Martyrs of the East Coast Demerara Revolt of August 1823

I consider August 1 - September 16 an extremely important period in the African experience in Guyana.
Episodes of great amounts of the bloodshed took place, one hundred and eighty-eight years ago, on the East Sea Coast of the Colony of Demerara. On August 18, 1823, oppressed people of African origins enslaved on forty plantations situated on the East Sea Coast between the Demerara and Mahaica Rivers were allowed to take up arms in an effort to secure their freedom by means of self-emancipation. It is accepted that some twelve thousand Africans enslaved upon the plantations between and including plantations Plaisance and Dochfour participated in this Struggle.
The evidence shows the following alarming features;
The slaves on the plantations on the East Sea Coast of Demerara heard bits of information relative to the amelioration of slavery in the West Indies. Apparently, they concluded the British Government in Europe had declared them a free people. However, the colonial authorities in the United colony of Demerary and Essequebo were withholding their freedom. Therefore, on Sunday, August 17, 1823 the enslaved people made final preparations to strike blows in the bid to obtain their liberty by militant action designed to achieve freedom by means of self-emancipation.
The rebellion was betrayed. A slave on 'Le Reduit' plantation, Joseph Simpson, informed Mr. Simpson, at approximately 6 a.m. on the morning of Monday, August 18, 1823, that an uprising had been finalized on Sunday, August 17, 1823 at Bethel chapel. The revolt was scheduled to begin on the evening of Monday, August 18, 1823. the slave-owner, immediately begun the journey to share the information with the Governor. While on his way to Georgetown, Mr. Simpson alerted several estates on the route to Georgetown. It was yet another episode which became the distinct pattern of betrayal in which narrow-minded Africans were counter productive regrading their own self interest above and beyond that of the majority of the enslaved Africans simply because of the patronage they received from their oppressors. The Europeans on the other hand seemed hellbent on shedding the blood of as great a number of Africans as humanly possible.
Thus, before the slaves struck the first blow, Major-General John Murray, Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the united colony of Demerara and Essequebo was made aware of pertinent information in more than enough time respecting the imminent threat of the rebellion. Therefore, Major-General John Murray, was in the position to prevent the outrageous loss of life, which resulted from the failed attempt at self-emancipation.
The Europeans were interested in preserving their way of life by any and/or every means possible. The Europeans intended to stem and reverse the tide of public opinion against the sugar planters in Britain by showing Africans as savages only fit for subserviency and forced labor to ensure a privileged life of Europeans.
Hundreds of Africans were massacred at Plantation Bachelor's Adventure. Some estimates determine the number to be as high as 500. Colonial records showed Major-General John Murray, stated 150 Africans were killed at Plantation Bachelor's Adventure. Regardless of the figure stated in the colonial records; the undeniable truth remains’ defenseless Africans were brutally murdered on the command of Colonel Leahy. The Africans were unceremoniously buried in mass graves. Some accept and believe that episode transpired at Plantation Paradise.
The evidence further demonstrates the Africans were by far more humane than the Europeans. It is said that Africans never intended to kill the Europeans who were adjudged to be merciful to their plight. These were primarily the missionaries, the females and children.

the Martyrs

Wednesday, August 20, 1823
Hundreds of Africans were massacred at Plantation Bachelor's Adventure. Some estimates determine the number to be as low as 200 while others place it as high as 500. Colonial records show Governor Murray stated 150 Africans were killed at Plantation Bachelor's Adventure. Regardless of the given figures. The undeniable truth remains’ defenseless Africans were brutally murdered on the command of Colonel Leahy. The Africans were unceremoniously buried in mass graves. Some accept and believe that episode transpired at Plantation Paradise.

Friday, August 22, 1823
Beard (plantation Clonbrook), the father of Telemachus, January, Edward, Prince and Primo were executed by firing squad

Tuesday, August 26, 1823
Natty, alias Natt (Plantation Enterprise) and Louis (Plantation Plaisance)
Caleb and Sloane of Plantation Nabaclis, were shot. They were decapitated by Joseph. The chief driver of the Plantation Nabaclis, and their heads were affixed to poles in the front of the estate. Joseph was arrested and confined as a ringleader.

Wednesday, August 27, 1823
Murphy (Plantation Foulis) and Harry (Plantation Good Hope)

Thursday, August 28, 1823
Damas (Plantation Plaisance); Daniel and Philip (Plantation Foulis) and Evan (Plantation Good Hope)

Saturday, September 6, 1823
Attilla (Plantation Plaisance), Quintus(Plantation Beterverwagting),

Friday, September 12, 1823
Lindor and Pickle (Plantation La Bonne Intention)

Tuesday, September 16, 1823
Quamina was trapped by a search party led by Captain M'Turk. Quamina shot and killed by an indigenous Guyanese named Cattow alias Skillikelly. Quamina was struck in the temple, side and arm.
The role of the indigenous people was overlooked. Michael M'Turk employed as many as forty native Guianese in the pursuit of Africans. In fact it is a consensus that a Native American Cattow shot and killed Quamina on September 16, 1823.
Africans were most cruelly murdered. Their bodies were dismembered. Their heads affixed to poles and prominently displayed along the plantations. The soldiers performed the gruesome tasks of decapitation. However, on numerous occasions, drivers of the plantations performed the decapitations of their Africans.

It is simply an easy task to sit back in this era the age of information and render judgement upon the known efforts of our representative of prior centuries and millenniums. You and I have the advantage of accessing the published data respecting the episodes of their experiences. However, neither you nor I can be absolutely sure of their accuracy. The simple fact remains you and I were not eyewitnesses of the events. The major ingredients, the experiences of the slaves, from their point of views are not absolutely available to us. The slaves had very limited choices of escaping their daily experiences of oppression. The options which were and/or are available to people of the twentieth and twentieth-first centuries were not available to the Africans enslaved on the plantations from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century inclusive. However, the pattern of indoctrination and responses remain a common factor in the results of efforts in reaction to oppression. In the majority of the episodes in which Africans and an indentured labourer attempted to reverse the adverse conditions of their existence they were betrayed by individuals clinging to scraps off the table of the oppressors. That scenario remains a common enemy of freedom loving people everywhere and in every epoch in the annals of the human experience. Consequently, the best solution to such a problem is the philosophy of scorched earth as practiced by the Kenyan nationalist in their struggle for self-determination in the opening years of the last half of the twentieth century. Successful revolutions are predicated on completely overturning systems of repressions. Whenever, and wherever, the oppressed people seeking their freedom do not practice total purges of their repression; they are just as guilty as the oppressors themselves. The very idea of saving the lives of the women and children of the oppressor is putrid to me. It is totally contrary to intelligent behavior. In the medical profession if the practitioners diagnose and treat the symptoms they really accomplish nothing for the condition would not have been eradicated. The entire condition needs to be purged to achieve the desired effect.
As a descendant of enslaved people of the plantations located on the east sea coast of demerara it is my conviction that the Demerara slave revolt was an exercise which could have been avoided had the colonials being a more civilized person bent on avoiding the wanton shedding of African blood. However, the aftermath of the episode showed the British public that the Africans desired freedom against all odds. Thus, the demerara slave revolt was one of the chapters written in blood in the struggle for self-determination and self-emancipation which resulted in political independence being achieved on May 26, 1966. Every protest was a blow struck by the masses against the oppressors for the right of self - determination. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the masses of the present day Guyanese society to recognize that fact as the reality of their existence with the political confines of their nation. The people of Guyana must not continue to allow chapters of our struggles for freedom to be defined by the oppressors of our people regardless of the ethnicity of the repressive force and/or the claims made by the governmental administrations and political platforms.
The failure of every government to recognize the struggles of our ancestors is not at all surprising. The colonials were not interested in neither preserving heritage nor presenting our people as intelligent human beings. In the eyes of the colonials the representatives of the masses of the Guyanese people were necessary as a supply of labour for the maintenance of their privileged life in Europe and in the colonies. The PPP and the PNC are also just as fraudulent. They are into promoting the imagery that they are the champions of our freedoms in fact the exact opposite is the truth. The PPP and the PNC are just as exploiters of our people as any of the governors and colonial administration ever were throughout the annals of the people who were enslaved, apprenticed and indentured in the various political boundaries which is known in this era as Guyana. If you are oppressed by people who have physical characteristics which are similar to yours and your representatives were oppressed by people who don't look like you - the common threads of suffering remains ever present. Oppression is oppression regardless of the ethnicity of the oppressors and/or the exploited. There is no such thing as friendly fire. The end result remains the same
On August 1, 1834, African people enslaved in the colony of British Guiana became legally known as Apprentice labourers. During the period August 3 - August 12, 1834; Apprenticed Labourers on the East Sea Coast of the County of Essequebo staged an exercise of civil disobedience and nonviolent protest regarding conditions of labour.
The trials of all the prisoners were finally completed on September 30, 1834; on the last day two more sentences of transportation were handed down against Bob of Plantation Lima and William the boatman who was attached to Mr. Goring - both men being given 14 years transportation. At the end of the trial 36 sentences had been handed down: Damon to death; Frederick to transportation for life; Fothergill, Bob and William to transportation for 14 years each; Adonis and Chance, one month and 200 lashes; Abraham, Little Peter, Frederick a.k.a. Cudjoe, Christian and Hendrick a.k.a. Hendy, one month and 150 lashes; Big Peter, 50 lashes; Billy, Peter (Coffee Grove), Will and Joe, one month and 100 lashes. Prince, Bob, (Coffee Grove), Lawrence and Sam, one month, 50 lashes.
Jan Swart, Mark and Bean were adjudged not guiltily. The cases against John Lewis and Peter of Hampton Court were thrown out: there was no evidence against John Lewis, while it was pointed out that. Peter was named wrongly for one Pitt. Those who had given King's evidence - Jacky and Nathaniel of La Belle Alliance, and Jacobus and Johnathon of Richmond, were presumably granted the pardon they had sought to obtain by their treacherous action. (Payne, 1999: 262)
On August 1, 1838, African people were declared totally and fully emancipated people. They became peasants. They purchased numerous abandoned plantations. An insignificant amount of our representatives was enfranchised prior to 1953.
If you didn’t know now you know the names of a number of our heroes and the real martyrs of the Demerara slave Revolt of August 1823. it is asinine for African people to believe and/or accept Reverend John Smith was a martyr of our people. Reverend Smith is a European. Thus, his interests and his sympathies were with Europeans. I am that positive Reverend John Smith was a calming influence on the slaves' appetite for freedom. The slaves show too much restraint against their oppressors. Thus, it is clear their docility was due in part to the brainwashing they received from the missionaries.
Certainly, the enslaved people are heroes of the guyanese people. it is high time their efforts be celebarted in the districts in which they participated in all phases of life. long live peoples' power long live our martyrs long live our heroes....