Berbice Rebellion | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The revolting plantations (highlighted) | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Dutch Republic Barbados Arawak Kalina | Rebels | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
van Hoogenheim Fourgeoud Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
Governor Coffij Captain Atta Captain Accara Captain Accabre[2] |
The Berbice Rebellion was a slave rebellion in Guyana[3] that began on 23 February 1763[2] and lasted to December, with leaders including Coffij. The first major slave revolt in South America,[4] it is seen as a major event in Guyana's anti-colonial struggles, and when Guyana became a republic in 1970 the state declared 23 February as a day to commemorate the start of the Berbice slave revolt.[2]
In 1763, the slave rebellion in Berbice, in present-day Guyana, was led by a Coromantin man named Cuffy or Kofi and his deputy Akra or Akara. The slave rebellion lasted from February 1763 into 1764.[5] Cuffy, like Tacky, was born in West Africa before being trafficked and enslaved. He led a revolt of more than 2,500 against the colony's regime. After acquiring firearms, the rebels attacked plantations.[6] They gained an advantage after taking the house of Peerboom. They told the whites inside that they could leave, but the rebels killed many as they did and took several prisoners, including the wife of a plantation owner, whom Cuffy kept as his wife.
After several months, a dispute between Cuffy and Akra led to a war. On 2 April 1763, Cuffy wrote to Governor van Hoogenheim saying that he did not want a war against the whites and proposed a partition of Berbice with the whites occupying the coastal areas and the blacks the interior. Akara's faction won, and Cuffy killed himself. The anniversary of Cuffy's slave rebellion, 23 February, is Republic Day in Guyana, and Cuffy is a national hero commemorated in a large monument in the capital, Georgetown.[7]
slavenhandel
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).