On October 11, 1865, Paul Bogle led 200 to 300 black men and women into the town of Morant Bay , parish of St. Thomas in the East, Jamaica and this became known as the Morant Bay Rebellion. The Morant Bay Rebellion turned out to be one of the defining points in Jamaica's struggle for both political and economical enhancement. The rebellion and its place in the history of black resistance to white hegemony have been matters of dispute. Regardless, to try and understand this rebellion one must first understand life in Jamaica during the 1860s.
During the 1860s some ex-slaves did well while others were left in dire poverty, often starving and naked in some villages on the island. During the elections of 1864, the population ratio of blacks to white was 32 to one. Not to mention, out of a population of over 436,000, fewer than 2,000 were eligible to vote, and those were almost exclusively white, due in part to a large voting fee that blacks had to pay in order to participate (1).
Conditions at this time were almost as bad as it had been during slavery and the previous two year drought worsened already miserable conditions. Although the emancipation proclamation was read on August 1, 1834 there was still a fear that the white planters intended to restore slavery. Only a small incident would be needed to lead to an outburst of violence.
The Morant Bay Rebellion first started on October 7, 1865 when a poor black man was put on trial and imprisoned for trespassing on a long abandoned plantation. When a one member of a group of protesting blacks from the village of Stony Gut was arrested, the crowd became unruly and broke the accused man from prison.
A few days later on October 11, Paul Bogle, a respected black man in the community, marched with a group to Morant Bay. When they arrived at the court house they were met by a small volunteer militia who opened fire on the group, killing seven. Immediately, the militia retreated but the group that day killed 18 people, officials and militia, and had taken the town. Over the next few days, the group roamed the countryside and killed around 100 white people.
Governor Edward Eyre sent troops to hunt down the poorly armed rebels. Despite the fact that these troops were met with no resistance the soldiers shot and hanged everyone they came across, mostly innocent people without a trial. One soldier said, "we slaughtered all before us...man or woman or child" (2). In the end, 439 blacks were killed in the repression and 354 executed after "trials" that ranged from the whim of an individual officer to the judicial lynching of an official court martial. Paul Bogle was, of course, among those hanged. Over 600 men and women, including pregnant women, were flogged and received up to 100 strokes. To increase the severity of the punishment the cord strands of the cat were twined with wire. In addition, many received long prison sentences (3).
After the massacre, there was an outcry in Britain because the British were very embarrassed. Even so, when Governor Eyre returned to Britain in August, 1866 he was welcomed by his admirers who held a banquet in his honor. That very evening, Eyre was condemned as a murderer by a large working class people at a protest meeting. British society was sharply divided over Eyre's actions. Critics of the Governor's actions established the Jamaica Committee and called for Eyre to be tried for his excesses in suppressing the "insurrection." More radical members of the Committee wanted him tried for the murder of British subjects under the rule of law. The Committee included English liberals, such as John Bright, John Stuart Mill, Charles Darwin (see letter to Hooker), Thomas Huxley ( see Letter on the Jamaica Committee), and Herbert Spencer. An opposing committee, which included such Tories and Tory socialists as Thomas Carlyle, Rev. Charles Kingsley, and John Ruskin, sprang up in Eyre's defense. Twice Eyre was charged with murder, but the cases were never proceeded with.
Unfortunately, some writers in history consider the Morant Bay Rebellion as nothing more than a local "riot". Fortunately, the Morant Bay Rebellion did make the government listen to the people. It forced the government to try and make life better for the people.
(1) Edward Bean Underhill, "The Tragedy of Morant Bay: A Narrative of the Disturbances in the Island of Jamaica in 1865". (London, 1895).
(2) Jamaica Committee. "Facts and documents relating to the alleged rebellion in Jamaica, and the measures of repression". London: Jamaica Committee, 1866, pp 27.
(3) Gad Heuman, "The Killing Time": The Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica, (Knoxville, 1994).
(4) Secret History of the Dismal Science: the Governor Eyre Controversy
