top of page

What was significant about the Sharpe Rebellion?

1831  was an electric year. So much seemed about to change. And yet when change refused to come enslaved people in Jamaica sought freedom by their own hand. 

sam sharpe.PNG
Statue of Samuel Sharpe in Montego Bay, Jamaica by english wikipedia user Pozole, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons. No alterations made. Text added to timeline icon. 

What was the Sharpe Rebellion?

Samuel Sharpe was a preacher.

​

During Christmas 1831, he led a group of Jamaican enslaved workers in a strike, arguing for better conditions (it is sometimes known as the Christmas Rebellion).

​

The strike was met with violence by the Jamaican government and the British Army. Facing overwhelming power, Sharpe lost and was hanged. 500 of his fellow rebels died. 

Why significant?

This was one of the largest rebellions in the West Indies. 

​

It was encouraged by news from Britain that legal abolition of enslavement was being fought for, but was not having any success. 

​

News of the rebellion got back to Britain and encouraged abolitionists there to continue to have a law banning enslavement. This finally happened in August 1833. 

Over to You!

Did you know? 

The Graham Clarke family of Newcastle owned a Plantation in Jamaica Lapland. They held enslaved people. 

​

​

Consider what effect the Sharpe rebellion would have had on the absentee Graham Clarke family. 

​

Graham Clarke 1811
© The Trustees of the British Museum - under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.
1613826724.jpg

History Detective challenge 

1. Look at the monument to Samuel Sharpe featured at the top of this page. What does this suggest about the significance of Sharpe and the rebellion he led. 

2. Learn more about the rebellion and its significance from this short BBC Witness History audio documentary. 

​

Caution - it describes graphic descriptions that you may find upsetting. 

Talk about your thoughts. Speak to your family and friends. Speak to your teachers. 

  • White Facebook Icon
  • White Twitter Icon

© 2023 by DAILY ROUTINES. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page