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IMPROVING THE LIVES OF BLACK PEOPLE THROUGH
AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION
IMPROVING THE LIVES OF BLACK PEOPLE THROUGH
AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION
| AAASM Black History Research Project |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Bussa Unknown - 1816 |
Bussa was the leader of a slave uprising in Barbados. He was born a free man in Africa,
but was captured by African slave merchants and sold to the English men and brought to
Barbados in the late 18th century as a slave. Not much is known about him and there are
no records of him prior to this date.
The rebellion he led is often referred to as the "Bussa Rebellion" which began on Sunday,
April 14, 1816. It was the first slave uprising in Barbados for 124 years; the previous taking
place in 1692. "Bussa's Rebellion" was planned by such collaborators as Washington
Franklin and Nanny Grigg, a senior domestic slave on Simmons' estate, as well as other
slaves, drivers and artisans. The planning was undertaken at a number of sugar estates,
including Bayley's Plantation where it began. Preparation for the rebellion began soon
after the House of Assembly discussed and rejected the Imperial Registry Bill in November
1815. By February 1816, the decision had been taken that the revolt should take place in
April, at Easter. Bussa led the slaves into battle at Bayley's on Tuesday, April 16. He
commanded some 400 freedom fighters and was killed in battle. His troops continued the
fight until they were defeated by superior firepower. The rebellion failed but its impact was
significant to the future of Barbados.
In 1985, 169 years after that rebellion, when the Emancipation Statue was unveiled, many
Barbadians identified it with Bussa in the 1816 revolt.
In 1999, Bussa was named as the first national hero of Barbados and in Barbados there is
a monument and round -a- bout in his honour.
but was captured by African slave merchants and sold to the English men and brought to
Barbados in the late 18th century as a slave. Not much is known about him and there are
no records of him prior to this date.
The rebellion he led is often referred to as the "Bussa Rebellion" which began on Sunday,
April 14, 1816. It was the first slave uprising in Barbados for 124 years; the previous taking
place in 1692. "Bussa's Rebellion" was planned by such collaborators as Washington
Franklin and Nanny Grigg, a senior domestic slave on Simmons' estate, as well as other
slaves, drivers and artisans. The planning was undertaken at a number of sugar estates,
including Bayley's Plantation where it began. Preparation for the rebellion began soon
after the House of Assembly discussed and rejected the Imperial Registry Bill in November
1815. By February 1816, the decision had been taken that the revolt should take place in
April, at Easter. Bussa led the slaves into battle at Bayley's on Tuesday, April 16. He
commanded some 400 freedom fighters and was killed in battle. His troops continued the
fight until they were defeated by superior firepower. The rebellion failed but its impact was
significant to the future of Barbados.
In 1985, 169 years after that rebellion, when the Emancipation Statue was unveiled, many
Barbadians identified it with Bussa in the 1816 revolt.
In 1999, Bussa was named as the first national hero of Barbados and in Barbados there is
a monument and round -a- bout in his honour.
Statue of Bussa, representing
slavery, revolt and emancipation in
Barbados
slavery, revolt and emancipation in
Barbados
Slavery and Economy in Barbados
Barbados was one of England's most popular colonies, with a rich economy based on sugar and slavery. Yet it was also
the only colony to support the abolition of the slave trade.
Early settlement
Barbados in many respects was England's first experimental tropical agricultural export colony, and was successful for a
number of related reasons. Contemporary opinion in the late seventeenth century acclaimed it the richest spot of ground
in the world.' Private English capital, with the Crown's blessing, financed settlement in 1627. Market conditions for its first
commercial crop, tobacco, enabled the accumulation of quick profits, which were later utilised to finance the shift to sugar
production in the 1650s, after large scale, high quality Virginian tobacco production caused a glut on the European market
and prices plummeted.
In the first decade, when settlement was tenuous, the first Barbadian settlers encountered no opposition from Spanish or
French rivals, nor was there a native Amerindian presence to overcome. In fact, the opposite occurred. Amerindians were
brought from Guiana in order to instruct the early settlers in survival skills, such as knowledge of local foods and
preparation methods, and the most effective ways of clearing dense tropical forest. The Dutch were also helpful in
nurturing the young colony. A locally elected legislature or House of Assembly was formed in 1639, which along with a
nominated advisory Council and the Crown's representative, the Governor of the island, ruled the island in tandem with
the state sanctioned religion, the Anglican Church.
Just as the attempts at alternate crops such as indigo and ginger seemed doomed to failure, international affairs
conspired to create an economic opening which guaranteed the survival and prosperity of Barbados. The Dutch in
north-east Brazil and their allied community of Sephardic Jews were expelled from Recife and Bahia. Barbadian planters
such as the Draxes, made contact with individuals fleeing Brazil, and a most successful transference of the sugar industry
took place. The climate and soil conditions in Barbados were perfect for the growing of this sweet grass
In a short space of twenty years, the economic phenomenon known as the Sugar Revolution transformed the face of
Barbados forever. Tropical luxuriance gave way to a carefully controlled garden-like appearance of the entire island, as
almost complete deforestation occurred. Not only was nature subjected to man's tight control, but profound demographic
and economic changes created a whole new society.
Imported manpower
Sugar demanded labour and this poured into Barbados in increasingly large numbers, quickly making the island not only
the most populated of England's overseas colonies, but also one of the most densely populated places in the world.
Initially whites from Britain were brought in, either as indentured servants or prisoners. For example, after the Somerset
uprising, many West Country men were exiled or "barbadosed" by Judge Jeffreys. Nearly 7000 Irish were transported to
the island during the Cromwellian period.
Barbados quickly acquired the largest white population of any of the English colonies in the Americas. In many respects,
Barbados became the springboard for English colonisation in the Americas, playing a leading role in the settlement of
Jamaica and the Carolinas, and sending a constant flow of settlers to other areas throughout the seventeenth and early
eighteenth centuries.
However as the cost of white labour in England went up, planters, on the advice of Dutch and Sephardic merchants,
turned to West Africa for their source of manpower. Black slaves were imported in large numbers from the Gold Coast
region in particular, especially from what is today the country of Ghana. The Asante, Ewe, Fon and Fante peoples
provided the bulk of imports into Barbados. Nigeria also provided slaves for Barbados, the Yoruba, Efik, Igbo and Ibibio
being the main ethnic groups targeted.
It is estimated that between 1627 to 1807, some 387 000 Africans were shipped to the island against their will, in
overcrowded, unsanitary ships, which made the Middle Passage a synonym for barbaric horror. Over time, many of these
individuals were re-exported to other slave owning colonies, either in the West Indies or to North America. However, and
this is especially true for the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the high mortality rate among slaves working on
the sugar plantations necessitated a constant input of fresh slaves in order to maintain a work force
Population
The island shifted from having a majority white population to having a majority black population. This would have profound
social and cultural consequences. It also brought into play issues such as internal security, and the need for a legal and
policing system to control the large servile population, who could be expected to resist their status as slaves in a wide
variety of ways.
This shift in population patterns, facilitated a process of creolisation, which saw West African and West European cultural
patterns acting on each other under the influence of a small tropical island environment to produce a Barbadian variant of
a wider West Indian culture. Travellers to the island in the eighteenth century noted these changes, especially on the
white population, who were accused of 'lisping the language of the Negroes,' or of 'adopting the Negro style.'
Despite the pervasive nature of creolisation on Barbados, it is a mistake to conclude that West African cultural patterns
were stripped from the black population. This erroneous opinion is widespread and based on the notion that planters
deliberately applied a policy of deculturation in order to guarantee themselves a docile work force. The truth is quite the
opposite. Planters argued that African cultural retentions, particularly those that permitted socialisation, for example the
Saturday night dances and Sunday activities commonly referred to in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as 'plays'
made the slave population more contented with their lot and willing to work harder and create greater profits for their
owners. It is only after emancipation in 1834, that we see an organised effort to acculturate slaves to European patterns,
an effort which was spear-headed by the Anglican Church.
The percentage of permanently resident whites also tended to be greater than in the other islands, especially among the
large land-owning classes or elites. This created a need for amenities and an infrastructure which was more developed
than elsewhere. For example, there were more and better schools for children, reading rooms, a press, and other social
facilities. Hence, planters such as General Haynes could write, 'tis to me the first country in the world'.
The black population also had characteristics which were different from those of other islands. From the beginning of the
eighteenth century, the majority of Barbadian blacks were born locally. This high percentage of Creole born blacks, as
opposed to Africans, contributed to the early development of a Barbadian identity. Also, as was the case in the white
population, the sex ratio among Barbadian blacks was the norm. That is, there was an excess of women over men in both
racial groups, a pattern which emerged in the last decades of the seventeenth century, making Barbados quite unlike
other Caribbean islands, where there was an excess of men over women in both racial groups.
This enabled the black population to reproduce itself during the second half of the eighteenth century, rather than rely on
fresh imports from Africa to maintain population levels. This was quite a contrast to what occurred on other English
speaking West Indian islands, where the mortality rate exceeded the birth rate, and projections show that without imports,
the slave population would have died out.
Abolition
St Nicholas Abbey As a result, Barbados was the only one of the British islands which supported the passage of the act
abolishing the slave trade. Put bluntly, Barbadian planters recognised that the island had a growing slave population
which would guarantee on going sugar production, whereas the other territories would be hampered in their economic
development, if denied access to slave labour. This was especially true of the newly conquered territories such as
Trinidad, Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice. Barbadian abolitionism therefore was economically driven, although in all
fairness, one should point out that there were influential white Barbadian abolitionists such as John Alleyne and R.B.
Niccols, Dean of Middleham, who were genuine in their concerns and efforts.
Nevertheless, the slave trade was of importance for Barbados. Because of the geographical location of the island and the
favourable trade winds, Barbados (Bridgetown in particular), became an entrepot for the re-exportation of slaves to North
America, other Caribbean islands and to the Captaincy-General of Venezuela. After the War of Spanish Succession, the
treaty which brought an end to the war gave England the asiento or license to export slaves from their possessions in the
Caribbean. The Royal African Company then established offices in Jamaica and Barbados, from where slaves were
re-exported, to Mexico in the case of the Jamaican office and to Venezuela from Barbados.
Oloudah Equiano gives a moving description of the Middle Passage and his arrival as a captured African in Barbados.
The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at
anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was
carried on board... I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had
never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low
that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me.
The picture therefore which Barbados presents in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is one of initial and rapid
change after settlement, first of all in the natural arena with rapid and almost total deforestation, followed by demographic
change as large numbers of Africans were brought into the island to provide labour for the sugar industry. The sugar
economy quickly made the island very wealthy, and the port of Bridgetown became, along with Boston and London, a key
link in the English Atlantic world. By the mid eighteenth century, newer colonies in the Caribbean, such as Jamaica, had
surpassed Barbados in terms in economic importance, although the island still retained its position as one of England's
leading overseas colonies. At this point in time, Barbados was a stable, mature slave society, tightly controlled by its
resident native white elite class, with functioning institutions of its own, and a specific character and identity which stamped
it as undeniably and uniquely Barbadian.
Barbados was one of England's most popular colonies, with a rich economy based on sugar and slavery. Yet it was also
the only colony to support the abolition of the slave trade.
Early settlement
Barbados in many respects was England's first experimental tropical agricultural export colony, and was successful for a
number of related reasons. Contemporary opinion in the late seventeenth century acclaimed it the richest spot of ground
in the world.' Private English capital, with the Crown's blessing, financed settlement in 1627. Market conditions for its first
commercial crop, tobacco, enabled the accumulation of quick profits, which were later utilised to finance the shift to sugar
production in the 1650s, after large scale, high quality Virginian tobacco production caused a glut on the European market
and prices plummeted.
In the first decade, when settlement was tenuous, the first Barbadian settlers encountered no opposition from Spanish or
French rivals, nor was there a native Amerindian presence to overcome. In fact, the opposite occurred. Amerindians were
brought from Guiana in order to instruct the early settlers in survival skills, such as knowledge of local foods and
preparation methods, and the most effective ways of clearing dense tropical forest. The Dutch were also helpful in
nurturing the young colony. A locally elected legislature or House of Assembly was formed in 1639, which along with a
nominated advisory Council and the Crown's representative, the Governor of the island, ruled the island in tandem with
the state sanctioned religion, the Anglican Church.
Just as the attempts at alternate crops such as indigo and ginger seemed doomed to failure, international affairs
conspired to create an economic opening which guaranteed the survival and prosperity of Barbados. The Dutch in
north-east Brazil and their allied community of Sephardic Jews were expelled from Recife and Bahia. Barbadian planters
such as the Draxes, made contact with individuals fleeing Brazil, and a most successful transference of the sugar industry
took place. The climate and soil conditions in Barbados were perfect for the growing of this sweet grass
In a short space of twenty years, the economic phenomenon known as the Sugar Revolution transformed the face of
Barbados forever. Tropical luxuriance gave way to a carefully controlled garden-like appearance of the entire island, as
almost complete deforestation occurred. Not only was nature subjected to man's tight control, but profound demographic
and economic changes created a whole new society.
Imported manpower
Sugar demanded labour and this poured into Barbados in increasingly large numbers, quickly making the island not only
the most populated of England's overseas colonies, but also one of the most densely populated places in the world.
Initially whites from Britain were brought in, either as indentured servants or prisoners. For example, after the Somerset
uprising, many West Country men were exiled or "barbadosed" by Judge Jeffreys. Nearly 7000 Irish were transported to
the island during the Cromwellian period.
Barbados quickly acquired the largest white population of any of the English colonies in the Americas. In many respects,
Barbados became the springboard for English colonisation in the Americas, playing a leading role in the settlement of
Jamaica and the Carolinas, and sending a constant flow of settlers to other areas throughout the seventeenth and early
eighteenth centuries.
However as the cost of white labour in England went up, planters, on the advice of Dutch and Sephardic merchants,
turned to West Africa for their source of manpower. Black slaves were imported in large numbers from the Gold Coast
region in particular, especially from what is today the country of Ghana. The Asante, Ewe, Fon and Fante peoples
provided the bulk of imports into Barbados. Nigeria also provided slaves for Barbados, the Yoruba, Efik, Igbo and Ibibio
being the main ethnic groups targeted.
It is estimated that between 1627 to 1807, some 387 000 Africans were shipped to the island against their will, in
overcrowded, unsanitary ships, which made the Middle Passage a synonym for barbaric horror. Over time, many of these
individuals were re-exported to other slave owning colonies, either in the West Indies or to North America. However, and
this is especially true for the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the high mortality rate among slaves working on
the sugar plantations necessitated a constant input of fresh slaves in order to maintain a work force
Population
The island shifted from having a majority white population to having a majority black population. This would have profound
social and cultural consequences. It also brought into play issues such as internal security, and the need for a legal and
policing system to control the large servile population, who could be expected to resist their status as slaves in a wide
variety of ways.
This shift in population patterns, facilitated a process of creolisation, which saw West African and West European cultural
patterns acting on each other under the influence of a small tropical island environment to produce a Barbadian variant of
a wider West Indian culture. Travellers to the island in the eighteenth century noted these changes, especially on the
white population, who were accused of 'lisping the language of the Negroes,' or of 'adopting the Negro style.'
Despite the pervasive nature of creolisation on Barbados, it is a mistake to conclude that West African cultural patterns
were stripped from the black population. This erroneous opinion is widespread and based on the notion that planters
deliberately applied a policy of deculturation in order to guarantee themselves a docile work force. The truth is quite the
opposite. Planters argued that African cultural retentions, particularly those that permitted socialisation, for example the
Saturday night dances and Sunday activities commonly referred to in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as 'plays'
made the slave population more contented with their lot and willing to work harder and create greater profits for their
owners. It is only after emancipation in 1834, that we see an organised effort to acculturate slaves to European patterns,
an effort which was spear-headed by the Anglican Church.
The percentage of permanently resident whites also tended to be greater than in the other islands, especially among the
large land-owning classes or elites. This created a need for amenities and an infrastructure which was more developed
than elsewhere. For example, there were more and better schools for children, reading rooms, a press, and other social
facilities. Hence, planters such as General Haynes could write, 'tis to me the first country in the world'.
The black population also had characteristics which were different from those of other islands. From the beginning of the
eighteenth century, the majority of Barbadian blacks were born locally. This high percentage of Creole born blacks, as
opposed to Africans, contributed to the early development of a Barbadian identity. Also, as was the case in the white
population, the sex ratio among Barbadian blacks was the norm. That is, there was an excess of women over men in both
racial groups, a pattern which emerged in the last decades of the seventeenth century, making Barbados quite unlike
other Caribbean islands, where there was an excess of men over women in both racial groups.
This enabled the black population to reproduce itself during the second half of the eighteenth century, rather than rely on
fresh imports from Africa to maintain population levels. This was quite a contrast to what occurred on other English
speaking West Indian islands, where the mortality rate exceeded the birth rate, and projections show that without imports,
the slave population would have died out.
Abolition
St Nicholas Abbey As a result, Barbados was the only one of the British islands which supported the passage of the act
abolishing the slave trade. Put bluntly, Barbadian planters recognised that the island had a growing slave population
which would guarantee on going sugar production, whereas the other territories would be hampered in their economic
development, if denied access to slave labour. This was especially true of the newly conquered territories such as
Trinidad, Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice. Barbadian abolitionism therefore was economically driven, although in all
fairness, one should point out that there were influential white Barbadian abolitionists such as John Alleyne and R.B.
Niccols, Dean of Middleham, who were genuine in their concerns and efforts.
Nevertheless, the slave trade was of importance for Barbados. Because of the geographical location of the island and the
favourable trade winds, Barbados (Bridgetown in particular), became an entrepot for the re-exportation of slaves to North
America, other Caribbean islands and to the Captaincy-General of Venezuela. After the War of Spanish Succession, the
treaty which brought an end to the war gave England the asiento or license to export slaves from their possessions in the
Caribbean. The Royal African Company then established offices in Jamaica and Barbados, from where slaves were
re-exported, to Mexico in the case of the Jamaican office and to Venezuela from Barbados.
Oloudah Equiano gives a moving description of the Middle Passage and his arrival as a captured African in Barbados.
The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at
anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was
carried on board... I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had
never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low
that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me.
The picture therefore which Barbados presents in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is one of initial and rapid
change after settlement, first of all in the natural arena with rapid and almost total deforestation, followed by demographic
change as large numbers of Africans were brought into the island to provide labour for the sugar industry. The sugar
economy quickly made the island very wealthy, and the port of Bridgetown became, along with Boston and London, a key
link in the English Atlantic world. By the mid eighteenth century, newer colonies in the Caribbean, such as Jamaica, had
surpassed Barbados in terms in economic importance, although the island still retained its position as one of England's
leading overseas colonies. At this point in time, Barbados was a stable, mature slave society, tightly controlled by its
resident native white elite class, with functioning institutions of its own, and a specific character and identity which stamped
it as undeniably and uniquely Barbadian.
A slave hut in Barbados built
with local trees and leafs
with local trees and leafs