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The content of the present pages will be disapprea shortly
THIS SECTION OF THE WEBSITE (besides the rastafarians introduction below) HAS BEEN MOVED TO OUR SISTER WEBSITE:
http://www.rootsreggaeclub.com/culture_reggae_afro/the_rastafarians/the_rastafarians_main.htm
INTRODUCTION TO THE RASTAFARIANS CULTURE AND HISTORY (see RASTAFARIANS FULL VERSION):
THE RASTAFARIANS:
Chapter 2 / Domination and Resistance in Jamaican History
The Jamaican Maroon: a Study of Fight and Flight
Fighting Method
The Peace Treaty of March 1, 1738
The Effects of the Treaty
The Sam Sharpe Rebellion: 1831 - 32
The War
The Aftermath
The Morant Bay Rebellion, 1865
Paul Bogle
Crown Colony to Independence 1865 - 1962
Garvey and the Rastafarians
Jamaicans are by nature some of the most fun loving, hardworking, and gregarious
people in the Caribbean. Threated with kindness and respect, they are likely
to remain the most confident and dependable friends on earth. but if treated
with impunity and disrespect, all the rage of a deep psychic revenge may surface
with unpredictable consequences. This calm-and-storm personality of contemporary
Jamaicans is a direct inheritance from that group of Africans who suffered the
most frustrating and oppressive slavery ever experienced in a British colony.
The early history of Jamaica is one long tale of sad intrigue, human suffering,
lawlessness, and immoral profit, at the center of which were th African slaves
- the ancestors of present-day Jamaicans. Slavery in Jamaica lacked any vestige
of humanity. A handful of greedy planters held absolute power over thousnds
of slaves. Only through violence could such domplete domination by a minority
be initiated and perpetuated. So in Jamaica, as in North America, the psychology
of slave control was highly developed, and in Frederick Douglass's words, "Fear,
awe, and bedience became interwoven into the very nature of the slaves."
Under such complete domination two reactions were provoked: fight and flight.
This chapter will study these two reactions in an attempt to analyze how these
survival techniques aided in breaking the chains of their ancestors and descendants.
I shall also show that these behavior patterns (and their consequences) are
directly responsible for the independent Jamaica of today, and that these patterns
still remain a part of the Jamaican's psychic reactions to life. Beginning with
the emergence of the Maroons, we shall review the prominent freedom movements
from the seventeenth century to the emergence of the Rastafarian movement during
the twentieth century.
The Jamaican Maroon: a Study of Fight and Flight
The evidence is now well documented that the Africans who were carried to the
Caribbean resisted their enslavement and continued to resist their bondage both
passively and violently up until the abolition of slavery and beyond. The classic
example of this resistance is the presence of Maroon communities all over the
New World. It is only recently that Maroon history has become accessible, but
the historical events of the Jamaican Maroons were probalby some of the earliest
to be recorded. Their fame as freedom fighters and their elusiveness (assisted
by the mountain fastnes of the Jamaican hill country) forced the British to
sue for peace as early as 1738. In this way, the Jamaica Maroon communities
existedas a free people sixty-six years before the independence of haiti and
ninety-six years before slavery was abolished on the island.
The story of the Jamaican Maroon begins with the English defeat of Spain in
1655. The Spaniards, finding themselves outclassed by the British, sailed from
the nort coast of Jamaica for Cuba and left their slaves to the British. But
the slaves had ideas of their own. Although we have no true records of the treatment
of Spanish slaves in Jamaica up to 1655, we may assume from the behavior of
the Spanish slaves that they were discontent with slavery, for they soon sought
freedom in the hill country where they fought a grueling war to the death. These
Spanish slaves came to be called "Maroons". The origin of the word
derives from both French and Spanish and carries the same connotation in both;
that is, as hunters of wild animals - probably the wild pigs and wild cattle
native to the mountains on the island. Later, the word took on the conotations
of wildness and fierceness and soon the maroons were themselves known as the
wild and fierce ones. The first Maroons were under the leadership of Juan de
Bolas (immortalized by a village bearing his name near the borders of St. Catherine
and Clarendon). In 1663 , after eight years of harassing the British, an attempt
was made to pacify them. Juan de Bolas was made a colonel by the British and
was sent to his followers to sue for peace. The Maroons correctly perceived
the whole matter as a deception to re-enslave them: they ambushed their chief
and, according to Bryan Edwards, "He was cut to pieces."
Other pockets of runaway slaves began to develop in the eastern and northern
parts of the island, most of them new recruits from Africa, especially from
the Gold Coast. These were called Coromantees - slaves shipped from the Koromantyn
slave castle situated near Elmina on the Cape Coast of present-day Ghana. They
were mostly mixtures of Ashanti and Fanti and sold into slavery during the development
of the Ashanti Federation. Since most were prisoners of war, they were well
trained in guerrilla fighting which was to become an important part of teir
lives. many of these runaway slaves took refuge in the hills and joined forces
with the original Maroons. The Planter historian Edward Long states:
"With the importation of slaves inby the English, almost from the start
irrepressible spirits among the Koromantyn fled to the mountains and found refuge
with the Maroons in such numbers that they soon gained control of the entire
body."
Amont the "irrepressible spirits" was an Ashanti family who was carried
to Jamaica. The family membes were Cudjoe, Johnny (who seemed to have adopted
an English name quite early), Accompong, Cofi (spelled Cuffee in Jamaican documents),
and Quaco. All appear to have been fighters in Africa. According to Long, Cudjoe
had exemplified himself as a leader as early as 1693 and had organized most
of the Maroons under his leadership. The life or death struggle for freedom
had begun. There weems to have been little difference between the Spanish Maroons
and the Koromantyns in manners and language, and even the other tribal groups
who joined them soon overcame their differences and adopted the Ashanti language.
R.C. Dallas, who wrote the first full-length history of the Maroons, observed:
"The Coromantee language, however, superseded the others, and became in
time the general one used."
Cudjoe, on assuming his command, appointed his brothrs Accompong and Johnny
to be leaders under him, and named Cuffee and Quaco subordinate captains. The
brunt of the Maroon campain was carried on under these five men and were assisted
by others, mainly in the northern and southern parts of Jamaica. On the east
side of the island, another sizable group of Maroons formed under the leadership
of the legendary Acheampong Nanny who was said to be either the wife or the
sister of Cudjoe. Not much is known of her, but there is a town named in her
nonor in that point of the island, and her fame has been so great in Jamaican
folk tradition that the legislature has posthumously named her the first womand
to receive the distinction of National Hero in the year 1975. but if nothing
is known of Nanny, much is known of her colleague in command, Captain Quaco,
who later supervised the signing of the treaty with the English for that group
of Maroons in 1739.
Fighting Method
The terror the Maroons caused the English in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries was far greater than what the Maroons could have commanded in size
alone. (it is believed that at no time did their number exceed on thousand five
hundred.) But the deployment of small groups by Cudjoe in sudden and savage
attack and swift withrrawal kept the English completely disoriented about their
strngth. Their ability to use the rugged mountain terrain provided another effective
strategy. Their excellent intelligence network being sent against them. Dallas,
speaking of their guerrilla tactics, observed:
"Such are the natural fortifications in which the Maroons secured themselves
in times of danger, and from which it has been ever found difficult to dislodge
them. (their camps were always situated at the mouth of a rock( which look like
a geat fissure made through someextraordinary convulsion of nature, and through
which men can pass only in a single file, the Maroons, whenever they expect
an attack, disposed of themselves on the ledges of the rocks on both sides.
Sometimes they advanced a party beyond the entrance of the defile, frequently
in a line on each side , if the ground would admit; and lay covered by th underwood,
and behind rocks and roots of trees, waiting insilent ambush for their pursuers,
of whose approach they ahd always information from their scouts."
Such strategies at this period were unknown to the English army whose philosophy
of warfare was that of the gentleman soldier. One historian of the period contrasted
the English soldiers with the Maroons as follows:
"The British trops marched in their proper regimentals, as if they were
going to fight a rdegular and civilized enemy, and sometiems had even the absurdity
to traverse the mountainous roads with drums beating. The customary accoutrements
were too mclumsy and burdensome for traversing the woods and clambering over
rocks, and the red coats were too conspicuous and object to the Maroons marksmen,
who seldom missed their aim."
After nearly forty-five years of fighting a losing battle and aftger nearly
a quarter of a million pounds and hundreds of lives taken, Governor Trelawny
was urged to offer peace to the Maroons. This advice was politically fruitful
for the English, and it later destroyed the image of the Maroons as a symbol
of freedom.
The Peace Treaty of March 1, 1738
Leaving out all the drama surrounding the sighing of the treaty, I shall present
only the main articles of theis historical documents, beginning with the preamble
about the king and God's displeasure over he shedding of blood. The treaty contains
fifteen articles:
First, That all hostilities shall cease on both sides forever.
Second, That the said Captain Cudjoe, the rest of his captains, adherents, and
men, shall be forever hereafter in a perfect sate of freedom and liberty, excepting
htose who have been taken by them, within two years last past, if such are willing
to return to their said masters and owners, with full pardon and indemnity...
provided always, that if they are not willing to return, they shall remain in
subject to Captain Cudjoe and in friendship with us, according to the form and
tenor or this treaty.
Third, That they shall enjoy and possess, for themselves and posterity forever,
all the lands situated and tying between Trelawny Town and the Cockpits, to
the amount of fifteen hundres acres bearing North-West from the said Trelawny
Town.
Fourth, That they shall have liberty to plant the said lands with coffee, cocoa,
ginger, tobacco, and cotton, and to bred cattle, hogs goats, or any other flock
and dispose of the produce or increase of the said cmmodities to the inhabitants
of this island; provided always, that when they bring the said commodities to
market, they shall apply first to the custos, or any other magistrate of the
respective parishes where they expose their goods to sale, for license to sell
the same.
Fifth, That Captain Cudjoe, and all the Captain's adherents, and people now
in subjection to him, shall all live together within the bounds of Trelawny
Town, and that they shall have liberty to huynt where they shall think fit,
except within three miles of any settlement, crawl, or pen; provided always
that in case of the hunters of Captain Cudjoe, and those of other settlements
meet, then the hogs oare to be equally divided between both parties.
Sixth, That the said Captain Cudjoe, and his successors, do use their best endeavours
to take, kill, suppress, or destroy, either by themselves, or jointly with any
other number of men, commande on that service by His Excellency the governor,
or Commander-in-Chief for the time being, all rebels wheresoever they be, throughout
this island, unless they submit to the same terms of accomodation granted to
Captain Cudjoe, and his successors.
Seventh, That in case this island be invaded by any foreigh enemy, the said
Captian Cudjoe, and his sucessors gereinafter named or to be appointed, shall
then upon notice biven, immediately erpair to any place the Governor for the
time being shall appoint, in order to repel the said invaders with his or their
utmost force, and to submit to the orders of teh Commander in chief on that
occasion.
Eighth, That if any white man shall doany manner of injury to Captain Joe, his
successors, or any of his or their people, they shall applyto any commanding
officer or magistrate in the neighbourhood for justice; and in casde Captain
Cudjoe, or any of his people shall do any injury to any white person he shall
submit himself, or deliver up such person to justice.
Ninth, That if any begroes shall hereafter run away from their masters or owners,
and fall in Captain Cudjoe's hands, they shall immediately ben sent back to
the chief magistrate of teh next parish where they are taken; and those that
bring them are to be satisfied for their trouble, as the legislature shall appoint.
Tenth, That all negroes taken, since the raising of this party by Captain Cudjoe
and his successors, shall wait on His Excellency, or the Commander in Chief
for the time being every year, if thereunto required.
Twelfth, That Captain Cudjoe, during his life, and the Captains succeeding him,
shall have full power to inflict any punishment they think proper for crimes
committed by their men among themselves, death only excepted; in which case,
if the Captain thinks they deserve death, he shall be obliged to bring them
before any justice of the peace, who shall order proceeding s on their trial
equal to those of any other negroes.
Thirteenth, That Captain Cudjoe with his people, shall cut, clear, and keep
open, large and convenient roads from Trelawny Town to Westmoreland and St.
James's, and if possible, to St. Elizabeth's.
Fourteenth, That two white men, to be nominated by His Excellency, or the Commander
in Chief for the time being, shall constantly live and reside with Captain Cudjoe,
and his successors, in order to maintain a friendly correspondence with the
inhabitants of this island.
Fifteenth, That Captain Cudjoe shall, during his life, be chief Commander in
Trelawny Town; after his cecease the command to devolve on his brother Captain
Accompong; and in case of his decease, on his next brother Captain Johnny; and
failing him, Captain Cuffee shall succeed; who is to be succeeed by Captain
Quaco; and after their demise, the Governor or Commander in chief for the time
being, shall appoint, from time to time, whom he thinks fit for that command.
The Effects of the Treaty
The treaty brought an end to hostilities between the Planters and the fighting
Maroons. It made them a free people with their own lands and leaders and created
for them a mystical sophistication which has continued to the present day. But
a careful reading of the treaty shows quite clearly that for the Maroons it
was a pyrrhic victory, the greatest advantages falling into the hands of the
English settlers. The treaty reduced the fighting Maroons from gallant freedom
fighters to an unpaid army of English Planters and a permanent police force,
a duty which they willingly performed up to the Rebellion of 1865.
The effects of the treaty on the plantation slaves were devastating. The sixth
and ninth articles of the treaty were supported by the Maroons to the letter
and, on the basis of this loyalty, every bid for freedom by the slaves and free
Jamaicans - even after the emancipation - was successfully crushed by the Maroons.
As the following events prove, of the thousands of Blacks whose blood was spilled
for freedom in jamaica afger the sighing of this treaty, the Maroons far oudid
the British militia, who depended on them to do the dirty work while praising
and damning their savagery at the same time. Jamaican history should record
that the gallantry of the Trelawny Maroons ceased with the sighing of the Peace
Treaty of March 1, 1738, and that of the leeward maroons of July 23, 1739. The
history of the Maroons, thereafter, has been a sad tale of atrocities perpetuated
agains their countrymen. After the sighing of the treaties, the Maroons became
traitors to freedom and have contributed very little to the development of the
island. For the most part, they have remained secluded from the rest of the
society in their haunted mountains, living on the recollection of a dead past.
On my recent visti to Accompong in 1973, I saw what appeared to be a conscious
awareness of a crippling stagnation, esxpecially among the young Maroons. They
were very critical of the leadership of their people and showed their resentment
by disrupting the rituals of their most cherished festival by shrowing away
the meat that had been painstakingly cooked for the traditional feast. the Rastafarians
often prais the Maroons, but are also selective in their praise. Cudjoe, Quaco,
and Nanny receive their honor. The Rastafarians - avid reders of Jamaican history
- seem clearly to understand that the maroons (after Cudjoe and his general)sold
out to theBritish and failed to set an example for movements of liberation to
follow. It is no wonder that the Rastas to this day have resisted any prominent
leadership. They have repeatedly expessed to me that they are afraid that leaders
of the movement would only"sell us out." I have no doubt in my mind
that the maroons experience lingers in their memory.
Despite the treaties of 1738-39, very little was done to see that the provisions
of the Maroons were carried out. The English, having disposed of an immediate
problem, applied themselves to makein money on their plantations. Lulled into
complacency, the Maroons went about their busines, trying as best they could
to exist on the worst pieces of lands in Jamaica. It was only a matter of time
before the peace of 1738 was to turn against the Trelawny Maroons; by 1795,
they had been reduced to humble peasants. The white superintendent placed among
them saw no threat to the government by the Maroons and so he spent long periods
away from his post. The Maroon lands had become so overcrowded and fruitless
that the Trelawnys were actually starving. Their whit eresident captain, Mr.
James, was finally replaced by Captain Craskell, whom the Maroons disliked.
Insubordiation mounted daily until finally in mid-july of that year, Captain
Craskell was driven out. but the coup de grace of the whole episode was the
beating of two Maroons (in Montego Bay), as sentenced by a regularly constituted
court, for having stolen 2 pigs. Although the penalty was a regular one, the
flogging was done by a runaway slave: both an affront and grave insult to the
proud Maroons. All of this led to a renewal of war between the Trelawny Maroons
and the colonial government. by this time however, the Maroons had neither the
united front nor the gallantry of past years. Forty-six years had passed since
the peace treaty had been signed. A sectoin of the Maroons under Captain Accompong
had settled in the Nassau Mountains in a town that now bears his name. They
refused to support the Trelawnys on account of some differences that had defeloped.
Instead, the Accompongs joined forces with the colonialists, and the fate of
the Trelawnys was sealed. After a short but vigourous battle they surrendered
and six hundred of them were transported to Halifax on June 7, 1796; finding
the place unsuitable for Blacks, however, the colonial government - in agreement
with Sierra Leaone - removed them to Freetown, West Africa. I will retrun to
the subject of the Maroons who remained in Jamaica, but for now I will discuss
one of the most important attempts at freedom in Jamaica - made by the regular
estate slaves rather than by the Maroons.
The Sam Sharpe Rebellion: 1831 - 32
Chattel Slavery was enourmously profitable. In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries the epithet, "as wealthy as a West Indian," was given to
a body of English Planters who grew rich and powerful though ther enormous profits
on Caribbean investments in slaves and sugar. But if Slaveholding was profitable,
itwas always at the expense of peace of nimd, deep forebondings, and an unpredictable
future, because the slaves were always a "troublesome property." In
Jamaica, as the record will show, not a year passed between the seventeenth
and the nineteenth centuries without a rebellion or at least the threat of one.
Even when no overt rebellion (taht demanded the militia) took place, the covert
or passive rebellion was equally disruptive and always present.
The dawning of the nineteenth century saw the twilight of "the peculiar
institution" -slavery. The French Revolution had just taken place and commoners
everywhere in Europe saw the citadels of privilege suddenly coming to ruin.
In the Caribbean, the Haitian slaves had freed themselves form their long night
of slavery, proving to the army of Napoleon that they not only desired freedom,
but were also willing to die for it. In England, the anti-Slavery Society would
soon put an end to the commerce in human flesh. In the West Indies, the mighty
Planters suddenly saw the handwriting on the wall. This sudden change in the
social, politica, and economic arena of Europe and the Caribbean threatened
to ruin those who invested heavily in the slave trade. As a result, the Planters
began to muster all their weapons against what they considered to be the irrational
sentiments of the humanitarians and missionaries. Between the proslavery and
the propagandists opened the nineteenth century with a sculrrilous attack on
the sentimentality of hte humanitarians , the rationality of slavery, and the
gorss inferiority of Africans whose only hope of redemption from savagery was
by way of servitude.
The Jamaican slaves in the nineteenth century were not entirely ignorant of
these developments. Many of them wre able to follow the controversy in the local
papers and communicate it ot their illiterate brethren. Many servants also overheard
the heated discussions on their fate as their ungurarded and enraged masters
poured out their vitrio against their pending demise. Samuel Sharpe was one
slave who was well-equipped both mentally and emotionally to follow the controversy;
in 1831, he inspired one of the most extensive rebellions on the island of Jamaica.
Partly because of this rebellion, the King of England hastened the emancipation
of the slaves in Jamaica in 1834. According ot Henry Bleby, an eyewitness to
this insurrectoin, evidence taken by the Royal Commission after the rebellion
"demonstrated to the Imperial legislature, that among the negroes themselves
the spirit of freedom had been so widely diffused as to render it most perilous
to postpone the settlement of the important question of emancipatoin to a later
period. " This widespread spirit of freedom resulted from a variety of
sources, for esxample, a large number of the slaves had become Christians and
literate enough to assume lay leadership, most of them of the Methodis and Baptist
faith. Of th Baptists, there were two varieties: thost of hte London Baptist
Missions, staffed by White missionaries; and the native Baptists, the older
variety, founded by George Liele. Liele - an American Baptist slave-preacher
taken to Jamaica after the American revolution - started a thriving Baptist
mission on the island. The Native Baptists grafted Christianity to the African
ethos of the slaves and took on a messianic millenarian fervor. This spiritual
combination became the energizing force behind th eslaves in their demand for
freedom as a command from God.
Sam Sharpe was said to be a member of th london Baptist Mission of Montego Bay,
but the author believes that he was also a leader in the Native Baptits church.
It appears that the groundwork for the rebellion was laid in a prayer meeting.
Henry Bleby, who interviewed the prisoners after the insurrection for the rebellion
Committee, is our only source on this matter. One of the men he interviewed
was Edward Hylton, whom he referred to as "one of the original conspirators."
According to Hylton, sometime during 1831 (he could not remember the month),
he received an invitation trom Sam Sharpe - a slave at the Retrieve Estates
near Montego Bay - to attend a meeting at the home of Mr Johnson on the same
estate. After prayer, most of the members left the house leaving onlyu Sharpe,
Johnson, and Hylton. Soon these three were joined by others who approached "under
extreme caution." According to Hylton, Sharpe was expecting htese people.
After they had safely assembled, Sharpe rose to address them, speaking in soft
tones "so that his voidce was not heard beyond the building." According
to hylton:
"He (Sam Sharpe) then proceeded with a long address to thos around him
on various topics relating to the great subject he had on his heart, and with
an eloquence which kept all his hearers fascinated and spell-bount from the
beginning to the end of his speech. He referred to the namifold evils and injustice
of slavery; asserted the natural equality of man with regard to freedom; and
referring to hte Holy Scriptures as his authority, denied that the white mand
had any more right to hold the blacks in bondage than the blacks had to enslave
the white."
Although the style of the above quotation may differ from what Hylton repeated
in Beby, there is no doubt that the essence of Hylton's confession is authentically
recorded. Another participant of the 1831 rebellion was Captain Gardner, one
of Sharpe's commanders in the field. In his confession to Bleby, he told of
another meeting where Sharpe spoke to his followers. He states that on that
occasion:
"Sam Sharpe spoke for a long time on the subject of slavery and told us
what he had read in the papers concerning it; and he addressed us in such manner
that he (Gardner)was wrought up almost to a state of madness. After this speech
he entered in the freedom fighting with all his soul."
The above quotation show that Sam Sharpe was not just on ordinary slave, but
a man of extraordinary authority over his fellow slaves - a mand o charisma,
a religious leader, and an orator who commanded the attention of his audiences.
Bleby's description of Sam Sharpe shortly before his death is even more enlightening.
He wrote:
"Samuel Sharpe was a man whose active braing divised the project; and he
had sufficient authority with those around him to carry it into effect having
acquired an extraordinary degree of influence amongst his fellow-slaves."
Bleby went on to say, "He was the most intelligent and remarkable slave
I ever met with" He described Sam Sharpe as follows:
"Middle in size - fine sinewy frame - handsomely molded - his nos and lips
exhibited the usual characteristics of the negro race. He had teeth whose regularity
and pearly whiteness, a court-beauty micht have envied - and an eye whose brilliancy
was almost dazzling. He possessed intellectual and oratorical powers above the
common order."
And this, said Bleby, "was the secret of the extensive influence which
he exercisedl"
An Insight into Sharpe's charismatic powers (also rendered by Bleby) goes to
the heart of the character of this freedom fighter:
"I heard him (Sam Sharpe) tow or three times deliver a bried extemporaneous
address to his fellow-prisoners on religious topics, many of them being confined
together in the same cell; and I was amazed both at the power and freedom with
which he spoke, and at the effect which was produced upon his auditory. he appeared
to have the feelings and passion of his hearers completely at his command; and
when I listened to him once, I ceased to be surprised at what Gardner had told
me, "that when Sharpe spoke to him and others on the subject of slavery,"
he, Gardner, was "wrought up almost to a state of madness".
The sentence in Bleby's description of Sam Sharpe, which is most interesting
from a theoretical viewpoint reads: "He appeared to have ghe feelings and
passions of his hearers completely at his command." This peculiar ability
to command is the exclusive gift of the charismatic leader. Robert C. Tucker,
in his analysis of Charismatic leadership, states:
"Charismatic movements for change arise and spread at times when painful
froms of distress are prevalent in a society or in some particular stratum of
a society. The unique personal authority of the leader and the rapturous response
of many of his followers grow out of their feeling that he, by virtue of his
special powers as a leader, emodies the movement's salvational promise, hence
that which may be of spreme significance to tem. Since he ministers to their
most pressing need - the need to belive in the real possibility of excape from
an oppressive life predicament - they not only follow volutarily and without
thought of material recompense, but they tend to revere him and surround him
with that spontaneous cult of personality which appears to be one of the symptomatic
marks of the charismatic leader - follower relationship... Whereever,m and whenever
human beings in serious numbers live in desperation or despair or similar states,
charismatic leaders and movements are likely to appear."
The central cause of this rebellion (sometimes called the Baptist War) evolved
from Sharpe's assertion that the slaves' free papers had arrived and were being
withheld by the Planters' pressure on the governor of Jamaica. This idea was
circulated among the estates of St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland, and St. Elizabeth.
Sam Sharpe, it was reported, sent messengers to the estates to "spread
the news." This idea of free papers took on eschatological significance
similar to the messianic "day of the Lord" concept among the jews.
The prophet who was in touch with the source of the message -England- was Sam
Sharpe.
It may be helpful to consider what precipitates revolution, such as the one
in Jamaica. One of the major causes of revolution is the pesence of what the
social scientists call relative deprivation; that is, when a segment of the
society is deprived of the wealth and status enjoyed by another segment of society
because of race, religion, or sexual inferiority imposed by the privileged class.
In the Jamaica of the 1800s, this rype of social inequity might easily be considered
a cause of the rebellion, but the peculiar status of slaves prescribed by law
and the force of law would seem to preclude such an analysis. A more appropriate
theory (which fits rather uniquely with the Sam Sharpe rebellion) is one that
has received little attention: it posits that revolution is brought about by
a feeling of heightened expectation.
Whether this feeling of heightened expectation was created by Sam Sharpe, or
through the preaching of the Native Baptist THIS SECTION OF THE WEBSITE (besides
the rastafarians introduction below) HAS BEEN MOVED TO OUR SISTER WEBSITE:
http://www.rootsreggaeclub.com/culture_reggae_afro/the_rastafarians/the_rastafarians_main.htm
INTRODUCTION TO THE RASTAFARIANS CULTURE AND HISTORY (see RASTAFARIANS FULL VERSION):
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