The Berbice Slave Uprising was a slave revolt in Guyana. It began in February 1763 and lasted into 1764.
The uprising began on Plantation Magdalenenberg on the Canje River in Berbice. The slaves rebelled, protesting harsh and inhumane treatment, and took control of the region. As plantation after plantation fell to the slaves, the European population fled. Eventually only about half of the whites who had lived in the colony remained.
Led by Cuffy (know as the national hero of Guyana), the rebels came to number about 3,000 and threatened European control over the Guianas. The insurgents were defeated with the assistance of troops from neighboring French and British colonies and from Europe.
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“Show me a man who has acted, and who has not been the victim and slave of his action. What they have done commits and enforces them to do the same again. The first act, which was to be an experiment, becomes a sacrament.”
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“Ours is the old, old story of every uprising race or class or order. The work of elevation must be wrought by ourselves or not at all.”
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