Most, if not all of the Black residents were enslaved. In fact, Slaves outnumbered Whites 12:1 on the island.
Racial tensions were at all time highs.
ЁЯОДMERRY CHRISTMASЁЯОД
Today, in 1831.
Over 60,000 Jamaican Slaves, led by one man, go on to carry out one of the largest Slave Rebellions in West Indian history.
The 11-Day battle that no one talks about.
The Baptist War: The Christmas Rebellion
[History Thread]
Most, if not all of the Black residents were enslaved. In fact, Slaves outnumbered Whites 12:1 on the island.
Racial tensions were at all time highs.
A rumor created by Baptist missionaries to try to pacify the slaves and to thwart any revolts.
The truth, once realized, only angered the slaves even further.
What they didn't count on was the slaves taking their Christianity and mixing it with Afro-Jamaican religion called "Myalism".
This term originates from the Myal Religion, and is believed to be one of the two souls a human gets when they are born into the world.
Since they weren't indoctrinated to be "obedient" slaves, instigating a revolt didn't take much effort.
Since missionaries were rarely at these meetings, they could plot freely.
Sharp was able to move around the island more freely than most slaves.
Sharp and his following came up with a plan that they believed was peaceful and reasonable.
-Freedom
-Higher Wages of "Half the going rate"
That's it, nothing more. Sharp and his following declared not to work until they were met.
The plantation owners declined.
Well...
Sharp was backed by The Black Regiment, a military force of about 150 slave soldiers.
The battle lasted days.
Numbers reached close to 60,000 revolting slaves. The opposing forces were retreating.
Numbers reached close to 60,000 revolting slaves. The opposing forces were retreating.
The opposing forces would eventually stop the rebellion in January 1832.
Killing a total of 500 slaves before, during, and after the uprising, including Sharp and the Regiment.
More from History
TIL:
- first Western detective stories translated & published in Japan in *1863*--that's pre-Meiji, even!
- first Chinese-written detective stories featuring Western-style detectives starred women as both detectives and criminals were published in 1907--author L├╝ Simian (!).
Quote: тАЬThis case is so complicated that even Sherlock Holmes would feel helpless if it fell into his hands. [Now] it is solved by a woman who returned from abroad for a brief
visit to her hometown. Who is to say that the wisdom of Chinese cannot compete with the Westerners?тАЭ
The lead female detective in these stories, Chu Yi, is a fan of Doyle's Holmes stories and asks herself "What would Sherlock Holmes do?" while crime-solving, but succeeds through her use of martial arts and more "Chinese" attributes--China, not the West, solves the crimes.
Author L├╝ Simian, btw, is this guy: https://t.co/swPvAxr87J . One of the "four greatest modern Chinese historians," also wrote a landmark work of literary theory, and helped cohere Chinese detective fiction with his stories. Bit of a badass.
Holmes was the dominant influence on Chinese detective fiction of the late-Qing & early Republic years, and the biggest star of Chinese detective fiction of those years, Cheng Xiaoqing's Huo Sang, was a spin on Holmes.
- first Western detective stories translated & published in Japan in *1863*--that's pre-Meiji, even!
- first Chinese-written detective stories featuring Western-style detectives starred women as both detectives and criminals were published in 1907--author L├╝ Simian (!).
Quote: тАЬThis case is so complicated that even Sherlock Holmes would feel helpless if it fell into his hands. [Now] it is solved by a woman who returned from abroad for a brief
visit to her hometown. Who is to say that the wisdom of Chinese cannot compete with the Westerners?тАЭ
The lead female detective in these stories, Chu Yi, is a fan of Doyle's Holmes stories and asks herself "What would Sherlock Holmes do?" while crime-solving, but succeeds through her use of martial arts and more "Chinese" attributes--China, not the West, solves the crimes.
Author L├╝ Simian, btw, is this guy: https://t.co/swPvAxr87J . One of the "four greatest modern Chinese historians," also wrote a landmark work of literary theory, and helped cohere Chinese detective fiction with his stories. Bit of a badass.
Holmes was the dominant influence on Chinese detective fiction of the late-Qing & early Republic years, and the biggest star of Chinese detective fiction of those years, Cheng Xiaoqing's Huo Sang, was a spin on Holmes.
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I just finished Eric Adler's The Battle of the Classics, and wanted to say something about Joel Christiansen's review linked below. I am not sure what motivates the review (I speculate a bit below), but it gives a very misleading impression of the book. 1/x
The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x
Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x
The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x
It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x
As someone\u2019s who\u2019s read the book, this review strikes me as tremendously unfair. It mostly faults Adler for not writing the book the reviewer wishes he had! https://t.co/pqpt5Ziivj
— Teresa M. Bejan (@tmbejan) January 12, 2021
The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x
Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x
The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x
It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x
