History must unite; not divide

The Caribbean has a proud history of rebellion against inhuman ‘peculiar institution’ – slavery. It is important to note that this rebellious spirit in the service of justice and equality was not only waged in the early days and only by recent arrivals from the African continent. During the lead-up to the emancipation of slavery in British colonies on August 1834, when the emancipation movement had already gained a head of steam in England, there were three great rebellions by Creoles i.e. native-born slaves in the Caribbean – in Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica.
In Barbados, the 1816 rebellion was launched by Bussa and involved the head workmen on the plantations – the rangers, carpenters, drivers and domestic slaves. These individuals mobilised the enslaved workers with propaganda that claimed their owners were opposing British efforts to have them freed. If they wanted freedom, they would have to fight for it.
The rebels eventually took over half the island, but within three days the revolt was suppressed by the local militia and the West India Regiment. A total of 111 enslaved workers and four free people of colour were executed for inciting the rebellion. Bussa is one of the ten national heroes of Barbados.
The Christmas Rebellion (1831–2) in Jamaica was the largest in the Caribbean in terms of the number of enslaved people involved. As was the case in Barbados, the enslaved population believed that emancipation was imminent but was being stymied. The Baptists in Jamaica used preachers, known as ‘deacons’, to teach the principles of Christianity to the field workers – in particular, freedom and equality. However, the enslaved congregations took deacons’ sermons to mean that the time had come for them to seek freedom. Baptist deacon Samuel Sharpe led the rebellion after workers refused to work on Christmas Day 1831 to force improvement in working conditions. It eventually involved over 60,000 of the enslaved.
The revolt was finally crushed at the end of January 1832 and around 900 enslaved and 14 European planters were killed. Samuel Sharpe was tried in April 1832, found guilty of rebellion and insurrection, and hanged on 23 May 1832. More than 300 other rebels were executed by hanging or firing squad. Sharpe is a national hero of Jamaica.
In Guyana the 1823 revolt –  between the Barbadian and Jamaican uprisings – involved some12,000 slaves from about 55 plantations on the East Coast of Demerara between Liliendaal and Mahaica. Many of the rebels were members of Bethel Chapel, a church at Plantation Le Ressouvenir established by the London Missionary Society in 1808, when it sent its first missionary, John Wray, to Demerara. As historian Mark McGowan noted, “The revolt was also significant because it was a rare occasion in Caribbean history that the supreme leadership of a slave rebellion was attributed to a white man. Rev. John Smith, who assumed responsibility for Bethel Chapel in 1817.”
Recently, in observance of 2012 as the International Year of African Peoples, the Guyanese government decided to finally construct a monument in honour of the momentous uprising. While there had been a prior initiative by the same administration to construct a monument at the Parade Ground in Georgetown, where some of the twenty-four persons were eventually executed and heads displayed, the present Minister of Culture, using impartial criteria, decided to situate the monument closer to the East Coast Demerara location of the rebellion.
Unfortunately several groups, claiming to be the ‘true descendants’ of the rebels  – and all now linked to the Opposition – have come out in opposition to the move. They would rather have the monument at the Georgetown site of the heroes’ desecration rather than that of their heroism. The assertion of ‘true descendants’ is insultive of national unity and ignores the contribution of Rev Smith. There are some aspects of our history that must not be manipulated for narrow political gains.