Editing History of Jamaica (section)

=== 18th century ===
====Jamaica's sugar boom====
[[File:Political Evolution of Central America and the Caribbean 1700 and on.gif|thumb|European colonies in the 18th-century Caribbean]]

In the mid-17th century, sugarcane was introduced to the [[British West Indies]] by the [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]],<ref>Nancy sharkey, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3DF1E31F932A25751C1A96E948260&sec=travel&pagewanted=print "A Barbados Synagogue Is Reborn"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208040909/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3DF1E31F932A25751C1A96E948260&sec=travel&pagewanted=print |date=2009-02-08 }}, ''New York Times'', December 11, 1988</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.planetware.com/bridgetown/synagogue-bar-mi-syn.htm |title=Bridgetown synagogue |access-date=2015-05-12 |archive-date=2012-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205091826/http://www.planetware.com/bridgetown/synagogue-bar-mi-syn.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> from [[Brazil]]. Upon landing in Jamaica and other islands, they quickly urged local growers to change their main crops from [[cotton]] and [[tobacco]] to sugarcane. With depressed prices of cotton and tobacco, due mainly to stiff competition from the North American colonies, the farmers switched, leading to a boom in the Caribbean economies. Sugarcane was quickly snapped up by the [[Great Britain|British]], who used it in [[cake]]s and to sweeten [[tea]]. In the 18th century, sugar replaced [[Piracy in the Caribbean|piracy]] as Jamaica's main source of income. The sugar industry was labor-intensive and the British brought hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans to Jamaica. By 1832, the median-size plantation in Jamaica had about 150 slaves, and nearly one of every four bondsmen lived on units that had at least 250 slaves.<ref>Robert William Fogel, "Slavery in the New World".  ''Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery'', pp. 21–23.</ref> In ''The Book of Night Women'', author Marlon James indicates that the ratio of slave owners to enslaved Africans is 1:33.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} James also depicts atrocities that slave owners subjected slaves to along with violent resistance from the slaves as well as numerous slaves who died in pursuit of freedom. After slavery was abolished in 1834, sugarcane [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|plantation]]s used a variety of forms of labour including workers imported from [[India]] under contracts of [[indenture]].

[[File:Cane holeing, in a Jamaican plantation - Creusement des sillons pour la canne à sucre, Jamaïque (cropped).jpg|thumb|Cane holeing, in a [[List of plantations in Jamaica|Jamaican plantation]], 19th century]]
The 18th century saw thousands of slaves imported into Jamaica into the now profitable sugar plantations. From 1740 to 1834, the estimated slave population continued to grow, reaching into the three hundred thousands by the end of the century.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Reid |first=Ahmed |date=July 13, 2015 |title=Sugar, Slavery and Productivity in Jamaica, 1750–1807 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0144039X.2015.1061815 |journal=Slavery & Abolition |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=159–82 |doi=10.1080/0144039X.2015.1061815 |via=Taylor & Francis Online}}</ref> The sugar boom of Jamaica would change the dynamics of the slave market and the economics of the West Indies. Towards the end of the 18th century, Jamaica became the leader of sugar production for the British empire, producing up to 66% of the empire's sugar in 1796.<ref name=":2" /> The price of sugar would rise tremendously as the market for sugar in Great Britain was large, especially with the rich. From 1748 to 1755, the value of sugar exportations from Jamaica increased by nearly three times, going from £688,000 to £1,618,000 over the period.<ref name=":2" /> With the high demand for sugar out of Jamaica, the demand for slaves increased, leading to an increase in prices for slaves. From 1750 to 1807, the average price for a slave in the Caribbean would continue to steadily rise, reaching a high of £73 in 1805.<ref name=":2" /> Prices soared towards the dawn of the new century as a result of the plantation system in [[Saint-Domingue]] falling due to the [[Haitian Revolution|Haitian revolution]], putting more emphasis on Jamaica. Interestingly, the most efficient plantations employed fewer slaves per acre of land, which was observed in St. Andrews parish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ryden |first=David |date=June 13, 2008 |title='One of the Fertilest Pleasentest Spotts': An analysis of the slave economy in Jamaica's St Andrew parish, 1753 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01440390008575294 |journal=Slavery & Abolition |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=32–55 |doi=10.1080/01440390008575294 |via=Taylor & Francis Online}}</ref> This created a higher demand for slaves that were efficient and in good health and shape, inflating the prices of those individuals and creating a quality over quantity dynamic. Internal markets would also develop, namely in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], that allowed for plantations to reallocate labor and to disuade or break-up bonds and families made by slaves.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Burnard |first1=Trevor |last2=Morgan |first2=Kenneth |date=January 2001 |title=The Dynamics of the Slave Market and Slave Purchasing Patterns in Jamaica, 1655–1788 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2674424 |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=205–28 |doi=10.2307/2674424 |jstor=2674424 |pmid=18751317 }}</ref>

With an increase in traffic of ships, sugar, and slaves, British merchants implemented the guarantee system, in which a merchant would be appointed to guarantee payment upon the delivery of the enslaved.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morgan |first=Kenneth |date=January 21, 2016 |title=Merchant networks, the guarantee system and the British slave trade to Jamaica in the 1790s |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0144039X.2015.1116305 |journal=Slavery & Abolition |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=334–52 |doi=10.1080/0144039X.2015.1116305 |via=Taylor & Francis Online}}</ref> This system served as a safety net for merchants as they had no influence over the price of the enslaved sold as age, weight, and vitality effected price range. With a safe system of commerce and the rising prices of sugar, the opportunity to make riches presented itself and attracted thousands of merchants and sailors looking to gain riches. Most of the slaves and their sales would be run through middlemen known as "Guinea Factors" who served as "the indispensable nexus between the transatlantic slave trade and the plantation complex," according to Radburn.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Radburn |first=Nicholas |date=April 3, 2015 |title=Guinea Factors, Slave Sales, and the Profits of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in Late Eighteenth-Century Jamaica: The Case of John Tailyour |url=https://doi.org/10.5309/willmaryquar.72.2.0243 |journal=The William and Mary Quarterly |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=243–86 |doi=10.5309/willmaryquar.72.2.0243 |via=Project MUSE}}</ref> These factors were instrumental in keeping the slave trade and economy running smoothly, as everything went in and out through them. Records of some of the factors and how many slaves they sold show just how much their work perpetuated the slave economy. From 1785 to 1796, five factors sold 78,258 slaves combined, with a Alexandre Lindo accounting for 25,706 of them a 17% share of the entire Jamaican slave trade.<ref name=":02" /> Such a large amount of slaves sold by one man in a little over ten years shows just how popular and profitable the slave market had become.

====First Maroon War====
{{Main|Jamaican Maroons|First Maroon War}}

Starting in the late seventeenth century, there were periodic skirmishes between the English colonial militia and the Windward Maroons, alongside occasional slave revolts. In 1673 one such revolt in St. Ann's Parish of 200 slaves created the separate group of Leeward Maroons. These Maroons united with a group of [[Malagasy people|Madagascars]] who had survived the shipwreck of a slave ship and formed their own maroon community in St. George's parish. Several more rebellions strengthened the numbers of this Leeward group. Notably, in 1690 a revolt at Sutton's plantation in Clarendon Parish of 400 slaves considerably strengthened the Leeward Maroons.<ref>{{harvnb|Patterson|1970|pp=256–58}}</ref> The Leeward Maroons inhabited "cockpits," caves, or deep ravines that were easily defended, even against troops with superior firepower. Such guerrilla warfare and the use of scouts who blew the abeng (the cow horn, which was used as a trumpet) to warn of approaching enemies allowed the Maroons to evade, thwart, frustrate, and defeat the British.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Early in the 18th century, the [[Jamaican Maroons|Maroons]] took a heavy toll on British [[Colonial troops|colonial militia]]men who sent against them in the interior, in what came to be known as the [[First Maroon War]]. In 1728, the British authorities sent [[Robert Hunter (colonial administrator)|Robert Hunter]] to assume the office of governor of Jamaica; Hunter's arrival led to an intensification of the conflict. However, despite increased numbers, the British colonial authorities were unable to defeat the Windward Maroons.<ref>Carey, Bev (1997), ''The Maroon Story: The Authentic and Original History of the Maroons in the History of Jamaica 1490–1880''. Kingston, Jamaica: Agouti Press, pp. 315–55</ref>

In 1739–40, the British government in Jamaica recognised that it could not defeat the Maroons, so they offered them treaties of peace instead. In 1739, the British, led by Governor [[Edward Trelawny (governor)|Edward Trelawny]], sued for peace with the Leeward Maroon leader, [[Cudjoe]], described by British planters as a short, almost dwarf-like man who for years fought skilfully and bravely to maintain his people's independence. Some writers maintain that during the conflict, Cudjoe became increasingly disillusioned, and quarrelled with his lieutenants and with other Maroon groups. He felt that the only hope for the future was a peace treaty with the enemy which recognized the independence of the Leeward Maroons. In 1742, Cudjoe had to suppress a rebellion of Leeward Maroons against the treaty.<ref>Campbell, ''The Maroons of Jamaica'', pp. 88–126.</ref>

The [[First Maroon War]] came to an end with a 1739–1740 agreement between the Maroons and the British government. In exchange, they were asked to agree not to harbour new runaway slaves, but rather to help catch them. This last clause in the treaty naturally caused a split between the Maroons and the mainly mulatto population, although from time to time runaways from the plantations still found their way into maroon settlements, such as those led by [[Three Fingered Jack (Jamaica)]]. Another provision of the agreement was that the Maroons would serve to protect the island from invaders. The latter was because the Maroons were revered by the British as skilled warriors.

A year later, the even more rebellious Windward Maroons led by [[Quao]] also agreed to sign a treaty under pressure from both white Jamaican militias and the Leeward Maroons. Eventually, [[Queen Nanny]] agreed to a land patent which meant that her Maroons also accepted peace terms.

The Maroons were to remain in their five main towns ([[Accompong]]; [[Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town)]]; [[Nanny Town]], later known as [[Moore Town]]; [[Scott's Hall (Jamaica)]]; and [[Charles Town, Jamaica]]), living under their own rulers and a British supervisor.

====Tacky's revolt====
{{Main|Tacky's revolt}}

[[File:Easter Rebellion memorial 20231007 120611.jpg|thumb|Easter Rebellion memorial 20231007 Claude Stuart Park]]
In May 1760, Tacky, a slave overseer on the [[Frontier Estate|Frontier plantation]] in [[Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica|Saint Mary Parish]], led a group of enslaved Africans in taking over the Frontier and Trinity plantations while killing their enslavers. They then marched to the storeroom at [[Fort Haldane]], where the munitions to defend the town of [[Port Maria]] were kept. After killing the storekeeper, Tacky and his men stole nearly 4 barrels of gunpowder and 40 firearms with [[lead shot|shot]], before marching on to overrun the plantations at Heywood Hall and Esher.<ref name="jamaicans1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/articles_culture/tackys_rebellion.shtml |title=Jamaican Culture |publisher=Jamaicans.com |date=2014-06-20 |access-date=2015-04-16 |archive-date=2015-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016000555/http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/articles_culture/tackys_rebellion.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Turntable Cannon 20231007 122210.jpg|thumb|left|Fort Haldane Turntable Cannon 20231007]]

By dawn, hundreds of other slaves had joined Tacky and his followers. At Ballard's Valley, the rebels stopped to rejoice in their success. One slave from Esher decided to slip away and sound the alarm.<ref name="jamaicans1"/> [[Obeah]]men (Caribbean witch doctors) quickly circulated around the camp dispensing a powder that they claimed would protect the men from injury in battle and loudly proclaimed that an Obeahman could not be killed. The confidence was high.<ref name="jamaicans1"/> Soon there were 70 to 80 mounted militia on their way along with some Maroons from Scott's Hall, who were bound by treaty to suppress such rebellions. When the militia learned of the Obeahman's boast of not being able to be killed, an Obeahman was captured, killed, and hung with his mask, ornaments of teeth and bone and feather trimmings at a prominent place visible from the encampment of rebels. Many of the rebels, confidence shaken, returned to their plantations. Tacky and 25 or so men decided to fight on.<ref name="jamaicans1"/> Tacky and his men went running through the woods being chased by the Maroons and their legendary marksman, [[Davy the Maroon]].[[File:FortHaldaneHeritageTrail20231007 121520.jpg|thumb|Fort Haldane, Jamaica heritage trail,]] While running at full speed, Davy shot Tacky and cut off his head as evidence of his feat, for which he would be richly rewarded. Tacky's head was later displayed on a pole in [[Spanish Town]] until a follower took it down in the middle of the night. The rest of Tacky's men were found in a cave near Tacky Falls, having committed suicide rather than going back to slavery.<ref name="jamaicans1"/>

====Second Maroon War====
{{Main|Second Maroon War}}

[[File:Leonard Parkinson, Maroon Leader, Jamaica, 1796.jpg|thumb|Leonard Parkinson, Maroon Leader, 1796]]

In 1795, the Second Maroon War was instigated when two Maroons were flogged by a black slave for allegedly stealing two pigs. When six Maroon leaders came to the British to present their grievances, the British took them as prisoners. This sparked an eight-month conflict, spurred by the fact that Maroons felt that they were being mistreated under the terms of [[Cudjoe]]'s Treaty of 1739, which ended the First Maroon War. The war lasted for five months as a bloody stalemate. The British colonial authorities could muster 5,000 men, outnumbering the Maroons ten to one, but the mountainous and forested topography of Jamaica proved ideal for guerrilla warfare. The Maroons surrendered in December 1795. A treaty signed in December between Major General [[George Walpole (British Army officer)|George Walpole]] and the Maroon leaders established that the Maroons would beg on their knees for the King's forgiveness, return all runaway slaves, and be relocated elsewhere in Jamaica. The governor of Jamaica ratified the treaty but gave the Maroons only three days to present themselves to beg forgiveness on 1 January 1796. Suspicious of British intentions, most of the Maroons did not surrender until mid-March. The British used the contrived breach of the treaty as a pretext to deport the entire Trelawny Town Maroons to [[Nova Scotia]]. After a few years, the Maroons were again deported to the new British settlement of [[Sierra Leone]] in [[West Africa]].