Blackwell Reference Online

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Bussa is the architect of Barbados's African Rebellion of 1816, an uprising that was crushed by the British colonial authorities and failed in the immediate objective of abolishing slavery, but which demonstrated the long-term effectiveness of popular insurrection in bringing the system to an end. Bussa's Rebellion of 1816 is a signal event in the fight toward emancipation in Barbados. Born a free man in Africa, Bussa was captured and transported to Barbados in the late eighteenth century to work as a slave in the sugar cane fields. Bussa was a house slave who did not experience many of the hardships endured by field slaves who planted and harvested the cash crop. While some domestic slaves felt superior to field slaves and exposed plans for agrarian rebellions to gain favor with their masters, Bussa was exceptional. He apparently enjoyed the confidence of his master and the respect of the slaves. Given his age at capture and the amount of time it would have taken to learn the language and customs required of a house slave, he was likely a respected middle-aged man who nurtured the seeds of revolt by forming an alliance with agrarian workers as he planned a rebellion to end slavery. Bussa planned to set the sugar cane fields on fire during April harvest season, when planters were complacent and most vulnerable to attack. This would sharply limit sugar exports and concretely damage ... log in or subscribe to read full text