Editing Jamaica (section)

===18th–19th centuries===
{{main|Slavery in colonial British America}}

[[File:Duperly (1833) Destruction of the Roehampton Estate January 1832.png|thumb|right|A plantation set alight during the Baptist War of 1831–32]]
During the 1700s the economy boomed, based largely on sugar and other crops for export such as [[coffee]], [[cotton]] and [[indigo]]. All these crops were worked by black slaves, who lived short and often brutal lives with no rights, being the property of a small planter-class.<ref name="EBJH"/> In the 18th century, slaves ran away and joined the Maroons in increasing numbers, and resulted in The [[First Maroon War]] (1728 – 1739/40), which ended in stalemate. The British government sued for peace, and signed treaties with the Leeward Maroons led by [[Cudjoe]] and [[Accompong]] in 1739, and the Windward Maroons led by [[Quao]] and [[Queen Nanny]] in 1740.<ref>Bev Carey, ''The Maroon Story: The Authentic and Original History of the Maroons in the History of Jamaica 1490–1880'' (Kingston, Jamaica: Agouti Press, 1997), pp. 315–355.</ref>

A large slave rebellion, known as [[Tacky's War]], broke out in 1760 but was defeated by the British and their Maroon allies.<ref name="jamaicans1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/articles_culture/tackys_rebellion.shtml |title=Jamaican Culture |publisher=Jamaicans.com |date=2014-06-20 |access-date=2015-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016000555/http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/articles_culture/tackys_rebellion.shtml |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> After the [[Second Maroon War|second conflict]] in 1795–96, many Maroons from the Maroon town of [[Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town)]] were expelled to [[Nova Scotia]] and, later, [[Sierra Leone]].<ref name="EBJH"/>[[File:Hakewill, A Picturesque Tour of the Island of Jamaica, Plate 04.jpg|thumb|Harbour Street, Kingston, {{Circa|1820}}]]By the beginning of the 19th century, Jamaica's dependence on slave labour and a plantation economy had resulted in black people outnumbering [[white people]] by a ratio of almost 20 to 1. Although the British had outlawed the importation of slaves, some were still smuggled in from Spanish colonies and directly from Africa.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} While planning the abolition of slavery, the British Parliament passed laws to improve conditions for slaves. They banned the use of whips in the field and flogging of women; informed planters that slaves were to be allowed religious instruction, and required a free day during each week when slaves could sell their produce,<ref>''History of the Catholic Church in Jamaica'', {{ISBN|978-0-829-40544-6}}, p. 68.</ref> prohibiting Sunday markets to enable slaves to attend church.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} The House of Assembly in Jamaica resented and resisted the new laws. Members, with membership then restricted to European-descended Jamaicans, claimed that the slaves were content and objected to Parliament's interference in island affairs. Slave owners feared possible revolts if conditions were lightened.
The British [[Slave Trade Act 1807|abolished the slave trade]] in 1807, but not the institution itself.<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/caribbean-islands/8.htm The Sugar Revolutions and Slavery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622222104/http://countrystudies.us/caribbean-islands/8.htm |date=22 June 2011 }}, ''U.S. Library of Congress''.</ref> In 1831 a huge slave rebellion, known as the [[Baptist War]], broke out, led by the Baptist preacher [[Samuel Sharpe]]. The rebellion resulted in hundreds of deaths and the destruction of many plantations, and led to ferocious reprisals by the plantocracy class.<ref name="Revauger">{{cite book |title=The Abolition of Slavery – The British Debate 1787–1840 |first=Cécile |last=Révauger |author-link =Cécile Révauger |pages=107–108 |publisher=Presse Universitaire de France |date=October 2008 |isbn=978-2-13-057110-0}}</ref>
[[File:Proclamation_of_the_abolition_of_slavery_in_the_Colony_of_Jamaica,_August_1,_1838,_in_Spanish_Town_(cropped).jpg|thumb|Governor [[Sir Lionel Smith, 1st Baronet|Sir Lionel Smith]], accompanied by Revd [[James Phillippo]], proclaiming the [[Abolition of slavery in the United States|abolition of slavery]] in the colony of Jamaica, on 1 August 1838, from the King's House in [[Spanish Town]]]]
As a result of rebellions such as these, as well as the efforts of abolitionists, Britain outlawed slavery in its empire in 1834, with full [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|emancipation]] from chattel slavery declared in 1838.<ref name="EBJH" /> The population in 1834 was 371,070, of whom 15,000 were white, 5,000 free black; 40,000 "coloured" or [[Free people of color|free people of colour]] ([[mixed race]]); and 311,070 were slaves.<ref name="population" />

The resulting labour shortage prompted the British to begin to "import" [[indentured servant]]s to supplement the labour pool, as many freedmen resisted working on the plantations.<ref name="EBJH" /> Workers recruited from India began arriving in 1845, Chinese workers in 1854.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.embassyofjamaica.org/ABOUThistory.htm|title=Embassy of Jamaica, Washington, DC|website=www.embassyofjamaica.org|access-date=27 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620044655/http://www.embassyofjamaica.org/ABOUThistory.htm|archive-date=20 June 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Many Jamaicans are descendants of South Asian and Chinese people.<ref name="tortello" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Out of Many, One People: Chinese-Jamaicans Treasure Their Roots and Their Communities |author=Hemlock, Doreen |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2005-04-17/features/0504140989_1_jamaican-chinese-new-year-chinese-heritage |newspaper=The Sun-Sentinel |date=17 April 2005 |access-date=27 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109134431/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2005-04-17/features/0504140989_1_jamaican-chinese-new-year-chinese-heritage |archive-date=9 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Over the next 20 years, several epidemics of [[cholera]], [[scarlet fever]], and [[smallpox]] hit the island, killing almost 60,000 people (about 10 per day).{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} Nevertheless, in 1871 the census recorded a population of 506,154 people, 246,573 of whom were males, and 259,581 females. Their races were recorded as 13,101 white, 100,346 coloured (known as the Browning Class), and 392,707 black.<ref>{{cite book |date=1908 |title=Handbook of Jamaica |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookjamaica04cundgoog |location=Google Books |publisher=Jamaica Government |page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookjamaica04cundgoog/page/n50 37]}}</ref> There was an economic slump in this period, with many Jamaicans living in poverty. Dissatisfaction with this, and continued racial discrimination and marginalisation of the black majority, led to the outbreak of the [[Morant Bay rebellion]] in 1865, led by [[Paul Bogle]], which was put down by Governor [[Edward John Eyre|John Eyre]] with such brutality that he was recalled from his position.<ref name="EBJH" /> His successor, [[John Peter Grant]], enacted a series of social, financial and political reforms while aiming to uphold firm British rule over the island, which became a Crown Colony in 1866.<ref name="EBJH" /> In 1872 the capital was transferred from Spanish Town to Kingston.<ref name="EBJH" />