On this day in 1823, more than 10,000 enslaved Guyanese people rose up against their masters to demand better working conditions. While rebels generally abhorred violence, holding whites hostage in their homes and stockades to make demands, the state declared martial law, killing hundreds of people and displaying their corpses as a warning to the survivors.

The revolt took place in modern day Guyana, then the British colony of Demerara-Essequibo. The colony's primary export was sugar, and black slaves drastically outnumbered other groups on the island. The year of the uprising, the population consisted of approximately 2,500 whites, 2,500 freed blacks, and 77,000 slaves.

The rebellion was closely linked to the church of John Smith, a British missionary. One of the primary instigators of the uprising was Jack Gladstone, the son of Quamina, a prominent member of Smith's church.

Upon learning of his son's plans, Quamina opposed the revolt, urging the planners to initiate a strike instead, and to not use violence. Quamina also informed John Smith of the plans, which Smith declined to disclose to the authorities.

On August 18th, 1823, more than 10,000 slaves rose up against their masters to demand better treatment and more rights as slaves. Slaves generally abhorred violence, choosing instead to hold whites hostage in their homes and stockades as leverage with which to make their demands. Despite the large scale of the revolt, some slaves stayed loyal to their masters and defended their plantations.

The Governor immediately declared martial law, and, when a crowd of 2,000 slaves refused to disperse on order of a colonial militia, soldiers fired into the crowd, killing hundreds of people. Within two days, the rebellion was suppressed.

In the weeks following the suppression of uprising, the colonizers executed dozens of slaves, displaying the dismembered heads of those killed as a warning to the rest.

Jack Gladstone was deported to was sold and deported to St. Lucia, while Quamina was hunted down and killed on September 23rd. John Smith was arrested for not informing the government of the plans of rebellion and died in prison. His death became a watershed moment in the British abolitionist movement; he was deemed the "Demerara Martyr".

Under pressure from London, the Demerara Court of Policy passed various reforms for slave labor in 1825, institutionalizing working hours and some civil rights for the enslaved. The British government outlawed slavery in all of its territories in 1838.

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      • QuietCupcake [any, they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Nothing was said in bad faith. I have some pretty bad and genuine mental illnesses. Personality disorder, even. Of all the potentially questionable things I've said tonight, that's not one of them. And it is really fucking low that you'd be disparaging of that.

        • Kanna [she/her]
          ·
          2 years ago

          None of your posts had anything to do with mental illness, you only brought that up when people started mentioning how ridiculous this comment thread is

          • AllModsAreCops [des/pair]
            ·
            2 years ago

            I personally don't think it's a wild stretch to respond to a 'haha let's all laugh and watch the people acting weird' comment by bringing up your mental health status if you're someone who grew up with that shit and expected better of a place that says it's better.

          • QuietCupcake [any, they/them]
            ·
            2 years ago

            I'm a regular using an alt because of all the bans that have been happening lately. And so this one will probably get it too. What am I saying that is so bad?::

            Edit: how am I being ridiculous?

            • Kanna [she/her]
              ·
              2 years ago

              All of this "I'm on an alt for fear of being banned" is genuinely ridiculous. Longtime users talk about mod stuff just fine and never get banned or removed comments

              • QuietCupcake [any, they/them]
                ·
                2 years ago

                ... um. that hasn't been how it's been recently. Again, ask A_Serbian_Milf for a CLEAR example, but they are not the only one. Some other lone timers have been banned recently (admittedly some deserved it and it was really surprising) but others didn't. I DO feel like something has changed in the moderator..ship or moderatortariate or whatever. And All I'm doing is expressing that. I haven't said anything so far as I can see that is disparaging to anyone, that is even a tiny bit reactionary, just... fucking expressing some worries when people I respected got banned for reasons that didn't seem bannworthy to me.

                Like I said, I really respect you as a favorite poster. So I'm going to log off and hope I'm not banned in the morning and just forget all of this. Because I depend on this fucking place tbh.

            • Kanna [she/her]
              ·
              2 years ago

              Please don't reply to me again on this account or any future account you'll inevitably make

      • AllModsAreCops [des/pair]
        ·
        2 years ago

        That little shit was abrasive to me and it counted because I'm mad. I don't care if they blame the condition that makes them come off abrasive. So what if they never actually did anything to me? They should be banned.

        Now let's all go back to where we were upvoting me sneering at them for being lame in the first place