1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: show that pays tribute to people of the past by 4 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: telling their stories. Today, I'm Gabe Lueesier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,119 Speaker 1: we're talking about a pivotal chapter in the struggle of 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: post emancipation Jamaica. The day when a black Baptist preacher 7 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 1: and activist led a revolt against colonial oppression and set 8 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: his people on a path to true freedom. The day 9 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:49,279 Speaker 1: was October eleventh, eighteen sixty five. Paul Bogel led hundreds 10 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: of black Jamaican protesters in the Maurent Bay Rebellion. On 11 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: their way to the town courthouse, they were confronted by 12 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: the British colonial militia, who quickly opened fire on the crowd. 13 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: Seven protesters fell dead in an instant, setting off a 14 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: day's long battle between roughly three hundred rural peasants and 15 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: an army of colonial soldiers. Martial law was declared two 16 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: days into the fighting, and by the time the dust 17 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: had settled in early November, nearly five hundred people, including 18 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: Paul Boegel, were dead. The animosity that led to the 19 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: rebellion and its brutal suppression was decades in the making. 20 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: Although slavery had technically been abolished in the British West 21 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: Indies since eighteen thirty eight, Jamaica's economic and judicial systems 22 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: continued to primarily benefit the former enslavers. As a result, 23 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: many black Jamaicans wound up working low wage apprenticeships in 24 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: the sugar fields of their former masters. Those who tried 25 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: to buck the system and make their own way found 26 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: themselves targeted by the Jamaican Colonial Assembly, which imposed harsh 27 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: penalties for the trump up crimes of vagrancy and squatting. 28 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: Although that Assembly had been elected by a black majority, 29 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: the property requirements for candidates ensured that only the wealthiest 30 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: black or mixed race Jamaicans could actually have a voice 31 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: in government. By and large, it was still the rich 32 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: white plantation owners who called the shots, and they made 33 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,359 Speaker 1: sure the opportunities for advancement among the formerly enslaved were 34 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:30,119 Speaker 1: few and far between. That said, Jamaica's black estate workers 35 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: and peasants weren't resigned to their fate. Instead, they organized 36 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: and held local protests calling for more equitable treatment and 37 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: voting rights. The island's native Baptist churches were a driving 38 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: force behind these movements. They had been started by black 39 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: refugees of the American Revolution, and the gospel they preached 40 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 1: was a mixture of African cultural practices and Christian tradition. 41 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: The teachings were more radical than those of mainland Baptists 42 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: and were tails alred specifically to the needs and concerns 43 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: of Jamaica's black poor. Paul Bogel was the deacon of 44 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: such a church in Stoneygut, a village in the parish 45 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: of Saint Thomas in the east, not far from Morrent Bay. 46 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: A former slave turned successful farmer and landowner, Bogel had 47 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 1: been given his appointment by George William Gordon, a black 48 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: Jamaican politician and fellow Baptist, who believed that a church 49 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: in Stony Gut would help foster the growing political movement. 50 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: To that end, Bogel opened his chapel to religious and 51 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: political meetings, many of which focused on how to put 52 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: an end to legal discrimination and economic oppression on the island. 53 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: In April of eighteen sixty five, six months before the rebellion, 54 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: the workers of a different parish were discussing the same concerns. 55 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: They ultimately petitioned Queen Victoria to address their grievances, expressing 56 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: their great want at this moment from the bad state 57 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: of our island soon after we became free subjects. They 58 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: outlined the ways in which colonial authorities had thwarted their 59 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: efforts to achieve independence, and the Governor of Jamaica, Edward Ayer, 60 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: begrudgingly passed along their petition. The Queen's response was about 61 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: as charitable as you'd expect. She said that the worker's 62 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: prosperity hinged entirely on how hard they worked to make 63 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: the plantations profitable. The implication was that it was their 64 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: own fault if they were unhappy with their wages, conditions, 65 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: or treatment. They simply needed to redouble their efforts and 66 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: then their labor would be rewarded. The Queen's advice was 67 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,919 Speaker 1: circulated throughout the colony, making it crystal clear that the 68 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: British monarch had no intention of improving their lot. So 69 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: in August of that year, Bogel and his followers took 70 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: matters into their own hands by marching fifty miles to 71 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: Morient Bay to meet with Governor Ayr. They had hoped 72 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:00,039 Speaker 1: to present their complaints face to face, but were in 73 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 1: instead turned away upon arrival. The estate worker's attempts at 74 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: diplomacy were failing fast, so two months later they tried 75 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,799 Speaker 1: a different approach. In early October, a few days before 76 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: the rebellion, a British colonial magistrate had tried to arrest 77 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: Bogel and several others for protesting the settlement of a 78 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: land dispute. The effort failed thanks to the intervention of 79 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: Bogel's followers, but when calls for his arrest continued in 80 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: the following days, the preacher decided to face his accusers 81 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: head on. On October eleventh, he marched on the Morant 82 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: Bay Courthouse with a crowd of about three hundred rural peasants, 83 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,919 Speaker 1: some of whom were armed with sticks, cutlasses, and a 84 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: few firearms. The colonial militia was waiting for them out front, 85 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,039 Speaker 1: and when several in the crowd began throwing stones at them, 86 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: the militia responded by opening fire. Enraged by this escalation, 87 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: the protesters fought back, eventually killing more than a dozen 88 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: BISHAO members and setting fire to the courthouse. The following morning, 89 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: John Davidson, a magistrate in the east of Jamaica, sent 90 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: a letter to Governor Ayr apprising him of the situation. 91 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 1: The people at Morent Bay, he wrote, have risen burnt 92 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: down the courthouse, released all the prisoners, and murdered several 93 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: white people. Air responded swiftly, sending hundreds of troops to 94 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: the parish within a matter of hours. Then on October thirteenth, 95 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,919 Speaker 1: he declared martial law for the entire eastern end of 96 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 1: the island. Emboldened by this proclamation, Air's troops set about 97 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: suppressing the rebellion with extreme prejudice. Over the next several weeks, 98 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:47,040 Speaker 1: they publicly flogged six hundred civilians, torched more than a 99 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: thousand homes, and put to death four hundred and sixty 100 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: nine black Jamaicans. Paul Bogle himself was among the casualties, 101 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: having been caught and hanged alongside his brother Moses on 102 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: October twenty, twenty fourth, eighteen sixty five. One day earlier, 103 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: his patron and mentor, George William Gordon, had been executed 104 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: as well, despite having not been involved in the rebellion. 105 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: In fact, Gordon wasn't even on the east coast of 106 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: Jamaica at the time, but since he too had agitated 107 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: on behalf of oppressed Jamaicans. Governor Air had him arrested, 108 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: transported there, and hanged in a flagrant act of military despotism. 109 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: The Governor's brutal response to what had started as a 110 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: small scale protest drew the ire of many abolitionists, lawyers, 111 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: and other public figures back in Britain. Their outrage forced 112 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: the hand of the British government, and in January of 113 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty six, a Royal commission was dispatched from London 114 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: to investigate the rebellion and the extra legal killing of 115 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: George William Gordon. Five months later, the committee delivered its 116 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: findings and Governor Ayr was removed from office, though he 117 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: was never convicted of a crime. After the rebellion, Jamaica 118 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: became a Crown colony and was thereafter governed directly from England. 119 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: The African Jamaican struggle for autonomy would continue for another century, 120 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: but finally, in nineteen sixty two, the island became an 121 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: independent nation. Not long after, both Paul Bogle and George 122 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: William Gordon were declared National heroes of Jamaica. Their faces 123 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: now adorn the country's currency, and their lives and legacies 124 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: are celebrated nationwide. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now 125 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 126 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: You can learn even more about history by following us 127 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and 128 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to 129 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: drop me a line at this day at iHeartMedia dot com. 130 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: Thanks as always to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 131 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 132 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:08,079 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another day in History class.