August 1 – Emancipation Day / Caribbean Style

nPosted on August 1, 2019

Key Points

nHaiti was the only nation in the world formed as the result of a slave revolt. So we might think of that revolt as the only successful revolt….

nBUT actually many Caribbean slave revolts over the course of decades ended up convincing the British government to end slavery in their colonies.

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 abolished slavery everywhere in the entire British Empire (I guess the exceptions were the territories “in the possession of the East India Company.”) It might seem like the Brits woke up one day and realized that slavery was wrong and voted to change their ways – but British people had been talking about how very immoral slavery was since the late 1700s. It’s hard to get people to abolish something that’s tied into systems of agriculture and ways of life and economic well-being!

nAfter decades of agitation from the anti-slavery movement and centuries of resistance and violent rebellion from the enslaved people themselves, the British government finally ended the awful practice of buying, selling, and owning human beings.

The British government’s emancipation declaration didn’t mention all the revolts and strikes that had disrupted agriculture and caused damage to plantations. The declaration didn’t mention the free territories springing up. It certainly didn’t mention the general strike led by Sam Sharpe in late 1831. Sharpe was able to get about one-fifth of all of Jamaica’s enslaved people to participate in the work stoppage – that’s about 60,000 people!!! – and some of the striking slaves used hatchets and torches to lay ruin to 145 plantations. The cost of all that damage was 200,000 British pounds – a hefty sum back then!

nThe Slavery Abolition Act took effect in British lands on this date in 1834. Because of that, many nations that were once British colonies celebrate Emancipation Day in early August. Most of these holidays fall on the first Monday in August (you know, so people can have a long weekend); the holiday is sometimes called “August Monday.” Bermuda celebrates emancipation on the Thursday before the first Monday in August. (That means that some years it’s celebrated in July.) But three English-speaking Caribbean nations celebrate Emancipation Day on the actual anniversary of emancipation:

nTrinidada and Tobago

nJamaica

nBarbados

nCan you sort out which of these nations goes with which map, flag, capital, and landscape?

n(1) Maps: