Peter Espeut | Old ways die hard

“Slavery is indeed scotched in our colonies,

but it is not killed;

its name is changed:

its character remains to be changed hereafter”.

[Special Magistrate Richard Robert Madden MD (1898-1886)].

Monday (October 20) will be celebrated as National Heroes Day because of events in October 1865, usually referred to as the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Slavery had officially ended in 1834/1838, but conditions had not much improved for the former slaves. White supremacy did not end. The structure of Jamaican society after Emancipation resembled the structure under slavery; Africans and people of African descent still remained at the bottom of the social ladder, and whites were still at the top. Real power continued to be concentrated in the hands of the same small group as before.

Old ways die hard.

The expectation of Jamaica’s planter-dominated government was that there would not be much change; the former slaves would continue to work on the plantations for whatever wages were offered; they expected the slaves to become a powerless proletariat; the wheels of the plantation economy and society would continue to turn.

Also unchanged was the system of law enforcement. The militia whose officers were mostly planters and other whites, continued, although their principal purpose – the putting down of slave rebellions – had ceased to exist.

Slavery may have been abolished, but the mindset of the old slavemasters remained. Old ways die hard.

The Jamaican Treasury quickly ran dry; the colonial government had to bear costs previously borne by slaveowners (e.g. healthcare, road maintenance). A main source of revenue had been the head tax on slaves and apprentices (paid by the planters); after Full Freedom a new source of taxation had to be found.

The planter-controlled Assembly opted to obtain new revenue by increasing the duty on imports (used especially by the newly free); the burden of taxation which previously had directly fallen on the propertied class, shifted to the poor.

Why does this sound familiar?

In 2016 Jamaica’s Assembly did something similar. After promising to abolish income tax on annual incomes below J$1.5 million, this benefit was funded by increasing the consumption tax on items mostly used by the poor, thus shifting the burden of taxation from income earners to the poor.

Old ways die hard.

In 1861 only 13 percent of the population was literate, yet the Assembly voted only £2,500 to educate the 65,000 children of school age. Clearly a literate labour force was not in the national plan of the planters, who needed only unskilled labour. Over the next 150 years progress in this area has been sluggish.

The planters were the judges, the prosecutors, and the juries. It was difficult for the freedmen to get justice in Jamaican courts.

Saturday October 7, 1865 was market day and court day in Morant Bay; Deacon Paul Bogle (1822-1865) of Stony Gut, St. Thomas, marched into Morant Bay with about 200 men to observe a trespass case being tried.

An assault case was first tried; the defendant was fined 4/- with 12/6 costs; an onlooker shouted to him to pay the fine but appeal against the costs; he was ordered into custody, and was arrested, but was rescued by Bogle and his band, who overpowered the police. The trespass case followed, and the conviction was received quietly; Bogle stood security for the defendant; everyone went home.

On Monday, October 9, 1865 nine policemen went to Stony Gut with warrants for the arrest of Bogle and 27 others; Bogle was expecting summonses, and was shocked at being faced with arrest. But could nine have expected to arrest and detain 27? Was this action intended to provoke Bogle & Co.?

In the end, they dispatched the constables back to Morant Bay unharmed.

On Tuesday October 10, 1865 Baron Charles Maximilian von Ketelhodt – the Custos – wrote to the Governor advising of the resistance to arrest, and requesting that regular troops be sent. Eyre immediately ordered that 100 troops to be dispatched to Morant Bay.

On Wednesday October 11, 1865 Bogle and 200 men marched to Morant Bay to present their grievances to the Vestry. As they approached the court-house the Custos left the Vestry meeting and began to read the Riot Act. A shower of stones and bottles was thrown, some of which hit members of the Bath militia. The Custos gave the order to fire, killing some of the crowd; they retaliated with sticks, stones, and machetes; 11 civilians – including the Custos and seven militiamen – were killed, and six civilians and 25 militiamen were wounded.

Bogle and company went back to Stony Gut, and there was no effort at a continued insurrection or rebellion. The event should properly be dubbed a “local riot”, not a “rebellion” or a “war”.

On Friday October 13, Governor Eyre called a Council or War, and they declared Martial Law (similar to a State of Emergency).

More soldiers were sent, and the Maroons were called out.

George William Gordon – who was under a doctor’s care in Kingston (where there was no martial law) was brought under arrest to Morant Bay and hanged on October 23. On the same day the Maroons captured Deacon Bogle, and on the following day he was court-martialed and hanged with his Bible under his arm.

In all 354 persons were executed by court-martial; 50 shot or hung without trial; 25 shot by the Maroons; 10 were “killed otherwise”; [total 439 put to death]; and 600 men and women were flogged. Over 1,000 houses (including all of Stony Gut) were burned. And then the Assembly passed a law indemnifying Eyre and everyone else from liability for the atrocities.

The Royal Commission of Enquiry into the affair found that excessive force was used by the Jamaican Security forces during the State of Emergency called by Governor Eyre, and that innocent Jamaican lives had been lost. Eyre was removed from his post and recalled to England.

As we celebrate our heroes Bogle and Gordon, let us learn from our history, and hope that they did not die in vain.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and development scientist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com