Demerara rebellion of 1823 The Demerara rebellion of 1823 was an uprising involving more than 10 , 000 slaves that took place in the former Crown colony of Demerara - Essequibo ( now part of Guyana ) . The rebellion resulted in the deaths of many slaves ; estimates of the toll range from 100 to 250 . The rebellion , and especially the death , on death row , of a British parson , had a strong impact on Britain , and on the abolitionists ’ movement , to emancipate slaves after enactment of the Slave Trade Act 1807 banned the slave trade . Jack Gladstone , leader of one of the slave revolts , after his deportation helped bring attention to the plight of sugar plantation slaves , accelerating the abolition of slavery . Quamina was declared a national hero , with streets and monuments dedicated to him in the capital of Georgetown , Guyana . Context . On 20 November 1815 , the colony of Demerara - Essequibo was formally ceded to Britain by the Netherlands . The mainstay of its economy was sugar , grown on plantations which were worked by slave labour . The population broke down as follows : 2 , 500 whites , 2 , 500 freed blacks , and 77 , 000 slaves . The rebellion started from ' Success ' , where Jack was a cooper , and ' Le Resouvenir ' , where the slaves ' chapel was based . As a slave who did not work under a driver , Jack enjoyed considerable freedom to roam about . Jack was a free spirit , and passionate man who despised limitations on his freedom ; he was aware of the debate about slavery in Britain , and was made extremely listless by rumours of emancipation papers arriving from London . The plantations . Among the plantation owners , Sir John Gladstone , father of British Prime Minister William , who had built his fortune as a trader , had acquired plantations in Demerara in 1812 through mortgage defaults . This included half share in ' Success ' , one of the largest and most productive plantations there ; he acquired the remaining half four years later . Gladstone switched the crop from coffee to sugar , and expanded his workforce of slaves from 160 to more than 330 . The London Missionary Society ( LMS ) entered Guyana shortly after the end of the slave trade , in response to a request from the owner of ' Le Ressouvenir ' Plantation who believed that if slaves were influenced by religious teachings , they would be more docile and obedient . Thus , a chapel was erected on the plantation in 1808 . Indeed , following the establishment of the chapel , the owner wrote of improvements : The first pastor , Reverend John Wray , spent five years there . Soon after he arrived , he had to fight for slaves ' rights to attend church services which would take place nightly . When Governor Bentinck declared all meetings after dark illegal , Wray was able to obtain support of some plantation owners and managers . Armed with their testimonials , he sought to confront Bentinck but was refused audience . Wray went to London to appeal directly to the government . In 1813 , Wray was sent to nearby Berbice . Some slaves became deacons . John Smith , the parson sent to the colony from England in 1817 by the LMS , was welcomed by the slaves . However , although – as correspondence from the LMS to Smith testified – the clergy was explicitly ordered to say nothing that would cause slaves ' disenchantment with their masters or dissatisfaction with their status , many in the colony resented the presence of the preachers , whom they believed were spies to the abolitionist movement in London . They feared that the religious teachings and the liberalised attitudes promoted would eventually cause slaves to rebel . Smith received a hostile reception from the Governor John Murray and from most colonists . They saw his chapel services as a threat to plantation output , and feared greater unrest . Smith reported to the LMS the Governor had told him that " planters will not allow their negroes to be taught to read , on pain of banishment from the colony . " However , the clergy believed it essential for them to be able to read the Holy Book for themselves . Furthermore , religious instruction for slaves was endorsed by British Parliament , thus the plantation owners were obliged to permit slaves to attend despite their opposition . Missionaries ' work was made difficult as slaves were stopped from attending services at every turn : Colonists who attended were perceived by Smith to be disruptive or a distraction . Some overseers attended only to prevent their own slaves from attending . One of owners ' complaints was that slaves had too far to walk to attend services . When Smith had requested land to erect a chapel from John Reed , owner of Dochfour , the idea was vetoed by Governor Murray , apparently because of complaints he had received about Smith . They even perverted the intention of a British circular which mandated giving slaves passes to attend services – on 16 August 1823 , the Governor issued a circular which required slaves to obtain owners ' special dispensation to attend church meetings or services . At about the same time , Smith wrote a letter back to George Burder , the Secretary of the society , lamenting the conditions of the slaves : Da Costa noted that the slaves who rebelled all had motives which were underpinned by their status as chattels : the families of many were caught in the turbulent changes in ownership of plantations and feared being sold and / or split up ( Telemachus ) ; Christians frequently complained of being harassed and chastised for their belief or their worshipping ( Telemachus , Jacky Reed , Immanuel , Prince , Sandy ) ; female slaves reported being abused or raped by owners or managers ( Betsy , Susanna ) . Slaves were also often punished for frivolous reasons . Many managers / owners ( McTurk , Spencer ) would insist that slaves work on Sundays , denying passes to attend church ; Pollard , manager of ' Non Pareil ' and ' Bachelor ' s Adventure ' , was notoriously violent . John Smith , writing in his journal on 30 August 1817 , said that the slaves of Success complained about the work load and very severe treatment . Sir John Gladstone , believing that the slaves on his estates were properly treated , wrote a letter to the Missionary Society on 24 December 1824 to clear his name . He wrote that his intentions have ever been to treat my people with kindness in the attention to their wants of every description , and to grant them every reasonable and practicable indulgence . " He stated that the work gangs were doubled from 160 after production shifted to sugar from coffee . Gladstone later maintained that Gladstone , who had never set foot on his plantation , relied on his attorney in Demerara , Frederick Cort , for information . Shortly before the insurrection , Cort asserted that it was seldom necessary to punish the slaves , who were generally happy and contented , adding that they could make considerable money by selling the surplus produce of their provision grounds . Subsequent to the revolt , the secretary of the London Missionary Society warned Gladstone that Cort had been lying , but Gladstone continued to identify himself with Cort and his other agents ( Checkland 1971 ) . It was only after Robertson , his second son , had inspected the estates that Cort was fired . During his stay from 22 November 1828 to 3 March 1829 , he observed that Cort was " an idler and a deceiver , " who had mismanaged one estate after another . In Britain , Lord Howick and others criticised the concept of absentee landlords . Sir Benjamin d ' Urban , who took up his office of Lieutenant Governor of Essequibo and Demerara in 1824 , wrote to Earl Bathurst , Secretary of State for the Colonies , on 30 September 1824 , criticising " . . the injudicious managers under whom too many of the slaves are placed ; half educated men of little discretion , or command over their own caprices ; good planters perhaps - but quite unfit to have the charge of bodies of men , although they might take very proper care of cattle " . The revolt . On Monday , 18 August 1823 , Jack Gladstone – slaves adopted surnames of their masters by convention – and his father , Quamina , both slaves on ' Success ' plantation , led their peers to revolt against the harsh conditions and maltreatment . Those on ' Le Resouvenir ' , where Smith ' s chapel was situated , also rebelled . Quamina Gladstone was a member of Smith ' s church , and had been one of five chosen to become deacons by the congregation soon after Smith ' s arrival . Following the arrival of news from Britain that measures aimed at improving the treatment of slaves in the colonies had been passed , Jack had heard a rumour that their masters had received instructions to set them free but were refusing to do so . In the weeks prior to the revolt , he sought confirmation of the veracity of the rumours from other slaves , particularly those who worked for those in a position to know : he thus obtained information from Susanna , housekeeper / mistress of John Hamilton of ' Le Resouvenir ' ; from Daniel , the Governor ' s servant ; Joe Simpson from ' Le Reduit ' and others . Specifically , Joe Simpson had written a letter which said that their freedom was imminent but which warned them to be patient . Jack wrote a letter ( signing his father ' s name ) to the members of the chapel informing them of the " new law " . Quamina , who was well respected by slaves and freedmen alike , initially tried to stop the slave revolt , and urged instead for peaceful strike ; he made the fellow slaves promise not to use violence . As an artisan cooper who did not work under a driver , Jack enjoyed considerable freedom to roam about . He was able to organise the rebellion through his formal and informal networks . Close conspirators who were church ' teachers ' included Seaton ( Success ) , William ( Chateau Margo ) , David ( Bonne Intention ) , Jack ( Dochfour ) , Luke ( Friendship ) , Joseph ( Bachelor ' s Adventure ) , Sandy ( Non Pareil ) . Together , they finalised planning in the afternoon of Sunday 17 August , and led tens of thousands of slaves to raise up against their masters the next morning . According to Bryant ( 1824 ) , Joseph [ Simpson ] , a slave on ' Le Reduit ' plantation had informed his master , at approximately 6 a . m . that morning , of a coordinated uprising which had been planned the night before at Bethel chapel which would take place that same day . Captain Simpson , the owner , immediately rode to see the Governor , but stopped to alert several estates on the way into town . The governor assembled the cavalry , which Simpson was a part of . The unrest spread to fifty estates located between Georgetown and Mahaica . Slaves entered estates , ransacked the houses for weapons and ammunition , tied up the whites , or put some into stocks . The very low number of white deaths is proof that the uprising was largely free from violence from the slaves . Accounts from witnesses indicate that the rebels exercised restraint , with only a very small number of white men were killed . Some slaves took revenge on their masters or overseers by putting them in stocks , like they themselves had been before . Slaves went in large groups , from plantation to plantation , seizing weapons and ammunition and locking up the whites , promising to release them in three days . However , according to Bryant , not all slaves were compliant with the rebels ; some were loyal to their masters and held off against the rebels . The Governor immediately declared martial law . The 21st Fusileers and the 1st West Indian Regiment , aided by a volunteer battalion , were dispatched to combat the rebels , who were armed mainly with cutlasses and bayonets on poles , and a small number of stands of rifles captured from plantations . By the late afternoon on 20 August , the situation had been brought under control . Most of the slaves were rounded up , and Bryant asserts that some of the rebels were shot whilst attempting to flee . On 22 August 1823 , Lieutenant Governor Murray issued an account of the battles . He reported major confrontations on Tuesday morning at the Reed estate ( Dochfour ) , where ten to fifteen of the 800 rebels were killed ; a skirmish at ' Good Hope ' felled " five or six " rebels . On Wednesday morning , six were killed at ' Beehive ' plantation , forty rebels died at Elizabeth Hall . At a battle which took place at ' Bachelor ' s Adventure ' , " a number considerably above 1500 " were involved . After the slaves ' defeat at Bachelor ' s Adventure , Jack fled into the woods . A " handsome reward " of one thousand guilder was offered for his capture . The Governor also proclaimed a " FULL and FREE PARDON to all slaves who surrendered within 48 hours , provided that they shall not have been ringleaders ( or guilty of Aggravated Excesses ) " . Jack remained at large until he and his wife were captured by Capt . McTurk at ' Chateau Margo ' , after a three - hour standoff on 6 September . Trials . On 25 August , the Governor Murray constituted a general court - martial , presided over by Lt . - Col . Stephen Arthur Goodman , to try the ' negroes ' . Despite the initial revolt passing largely peacefully with slave masters locked in their homes , those who were considered ringleaders were tried at set up at different estates along the coast and executed by shooting ; their heads were cut off and nailed to posts . A variety of sentences were handed out , including solitary confinement , lashing , and death . Bryant ( 1824 ) records 72 slaves having been sentenced by court - martial at the time of publication . He noted that 19 of the 45 death sentences had been carried out ; a further 18 slaves had been reprieved . Others who were executed included Quamina . Jack Gladstone was sold and deported , Sheridan suggests that a letter Sir John had sent on his behalf resulted in clemency . His legacy was to help bring attention to the plight of sugar plantation slaves , accelerating the abolition of slavery . The rebellion took place a few months after the founding of the Anti - Slavery Society , and had a strong impact on Britain . John Smith was arraigned in court - martial before Lt . Col . Goodman on 13 October , charged with four offences : promoting discontent and dissatisfaction in the minds of the Negro Slaves towards their Lawful Masters , Overseers and Managers , inciting rebellion ; advising , consulting and corresponding with Quamina , and further aiding and abetting Quamina in the revolt ; failure to make known the planned rebellion to the proper authorities ; did not use his best endeavours to suppress , detain and restrain Quamina once the rebellion was under way . Smith ' s trial concluded one month later , on 24 November . He was found guilty of the principal charges , and was given the death sentence . An appeal was lodged . He was transferred from Colony House to prison , where he died of consumption in the early hours of 6 February 1824 ; the Royal reprieve arrived on 30 March . To avoid the risk of stirring up slave sentiment , the colonists interred him at four a . m . , without marking his grave . His death was a major step forward in the campaign to abolish slavery . News of his death was published in British newspapers , provoked enormous outrage and garnered 200 petitions to Parliament . The abolitionist debate which had flagged , was revived as much by the death of Smith as those of the 250 slaves . Martial law in Demerara was lifted on 19 January 1824 .