The Demerara Rebellion of 1823 was an uprising involving more than ten thousand enslaved people in the Crown colony of Demerara-Essequibo (now part of Guyana) on the coast of South America. The rebellion took place on August 18, 1823, and lasted two days. No particular incident sparked the rebellion; the enslaved simply grew tired of their servitude and sought to resist in the most direct way they could.
Planning for the rebellion began on August 17, 1823, at Plantation Success, one of the largest estates in the area. Two leaders emerged during the planning period: Jack Gladstone, a cooper on Plantation Success, and his father, Quamina, a senior deacon at a church led by English Protestant missionary, John Smith. Gladstone and others planned the uprising, but Quamina objected to any bloodshed and suggested instead that the enslaved should go on strike. Quamina and other leaders visited John Smith, informing him of his son’s plans. Smith urged the enslaved to remain peaceful, exercise patience, and wait for new laws that would reduce their suffering. Quamina carried Smith’s message back to the plantations.
Quamina’s call to remain peaceful fell on deaf ears. The enslaved on Plantation Success rebelled the next evening, August 18, 1823, and attempted to seize all firearms on the plantation. They locked up the whites during the night, planning to release them when their demands were met. They did not see their rebellion as a challenge to slavery itself but demanded better treatment for enslaved people in Demerara-Essequibo.
Most of the enslaved remained loyal to their masters. An enslaved house servant, Joseph Packwood, told his owner, John Simpson, about the planned revolt before it began. Simpson, in turn, informed Governor John Murray, who rode out to confront the rebels with the militia. The enslaved demanded their rights, but Governor Murray ordered them to return to their plantations. When they refused, he declared martial law. Some returned to the plantations while others participated in the rebellion.
Only a handful of whites were killed during the Demerara Rebellion. The rebels locked up owners, managers, and overseers on thirty-seven plantations, who did not flee to Georgetown, the colonial capital, when the rebellion began. Large numbers of Christian slaves refused to rebel and helped suppress those who rose up.
Other enslaved people confronted their owners and the military forces sent against them. On Bachelor’s Adventure Plantation, approximately two thousand enslaved people confronted Lieutenant Colonel John Leahy and his militia. When the enslaved refused Leahy’s order to disperse, he commanded his troops to fire into the crowd. Approximately two hundred people were killed.
Although the rebellion ended on Tuesday, August 19, the punishment that came afterward was severe. Hundreds of rebels were hunted down and killed, including two hundred who were beheaded as a warning to other enslaved people. Fourteen rebels were hastily tried and sentenced to be hanged. Governor Murray commuted their sentences and had them deported elsewhere in Caribbean. Jack Gladstone was deported to St. Lucia. His father, Quamina, who had argued against the revolt, was tracked down by dogs and Indians and killed in September 1823.
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I finally had my therapy appointment today. I have to stop doing it weekly and have to change it to non weekly, because my dad getting mad and telling me I'm getting ripped off. And like.
cw: talking about suicide and self harm again, nothing serious
spoiler
okay how is it a rip off? This therapist is like the first therapist I can really talk to about all the suicidal thoughts I have since I was a kid. along with self harming things. Like I am able to talk about her without feeling like im gonna immediately tossed into the psych ward like some therapists do. like how the fuck is that a rip off???to add like. I dunno, she like teaching me some dbt stuff. today one of them was "check the facts" to help with emotional regulation because I'm learning I have really bad coping skills, like self harm being a bad one. So how the fuck is learning some actual healthy and proper coping skills a fucking rip off? to add, she trying to help address the suicidal thoughts and behaviors I have so I don't fucking kill myself one day. Again, how the fuck is that a rip off? like holy fucking shit. does my dad want me to kill myself? because I'm trying not to do that and I know if I don't address this shit now, I am probably gonna do it one day because like, holy fuck do I get to some extreme low points, just this year and last year alone there were a lot of points that were concerning. but noo, im being ripped off apparently and should just stop therapy because what the fuck do I matter. I'm just suppose to be a happy little pet kept away in my room, not really able to go anywhere or participate in society or do much with anyone, just left to be fucking alone and isolated, and I should just be fucking happy about that. Or at least that how I feel and maybe not 100% true, since im jumping to extremes there if I follow one these sheet I was given.
something else but this reminded me of it, I dunno why. but while I hate the psych ward because it's shitty and awful, there was however something nice about it. a sense of community? since like your just stuck with all these strangers, but most of all like. you get to do stuff with other people and it's just.. really nice. I remember one time this lady played uno with me and it was pretty fun, I was happy. there was also watching movies together with people, that was nice to. but then after getting out of the psych ward, it just reminded me how lonely everything is and how lonely I am.
whatever. anyways me and my therapist also talked more about bipolar and borderline personality disorder/bpd, and we talked about mania and hypomania. in which, I guess it's looking a lot to be borderline personality disorder I'm dealing with, since I'm dealing with a lot of the signs of bpd, since we talked about it more. meanwhile for bipolar I never really had any episodes of mania or none I can think of. Meanwhile I def do have other things like dissociation or paranoia at times. interpersonal issues and just like a lot of things. anger was also brought up and that is something I know I'm not managing properly either and does really need to be addressed.
anyways like, one thing we did talk about is just a need to feel safe? one being feeling safe financially in case if my dad does dies too soon because that would be bad. she wants to like work more with teaching me more coping skills, and maybe I should hold off trying to work for a little bit since I might not be ready for that. which might be fair, since maybe im not ready to work again. I dunno, assuming I have reliable transportation anyways since me and her also talked about that to.
either way, whatever. according to my dad I'm just being ripped off I guess!