It all began in the 1760s, when enslaved Africans seeking freedom launched a massive rebellion in the British Colony of Jamaica. Leading the charge was Tacky, a warrior and Fanti king hailing from Ghana's Central Region. The goal of this uprising, also known as Tacky's War, was to overthrow Jamaica's repressive slavery system and establish a distinct black nation.
Tacky was a well-known chieftain in West Africa prior to being taken prisoner and sold into slavery by the Dutch. Driven by a yearning for liberation and motivated by the resistance of other free Black people in Jamaica, Tacky rose as a leader among the slaves despite his own prior involvement in the slave trade.
Tacky and his supporters coordinated with Akan (Coromantee) slaves around the island as they methodically prepared their uprising. They began their insurrection on Easter Monday, 1760, taking control of plantations and equipping themselves with weapons that had been seized from Fort Haldane.
With the influx of recently freed Africans, Tacky's army became a formidable foe to the colonial rulers. But the British were quick to act, sending militia and enlisting the assistance of Maroons who were required by treaty to put an end to such uprisings.
As the fighting intensified, Tacky's militia engaged British soldiers in skirmishes and caused losses. Tacky and his men were trapped in the wooded highlands by Captain William Hynes and the Charles Town Maroons, under the leadership of Swigle, following a sequence of encounters and chases. A decisive battle saw them seize some of Tacky's warriors.
At the same time, word got out among Tacky's supporters that an Obeahman was unbeatable; the British militia apprehended one and put his body on display as a warning, which made many of them lose faith in Tacky and head back to their plantations. Tacky and a small group of roughly twenty-five guys were resolute to battle on despite this defeat.
They fought a bloody battle in Rocky Valley against Tacky's surviving soldiers, assisted by more Maroon warriors under Swigle's command. The great marksman Davy shot Tacky in the war, and as evidence of his accomplishment, he was later decapitated.
The remaining members of Tacky's group decided to take their own lives once their commander was overthrown, instead of being apprehended and sent back to servitude. Tacky's head was on exhibit as a prize in Spanish Town until one of his cronies took it out in secret.
A number of Tacky's men who turned themselves in were tried at Spanish Town and Kingston, Jamaica, in May and June, and they were sentenced to hard labour. Quaco (Twi Kwaku) was burned at the stake, Anthony was hanged, and the other two were forced to starve to death while wearing chains.
However, identical efforts at insurrection were discovered in Manchester Parish and the former parishes of Saint John, Saint Dorothy, and Saint Thomas-ye-Vale within the same time frame. Nineteen organisers of a planned uprising at Saint Thomas-in-the-East were executed when a conspirator by the name of Cuffee (Twi Kofi) revealed them.
Similar to this, three slaves in Lluidas Calley in Saint John exposed a conspiracy of mutiny, which led to its downfall. Following the discovery of a plot at Cocoa Walk Plantation in Saint Dorothy, four of the organisers were put to death and six others were sent into slavery in a nearby Spanish colony.
Inspired by Tacky's Revolt, there was another uprising in Westmoreland in October 1766. Thirty-three Akan slaves rose up, murdering nineteen white people before they were violently put down. The surviving independence fighters were hunted down by the British militia, who executed many of them by burning.
The majority of the freedom fighters who were still alive moved to Saint Elizabeth Parish's southwest and began operating out of the forested areas of Nassau Mountain. Order was gradually restored over months and years, depending on the parish. The cost of the rebellion to Jamaica was estimated at over £100,000. In response, the colonial Assembly passed harsh laws to regulate enslaved Africans and banned West African religious practices.
Tacky's Rebellion, like many slave revolts, was swiftly and ruthlessly put down by colonial officials. However, spin-off rebellions persisted for months or even years afterwards. The exact fate of Simon's self-liberated communities is unclear, but they may have merged with other successful communities and served as inspiration for future uprisings.
A group of Africans who had achieved self-liberation established the Congo Settlement in the Cockpit Country during the 1770s, defying attempts by the Accompong Maroons to dissolve them. Afterwards, in the Second Maroon War, survivors of these settlements fought alongside Cudjoe's Town
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