New Law. However
their plan was leaked by Joseph Packwood, a house slave, who revealed it to his master, John
Simpson. Simpson immediately gave this information to Governor Murray who, with a group of
soldiers rode up to the area of Le Ressouvenir and La Bonne Intention where he met a large
group of armed Africans on the road. He then ordered them to surrender their weapons they
refused. The slaves who were mainly Christians did not want to lose their religious character so
they proclaimed that their action was a strike and not a rebellion. Not all slaves joined the rebels
and they remained loyal to their masters. The rebels were armed mainly with cutlasses and
bayonets on poles, and a small number of stands of rifles captured from plantations. The Military
troops movement was hampered since many of the wooden bridges across the various plantation
canals were destroyed by the rebels. 2,000 slaves confronted the military. They were told to lay
down their arms and returned home and the Governor would be told what they wanted. But
perceiving that they were not interested in surrendering their arms. The rebels continued to show

defiance and so the troops were ordered to open fire. Many of the slaves fled in confusion while
some others quickly surrendered their weapons to the troops. In this savage crushing military
action more than 250 were killed.
The Baptist War was started by Samuel Sharpe. He became aware of the fact that
Emancipation was very near and that wage labour would come to Jamaica. On becoming aware
of this he spread the word amongst his fellow slaves and told them not to return to work after the
holiday unless they were paid. This strike began on December 27; Sharpe was not responsible for
the rebellion that followed. He had not planned it and was opposed to violence. When a husband
was forced to watch the brutal flogging of his wife, he struck the whipper, the slave was ordered
to be arrested, the other slaves refused. Thus the revolt began. 50, 000 slaves became a part of
this revolt as they thought that their masters were with-holding their rightful freedom. The slaves
did not set out to kill the Whites, but to destroy property. Only fifteen (15) whites were killed
which was not many in such a large rebellion. The authorities retaliated and defeated some of the
rebels but then instead of putting an end to the rebellion they retreated to Montego Bay. Sir
Willoughby Cotton arrived shortly with troops and offered a free pardon to all slaves who would
surrender except the ringleaders. Most slaves gave themselves up however there was a severe
fighting in the wild bush country of St. James and Trelawney before the revolt finally came to an
end. 400 slaves were killed in the fighting, 100 others, including Samuel Sharpe, were executed,
and another 100 were flogged. This rebellion never had any chance of success and was confined
to the north-west. Spanish Town and Kingston which had troops stationed at the end of every
road and lane leading to the waterfront did not experience the revolt.
These slave revolts never turned into a revolution as the slave revolts were often acts of
desperation undertaken by the slaves who knew that they had no chance of success. This is

particularly true of many risings in Jamaica, e.g. a revolt which took place in 1754 in Crawford
Town.
The slaves took advantage of times of war, or times when the authorities had other
difficulties on their hands, to revolt, but when conditions returned to normal the revolts were
easily suppressed. This statement can be related to the Berbice Revolt as Cuffys forces felt that
by defeating the Whites meant that they could now act as they pleased.
The inadequate preparation on the part of the slaves was a frequent cause of failure.
Many slave revolts were spontaneous, perhaps arising from an act of brutality in the fields, and
can hardly be called revolts. However they often spread. The rising of the slaves in St John in the
Virgin Islands in 1733 was one which the slaves achieved their immediate objectives and even
enjoyed a short time of freedom before the inevitable force arrived to suppress them.
Frequently revolts failed because a slave remained loyal to his master, probably to
ingratiate himself and be rewarded. The two famous examples of this are Tackys rebellion in
Jamaica in 1760, and the Demerara rebellion of 1823. These revolts began successfully but it
was sabotaged by a slave, in the case of Tackys revolt it was a slave from the Esher Estate
warning the authorities. The Demerara Rebellion was betrayed by the upset of Joseph Packwood,
a house slave who revealed it to his master, John Simpson. Simpson immediately gave this
information to Governor Murray. House slaves were always the least likely to take part in a
rebellion and consequently the most likely to betray the other slaves.
It is noted that often the ring leaders of the rebellions could not agree among themselves
which is in the case of the Berbice Revolt as tribal jealousies also emerged and fights broke out
between members of different tribes. Frequently the split was between extremists and moderates.
The extremists wanted the extermination of the Whites, blacks to take over the properties and

even complete independence under black government. The moderates wanted non-violence (an
almost impossible hope in a slave rising) and pressure on the authorities to introduce better
conditions. Moderates were out of place in slave risings. The authorities certainly would not
compromise or show mercy to slaves in rebellion, and they were not interested in distinguishing
motives and aims. The Berbice Rebellion of 1763 illustrates this; Cuff only wanted a partition of
Berbice, where the blacks held the interior and the Whites the coastal lands. Akara, a slave
realized that there was no compromise with the Whites and wanted to inflict total military defeat
on them.
The main reason why revolts did not succeed was simply that the authorities had superior
arms and forces. Slaves had no military training and many could not use firearms even if
available. Sooner or later the rebel slaves would come up against a disciplined, well-armed force
which could easily put them to flight.

Haiti was the French colony of St. Domingue (Santo Domingo), the most productive colonial
economy in the world. Dominated by plantation agriculture, primarily to supply sugar and coffee
to the world market, Haiti had a slave population of nearly 90 percent, so much so historians had
estimated that St. Domingue had more slaves than any other country in the Caribbean. The root
of the Haitian revolution was the fundamental imbalance in Haitian society. Slaves made up the
vast majority of the population and were oppressed on a daily basis and thoroughly deprived
economically in a system that produced great wealth. For this slave population, the most pressing
issue was the termination of slavery and the social inequality it entailed. There were three
distinct classes in St. Domingue. First, there were the Whites, who were in control. Then there
were the free Mulattoes, who straddled a very tenuous position in Haitian society. While they

enjoyed a degree of freedom, they were repressed by the conservative White power structure that
recognized them only as being people of color. Next came the slaves who, in Haiti suffered
under some of the harshest treatment found in the Caribbean. The ongoing French Revolution
furnished the Mulattoes and slaves with an opportunity and an inspiration after having witnessed
the successful insurrection in France against the governments long-standing denial of equal
representation of the Commons to that of the Nobility and Clergy. This was such a revolution in
the structure of French society that its news spread like wildfire and was exactly the stimulus the
slaves and Mulattoes in Haiti needed to inspire their revolt. The Governor of Haiti, Mon.
Duchilleau, sought to slow down the process of insurgency in an effort to give the French
government more time to formulate a policy on slavery in the Caribbean, as well as for the
political representation of the colonies in the National Assembly. However, his efforts to stall
were not successful with imported weaponry the revolt and the urge for freedom, the Haitian
Revolution grew in scope and participation, eventually bringing slavery in Haiti to an effective
end.

Conclusion
From the research done it may be concluded that the Haitian revolution was the only
successful revolution in the Caribbean. The rebels in the Haitian Revolution had many
advantages that worked to push their victory. The differences between this rebellion and any
other slave rebellion in the Caribbean were weighed to prove why this is the only successful
rebellion in the history of the region. The slaves had surely organized themselves into a strong
fighting force and this proved to be evident during the course of upheaval. By far, the Haitian
Revolution had one thing over most of the Rebellions in the Caribbean and that was timing
perfect timing to be exact. Since the colonies were affected by anything that had happened in the
metropole, the outbreak of the French Revolution in1789 had the planters discontent and focused
most of their attention at the interruption of the French economy. Though the Bussa revolt had an
element of surprise the impact wasnt as great as the Haitians. This rebellion is also said to be a
well planned revolt however it is very clear that it wasnt planned well enough to over throw the
Whites and gain immediate freedom.
Most Rebellion in the Caribbean could not gain success because of the lack of weapons.
With this, the troops were faster and more advanced and this led to the rapid failure of such
uprisings. By as early as the 1800s, the leader, Toussaint, had signed treaties with the United
States and so weaponry on behalf of john Adams, the president of the United States at that period
of time, was sent to the island. The rebels of the Demerara revolt were armed mainly with
cutlasses and bayonets on poles, and a small number of stands of rifles captured from
plantations. Not even enough to overpower the military force and put up much fight against

them. The slaves of the Haitian Revolution had outside assistance supplying them with high
power weapons; this assistance is the one thing that no other rebellion had.
The slaves had the determination to fight and this must be commented. At no time was
there any form of disunity that affected the fighting force of the rebels. As compared to the
Jamaica Rebellion (1831) and Cuffys Revolt (1763), the only two rebellions that even came
close to victory, there was no level view point as there was still some level of disunity among
them. One may argue that this determination was strengthened by France granting freedom to the
slaves in 1793. The slaves now having the freedom to do as they pleased refused to allow any
other European or even France to come and take it back. This made them even more willing to
fight and on top of that made them more alerted for any sudden actions by the metropolitan
countries.

Page of References

The Haitian revolution by Franklin W. Knight

Emancipation to Emigration by Robert Greenwood sand Shirley Hamber Revised by Brian Dyde
CAPE History second edition by Jacquelyn Green
Caribbean History core course by Dr.Yvette Taylor-Kanarick

Contact number: 405-8599