St James, where freedom was won by fire

Today, August 23, the world observes the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, a global moment to honour those who resisted enslavement rather than simply endured it. No parish in Jamaica embodies that spirit of resistance more powerfully than St James, the western parish where an uprising of the enslaved changed the course of Caribbean history.

In December 1831, an enslaved Baptist deacon named Samuel Sharpe organized what he intended as a peaceful strike: enslaved workers across St James, Trelawny, and Westmoreland would simply refuse to return to the cane fields after Christmas until they were paid for their labour. Sharpe, a literate and trusted “daddy” among his people, had followed British debates on abolition closely and believed freedom had already been granted, only to be withheld by local planters. When word spread that estate owners planned to crush the strike by force, the protest ignited into open rebellion. What began as a work stoppage became the Emancipation War, also called the Baptist War or Christmas Rebellion, the largest uprising of enslaved people in Jamaica’s history.

The rebellion was brutally suppressed, and Sharpe was captured, tried, and hanged in Montego Bay’s Market Place on May 23, 1832. Yet his death, and the ferocity of the reprisals that followed, shocked reformers in Britain and hardened public opinion against slavery. Within two years, Parliament passed the Emancipation Act.

Today, Sam Sharpe Square in the heart of Montego Bay stands as the epicentre of that memory. Once known as Charles Square, it was renamed in 1976 to honour Sharpe and holds his bronze monument, depicting him preaching, Bible in hand, along with the Cage, an 1806 holding cell once used to detain enslaved people, and the Freedom Monument, its bronze figure breaking free with arms raised skyward. Nearby stands Burchell Baptist Church, where Sharpe served as deacon and first began preaching the gospel of liberty that would ignite a movement.

Fear held the machinery of slavery in place for centuries until a preacher in St James chose knowledge and action over silence.

Fear is an evil that stands in the way of human progress and enslaves the fighting spirit within. Remove fear with knowledge and action. Let yourself be free from the bondage of fear and evil.

Contributed by Dr Lorenzo Gordon, a diabetologist, internal medicine consultant, biochemist, and a history and heritage enthusiast. Send feedback to inspiring876@gmail.com.