Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Berbice Slave Rebellion History of the 1763 revolt

The most famous slave uprising in Guyana was the Berbice uprising, which began in February 1763. On two plantations on the Canje River in Berbice, African slaves rebelled, taking control of the region.
As plantation after plantation fell to the slaves, the European population fled; eventually only half of the Caucasians who had lived in the colony remained. Led by Kofi (now the national hero of Guyana), an Akan man from West Africa, the African freedom fighters came to number about 3000 and threatened European control over Guiana.

The rebelling Africans were organised as a fighting force by Kofi, who was a house-slave on another Canje plantation, Lilienburg, where the slaves had also rebelled. Kofi had been brought to this plantation ever since he was a child and was trained as a cooper by the owner, Barkey.
In 1762, a slave rebellion of 36 male and female slaves occurred on Berbice, then a Dutch colony. But after the slaves repelled a militia force sent by the Governor Van Hoogenheim, the rebellion was finally repressed by a stronger force of the Dutch militia. Some of the slaves escaped, but at least one was executed. But the repressive techniques of the planters were bringing matters to a boiling point, and just a few months later, around February 23, 1763, a more organised revolt took place. This uprising became known as the Berbice Slave Rebellion.
The rebellion, which originally began on privately owned estates, soon attracted the slaves on plantations owned by the Berbice Association. The rebels burned buildings and cane fields and attacked and killed a number of Caucasian men and women. When they attacked the plantations, they seized gunpowder and guns belonging to the owners.
Some escape
Meanwhile, those among the Caucasian population who managed to escape sought refuge on the five ships in the Berbice River, at Fort Nassau, Fort St Andries at the mouth of the Berbice River, and in a brick house at Plantation Peerboom, about 70 miles upriver on the left bank. Some others, in panic, fled through the forest to Demerara.
On March 3, a rebel group, numbering over 500, and led by Cosala, then launched an attack on the brick house at Peerboom, which was heavily fortified by the Caucasian defenders.
After a period of negotiations, the rebels agreed to allow the Caucasians to leave the brick house unharmed and depart for their boats in the river. But as the Caucasians were leaving, the rebels opened fire, killing many of them and taking many prisoners. Among the prisoners was the wife of the manager of Plantation Bearestyn whom Kofi kept as his wife.

Kofi, accepted by all the rebels as the leader of the rebellion, then declared himself governor of Berbice, and set up his administration at Hollandia and Zeelandia. Work groups among the Africans were also organised to farm the estate lands to produce food supplies to sustain the population.
But from the beginning, Kofi encountered difficulties with his forces since some sections felt that by defeating the Caucasians meant that they could now act as they pleased.
Drinking and plundering
Small groups roamed across the countryside plundering abandoned estates, while some others spent most of their time drinking rum and dressing up in European clothing plundered from the plantations. The Dutch governor, Van Hoogenheim and other Caucasians at Fort Nassau, were undecided on what they should do.
On March 8, 1763, Fort Nassau was abandoned after the buildings were burned and the cannons spiked. The Caucasians travelled by boats to Fort St Andries, which was soon found to be of no use, for neither housing, nor defence. Although this was quite evident, it was voted that the Caucasians should stay there.
English ships with 100 soldiers arrived from Suriname. Van Hoogenheim immediately withdrew his decision to abandon the colony and began to reorganise its defence.
The rebels, led by Akara, immediately launched three successive attacks on the Caucasians, but they were driven back. Kofi, who did not approve these attacks, immediately after, on April 2, 1763, wrote to Van Hoogenheim saying that he did not want a war with the Caucasians. He also proposed the partition of Berbice between the Caucasians and Africans, with the Caucasians occupying the coastal area, and the Africans occupying the interior. Kofi also proposed a face-to-face meeting.
The governor continued to insist in his replies to Kofi that he was still waiting to hear from Holland.
Growing differences
Those who had been field-slaves began to express disapproval of Kofi, who was a house slave. Atta was the leader of this “field-slave” faction. Tribal contentions also emerged and fights broke out between members of different tribes.
Meanwhile, the differences between Kofi and Atta continued to grow and eventually Atta challenged him for the leadership. The opposing supporters fought each other and after Atta’s faction won, Kofi and his allies were killed. Atta, now the new leader, appointed Accabre as his military commander, and three other leaders, Quacco, Baube and Goussari rose up among the ranks. But by this time, reinforcements were arriving to support the Caucasians and from December 19, 1763, soldiers who had arrived from Holland were moving up the Canje and Berbice rivers and taking back control of the plantations. Large numbers of Africans surrendered while others fled into the forest. Those who mounted resistance were quickly suppressed by the Dutch soldiers.
Executed
Accabre, Atta, Akara, Quacco, Baube and Goussari, as well as many other rebels were executed. Between March and April 1764, 40 of them were hanged, 24 broken at the wheel and 24 burned to death. Others who were rounded up were re-enslaved and put back to work on the plantations, now back under control of their Caucasian owners. The Berbice Slave Rebellion, which lasted for 10 months, marked the first large scale attempt by a large group of enslaved people to win their freedom in Guyana. Significantly, it was also the first organised attempt to win freedom in the entire American continent. Despite the division in the ranks and the eventual failure of the rebellion, from it emerged the first group of Guyanese revolutionary fighters.