Montserrat slave rebellion of 1768 | |||
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Part of slave revolts in North America | |||
Date | 1768 | ||
Location | 16°42′N 62°12′W / 16.7°N 62.2°W | ||
Goals | Liberation | ||
Resulted in | Rebellion suppressed | ||
Parties | |||
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Lead figures | |||
Outcome | |||
Death(s) | 9 executed | ||
Part of a series on |
North American slave revolts |
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The Montserrat slave rebellion of 1768 was an unsuccessful slave rebellion in the English colony of Montserrat in the Caribbean Sea that took place on 17 March 1768.
Anglo-Irish planters began to settle Montserrat in the 1630s following tensions with the British in nearby St Kitts [1] and started importing African slaves in 1650 to work on the island's cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane plantations. [2] By the late 1760s, as a result of dwindling provisions, labour shortages, and increasingly strict oversight, slaves faced worsening living conditions. [3]
By 1768, slaves outnumbered white colonialists by three to one, [1] and black and creole Montserratians, led by the slave Cudjoe, decided to stage an uprising against the plantation owners. [3] 17 March was chosen as the day of the uprising as the rebels knew that their masters would be drinking heavily for St Patrick's Day. [4]
The rebels planned for domestic slaves at Government House to seize any weapons held there [5] while other slaves would arm themselves with rocks, farm tools, clubs and homemade swords, [1] but the plot was disclosed by a female slave, [6] leading to a successful quashing of the rebellion.
Nine rebels, including Cudjoe, were hanged, [4] and his head placed on a silk-cotton tree as a warning to slaves considering another revolt. [5] Thirty other rebels were imprisoned and then sold to other islands. [5]
The uprising was forgotten until 1971 when Montserratian scholars discovered references to the rebellion and began to publicise it. In 1985, the Government of Montserrat declared 17 March a national holiday. [5] St Patrick's Day is now the centrepoint of a ten day festival honouring the rebellion and its members. [4]
In 2018, Montserratian playwright Chadd Cumberbatch wrote and directed a new play, 1768, as a theatrical re-imagining of the uprising to mark the 250th anniversary of the events. [7] [8]
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