Samuel Sharpe
Encyclopedia
Order of National Hero (Jamaica)
The Order of National Hero is an honour awarded by the government of Jamaica. It is a part of the Jamaican honours system that has been in place since 1969.-Description:...
(1801, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
- May 23, 1832, Jamaica) was the slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
leader behind the Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n Baptist War
Baptist War
The Baptist War, also known as the Christmas Uprising and the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831–32, was a 10-day rebellion that mobilized as many as 60,000 of Jamaica's 300,000 slave population...
slave rebellion.
Samuel Sharpe was born in the parish of St. James. Samuel Sharpe was a slave throughout his life, he was allowed to become well-educated, because of his education he was respected by other slaves and he was a well known preacher and leader. Sharpe was a Deacon at the Burchell Baptist Church in Montego Bay, whose pastor was Rev Thomas Burchell. Sam Sharpe spent most of his time travelling to different parishes in Jamaica educating the slaves about Christianity and freedom.
Baptist War
In the mistaken belief that emancipation had already been granted by the British Parliament,Sharpe organised a peaceful General strikeGeneral strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
across many estates in western Jamaica at a critical time for the plantation owners: harvest of the sugar cane. The Christmas Rebellion (Baptist War
Baptist War
The Baptist War, also known as the Christmas Uprising and the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831–32, was a 10-day rebellion that mobilized as many as 60,000 of Jamaica's 300,000 slave population...
) began on December 25, 1832 at the Kensington Estate. Reprisals by the plantation owners led to the rebels burning the crops. His peaceful protest turned into Jamaica's largest slave rebellion, killing hundreds, including 14 whites. The rebellion was put down by the Jamaican military within two weeks and many of the ringleaders, including Sharpe, were hung in 1832. Just before he was hanged for his role in the rebellion, Sharpe said "I would rather die in yonder gallows, than live for a minute more in slavery." The rebellion caused two detailed Parliamentary Inquiries which arguably contributed to the 1833 Abolition of Slavery
Slavery Abolition Act
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire...
across the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
Legacy
In 1975, the government of independent Jamaica proclaimed Sharpe a National HeroOrder of National Hero (Jamaica)
The Order of National Hero is an honour awarded by the government of Jamaica. It is a part of the Jamaican honours system that has been in place since 1969.-Description:...
with the posthumous title of Rt. Excellent Samuel Sharpe.
Also in 1975, Sam Sharpe Teachers' College in Granville, a suburb of Montego Bay, was founded and named in his honour.
He is also on the modern Jamaican $50 dollar bill.
See also
- History of JamaicaHistory of JamaicaJamaica, the 3rd largest Caribbean island, was inhabited by Arawak natives when it was first sighted by the 2nd voyage of Christopher Colombus on 5th May 1494. bob marley. christian. asmin. david...
- Slavery in the British and French CaribbeanSlavery in the British and French CaribbeanSlavery in the British and French Caribbean refers to slavery in the parts of the Caribbean dominated by France or the British Empire.-Conditions:The Lesser Antilles islands of Barbados, St...
- Thomas BurchellThomas BurchellThomas Burchell was a leading Baptist missionary and slavery abolitionist in Jamaica in the early nineteenth century. It is not uncommon for Jamaican parents to name their children 'Burchell'; indeed it is almost as popular a Christian name as Manley.Burchell, along with James Phillippo , William...
Further reading
- Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 2006.