HISTORY

CARIBBEAN ADVANCED PROFICIENCY EXAMINATION

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT (IA)

Morant Bay

Rebellion 

Candidate Name: Jada Henlon

Institution: Pre-University School, Taylor Hall University of the West Indies 

Centre Number: 100422

Candidate Number: 1743

Teacher's Name: Ms. McCallum

Territory: Jamaica

Year Submitted: 2022

1
 Table of Contents

Contents

Title Page....................................................................................................................................................2

Location of Thesis.......................................................................................................................................4

Purpose of Study.........................................................................................................................................5

Objectives....................................................................................................................................................6

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................7

Body of Research........................................................................................................................................8

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12

Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................13

Appendices................................................................................................................................................15

2
Title Page

3
Research Question: What fueled the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865? 

4
 Location of Thesis

Unit: 1

Module: 3

Theme: Freedom Delayed: Challenges and responses to the creation of Free Societies

Topic: Morant Bay Rebellion, 1865 

Thesis statement: The genesis of the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 was due to the socio-

economic and political problems facing the newly freed slaves.

5
 Purpose of Study

The researcher chose this topic to better understand it and pursue more information on it as she

finds it very intriguing. Her passion for history and her country led her on this path to bring out

the research on the Morant Bay Rebellion to not only educate herself but also her peers.

It is the aim of the researcher to show, using evidence, that the genesis of the Morant Bay

Rebellion of 1865 was due to the socio-economic and political problems facing the newly freed

slaves

6
 Objectives

The objectives of the research are as follows:

 To understand what exactly the Morant Bay Rebellion was about

 To access the socio-economic and political problems the newly freed slave was facing 

 To prove, using evidence, that the socio-economic and political problems the newly freed

slave was facing 

was what exactly fueled the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865

7
 Introduction

Many historians such as Sarah Winter asserted that the Morant Bay rebellion was a watershed

moment in Jamaica’s history. The Morant Bay Rebellion took place in the parish of St. Thomas

on October 11, 1865. The Morant Bay rebellion left an indelible mark on Jamaica’s political and

social history. There are three men whose name will forever be remembered in connection with

the Rebellion: those of the white English Governor Edward John Eyre, a colored Jamaican

assemblyman George William Gordon and a black Jamaican peasant Paul Bogle.  

Historians argued that the immediate cause of the rebellion was that of an incident that occurred

on October 7 1865, when a court session held in the Eastern town of Morant Bay charged a poor

black man accused of trespassing on a long-abandoned plantation. A group of blacks from the

small village of Stony Gut entered the town of Morant Bay protesting the man's unjust detention.

Even though this incident sparked the Rebellion, historians believe the economic hardship faced

by free blacks, the lack of political representation and the social problems that afflicted Jamaica.

Historians Wintlett Browne and Paulette Dunn-Smith believe that “the political causes of the

1865 riot were the refusal of Governor Edward John Eyre to listen to the peasants problems and

take action to solve them and the limited franchise which excluded the majority of the peasants

from actively participating in the government, while the social and economic problems included

the American Civil War, increase in the cost of domestic use items, drought, low wages,

competition from European beet sugar and shortage of land.

8
 Body of Research

“It was a reaction by freed slaves to the poverty in which they lived worsened by natural

disasters and diseases”

During slavery the enslaved previously used the provision grounds for subsistence farming and

for sale at the Sunday market. After the post emancipation period, there was a rapid decline in

the sugar industry. St. Thomas was the parish that was mostly affected as it had the most estates

and field slaves. Due to the dependency on sugar, several operational estates dwindled, resulting

in a rise in unemployment. The lack of access to land, resulted in planters charging rent for

provision grounds which was deducted from their wage which made the situation worse for the

people. Consequently, workers often went weeks with little or no wage. (Nadine C. Atkinson,

125).

The rebellion had a significant impact on the political history of Jamaica and the wider

Caribbean. The Rebellion brought a swift end to the representative system of government in

Jamaica and thereafter in nearly all the other colonies. The British government did not have to

order that change as colonial assemblies abolished themselves. This was as a result of four

reasons: Firstly, Governor Eyre had convinced the white ruling class in Jamaica that the Morant

Bay rebellion was just a front-runner of a racial War. Secondly the assembly also feared that as

more people acquired a vote the blacks would swamp the whites in the assembly. Thirdly there

would be the relief from the constant conflicts over Taxation and expenditures. Lastly

promptness of action was achieved at Morant Bay because the governor had proclaimed Martial

law and could legislate by decree (Brian Dyde, 145).

9
The social problems that affected Jamaica leading up to 1865 contributed to the Morant

Rebellion. Historians such as Nadine C. Atkinson argued that the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865

led by Paul Bogle was due to the shortage of lands on which to farm, this she believes was one of

the major social problems faced by peasants in the parish of St. Thomas which had led to the

Morant Bay Rebellion. The land that was sold to slaves were infertile or hilly land, these lands

were sold at extremely high cost. Those who are squatting on Crown land were arrested and

charged for trespassing. Additionally, K.O. Laurence posits in an attempt to keep enslaves on the

plantation, the planters charged high taxes and rent for land. If they failed to pay, they were

asked to leave by force and in doing so the planters would destroy their huts and cut down the

fruit trees that the peasants had planted.

The numerous social problems are made worse with the declining economic conditions. During

the 1800s, freed blacks suffered numerous economic problems under Governor Eyre. These

issues entailed high taxes, low wages and a food shortage caused by the American Civil war.

Historians argued that “for years the populace had been over-taxed, yet when a recession hit the

entire island of Jamaica the government did nothing to ease the pain of the people.” (Knoxville,

44).  Many freed blacks were already unemployed and out of the 60,000 that were employed,

they were subjected to heavy taxes not only on their pay but also when purchasing basic items

such as bread. As a result, the prices of imports such as food and clothing exploded, due to

extraordinarily high tariffs and loss of American suppliers and markets due to the American Civil

War.

Economic conditions further deteriorated in the mid nineteenth century as the British sugar

industry was on a steep decline. This decline was a result of their out-of-date method and high

cost as opposed to the beetroot and Cuban sugar. It had already caused the British colonies on a

10
whole to be hit hard, more so Jamaica which was the largest and relied heavily on sugar. These

issues were worsened by the Sugar Duties Equalization Act of 1846 which reduced the price of

sugar. Many workers were unemployed and those who remained, accepted a steep reduction of

wage.  According to Brian Dyde, in the 1840s the average wage was two shillings and six pence

per day; however, by the 1860s it had fallen to one shilling. Survival was already difficult

throughout these horrible slave-like conditions, and it was made even worse when a drought hit

in 1864-1865. This had ruined both the sugar crop and their own subsistence crop making it

virtually impossible to earn any form of wage or even to feed themselves and the little they had

earned was immediately gone due to the taxation. Despite them being freed, the plantocracy had

made it difficult for the freed blacks to get land as the planters intended to keep them dependent

on sugar.  

The economic hardship that the now freed blacks faced was ignored by the government and the

blacks were forced to still rely on the plantation almost 30 years after being freed. Dr. Edward

Underhill, a Baptist missionary, had made a detailed documentation about the economic situation

describing “the extreme poverty of the people” and it could be seen “by the ragged and even

naked condition of the vast numbers of them [blacks].” (Heuman, 45).

In addition to the socio-economic hardship, many historians argue that the lack of political

representation in Jamaica during the 1860s played an important role in the outbreak of the

Morant Bay Rebellion. It was the refusal of Governor Edward John Eyre to listen to the

peasants’ problems and take action to solve them and the and the limited franchise which

excluded most of the peasants from actively participating in the government and the passing of

legislation that further angered the people and contributed to the rebellion.

11
According to Kevin O’Brian Chang, in 1865 Edward Bean, Underhill secretary to the Baptist

missionary Society wrote a letter to the colonial secretary describing the extreme poverty of the

people who had to steal or starve. He criticized the Jamaican legislature for high tax levels and

denying black’s political rights. The colonial secretary asked Eyre for his comment on the

matter, Eyre said that the report was an exaggeration. Underhill meetings sprang up across the

island, the people of St Ann even addressed a petition to queen Victoria complaining of the

hardship and asking to be rented crown land at low rates. However, because of Eyre's response to

the Underhill report the secretary drafted an unsympathetic reply on behalf of the queen. This

was known as the Queen’s advice, telling laborers that it is from their own industry, which they

must look for an improvement in their conditions. 

  According to John Campbell, Governor Eyre had no interest in helping the blacks who were

experiencing poverty. The people in Jamaica, especially in St. Thomas had made several

complaints about the suffering they were experiencing while the government and the whites

lived a life of luxury and ignored the suffering of the masses. In doing so, the government used

and abused their political power to make a peasant class pay all the taxes while easing the burden

on themselves. There was also the limited franchise which excluded many of the peasants from

actively participating in the government, of a population of 400,000 blacks less than 2000 were

able to vote. This lack of political representation made it impossible for their voices to be heard

as they could not even vote without fitting certain criteria, eligibility to vote meant one would

have to own land.

Many historians such as Sarah winter asserted that the lack of justice system in Jamaica

contributed to the outbreak of the Morant Bay Rebellion. The justice system prior to the rebellion

was preceded over by white magistrate who were normally plantation owners. In fact, the

12
immediate cause of the rebellion was said to be an issue involving trespassing by black

Jamaicans on land owned by whites. 

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the most important social movement of the post slavery period took

place in Morant Bay Jamaica in 1865 and reflected the socio-economic and political problems

that Jamaica faced during the 1860’s. These problems include the refusal of Governor John Eyre

to listen to the Peasants problem and take actions to solve them, the Limited franchise which

excluded majority of the peasants from actively participating in government, shortage of land on

which the farm, low prices of sugar, drought conditions, the American Civil War which

increased the price of goods and low wages. As these conditions worsened the people of St.

Thomas became more desirable for change especially in leadership and felt it necessary to take

matters into their own hands in order to be heard. 

13
 Bibliography

 Atkinson, Nadine C. The Caribbean History Pocket Encyclopedia.  Kingston: Arawak

Publishers, 2002.

 Brian, Dyde. Robert Greenwood and Shirley Hamber. Emancipation to Emigration:

History for CSEC examinations. Oxford: Macmillan Education, 2008.

 Cavanaugh, Jake. Causes of the Morant Bay Rebellion: 1865.

https://scholar.library.miami.edu/emancipation/jamaica4.htm#edn1

 Chang, Kevin. Paul Bogle- Defender of the people: 2012. https://jamaica-gleaner.com/ 

 Dookhan, IIsaac. A Post Emancipation History of the West Indies. London: Longman

Publishing group, 1988.

14
 Duncan, Flecther. Personal Recollections of The Honorable George W. Gordon; Late of

Jamaica. Oxford: Bod Third Party Tiles Publisher, 2019.

 Hueman, Gad. The Killing Time: The Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica. Tennessee:

University of Tennessee press, 1994.

 Huzzey, Richards. Jamaica's Morant Bay Rebellion: brutality and outrage in British

Empire.

 Laurence, K.O. General History of the Caribbean: The long nineteenth-century

Transformation. Oxford: Macmillan Education, 2003.

15
 Appendices

Figure 1 The Morant Bay courthouse, from which Paul Bogle led the Morant Bay Uprising.

Within its walls, George William Gordon was hastily tried and then hanged on its steps.

16
Figure 1.2 Picture of officers involved in the Morant Bay Rebellion. Including Luke Smythe

O'Connor, R. F. Ballantine, William Walker Whitehall Johnston, and Alexander Abercromby

Nelson. 

17