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Witness History: Archive 2010

Jamaica Slave Rebellion

Witness History: Archive 2010
Witness History: Archive 2010

*** Contains descriptions that some listeners may find upsetting ***

Enslaved Africans are forced to work in sugar cane fields - the hours are long and there are frequent, brutal punishments. They have endured these conditions for 200 years.

By 1831 the anti-slavery movement is gathering pace and the slaves decide to take action - by going on strike.

Samuel Sharpe became a Jamaican national hero as he led the island's slaves in a rebellion against the overseers and sugar plantation owners.

The rebellion was brutally crushed, but over time, the rebellion had a significant impact - and two years later in 1833 the Slavery Abolition Act is passed.

Picture: Making sugar in Jamaica, Credit: HultonArchive/Illustrated London News/Getty Images

Witness History: Archive 2010
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