page_title: History of the Caribbean
section_title: Slave rebellions
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Caribbean / Impact of colonialism on the Caribbean / Slave rebellions
caption_attribution_description: English: "Burning of Cape Français. General revolt of the Blacks. Massacre of the Whites." ("Incendie du Cap. Revolte générale des Négres. Massacre des Blancs") As described on the original portrait: [Frontispiece from the book Saint-Domingue, ou Histoire de Ses Révolutions. ca. 1815.jpg]Français&#160;: "Incendie du Cap." "Revolte générale des Négres." Massacre des Blancs." (Écrit sur ​​le portrait original: [Frontispiece from the book Saint-Domingue, ou Histoire de Ses Révolutions. ca. 1815.jpg])
context_page_description: The history of the Caribbean reveals the significant role the region played in the colonial struggles of the European powers since the 15th century. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean and claimed the region for Spain. The following year, the first Spanish settlements were established in the Caribbean. Although the Spanish conquests of the Aztec empire and the Inca empire in the early sixteenth century made Mexico and Peru more desirable places for Spanish exploration and settlement, the Caribbean remained strategically important.
  From the 1620s and 1630s onwards, non-Hispanic privateers, traders, and settlers established permanent colonies and trading posts on the Caribbean islands neglected by Spain. Such colonies spread throughout the Caribbean, from the Bahamas in the North West to Tobago in the South East. Furthermore, during this period, French and English buccaneers settled on the island of Tortuga, the northern and western coasts of Hispaniola, and later in Jamaica.
context_section_description: The plantation system and the slave trade that enabled its growth led to regular slave resistance in many Caribbean islands throughout the colonial era. Resistance was made by escaping from the plantations altogether, and seeking refuge in the areas free of European settlement. Communities of escaped slaves, who were known as Maroons, banded together in heavily forested and mountainous areas of the Greater Antilles and some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. The spread of the plantations and European settlement often meant the end of many Maroon communities, although they survived on Saint Vincent and Dominica, and in the more remote mountainous areas of Jamaica, Hispaniola, Guadeloupe and Cuba.
  Violent resistance broke out periodically on the larger Caribbean islands. Many more conspiracies intended to create rebellions were discovered and ended by Europeans before they could materialize. Actual violent uprisings, involving anywhere from dozens to thousands of slaves, were regular events, however. Jamaica and Cuba in particular had many slave uprisings. Such uprisings were brutally crushed by European forces.
caption: Illustration circa 1815 showing "Incendie du Cap" (Burning of Cape Francais) during the Haitian Revolution. The caption reads: "General revolt of the Blacks. Massacre of the Whites".
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