1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,600 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. We're doubling up today with two 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:08,680 Speaker 1: events in history on with the show. Greetings everyone, welcome 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: to this day in History class, where we learn a 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: smidgen of history every day. The day was April fourteenth, 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve. Violet Constance Jessup was working as a stewardess 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 1: aboard the Royal Mail ship Titanic when it crashed into 7 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: an iceberg. Violet calmly escorted passengers to boats, and eventually 8 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 1: she escaped from the Titanic on a lifeboat. But it 9 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: wouldn't be the last time Violet would survive a sinking ship. 10 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 1: Violet's mother worked as a stewardess and the Royal Mail Line, 11 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: a shipping company, for five years, but her mom's health 12 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: deteriorated and she was no longer up for the job. 13 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: Violet was working as a governess, but she wasn't making 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: nearly enough money to take care of her siblings and mother, 15 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: so Violet also decided to pursue a job as a 16 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: stewardess and the Royal Mail Line to support her family. 17 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: Violet's interviewer told her that she was too young and 18 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: too pretty to be a stewardess, but she got the 19 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: job anyway. She started on the Orino Co traveling to 20 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,639 Speaker 1: the Caribbean. It was a tough job and Violet didn't 21 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: have any experience in it, so she basically had to 22 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: learn as she went. She had to run passengers, errands, 23 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: clean cabins, and tend to stick passengers, among other taxing responsibilities. 24 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: Being stuck on a ship with passengers and crew who 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: could be bothersome and demanding, while still having to complete 26 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: difficult work was a feat, but she acclimated and she 27 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: enjoyed her time in port cities where she could get 28 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: some relief from her work and have a little leisure time. 29 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: But Jup was fired from her job when a captain 30 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: who was romantically interested in her accused her of flirting 31 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: with officers. That's when she got a job as a 32 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: stewardess for the White Star Line, another British shipping company. 33 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: She'd heard that the roots its ships took were particularly treacherous, 34 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: and there was word that its passengers expected superior service 35 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: from crew. But since her exit from the Royal Mail 36 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: job wasn't on good terms, she ended up taking the 37 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: job at White Star anyway, and it went pretty well. 38 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: Her passengers liked her because she was a crowd favorite. 39 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,239 Speaker 1: Violet was chosen to serve aboard the Olympic on its 40 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: maiden voyage in nineteen eleven. Violet was happy aboard the Olympic, 41 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:40,679 Speaker 1: and she didn't seem phased by its collision with the 42 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: h MS Hawk in September of that year. She continued 43 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: her work on the ship after it was out of 44 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: commission for a couple of months, but Violet's friends convinced 45 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: her to join the crew of the White Star Lines 46 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: Titanic when she was selected to work on its maiden voyage. 47 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: When the Titanic collided with the iceberg that caused its demise, 48 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: Violet was comfortably drowsy. As she put it, Violet, like 49 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: many other people aboard, didn't quite realize the urgency of 50 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: the situation, and she went back to her room after 51 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: helping passengers board boats. But as the ship tilted to 52 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: a dangerous angle, it became clear that the circumstances were dire. 53 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: She said in her memoir, I was ordered up on 54 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: deck calmly, passengers strolled about. I stood at the bulkhead 55 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: with the other stewardesses, watching the women cling to their husbands, 56 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: before being put into the boats with their children. Sometime after, 57 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: a ship's officer ordered us into the boat first to 58 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: show some women it was safe. As the boat was 59 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: being lowered, the officer called here, miss jessup, look after 60 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: this baby, and a bundle was dropped onto my lap. 61 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: The people in her boat were rescued by the ship 62 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: the Carpathia after eight hours. The Titanics sinking was a 63 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: terrible incident, but Violet went back to work. In nineteen fourteen, 64 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: as World War One was beginning, Violet began serving as 65 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: a nurse with the British Red Cross. Soon she was 66 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: back aboard a ship, this time the Britannic, the Titanic 67 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 1: sister ship. Just four and a half years after the 68 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,840 Speaker 1: Titanic incident, Violet was in another wreck. The Britannic struck 69 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: a Mind and the Aegean, but Violet again made it 70 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: out on the lifeboat. In her memoir, she described being 71 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: sucked under the ship's keel, hitting her head and escaping, 72 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 1: only to discover she had fractured her school years later 73 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: when she went to the doctor for headaches. Violet worked 74 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: as a clerk during the war, then continued her work 75 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 1: as a stewardess. During her later years, she took more 76 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: jobs as a clerk and in factories. After a brief 77 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: marriage and forty two years at sea, she retired in Suffolk, England. 78 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,799 Speaker 1: Her memoir was published in ninete in decades after her death. 79 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: In May, I'm Eve Stepcote and hopefully you know a 80 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. If 81 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,359 Speaker 1: you'd like to learn more about Violet, listen to the 82 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: episode of Stuff you Missed in History Class called The 83 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: Unthinkable Violet jessup. Keep up with us on Twitter, Instagram 84 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: and Facebook at t D I h C Podcast. We'll 85 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: be back with more history tomorrow. Hello everyone, I'm Eves 86 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: and welcome to This Day in History Class, a podcast 87 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: where we examine the past from the present. The day 88 00:05:55,560 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: was April eighteen sixteen, the largest slavery billion in the 89 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: history of Barbados began, though it's often called Buses Rebellion 90 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: after an enslaved man who may have led it. Busses 91 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: true role in the rebellion has been debated by historians. 92 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: Barbados was first occupied by the British in sixty seven. 93 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: They established large sugar plantations on the island. In the 94 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: seventeenth century and enslaved West Africans to work the land. 95 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: Society was split into white people, black people, and colored people, 96 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: and among those groups there were free people, indentured people, 97 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: and enslaved people. Throughout the seventeenth century and into the 98 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: early nineteenth century, the population of white people shrank while 99 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: the number of black people grew. Due to the increase 100 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 1: and enslaved people brought to the island, The planter elite 101 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: held a lot of power, controlling the economy and government institutions. 102 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: Though there was some resistance among enslaved people, slave owning 103 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: answers in Barbados did not face the magnitude of resistance 104 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: that was happening on other Caribbean islands. There are instances 105 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,239 Speaker 1: of aborted plots and conspiracies among enslaved people in Barbados, 106 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: but not many records of uprisings that came to fruition. 107 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: Though there was some fear of black rebellion among white 108 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: people over the years, they remained complacent due to the 109 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: absence of any large scale revolts on the island. Meanwhile, 110 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: the abolitionist movement was active in Britain in the late 111 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The British transatlantic slave trade 112 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: was abolished in eighteen o seven, but this didn't immediately 113 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: in the British slave trade, and enslaved people could still 114 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: be transported between British colonies. To prevent the illicit trading 115 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: of enslaved people, in anti slavery society in Britain, called 116 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: the African Institution, proposed a slave registry. In eighteen fifteen, 117 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: the House of Commons in England passed a bill requiring 118 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: the registration of enslaved people. It became effective when colonial 119 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: legislatures adopted it. Several islands in the British West Indies 120 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: adopted the bill, but the Barbados House of Assembly rejected 121 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: the registry bill. Planters feared that enslaved people viewed the 122 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: bill as a ticket to emancipation and predicted uprisings, but 123 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: a number of factors likely influenced the outbreak of the 124 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: eighteen sixteen uprising, including the outcome of the Haitian Revolution 125 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: and the actions of the planters themselves. On April fourteenth, 126 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: eighteen sixteen, the evening of Easter Sunday, enslaved people from 127 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: the eastern parish of St. Philip began setting fires on 128 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: their plantations. The rebellion spread from St. Philip to neighboring 129 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: parishes such as christ Church, St. John and St. Thomas, 130 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: where more estates were set on fire. A man named 131 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,839 Speaker 1: Bussa was likely a leader of the rebellion. Joseph Pitt 132 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: Washington Franklin also likely had an import in leadership role 133 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,440 Speaker 1: in the rebellion, but very little is known about either 134 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: of them or anyone else who participated in the uprising. 135 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: Martial law was declared on April fifteen, three days after 136 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: the uprising began. Local militia and imperial troops shut it down. 137 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: Hundreds of rebels were tortured and executed during and in 138 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: the aftermath of the uprising. Others were deported. The plantocracy 139 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 1: blamed British abolitionists for implying the prospect of emancipation and 140 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: sparking the rebellion. The Slavery Abolition Act of eighteen thirty 141 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: three abolished slavery throughout the British Empire, and enslaved people 142 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: were emancipated in eighteen thirty four. At that point, a 143 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: so called apprenticeship period began until enslaved people were actually 144 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: freed in eighteen thirty eight. I'm Eves, Jeff Coote, and 145 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 146 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. We would love it if you left 147 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: us a comment on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at t 148 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: D I h C Podcast. You can also send us 149 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 1: any of your comments or questions via email at this 150 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: Day at iHeart media dot com. Thanks again for listening 151 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: to the show, and we'll see you tomorrow. For more 152 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 153 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.