Christmas Rebellion (Cyrena).Doc

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THE CHRISTMAS REBELLION OR THE BAPTIST WAR YEAR:1831 Samuel Sharpe was a slave throughout his life, though he was allowed to become a well- educated Baptist deacon. Because of his education he was highly respected by other slaves and he became a well known preacher and leader. He was the deacon of the Burchell Baptist church in Montego Bay. He spent most of his life traveling in the St. James area educating the slaves about Christianity and freedom. After the passing of the Amelioration Bill in 1823, there were constant slave revolts throughout the Caribbean. During that time, revolt was like a pox that spread from person to person. In other words, whenever one island found out that another had an uprising issue in which the slaves could voice their opinions, they would become motivated to do the same. REASON FOR THE BAPTIST WAR The missionary-educated rebellion leaders were attuned to the abolitionist movement in London, and their intention (which partially failed) was for the uprising to take the form of a peaceful general strike Samuel Sharpe was a very literate man who could analyze things and then interpret them to his fellow enslaved. He told them that the “gran massa” in Britain would soon free all slaves and they would then be paid for their labour during slavery. However, these slaves believed that it had already passed and that their wages were being fraudulently withheld. They decided to take strike action and not return to work after the Christmas Holiday. Hence its name the Christmas Rebellion. Whites called it the Baptist War because they believed that it was started by Sam Sharpe, a prominent member of the Baptist church. He was a well known black Baptist deacon. WHERE WAS IT ESTABLISHED? The rioting started on the Kensington Estate (Jamaica) and then immediately spread to neighbouring plantations. Within hours, plantations in
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