Introduction To The Morant Bay Rebellion

Morant Bay Rebellion: Testimonies 

The Morant Bay Rebellion, a significant uprising, occurred in 1865 when Jamaica was still a British colony. A group of Jamaican citizens rose up to protest inequality and racism. In response governor Edward John Eyre declared martial law and ordered soldiers to suppress the uprising with brutal violence. Martial law was so brutal the British government ordered a formal investigation to determine whether the violence was justified. This investigation was produced into a document, “Report of the Jamaica RoyalCommission (1866),” which includes eyewitness testimonies, handwritten letters, and newspaper accounts.

Sarah Ann Robinson and Esther Williams 

In this post we are going to be focusing on two Black women, Sarah Ann Robinson and Esther Williams, who bravely testified about the acts that took place within Martial Law. These women traveled voluntarily to testify after the deadly uprising.

Esther’s house was burned down, as she was in it, while giving birth. She escaped and fled to her sisters, delivering the baby on the doorstep. Esther explains the cruelty of soldiers being no one checked if anyone was inside the houses they were burning, they didn’t look for goods, their only objective was destruction.

Sarah Ann Robinson along with her son and husband, were detained at the station in Morant Bay, held for two weeks under the threat of being lynched without any interrogation or explanation. Sarah was able to flee due to gaining extreme sickness as the soldiers felt she could work instead. Her husband and son were executed. The soldiers returned to her house taking all her belongings, clothes and wedding ring. Sarah was witness to a lot of violence and brutality that happened amongst Martial Law especially to women, pregnant women. Sarah’s testimony not only recounts the violence she witnessed but also the fear and brutality endured by many, especially vulnerable groups like pregnant women.

Transcription Process 

To fully grasp the weight of these testimonies, we meticulously transcribed them, parsing through every word and line. Esther and Sarah dialogue transcribed to nine pages double-spaced. This process deepened my understanding allowing me to connect with their thoughts and fears. When we read we have a natural pace we go at and it is easy to miss over things which is why we recommend re-reading. However, to re-read a document and type out each word it becomes hard to miss something because you look for any mistake within format and spelling to ensure accurate data. We are taking a close look at the document, the words these women are saying and not saying, questions there being asked, details of their describing and language they are using.

Final Thoughts

After closely working with these documents, I can now understand that the Martial Law during the Morant Bay Rebellion was a catastrophic event. The people of Jamaica were not handled with any fairness. I could imagine the most awful things happening during a rebellion but interacting with witness testimonies adds the layer of reality we lack when engaging with information through the media.