Demerara Slave Revolt
Summary
The Demerara Slave Revolt
The 1823 slave revolt in Demarara, Guyana, started on a sugar plantation called “Plantation Success”- on the east coast of the colony on August 23. It spread throughout the nearby area to involve slaves from at least fifty-five plantations. In total, around ten thousand of the approximately seventy-five thousand slaves who lived in the colony rose in violent rebellion against their oppressors.
The revolt would have been even larger, however, had the slaves succeeded in their goal of spreading the insurrection to the western part of the colony. As it was, the revolt still alarmed the local planters sufficiently to respond quickly, and with extreme violence. Using both army units and local militia, the planters and colonial officials killed several hundred of the rebelling slaves, and imprisoned hundreds more to stand trial and face execution. Within days, the revolt had been put down.
Two elements made the Demerara Revolt rather unusual. First, it largely consisted of, and was primarily led by Creole slaves. This upset the traditional British notion that although the wilder African-born slaves might revolt, the Creole slaves were more docile and accepting of their fate. This was a harsh challenge to any illusion of slavery as a civilizing system. In a world in which the planters had already seen the abolition of the slave trade, and in which they could see the abolition of slavery itself looming in the foreseeable future, it was particularly unsettling.
Also unsettling was the role played by antislavery groups from England. The nonconformist evangelical movement was particularly involved in trying to end slavery altogether. From at least as early 1808, The London Missionary Society had sent missionaries to Demerara to preach and teach among the slaves of the colony. Planter opinion was ambivalent. Some thought that religion may help keep the slaves in check. Other saw the missionaries as dangerous spirit rousers. One
The Demerara Slave Revolt
The 1823 slave revolt in Demarara, Guyana, started on a sugar plantation called “Plantation Success”- on the east coast of the colony on August 23. It spread throughout the nearby area to involve slaves from at least fifty-five plantations. In total, around ten thousand of the approximately seventy-five thousand slaves who lived in the colony rose in violent rebellion against their oppressors.
The revolt would have been even larger, however, had the slaves succeeded in their goal of spreading the insurrection to the western part of the colony. As it was, the revolt still alarmed the local planters sufficiently to respond quickly, and with extreme violence. Using both army units and local militia, the planters and colonial officials killed several hundred of the rebelling slaves, and imprisoned hundreds more to stand trial and face execution. Within days, the revolt had been put down.
Two elements made the Demerara Revolt rather unusual. First, it largely consisted of, and was primarily led by Creole slaves. This upset the traditional British notion that although the wilder African-born slaves might revolt, the Creole slaves were more docile and accepting of their fate. This was a harsh challenge to any illusion of slavery as a civilizing system. In a world in which the planters had already seen the abolition of the slave trade, and in which they could see the abolition of slavery itself looming in the foreseeable future, it was particularly unsettling.
Also unsettling was the role played by antislavery groups from England. The nonconformist evangelical movement was particularly involved in trying to end slavery altogether. From at least as early 1808, The London Missionary Society had sent missionaries to Demerara to preach and teach among the slaves of the colony. Planter opinion was ambivalent. Some thought that religion may help keep the slaves in check. Other saw the missionaries as dangerous spirit rousers. One