Slave Resistance and Revolts

The Berbice Rebellion, 1763

• Slaves in the Dutch colony of Berbice revolted in 1763.

• Reasons for the revolt:

  • Apathy of the whites: Slaves were underfed due to lack of imported supplies and local provisions.

  • Desire for revenge: Harsh treatment and injustice by uncaring overseers.

  • Desire for permanent freedom.

  • Inspiration from a Maroon revolt in Surinam in 1762.

• The revolt started on February 23, 1763, at a plantation on the Canje River and spread to the Berbice River by March.

• Cuffy (Coffy/Kofi) became the leader and called himself governor of the slaves.

• Slaves were initially successful due to:

  • Quality of leadership: Well-organized leadership under Cuffy, Akara, and Atta with cooperation among different African groups.

  • Discipline and military organization: Rebels took control of almost the entire colony.

  • Numerical superiority: Slave rebels outnumbered the whites.

  • Newly imported Africans: Many slaves had not been socialized into the slave system.

  • Surprise: The rebellion caught the whites off guard.

  • Planter complacency: Forts were dilapidated, and defenses were weak.

  • Seizure of arms: Rebels seized arms and ammunition from estates.

  • Dysentery epidemic: Whites were weakened by disease and food shortage.

  • Disunity among whites: Panic and refusal to help others under siege.

  • Slow overseas help: Initial troops arrived late.

  • Amerindian desertion: Amerindians, who the whites depended on for help, fled.

• Governor Van Hoogenheim was eventually forced to agree to evacuate the colony.

• Failure of the rebellion was due to:

  • Cuffy's 'politics': Writing letters to the governor for division of the colony, stalling the revolt and allowing reinforcements to arrive for the governor.

  • External help for the governor: Military assistance from Europe, Barbados, and Demerara.

  • Superior weapons and training: Troops had better weapons and warfare skills.

  • Amerindian support for the Dutch: The governor received assistance from Amerindians.

  • Lack of discipline among slaves: Some slaves turned to looting instead of securing their position.

  • Food shortage: Led to discontent among the rebels.

  • Surrender of Creole slaves: Some Creole slaves willingly surrendered.

  • Division of opinion: Cuffy preferred negotiation, while Akara wanted expulsion of whites.

  • Power struggle: Atta challenged Cuffy's leadership.

  • Divisions within ranks: Conflicts between Congolese and Akan slaves, and between African-born slaves and Creoles.

  • Cuffy's suicide: Cuffy killed his followers and then committed suicide, severely impacting the rebel slaves.

  • Capture of Atta: Atta, who replaced Cuffy, was ambushed and captured by Akara.

  • Overwhelming European force: Europeans and Amerindian allies were too much for the slaves.

• Cuffy lost leadership due to:

  • Accommodating nature: Willing to wait for a reply from Holland.

  • Procrastination: Failure to capitalize on initial military advantage.

  • Divisions among slaves: Lack of support due to divisions.

  • Challenge to leadership: Younger militants like Atta challenged him.

• Cuffy was regarded as the leader because:

  • He led the seizure of plantations along the Canje River.

  • He called himself governor of the slaves and was acknowledged as such.

  • He announced his intention to rule Berbice after the revolt.

  • He wrote to the governor suggesting a division of the colony.

  • He led an attack on Van Hoogenheim's headquarters.

  • He sought to preserve the plantation economy.

  • Both slaves and whites regarded him as the mastermind.

  • He sent slaves to spread the revolt throughout British Guiana.

  • No other slave was acknowledged as leader.

  • His leadership was challenged by his deputies.

The Haitian Revolution, 1791 - 1804

• In 1695, the Treaty of Ryswick gave France the western part of Hispaniola, called Saint Domingue.

• By 1788, there were 3,000 coffee plantations, 800 sugar plantations, nearly 800 cotton, and 2,950 indigo plantations.

• The colony supplied half of Europe with tropical produce and was the world's premier sugar producer.

• The French government used a system called the 'Exclusive', compelling colonists to buy manufactured goods from France and transport goods only in French ships. Raw sugar was to be refined in France with heavy duties on refined sugar from the colonies.

• Social Classes in Saint Domingue prior to 1789:

  • Grand Blancs: Planters and top royal officials, that is, civil and military officers.

  • Merchants and professional men who hated the planters.

  • Petit Blancs: Artisans, shopkeepers, and bookkeepers (35,000 whites total).

  • Free Coloureds/Mulattoes and Free Negroes: Numbering about 28,000, they possessed one-third of the real estate and personal property but were denied social and political equality.

  • Slaves: 450,000, divided according to occupation and ethnic origin. Governed by the Code Noir slave laws of 1685.

• Political Features:

  • Officials from France governed St. Domingue, headed by the governor and the Intendant.

  • In 1787, the island was granted an assembly made up of the richest and most powerful whites who were supposed to represent local opinion. This assembly acted as an advisory body, without any legislative function.

  • Grand Blancs sought to rule the colony themselves and have greater freedom of trade.

  • Free Coloureds sought equality with the whites.

  • Slaves sought freedom.

• Divisions within Social Groups:

  • Whites: Grand Blancs and Petit Blancs were divided by property, education, and political power.

  • Blacks: Free blacks had freedom and property, while slaves had neither.

  • Coloureds: Mulattoes were of mixed blood, with some being wealthy and educated, while others were enslaved.

• Nature of Discontent:

  • Creoles (born in the colony) resented French government officials.

  • Grand Blancs wanted greater autonomy, less taxation, equal political rights, and greater freedom of trade.

  • Petit Blancs resented the greater wealth of the planters.

  • Both groups disliked and were suspicious of the free coloureds.

  • Free Coloureds resented discrimination and denial of equality with whites.

  • Slaves were worked excessively hard, poorly fed, harbored a deep hatred for their masters.

• Causes of Conflict Among Whites:

  • Creoles hated French government officials due to their absolute power, wastefulness, arrogance, and mistreatment of local whites.

  • Social divisions: Grands Blancs did not mix with other groups, considering them inferior.

  • Petit Blancs were despised by other whites, and the Grands Blancs saw the Petit Blancs as rabbles.

• Reasons for Conflict Between Whites and Mulattoes:

  • Whites resented the mulattoes' wealth, and were fearful of the challenge they posed to their dominance.

  • Colonial legislature passed laws to limit the opportunities and influence of the mulattoes.

  • Mulattoes were barred from participating in the political life of the colony.

  • Whites refused to lift restrictions on the free coloured/mulattoes even after the French Revolution began.

• Discriminatory Laws Against the Mulattoes:

  • Not allowed to join the colonial militia or hold public office.

  • Not allowed to wear European dress or play European games.

  • Not allowed to meet together for feasts or wedding celebrations.

  • Compelled to join a police organization for difficult and dangerous tasks.

  • Had to join the local militia, providing their own arms and ammunition.

  • Responsible for the forced upkeep of the roads (corvée).

• Reasons for Discrimination Against Free Coloureds/Mulattoes:

  • Racial prejudice.

  • Wealth accumulation as master artisans and proprietors.

  • Accusations of not contributing to the important trade with France.

  • Bidding for all properties on sale, raising prices beyond the reach of less wealthy whites.

  • Desire to get high command in the militia and judiciary, and to share in local government.

The French Revolution and its Impact on the Haitian Revolution

• French Society Divided into Three Estates:

  • First Estate: Clergy

  • Second Estate: Nobility

  • Third Estate: Lawyers down to peasants

• Reasons for the French Revolution:

  • Desire for liberty and freedom of expression.

  • Demand for equality before the law and security of property.

  • Lack of popular or middle-class influence in the government.

  • Fight for fraternity.

  • Desire for generally accepted rights, i.e., liberty, equality, and fraternity.

• Improvements the White Plantocracy Wanted:

  • Assemblies to have the power to make laws.

  • Equality with the French whites.

  • End to trading restrictions.

  • Removal of the royalist bureaucracy.

• Improvements Wanted by Free Coloureds and Slaves:

  • Free coloureds: political and social equality with the whites, and an end to discrimination against them.

  • Slaves: personal freedom.

• Attempts by Free Coloureds to Improve Position:

  • Acquired wealth as proprietors through hard work.

  • Sent their children to France to be educated hoping children could accumulate more wealth and have a better life.

  • Petitioned the National Assembly for political rights for the mulattoes.

• Free Coloureds Encouraged by the National Assembly:

  • The National Assembly sent a decree to St. Domingue giving the vote to all free persons over twenty-five years old. Full citizenship should also be granted to children born of free parents.

• Reasons Revolt Led by Ogé Failed:

  • Only a few of the free coloureds were prepared to fight for their rights.

  • The whites were better trained and armed, and they were better organized than the free coloureds.

  • The free coloureds had no external support.

• How Conflict Between Whites and Coloureds Provided Slaves with an Opportunity to Fight for Freedom:

  • Whites and coloureds neglected the slaves, allowing them to plan their revolt.

  • The conflict was so intense that there was no immediate possibility of uniting to fight against the slaves.

• Reasons Slaves in Saint Domingue Revolted in 1791:

  • Tension and civil strife among the free groups had diverted attention from the slaves.

  • The turmoil in France had also distracted the attention of the whites.

  • Both slaves and mulattoes embraced the slogan of the revolution in France, i.e., liberty, equality, and fraternity.

  • They wanted to be able to practice their culture unimpeded.

  • They did not wish to continue to endure the harsh conditions to which they had been subjected.
    Reason for the slaves rejecting the Whites and Free Coloureds:

• Many free coloureds, like the whites, owned slaves whose greatest desire was to be free.

• The free coloureds had slave mothers, and they had other relatives who were slaves, yet because the advantages of being white were so obvious, they were prejudiced against the slaves and refused to identify with them and as such was a target of the slaves during the revolt.

• The revolt started under the leadership of Boukman, a Papaloi or high priest of the Voodoo cult.

• A month after the revolt had started, Toussaint Breda, a 45-year-old slave, joined it. His name was later changed to L'Ouverture because he opened (ouvert) the door of victory for the slaves.
  In 1792, France declared war on Spain and Toussaint joined the Spanish forces as a mercenary to help to drive out the French Republicans.

• He trained and led a force of some four thousand irregular but very effective black troops.

• In September, an army of six thousand under the leadership of Leger Felicite Sonthonax was sent to St. Domingue to make sure that the law to end slavery was enforced and in August 1793, Sonthonax granted emancipation to the slaves.

• This was legally binding by the French government in 1794.

• Toussaint, alarmed by the progress of the British troops and the restoration of slavery which a British victory might entail, deserted with his troops from the Spanish army, murdered the Spanish officers who opposed his defection and offered his services to Sonthonax's forces. Toussaint soon became the real leader of the French forces.

• Meanwhile, the Spanish and the French governments in Europe made peace in the Treaty of Basle in 1795.

• Toussaint therefore directed his energies against the English invaders and their allies, the French planters in St. Domingue.

• He waged a long war against the British force led by General Thomas Maitland, and he ordered Sonthonax and his soldiers, in 1797, to leave St. Domingue when he began to suspect that the French government was weakening in its support for the cause of freeing the slaves.

• After the English were expelled, Toussaint turned against the coloureds who were threatening to take control of the south and west of the colony and after 1800, Toussaint put a stop to the indiscriminate slaughters and ordered his mobs of ex-slaves back to work. He also induced some of the whites who had fled from the colony to return to their estates.

• In 1799, the Directorate (the government in France) had formally appointed Toussaint as governor-general.

• In 1801, he drew up a constitution that was submitted to the French government for confirmation. In it Toussaint proclaimed that his own tenure of office was to be for life.

• Napoleon Bonaparte, the ruler of France, was unwilling to accept the constitution and so he sent his brother-in-law, Victor Le Clerc, to remove Toussaint who had made it clear to the government in France in 1799, that he would resist slavery to the last drop of his blood. Slavery would never be re-introduced as his core fundamental belief.

• Napoleon's plans however, had included a re-introduction of slavery; therefore Toussaint would have to be removed for his plans to be implemented.

• When Spain declared war on France France in 1792 Toussaint began to organize out tire thousands of ignorant and untrained blacks, an army capable of fighting against European troops.

• With the assistance of yellow fever and able generals like Henri Christophe and Jean Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint was was able to defeat the British.

• France, the Mother Country, had been going through a period of political upheavals and changes since 1789 that weakened it's military presence leaving the door open for the enslaved to revolt.
  Measures were employed during the revolt:

• Sonthonax arrived in St. Domingue in 1793 intending initially, to bring to an end the quarrel between the slave owners and to suppress the slave revolt.

• When Spain and Britain became involved in a war with France in 1793, both governments sent expeditions to rescue the white colonists and suppress the revolt.

• After Toussaint sent a copy of the new constitution to Napoleon, Napoleon sent Victor Le Clerc to St. Domingue to remove Toussaint and re-introduce slavery.

• On January 1, 1804,Dessalines declared the colony independent of France, took its Taino (Indian) name of Haiti and symbolically purging Haiti of its white oppressors.

How Toussaint Succeeded in Liberating the Slaves

(i) During the early months of 1792, Toussaint began to organize out of the thousands of ignorant and untrained blacks, an army capable of fighting against European troops. He began with a few hundred picked men whom he trained in the art of warfare and who worked with him from the beginning as they fought side by side against the French troops and the colonists.
(ii) Toussaint and his men developed a method of attack based on their overwhelming numerical superiority and the use of guerilla tactics. He joined the Spanish forces in Santo Domingo to help to drive out the French troops when France declared war on Spain in 1792, because he thought that the French would preserve slavery.
(iii) He switched sides in 1794, after the French Government confirmed the emancipation of the slaves. He also joined the French forces when he learnt of a British and Spanish plan to invade St. Domingue and bring back slavery. His passion was for freedom for everyone and so he was prepared to fight all those who stood in the path of freedom.
(iv) He was able to defeat the British, with the assistance of yellow fever and able generals like Henri Christophe and Jean Jacques Dessalines. He forced them to withdraw in 1798.
(v) He defeated the free coloureds/mulattoes under Rigaud who fled to France, but who returned with Le Clerc's army to overthrow Toussaint in 1801.
(vi) The slaves' hunger for freedom gave them the zeal to fight and to support Toussaint, thus they were able to deliver crushing defeats on all those with whom they fought.
(vii) France, the Mother Country, had been going through a period of political upheavals and changes since 1789. These included:

• a civil war in which King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were executed, and

• the emergence of a republic. The government's capacity to restore 'order' in the colony was therefore weakened, which was to the advantage of Toussaint and his rebel band.

• General Le Clerc came with a plan to: (i) exploit the rivalries among the leaders and the tensions between blacks and mulattoes, (ii) disarm and deport Toussaint and the black leaders.

• He was able to win over several generals including Henri Christophe and Jean Jacques Dessalines whom Toussaint eventually persuaded to submit. After he arrived for the meeting, Toussaint conversed with one of his generals who, subsequently begged to be excused for a moment.

• As soon as the general had left, some grenadiers with fixed bayonets entered the house, bound Toussaint like a common criminal and put him aboard a warship taken to France where he died in prison on April 27, 1803.

Reasons Slaves Succeeded in Overthrowing Slavery in St. Domingue

The slave revolt which started in August, 1791, lasted for twelve years; during which time the slaves were able to defeat the local whites and the soldiers of the French monarchy, the Spanish troops, a British expedition of about sixty thousand men and a French expedition under General Victor Le Clerc. The defeat of this final expedition in 1803 that resulted in the establishment of independent Haiti. The success of the slaves in overthrowing the system of slavery has to be attributed to the following:
(i) The leadership and work of Toussaint L'Ouverture, a remarkable and greatly gifted Negro.
(ii) The unity of the slaves under Toussaint's leadership, especially through their religion and African customs. They believed in the power of voodoo / vodun to make them invulnerable.
(iii) The timing of the revolt; they revolted at a time when the mulattoes and whites were embroiled in a conflict that created a split in their military forces and the whites were distracted by events of the French revolution then taking place in France.
(iv) The slaves' determination to bring an end to slavery and thereby free themselves. Therefore, they never gave up even when the repression was great. After Sonthonax issued his abolition decree in 1793, they were determined that no power was going to re-impose slavery.
(v) Toussaint's expertise in training his troops and securing arms for them.
(vi) The work of Toussaints' lieutenants Dessalines and Christophe, who were able to lead the slaves and continue the struggle after Toussaint was removed. After his capture, they took determined action to prevent the re-introduction of slavery.
(vii) Toussaint's skill as a tactician and an opportunist who knew how to make and break alliances when he thought these were to his advantage. At different times he joined up with the Spanish in Santo Domingo and with French revolutionary leaders.
(viii) The slaves' defeat of (a) the French imperial allies (b) the pro-slavery free coloureds (c) The British troops who had engaged them in battle.

• Toussaint sought his revenge in the revolt during the violence in Haiti
  (ix) The slaves' superior knowledge of the territory because of their maroon experience, and their ability to use guerilla warfare successfully.
  (x) The destruction of the economic base of the whites by the slaves thereby undermining the power of the whites to resist them.
  (xi) The slaves' devastation of the land which made it difficult for the troops to survive without supplies from external sources.
  (xii) Diseases, particularly yellow fever, which decimated the French troops. The slaves had a greater resistance to yellow fever.
  (xiii) The Revolution that was raging in France causing much confusion there and reducing the military capacity of the government to suppress the revolt.
  (xiv) Some mulattoes joining with the blacks to keep Haiti free and independent.

• The Haitian Revolution, although it was triggered off by the actions of the free coloured was essentially the successful revolt of the slaves whose grievances and aspirations for freedom

Key Figures

Jacques Dessalines

(i) He became one of Toussaint's fearless lieutenants who fought against the French army in 1793, and later on in the campaign against the Spanish in Santo Domingo from 1794 to 1795.
(ii) He was appointed general in 1796, and he became the most famous of the black generals.
(iii) He fought in the campaign against the British from 1795 to 1798 when they finally evacuated the island.
(iv) After the British withdrawal, Toussaint turned his attention to the coloureds who wanted to set up their own republic in the south.Dessalines' black forces mutilated and murdered over ten thousand coloureds in 1799 and 1800.
(v) He held the position of military governor (1798-1802) of the area around St. Marc near Port au Prince.He governed the department with a rod of iron.
(vi) He emerged as Toussaint's successor after Toussaint was kidnapped and forcibly taken to France.

• He tore the white out of the Tricolour - the French flag, and replaced the letters 'R.F.' (Republique Français) with the words 'Liberty or Death', and in October 1804, he had himself crowned Emperor of Haiti. Dessalines believed Toussaint had been avenged because of the following reasons:

  • He had defeated the forces that had betrayed, captured and taken Toussaint to France where he died.

Barbados Rebellion, 1816

• The abolition of the slave trade did little to improve the lot of the slaves.

• On Easter Sunday, 1816, a slave uprising began in Barbados. This was to cost hundreds of lives and a quarter of that year's sugar crop.

• The reasons for the revolt included the following:
  Reasons for revolt

• In 1815, William Wilberforce, the British abolitionist, introduced a bill in parliament requiring the names and descriptions of all slaves in the West Indies to be entered in official registers to prevent the smuggling of slaves.

• The planters were fiercely opposed to the bill, and they openly discussed it.

• Slaves wanted their freedom, as they no longer wanted to remain slaves for the rest of their lives.

• Some slaves believed that Barbados belonged to them and not to the whites, for they work for the island and should be justly compensated.

• Some of the leaders of the rebellion had their own peculiar personal grievances against the whites

• Some slaves who were literate, for example, Nanny Grigg, had access to English and local newspapers from which they learnt about what was happening in England, Haiti and elsewhere. The Haitian revolution inspired them.

• Slaves in Barbados enjoyed some measure of freedom of movement, for example they were allowed to have weekend gatherings. This measure of freedom helped them to organize the revolt.

• Slave conditions had not improved significantly in the island since the 1790's, yet the planters were overconfident, for they do not fear the threat of revolting slaves.

• An able leader emerged from among the slaves, that is, Bussa, an African-born slave.

Actions of the slaves

• The slave leaders told the slaves that the governor would return to the island with their 'free paper', and would instruct the troops not to interfere with them

• On April 14, 1816, the revolt started in the parish of St. Philip on Bayley's plantation

• As soon as news of the revolt reached Bridgetown on the morning of Easter Monday, the following measures were adopted

• The revolt was short-lived.

The Demerara Revolt, 1823

• On Monday, August 18, 1823, slaves in Demerara revolted.as well after the slavery abolition documents never came.

• They wanted their freedom and equality.

• The plan arrived at by the slaves included the following:

• There was to be no violence between both parties of free slaves and slave owners. The goal was to free all slaves without violence or bloodshed

• They were to seize all the arms, confine the whites in the stocks during the night, and in the morning to send to Georgetown to fetch the 'New Law'.

• When the governor came to ask the reason for their behaviour, they would explain to him hoping for positive results.

The Sam Sharpe/Christmas Rebellion, 1831 - Jamaica

• The spread of rumour among slaves in Jamaica led to the belief that the British government's abolition decrees were being ignored or undermined by the planters and the local government.

• Sharpe's primary aim was to stage a general strike in order to force the government to concede the demands of the abolitionists.

• As a preacher, he was an eloquent speaker was able to influence and persuade the enslaved slaves.

• Sharpe used the Bible to support his theme that all men had a right to freedom, by quoting scripture from the bible to influence believers.
  Difficulties of having a controlled rebellion / revolt:

• A rebellion was too volatile a situation to hope to control it. It was almost too late to revert into order considering the damage and violence done between the freed slaves and British plantation owners once the revolt began.

• The non-conformist missionaries were blamed for the revolt

• William Knibb and Thomas Burchell, two of the missionaries who were threatened with trial for encouraging rebellion, returned to England after they were acquitted.