• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Our history archive

Our History

Documenting world history and civil rights

General

  • About
  • Cookies and your privacy
  • Privacy policy
  • Contact

Categories

  • Home
  • Colonisation
  • World History
  • Civil Rights
  • World cultures
  • Features
  • Wellbeing
  • Popular Culture
  • Home
  • Colonisation
  • World History
  • Civil Rights
  • World cultures
  • Features
  • Wellbeing
  • Popular Culture

Samuel Sharpe and the 1831 Christmas Rebellion

Sam Sharp statue
Statues of National Hero Samuel Sharpe and his followers in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay
Features
27 December, 2020

Samuel Sharpe instigates a rebellion

On 27 December 1831, the Christmas Rebellion began at the Kensington Estate in St James, Jamaica.

Samuel Sharpe was the main instigator of the 1831 Slave Rebellion. Although he was a slave, he was also a leader of the native Baptists in Montego Bay. This enabled him to travel and spread his concerns and encourage political thought, concerning events in England which affected the slaves and Jamaica.

Sam evolved a plan of passive resistance in 1831, whereby the slaves would refuse to work on Christmas Day of 1831 and afterwards, unless their grievances concerning the better treatment and the consideration of freedom, were accepted by the estate owners and managers. Sam’s plan failed.




Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Related

You May Also Like…

Black History Month: Standing in Power and Pride 2025

Standing firm in power and pride: Eight Black people who shaped history

Official portrait of Captain James Cook

Captain James Cook: Master navigator and Pacific explorer

Phyllis Coard: Architect of women's liberation in revolutionary Grenada

Phyllis Coard: Architect of women’s liberation in revolutionary Grenada

Statue of Yaa Asantewaa

The history of Nana Yaa Asantewaa: The lion-hearted queen mother




Reader Interactions

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Sidebar

This Day In History

Events in History
On this day in 1918 Every year on 11 November, Armistice Day commemorates the armistice signing between the Allied armies and Germany at 11am - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Learn more...
Black History Month: Standing in Power and Pride 2025

Standing firm in power and pride: Eight Black people who shaped history

Official portrait of Captain James Cook

Captain James Cook: Master navigator and Pacific explorer

Phyllis Coard: Architect of women's liberation in revolutionary Grenada

Phyllis Coard: Architect of women’s liberation in revolutionary Grenada

Trending

  • What are British values?
    What are British values?
  • The history of South Africa: From colonisation to independence
    The history of South Africa: From colonisation to independence
  • Understanding Sharia Law: Principles, practice, and global context
    Understanding Sharia Law: Principles, practice, and global context
  • The First Red Scare: America's post-WWI fear of Communism and radical change
    The First Red Scare: America's post-WWI fear of Communism and radical change
  • The Birth of the National Health Service: A revolutionary moment in British history
    The Birth of the National Health Service: A revolutionary moment in British history
  • Holy Wars: The blood-soaked legacy of conflicts fought in the name of Christianity
    Holy Wars: The blood-soaked legacy of conflicts fought in the name of Christianity
  • The British Empire: An overview of empire and colonisation
    The British Empire: An overview of empire and colonisation
  • The rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire: Six centuries of imperial power
    The rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire: Six centuries of imperial power
  • History of Canada - From colonisation to independence
    History of Canada - From colonisation to independence
  • Jan Ernst Matzeliger: The man who revolutionised shoemaking
    Jan Ernst Matzeliger: The man who revolutionised shoemaking

Connect

  • YouTube
  • TikTok
  • Bluesky
  • About
  • Cookies and your privacy
  • Privacy policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · Our History · All Rights Reserved