Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-01-09
IVII TIIE IITINVN IIIIIEN.
THE JAMAICA ENsURREGTEON
Is she Negro Capable ofsoIfGovernments

( event Of the most serious import. 1t has
! been attended with some of the most hor-
f. rible outraSes that have ever been per-
I petrated, even in that horrible land of
African lawiessness. In the old days of
slavery the Jamaica negro was noted
among his race for his dangerous char
/ acter, and he arose against his master,
under the guidance Of the Baptists, on
( the ve-y eve of emancipation.
Since that time this race have been al
most masters themselves. They have
been placed on political equality with
the whites, and from their vastly supe-
riOr numbers they have been able to eX-
ercise an influence beyond what their
intelligence should give them in any
wei governed State.
They have had their place in the Leg
islature and magistracy; they have been
favored by the Colonial Office at home
successive governors have thought it
necessary to uphold them in almost
every difference with the white p0pula-
ton. The generation which was freed
in eighteen hundred and thirty
eight, has been succeeded by another1
which has grown up under system the
most favorable for eliciJiug all that was
capable Of civilization in the negro na-
tuFe. They have a fine island, about the
size OF Yorkshire, almost to themselves /
they have received the guidance OF zeal
Gus Englishmen, who have gone to the
country as the black mans friend, and
who have done all in their power TO in
-truct and elevate him. They have been f.
taught the doctrines, and reared, as far I
as possible in the practices Of Christian !
ity. Every child has had much better
chance of good education than the 4
great mass Of our poorest classes have in I
this country. 4 climate exactly suited /.
70 them. abundance of land and the most (
easy supply OF the wants of life ought 10 .
have made them the happiest and most /.
c0ntented peas2ntry the world ever saw. /
1t seems, however, impossible To eTadi- /
cate the original saVageness of the AfTi- 4
can blood.
As long as the black man has strong /
white government and a numerous white Z
population to control him, he is capable .
of living as a respectable member Of so
ciety. He can be made quiet and even /
industrious by the fear of the supreme I
power, and by the example of those TO /!
whom he necessarily looks up TO. Bu- I
wherever he attains to a certain degree (
of independence, there is the fear that /
he Will resume the bagbarOus life and I
fierce habits Of his African ancestors. /
This has been eminenuy the case in Ja- I.
maica. In some Of the smaller islands /.
the density of the population and the 4
complete occupation Of the land have /.
obliged the black people to work steadiiy /.
for wages, and there has been no reason z
10 complain of their conduct. They are 7
said in such cases, to show reasonable iu- /
t!ustFv: crimes of violence are uDtre- !
Quent, and their Ofienses are only such .
petty thefts as might be expected from a .
people 50 little gifted, and until Of late I
years, 50 completely neglected.
In Jamaica, however, the ciTcum- |
stance which to a more highly endowed 4
people would have been especially adj 4
vantageOus, have been the causes Of fail /,
ure. che negro has been able TO live |
with little or no work; he has been able
to get o patch of land readily, and TO sdl- /.
sist by wretched cultivation Gf it; and I
The consequence is, that considering the (
vast sums that have been spcnt by the 4
English nation in freeing and educating 4
and preaching 10 them, they are the |
most unsatisfactory portion Of the race 4
that exists, either in the islands or on I
the continent of the New World. 4
Nearly seven million sterling We're paid /
down in eighteen hundred and thirty /
four TO ruin the old proprietOrs, and 10 I
purchase for these three hundred thor I
sand blacks the liberty to squat and /
the island. How all the efforts of phi I
lanthropy here ended may be read in our |
columns to-day.
The insurrection appears to have orig (
mated in, and at the latest advices 10 be /
confined to the eastern part OF the isiand /
in the neighborhOOd Of MOrant Bay. I
The atrocities committed need not he
rocapitulated here. 1t IS enough 10 say
that the negroes, without the smallest
prgvocatiOn, and excited only by fran I
tical hatred Of the white man, have
broken ont into murder and rapine, and (
DESTROYED almost every white man they
could seize. The court house, where a 1
number Of gentlemen were in session, {
We're attacked, and, except the horrors OF 1
the SepGy muuDy, we know nothing IN Z
recent times, like the atrocities of the I
blacks Unoffending people, even the /
ministers Of religion, whose lives had /
been passed in preaching to them, We're /
friphtfuily mutilated and then mur- !
dered. Women as well as men engaged 1
in the work of blood. The writer of a
letter from the island says There is /
not a white man in st. Georges in the I
East, or any one in charge Of any of the |
estates.n The design Of the insurgents 4
evidently has been 20 destroy the whole 1
white population. What their object in |
doing This could be, IL is not necessary 10 !
Inquire, for people so ignorant and saw
age were probably urged on only by |
vague feelings Of hatred and desire for
plunder.
It may reasonably be hoped that the |
regiments present in the West Indies
aided by reinf0rcements from North 4
America and by the crews Of the vessels /
on the station, wiz be able 10 restore or !
der in the island. But il is evident that
such an outbreak must have most
grievous effect, through the apprehen- 1
sions which il will cause 10 prevail for
wears TO come. It may be that The fallen
fortunes Of the island will sink still
lower, now that it is known that not
even thirty years Of freedom and full po-
iitieal rights are capable Of giving the
Jamaica negro the instincts OF civilized
men. That lac was incOrrigibly idle was
known by experience, since it had been
necessary to bring coolies half round the
globe 10 DO the work which he refused.
But il might have been hoped that he
had lost the worst Instincts Of the race,
and that the atrocities Of st. Domingo
,s,os,ld moi be repeAted in free and evan