The Sam Sharpe Rebellion, The Baptist War, The Christmas Rebellion or The Christmas Uprising, The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt
1831-1832

A very clear statement was made by our ancestors in December 1831, the impacts of which we are experiencing even today.  The seriousness with which this statement was made, seen and felt was described in some different ways.  Perhaps a question of point of view, not thinking deeply enough or small knowledge, rather than logic, clarity and making it make sense.  In the interest of arriving at a consensus that is informed by facts, truth and rationality, let us apply reason.

Let us not confuse ourselves. It was not, is not and never will be the Sam Sharpe Rebellion. 

Samuel Sharpe was not his name, it was the name of the one who claimed ‘possession’ and      ‘ownership’ of him. His mind, body and spirit.  It was not his name as there were no naming rituals done to align this ‘name’ with his spirit.  He was called that, but it was not his name. It was the name of another person, some one name.  The name Samuel Sharpe was ceremoniously bestowed upon and therefore belonged to a white man.  A man who participated wholehearted in slavery and all its evils.  A man who had nothing to do with respect for other human beings, freedom, justice or any of the values that the one, the enslaved person, called by his name, knew and fought to live by.  There was therefore no Sam Sharpe Rebellion.    Samuel Sharpe and his wife Jane Sharpe, were Plantation owners in the parish of St James.   They had no reason to have or want a ‘slave’ revolt to carry their names.  They must turn in their graves every time it happens as they were staunch supporters, participants, beneficiaries of the system.   

Let us not confuse ourselves. It was not, is not and never will be the Baptist War.  The Baptist played a role. An important one. We have no record of the Baptist owning slaves in Jamaica. What we have heard of is their advocacy and lobby for the rights and freedom of enslaved peoples.  But nowhere have we seen or heard it claimed by the Baptist, then or now, that the leaders of the Baptists initiated, planned or implemented this particular ‘War.’  We have not been made to understand that any of those among the Baptist leadership died or was later hung.  We have heard some names of Baptist Ministers who ‘supported’ but we do not have even one name of one of them who stood alongside the members of their congregation, in a righteous battle.  How could it then be their ‘War’?’ Where were they when the Revolt was happening? Did we not hear that some of their leaders even tried to discourage the leaders of the Revolt?  And which wars did they instigate before or after to protest the conditions under which God’s children, their Brothers and Sisters were existing?    But they contributed, they had talked and continued to talk for and on behalf of the enslaved. They had shared ministry that encouraged the enslaved to question there condition even more deeply and validate for themselves the ‘wrongness’ or perhaps the sheer evil of the enslavers and the institution of slavery.  But to claim the Revolt, or have it named for them is a little much.

Let us not confuse ourselves. It was not, is not and never will be the Christmas Rebellion or the Christmas Uprising.  Let us not be ignorant of our agricultural practices, or lead ourselves to think that this Revolt was organized at this time to benefit from the ‘auspicious’ energy of the birth of the Christ.  The Revolt was strategically planned for late December when the enslaved people would have the upper hand in negotiating.  If you understand the sugarcane crop you will know that once you start reaping, time is of the utmost essence.  There is a window of only about 3 days to get the crop from the field and transported to the factories for processing.  Reaping of the Sugarcane typically began in January and so the last few days in December was an excellent time to place demands for more humane working conditions, with a better expectation that they will be met.  So no…it was not the Christmas Rebellion or Uprising, it was clear, strategic thinking.  

So with what are we left?

Some have chosen to use the expression The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt to identify the great protestation that happened on the December 25, 1831 and continued into 1832.  However since we are moving away from the use of some certain words would The Great Jamaican Revolt not suffice?  Although we do not know who called it this, is it not more truly reflective of the activity?  The Great Jamaican Revolt was led by a brave, warrior leader whose name we do not know.  He was born into slavery in Jamaica, in 1801 or so, on the Croydon Estate in St James.  He was called by the name of his enslaver, the British plantation owner Samuel Sharpe.   He became a deacon in the Baptist Church.  He preached against slavery and advocated for freedom.  He had a mother and father, siblings, and later a wife and child.

The Great Jamaican Revolt, as I am choosing to call it now, had long lasting impact.  Starting out as a strike, and continuing with the burning of a number of plantations, the Jamaican revolters found themselves in asymmetric conflict with the more superior-ly armed and trained British Forces, who were called out to subdue and suppress them.  In the process, our fighting ancestors took to the hills but those who knew the hills as well as they did, the maroons, were called out to hunt them down. The British and the maroons quelled the Revolt. 

Of the 60,000 Jamaicans involved in the Revolt over 200 were killed during the Revolt and the deaths of roughly 300 others were later ordered.  A majority of the revolting Jamaicans returned to the plantations to reap the harvest-ready crop, suffering even more extreme punishments than they would have experienced before.  After all, how dare they threaten the crop and the subsequent profits from it.  So the crop was reaped, profits made.  Less than a year and a half later, the British started to dismantle the institution of slavery with the passing of the Abolition Act on August 28, 1833.   The so called, but not ‘named’ Samuel ‘Sam’ Sharpe was hung on May 23, 1832.    

So should we all agree to name and call it nothing else but ‘The Great Jamaican Revolt’?  It seems quit fitting.  But most importantly, what should we ‘name’ and call its brilliant instigator, brave warrior and intrepid leader?  If, as he said, he preferred death to slavery, should we not, in our space and time, acknowledge the ‘freedom’ he claimed through the grave and allow the slave name he was called by to die?  How do we see our options?  

May 12, 2025