Scholars will differ on the most defining event leading to the ‘full’ emancipation of enslaved Africans in Guyana. After reading the only fictional account of the 1823 Demerara slave uprising, it would appear that the above event was the most critical on the road to freedom.
The fictional account in reference is a book titled “Ratoon”, published in 1962 and written by prolific Guyanese author, Christopher Nicole. “Ratoon” is based on an improbable romance of two protagonists – a white female plantation heiress and a black male slave and freedom fighter/rebel leader.
Nicole used this ‘improbable romance’ to reconstruct a revolt spawned by the promise of freedom and freedom delayed. There were many other factors spawning that revolt, such as the inherent desire for freedom, overwork due to a decline in labour force, increased hours of work, the switch from cotton cultivation to sugar and personal grievances. Religious considerations played a major role in the revolt. Subtle ways were employed by plantation management to restrict the enslaved from attending church, including work on Sundays; teaching from the Bible, which portrayed all men as equal in the sight of God; and the story of the deliverance of Jews. Some of the enslaved revolted for complete freedom, while others wanted Sundays off and additional days of rest.
In August 1823, thousands of slaves from about 55 sugar plantations on the East Coast of Demerara banded together to remonstrate their cause.
After the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, there was a tightening of the screws on available labour force, which meant the condition of slaves worsened. The awful condition of slavery on the Demerara plantations was graphically described by Rev. John Smith in his journal covering the years 1817-1824 he lived, and leading up to his death in British Guiana.
Posted to British Guiana, Smith and his wife sailed from Liverpool, England arriving in Demerara on February 23, 1817. Apart from the rough welcome from the muddy Demerara River, Smith was greeted by Governor Murray with the ultimatum which forbade Smith teaching the slaves. If he did, then the governor threatened to banish him immediately from the colony.
Despite that warning, Smith revived the mission station (Bethel Chapel) at Plantation Le Resouvenir vacated by Rev. John Wray. Smith’s evangelism was an instant success. He preached to large congregations, often spilling out of the chapel. That response encouraged him to start a class preparing slaves converted to Christianity for catechism and baptism.
Of course, he raised the ire of the governor and many planters. So at the time of the insurrection, in 1823, it was not difficult for Smith to fall foul of the law of the land. Martial law was imposed, hundreds of slaves were butchered, many hung and displayed in public for months, and John Smith was arrested. A frail and sick man, he was incarcerated for some seven weeks then tried in a court martial lasting some 28 days. He was condemned to death. A reprieve by the home government was granted, but before this news reached the colony, he died in prison.
Although Smith’s work was influential in the revolt, it was the Christianised slaves who planned and executed the revolt. Slaves like Jack Gladstone, Quamina, Seaton, Manuel and Richard of Plantation Success, Telemachus and Joseph of Plantation Bachelor’s Adventure, Sandy of Plantation Non Pareil, and Paris of Plantation Good Hope.
Against that backdrop, Nicole placed his main characters, Joan Dart, heiress to the Plantation, and Jackey Reed, Christianised slave and leader of the revolt. The novel also included the role of John Smith and Governor Murray.
The book covers events from Thursday, July 24 to Friday, September 19. The actual start of the revolt was August 18, and by August 20 it had fizzled out.
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