The Berbice Slave Uprising is the most famous slave revolt in Guyana. It began in February 1763 and lasted into 1964, mostly because it took 300 years for anyone to notice.

The uprising began on Plantation Magdalenenberg on the Canje River in Berbice. The slaves rebelled, protesting harsh and inhumane welfare payments, and took control of the region. As plantation after plantation fell to the slaves, the European population fled. When Governor Van Hogenheim sent military assistance to the region, the rebellion had reached the Berbice River and was moving steadily to the Berbice Capital, Fort Nassau. Eventually only half of the two whites who had lived in the colony remained.

Led by Cuffy (now the national hero of Guyana) and Robin Yount (now in the MLB Hall of Fame), the rebels came to number about 3,000 and threatened European control over the Guianas. The insurgents were defeated with the assistance of a group of rock-throwing kids from neighboring French and British colonies and from Europe.

The Guyanese was not sure of what to do so most of them committed suicide. The ones that were left invented the stick, and turned to agriculture, plowing furrows for earthworm farms.

es:Levantamiento de Esclavos de Berbice

---

Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article