The Rankin Rebellion in Jamaica

"The Rankin Rebellion (also known as the Jamaican Rebellion) of Jamaica, 1825-1826"

By Jared Lamb. Published in Kingston, Jamaica, the United States of America, 1999

"As the various American rebellions in the Spanish Empire were coming to an end, a new rebellion rose to prominence in the eyes of the United States and Europe. On September 2nd of 1825, after hearing that the British Parliament refused to abolish slavery across the British Empire (though Great Britain ended the slave trade in 1819), thousands of slaves revolted against the royal administration in Kingston. This coordinated rebellion was only made possible due to the existence of Fete in Cockpit County and the brief (but destructive) French occupation of Jamaica during the American Revolutionary War...

The root causes of this rebellion stemmed from the French invasion and subsequent occupation of the island colony in March of 1777. The British Empire, reeling from its shocking defeat in the former Thirteen Colonies and the loss of Bermuda, failed to mount an effective naval campaign to protect Jamaica from a foreign invasion. With its fleet overstretched and its army in disarray, a joint French and Spanish invasion force was able to land and capture the eastern portions of the island after a month-long campaign. After Spanish Town fell, the occupiers decided not to pursue any further west due to the harsh terrain and the fear of overextending into an unknown wilderness. As such, their occupation was focused around Kingston and the surrounding parishes. During the occupation, the French (who took the brunt of the occupational duties) implemented harsh work quotas and crushed all rebellious sentiments on the eastern portions of the island as they believed that they would inherit Jamaica after a peace treaty with Great Britain. This caused significant unrest, but no armed rebellion as the local population was significantly outgunned by their overlords (along with the fact that the French Navy had control over the surrounding oceans).

However, by 1778, the situation had changed significantly. The British, after their dealings with the Americans, managed to secure naval bases in Florida and Bermuda, ensuring a continuation of the war in the Caribbean. The Royal Navy, which was hampered due to supply concerns and overextension, was now back in the Caribbean Sea with full force. One by one, the British colonies Spain and France had seized throughout the war began to fall to Britain, which unleashed the full might of its military to resecure British interests in the Americas. Since Britain was no longer distracted by the rebellion in the North American colonies (by this point, the United States was already formed), it sought to reconquer its former colonies in an effort to salvage their reputation and profits. As such, even the combined might of France and Spain was unable to slow the numerous number of British ships that swarmed the Caribbean. By April, the British were on track to invade Jamaica and "liberate" it from the French, who were unable to resupply the garrison or maintain a constant naval presence around the island. It was exceedingly clear that France would not be able to hold Jamaica from a full-frontal British invasion, especially since support for the war was waning in Paris and Madrid.

Unsurprisingly, the French evacuated the island, but not before causing mass devastation to ensure that the British was left empty-handed when they returned. Valuable goods were forcibly seized from the inhabitants of Jamaica. Spanish Town and Kingston were both looted, along with other smaller towns in the vicinity. Entire plantations were burned to the ground, while any resisting slaves, freedmen, and slaveowners were killed. Within weeks, the eastern portions of the island were wrecked and after carrying out its final acts of reprisal, the French abandoned Jamaica in short order. By the time Britain "recaptured" the island, much of the plantation economy, which had produced much sugar for Britain, was in ruins. During the small, two week window between the French evacuation and the British invasion, many slaves fled to the west to Cockpit County, which was untouched by the occupation and generally isolated from the rest of the island (due to the presence of Maroons that were recognized as autonomous by the previous British administration). Initially, the Maroon inhabitants of the county, the Accompong Town Maroons, resisted the runaways and violently confronted them. However, the fleeing slaves massively outnumbered the small population of the Maroons in the area and some were armed with weapons left over from the French invasion and evacuation. After a clash that lasted nearly two months, the runaway slaves prevailed and the remaining Maroons forced to comply with the new "administrators." By the time the British re-established some semblance of control over Jamaica, a new and independent group had emerged that threatened their rule: the Fete Maroons (though, unlike what the name suggests, very few Fete Maroons actually married with the indigenous people of Jamaica). The Fete Maroons, taking the place of the Accompong Maroons (who were relatively few in number), consisted of nearly five thousand former slaves that were unwilling to be re-enslaved by the British. They were based in Fete, near the former town of Trelawny (which was uprooted and destroyed in the Second Maroon War) and operated independently from the British government in Kingston. Due to geography and the group's militant and isolated nature, the British were unable to deal with the group's autonomous status, until it became far too late...

After the war, the British government made extensive efforts to repair the damages caused by the French occupation. With the civil war in French Saint Domingue, the sugar prices in Europe rose and Britain recognized the potential to make a significant profit if Jamaica was rebuilt. As such, Jamaica saw the mass importation of slaves shortly after the end of the war between Britain and France/Spain. Along with the arrival of American Loyalists that fled the United States after the Revolutionary War, the population of the Caribbean colony quickly ballooned from 230,000 in 1780 to nearly 650,000 by 1820. During this time, the plantation system was expanded to increase the amount of sugar produced in Jamaica. It was also during this time that the abolition movement in the United States took the interest of freedmen and Maroons in Jamaica, especially the Fete Maroons. Nearly all the Fete Maroons were former slaves that personally experienced the horrors of slavery and the message of abolition and equality rang true for many of them. As a result, the Maroons within Cockpit County became increasingly aggressive in its raids near its borders, often targeting plantations and stores in order to free slaves and obtain valuable firearms and ammunition. The Jamaican governors, throughout the early 19th century, sent out military expeditions to crush the Fete Maroons and restore order in the northwestern counties of Jamaica. However, these expeditions were often repulsed with force by invigorated Maroons that sought to defend their independence and freedom at all costs. By 1825, no less than six military expeditions were carried out against the Fete Maroons, all of them ending in failures (the terrain near Fete was extremely mountainous and the Fete Maroons were surprisingly adept at building defenses). Even so, life continued on in much of Jamaica, with the plantation economy pumping out tons of sugar for export and the slaves of the island being oppressed by a small white minority (it was estimated that the slave to slave owner ratio was around 20:1).

In 1819, a monumental event shook the very foundation of Jamaica and unintentionally began the colony's road to revolution. The British Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, which promptly ended the Atlantic slave trade and gradually reduced the number of slaves that were shipped to the British Caribbean colonies. This Act was seen as an effort to slowly end slavery across the British Empire. However, this Act created a sense of urgency and optimism in Jamaica. Many freedmen, notably those that converted to Baptism, sought to bring abolition to the colony swiftly and loudly clamored for their cause. Meanwhile, Fete Maroons (who heard about the Act many months after it passed) believed that abolition would soon come to Jamaica and they would be able to somewhat "reintegrate" back into the British Empire. Despite popular misconceptions, the Fete Maroons were not disloyal to the Crown or hostile to the idea of living under British rule. Instead, they were opposed to re-enslavement and sought to maintain their freedoms. Many Fete Maroons even celebrated at the prospect of their "enslaved brethren" living as free people in the near future and the Fete Maroons themselves being admitted as "loyal subjects" of Great Britain.

Unfortunately, Britain had no plans to immediately end slavery in its Empire. The sugar coming out of Jamaica was still profitable, despite competition from the French Empire that occupied much of Hispaniola. Additionally, the slaveowners in Jamaica heavily lobbied against an immediate abolition of slavery, fearing for their livelihood and profits. More importantly, Parliament itself was not set on abolition, as the annexation of French and Dutch Caribbean colonies in the early 19th century meant that they were profiting from slavery more than ever before. In fact, there is evidence to strongly suggest that British slave traders evaded the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act by purchasing slaves from Spanish and Portuguese traders.

Years passed with no reforms or changes, which led to significant unrest within the slave and freedmen population of Jamaica. The Fete Maroons, discontent with the lack of progress, continued their raids around their territory and riled up slaves to revolt against their overlords. The island was on the verge of an uprising in 1824 when word arrived in Kingston that the British Parliament was debating on the issue of abolition within specific parts of the Empire, which included Jamaica. This temporarily uplifted the mood of many abolitionists and the island colony quietly waited for the final verdict from London. Their wait took almost a year, and when the news came, it set the colony ablaze.

Parliament unilaterally rejected the proposed Abolition Act and refused to negotiate on the issue further, claiming that it was an issue that needed to be resolved "at a later time." When Jamaican freedmen and slaves caught wind of this, they rose in protest. While the Fete Maroons encouraged slaves to violently revolt, many of the protesters were influenced by Jamaican Baptists to peacefully fight for their rights instead of a violent insurrection (which would inevitably end in bloodshed and a strong military backlash). As the Fete Maroons terrorized the countryside, thousands of slaves walked off their plantations and refused to work. They walked through the streets of Kingston and Spanish Town with freedmen, demanding abolition and half-pay for their labor. Led by charismatic Baptist preacher Tyrus Rankin, a free black man, the protesters dissented peacefully. The protests lasted all about five days before it turned into a violent affair.

Governor John Moore was appointed as the new Royal Governor of Jamaica in January of 1825. A disciplined military man, Governor Moore saw the protesters as a threat to Jamaica's white population and economy. At first, he threatened the protesters to return to their fields and continue their works, but after his demands were rebuffed several times by Rankin and several other leaders, he gathered up his forces (consisting of British regulars and colonial militiamen) and marched into Spanish Town, where the majority of the protesters were. On August 15th of 1825, the governor personally led one thousand men to face off against the protesters. After the crowd refused to disperse, he ordered his troops to open fire. He believed that this act would frighten the protesters, which primarily consisted of slaves, into submission and break their will. He was wrong.

Sources vary on the number of protesters that were killed in the immediate aftermath. The lowest estimates are around twenty, while the higher estimates claim a hundred. However, what was clear was that the protests were no longer peaceful. Instead of backing down, the group of unarmed men fought back with their bare hands. For the next several hours, the crowd of slaves and freedmen engaged in a free-for-all brawl against the assembled British forces. Several of them managed to steal firearms from corpses of dead soldiers and fired back at the British. As the crowd grew bigger and rowdier, Governor Moore was forced to withdraw back to Kingston. By the end of the day, nearly three hundred slaves and freedmen were dead, along with fifty British militiamen and regulars.

The impact of the "Spanish Town Massacre" was instantaneous. Slaves rose in armed revolt against the British, supported by the Fete Maroons (whose opinion of the British turned for the worse after hearing about the Massacre). Despite some claims by British sources that the United States officially supported the rebels with funding and arms, no official records reveal any support for these claims. The Fete Maroons did receive some minor aid from Caribbean Americans sympathetic to their cause. However, their support was minimal due to the British presence in and around the island colony. In fact, this was one of the few "independent rebellions" in the Americas that was not directly supported by the United States. The American government, reluctant to anger Great Britain by aiding the rebels, left the rebels to fend for themselves. This did not deter the above mentioned Caribbean Americans from supporting the Fete Maroons and the rebelling Jamaicans, but the American government itself had no position on the Rankin Rebellion. Even so, the small amount of aid that trickled in was enough for the rebels to bring war upon the colony.

On September 2nd of 1825, a group of slaves armed with farm tools and stolen firearms fought and defeated a small group of local militiamen in Mandeville, officially igniting the Rankin Rebellion (as Rankin was seen as the leader of the rebels, along with a Fete Maroon named Luke Jaffray). Across the island, the flames of rebellion took root and devastated the colony that the British government spent decades repairing and expanding. The rebels, supported by their Fete Maroon allies, managed to occupy the western parts of the island within the first two months of the rebellion. The Fete Maroons played a crucial role in this rapid takeover, as they were already armed and prepared for a potential war (thanks to their years of isolation and aid from foreign citizens). While local militias attempted to resist, they were quickly overpowered by the hardy Maroons and reactionary slaves. As such, the western counties fell one by one after being overwhelmed by the combat abilities of the Maroons, along with the numerical superiority of the slave rebels. Meanwhile, Governor Moore, along with Maroons and freedmen loyal to the British, consolidated his control over the eastern parts of the island. During this time, dozens of whites were murdered by rebels, which only inflamed fears that the rebels were set on "exterminating the whites" on the island. As such, the fighting between the two groups was vicious and resulted in more destruction and deaths (for example, the town of Hayes was completely destroyed and its inhabitants were killed by both rebels and "loyalists" alike). By the time 1826 rolled around, the sugar production across the colony was at an all-time low and much of the infrastructure was ruined. While thousands of slaves were still enslaved and oppressed by slave owners, thousands more were freely rebelling against the colonial government. Not only that, but the rebels were becoming bolder and bolder, raiding plantations in the eastern parts of the island and sabotaging British efforts to continue the production of sugar. Governor Moore's ruthless actions to crush the rebellion, such as the execution of captured rebel leaders and the destruction of villages aligned with rebels, only worsened the situation.

As London tracked the status of the rebellion, it quickly realized that the situation on Jamaica was lost. Reinforcements to the island did little to crush the resistant rebels and the Rankin Rebellion was slowly becoming a drain on British finances. Even if Britain managed to negotiate with the rebels to end slavery in Jamaica, it would only encourage slaves in other colonies to rebel for their freedom (it is important to note that after the Rankin Rebellion, the British doubled their troop presence in their other Caribbean colonies and ruthlessly suppressed even the smallest uprisings). Additionally, much of Jamaica was already ruined and the British government recognized that even if the rebellion ended, the colony would never truly recover from the aftermath and would no longer be profitable. In the end, it was decided that keeping Jamaica and wasting more money and men into the quagmire was not worth the headache. On May 19th of 1826, Governor Moore received word to withdraw from the colony in "orderly fashion" and evacuate any Loyalists from the island. It was a stunning reaction to the Rankin Rebellion, but Britain had already set its sight to other overseas enterprises (such as India) and sought to resolve the conflict before Britain's finances and manpower suffered. Additionally, Britain had watched the Spanish flail and waste resources for nearly decades in order to put down the rebelling slaves in Saint Domingue, which made the British government believe that a rapid withdrawal was the best course of action. Not only that, but Britain still held other colonies in the Caribbean. While they were not enough to completely make up for the drop in sugar production, they were still more profitable than a ruined Jamaica. These justifications led to Britain's withdrawal and a stern warning to other European powers to keep away from the "cesspool of traitors and slaves."

However, the withdrawal was anything but peaceful. Like the French several decades prior, the British burned down anything of use on the island to leave the colony "completely barren and useless" to the rebels. By the time Governor Moore and loyal Brits withdrew in August, Jamaica was in ruins once again. The rebels celebrated their victory, but also mourned for the destruction that fell upon their homeland. Nearly thirty thousand Jamaicans were dead and over forty thousand had fled the island. The economy was ruined, thousands were homeless and unemployed, and the rebels were unable to form their own form of government successfully. So they turned to the one nation that could support them and lift them back on their feet. In fact, most of the locals supported annexation into the said country in order to stabilize the situation and receive protection from hostile foreign powers.

The United States of America.

Unknown to the rebels, and to the United States, America's annexation of Jamaica in 1827 (which officially established Jamaica as a protectorate for thirty years, followed by a referendum) would lead to a complete collapse of Anglo-American relations (as Britain would accuse America of purposely supporting the rebels on the island in order to expand their "empire"). This sudden turn of events would be the "final" step that set the two nations on the path of war. Of course, the spark that ignited the war itself was in Thurlow, Oregon Territory (now in the American state of Franklin), which was caused by a group of prospect American miners entering the British Oregon Territory to search for gold and unintentionally killing a dozen British settlers in an accidental firefight...