"To be hanged by the neck until he be dead" : the King against Samuel Sharpe, April 1832

Object Details

Author

Shepherd, Verene

Smithsonian Libraries African Art Index Project DSI

Subject

Sharpe, Samuel d. 1832 Trials, litigation, etc

Illustrations.

The Jamaica journal presents its third installment of slave narratives with nine testimonies of enslaved men and women implicated in the 1831-1832 emancipation war in Jamaica lead by the Creole Samuel Sharpe. The enslaved could not testify directly against free persons; however, trial testimonies and confessions could be given by enslaved individuals against other slaves, especially where there was injury against Europeans.

Samuel Sharpe was an educated town slave, and a member of the "slave elite." He converted to Christianity and became a deacon in the First Baptist Church in Montego Bay. He followed the developments of the abolition movement both locally and abroad. Sharpe was able to communicate and influence the native Baptist slaves. In 1831, he developed a plan of "passive resistance" by which slaves would refuse to work on Christmas Day and afterwards. On December 27, 1831, the Kensington Estate Great House was set on fire, sparking an eight-day rebellion. Sharpe was eventually captured and hanged in Montego Bay. Slavery was officially abolished in Jamaica on August 28, 1833.

2005

Call number

F1861 .J277

Type

Articles

Place

Jamaica

Smithsonian Libraries

Topic

Slave insurrections

Record ID

siris_sil_913904

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0