Samuel Sharpe, or Sharp (1801 – 23 May 1832), also known as Sam Sharpe, was an enslaved

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n who was the leader of the widespread 1831–32

Baptist War The Baptist War, also known as the Sam Sharp Rebellion, the Christmas Rebellion, the Christmas Uprising and the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831–32, was an eleven-day rebellion that started on 25 December 1831 and involved up to 60,000 of th ...

slave rebellion A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedo ...

(also known as the Christmas Rebellion) in Jamaica. He was proclaimed a National Hero of Jamaica in 1975 and his image is on the $50 Jamaican banknote.

Biography

Samuel Sharpe was born into slavery in the parish of St James, Jamaica, on a plantation owned by Samuel and Jane Sharpe. The Slave Return of 1832 announcing his death gave his name as Archer aka Samuel Sharpe, the son of Eve, and he was only 28 years old when he died. The Slave Return of Samuel and Jane Sharpe in 1817 showed a young 12-year-old Archer on the plantation with his mother Juda Bligom and siblings Joe (2 years old) and Eliza (20 years old). He was allowed to become educated, for which he was well respected by his enslaved peers. Sharpe became a well-known preacher,leader and missionary in the Baptist Church, which had long welcomed the enslaved as members and recognized them as

preachers A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

. He was a deacon at the Burchell Baptist Church in

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Por ...

, whose pastor was Rev.

Thomas Burchell Thomas Burchell (1799–1846) was a leading Baptist missionary and slavery abolitionist in Montego Bay, Jamaica in the early nineteenth century. He was among an early group of missionaries who went out from London in response to a request from ...

, a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Sharpe spent most of his time travelling to different parishes in Jamaica, educating the enslaved about

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, which he believed promised freedom!

Baptist War

Where possible, the enslaved closely followed the British Parliament's discussions surrounding the abolition of slavery. In the mistaken belief that emancipation had already been granted by the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

, Sharpe organised a peaceful

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

across many estates in western Jamaica to protest working conditions. This took place during the harvest of sugar cane, a critical time for the plantation owners: generally the workforce had to work overtime to process the cane quickly at its peak. The Christmas Rebellion (

) began on 27 December 1831 at the Kensington Estate. Reprisals by the plantation owners led to the rebels' burning the crops. Sharpe's originally peaceful protest turned into Jamaica's largest slave rebellion. The uprising lasted for 10 days and spread throughout the entire island, mobilizing as many as 60,000 of Jamaica's enslaved population.Craton, ''Testing the Chains'', p. 291. The colonial government used the armed Jamaican military forces and warriors from the towns of the

Jamaican Maroons Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery on the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Africans who were ensla ...

to put down the rebellion, suppressing it within two weeks. Some 14 whites were killed by armed slave battalions, but more than 200 slaves were killed by troops. Afterwards, more reprisals followed. The government tried, convicted, and hanged many of the ringleaders, including Sharpe, in 1832. A total of 310 to 340 were executed through the judicial process, including many for purely property offenses such as theft of livestock. In the months leading up to his execution, while in jail, Sharpe had several meetings with Rev.

Henry Bleby Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, a missionary, who reported that Sharpe told him: "I would rather die upon yonder gallows than live my life in slavery." The rebellion and government response provoked two detailed Parliamentary Inquiries. The Jamaican government's severe reprisals in the aftermath of the rebellion are believed to have contributed to passage by Parliament of the 1833

Slavery Abolition Act The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire. It was passed by Charles Grey, 2n ...

and final abolition of slavery across the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

in 1838.

Legacy

*In 1975, the government of independent Jamaica proclaimed Sharpe a

National Hero The title of Hero is presented by various governments in recognition of acts of self-sacrifice to the state, and great achievements in combat or labor. It is originally a Soviet-type honor, and is continued by several nations including Belarus, Ru ...

, with the

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ...

title of Rt. Excellent Samuel Sharpe. *Also in 1975, Sam Sharpe Teachers' College was founded and named in his honor in Granville, a suburb of Montego Bay. *Sharpe's image is used on the modern Jamaican $50 bill. *The British jazz saxophonist

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

(of Jamaican parentage) included an instrumental composition "Samuel Sharpe" as a tribute on his 2012 album ''House of Legends''. *Sam Sharpe is referenced by

Vybz Kartel Adidja Azim Palmer (born 7 January 1976), better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall recording artist, composer, record producer, and entrepreneur. Among his various nicknames, he is referred to as "Worl' Boss". As summarize ...

in his 2019 song "Stand Strong". *'' Daddy Sharpe: A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Samuel Sharpe, West Indian Slave – Written by Himself, 1832'', a fictionalized account of Sharpe's life, by Fred W. Kennedy, was published in 2008."Book Launch: Fred W. Kennedy's Daddy Sharpe"
''Repeating Islands'', 6 November 2009. *An animation title
"Samuel Sharpe"
written and directed b
Jason Young
was officially selected for screening at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival on Saturday 14th August 2021.

References

External links

''Jamaican History''
* Reid-Salmon, Delroy
''Burning for Freedom: A Theology of the Black Atlantic Struggle for Liberation''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Samuel Baptist deacon Jamaican rebel slaves 1801 births 1832 deaths National Heroes of Jamaica 19th-century Jamaican people 19th-century Baptist ministers Jamaican Baptist ministers People from Saint James Parish, Jamaica People executed by the Colony of Jamaica by hanging Kevin Duwayne Williams

Biography

Baptist War

Legacy

See also

Further reading

References

External links