Category: Making Freedom

Indentureship – 1833

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With the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, planters anticipated a labour shortage even though the Apprenticeship system had forced former enslaved Africans to continue to provide free labour. Planters in British Guiana began to look overseas to obtain an additional work force. Despite the recruitment of African, Portuguese and other European labourers, […]

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Jamaica Rebellion – 1832

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The rebellion in Jamaica was the largest in the British Caribbean, and it showed that enslavement could no longer be sustained there. The enslaved had believed that emancipation was about to happen. Baptist deacon Samuel Sharpe was the leader, and his plan was originally to refuse to work after Christmas 1831 unless wages were paid. […]

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Demerara Rebellion – 1823

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1823, the British Colonial Secretary sent proposals t o the Governor of Demerara asking that the conditions of the slaves be improved (known as the ‘amelioration proposals’). The Court of Policy in Demerara (British Guiana) examined the ‘Proposals’ on 21st July, 1823, and postponed making a decision. Under the belief that planters were delaying emancipation, […]

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Human Trafficking – 1500

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The trafficking of Africans by Europeans began in the 1500s. From the time Africans were enslaved in their motherland, to the time of their arrival in the New World, they sought ways to rebel, to fight back and escape. There is, therefore, a long history of resistance to enslavement that began before antislavery campaigners took […]

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Introduction – 1500

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“Slavery is no more than a state of war between a conqueror with absolute power and the conquered…” (John Locke: 1632-1704) Windrush Foundation welcomes you to MAKING FREEDOM, the website that celebrates the 1838 Emancipation of nearly a million Africans in the Caribbean. It was on the First of August 1838 that nearly a million […]

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