Eyewitness Account of the The Baptist War: The Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831-32

CRON, Mary

Edité par Jamaica, 1832

Autograph Letter Signed. 3pp. Single sheet of watermarked, laid paper folded to make four quarto sheets, addressed and docketed with a black wax seal and black postal handstamp ("Montego JA") and black circular postal handstamp ("Kington JA 13 1832"). Light toning, slight wear along old folds, and a chip and accompanying tear on the outer margin where seal was broken, very good. An eyewitness account of start of The Baptist War, a revolt by the enslaved residents of Jamaica, written by Mary Cron, the 21-year-old daughter of plantation manager Robert Cron. Robert Cron oversaw the Carlton Estate and became notorious for the extrajudicial killings of those he blamed for the turmoil. The mass rebellion in Western Jamaica resulted in scores of sugar plantations burned to the ground and many hundreds killed. Reports of the horrors of the insurgency, as well as the barbaric manner in which it was put down by colonial authorities, played a significant role in Parliament's abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833. Mary Cron wrote this letter while taking refuge aboard the ship *Catherine* in Montego Bay Harbor. The harrowing letter describes her flight through a war zone, and in the immediate wake of family tragedy: the sudden death of her three younger sisters from tropical maladies. "[T]here are not an Estate around Mo. Bay but is burned down. The White people have all taken refuge in on the Bay and as many as can have gone on board some ship, and whether we may ever see Carlton again or no I can not tell. [.] Last night I saw no fewer than 14 fires all blazing around, tonight I can see them in every direction"; it is "thought that" Montego Bay "will be attacked and burnt down." Mary's view towards the Black population is typical for her station, but she does acknowledge that "[t]here are good and bad in every colour." A vivid and chilling perspective on one of the momentous events of Caribbean history, all the more remarkable for having been written by a woman previously unknown to scholars. N° de réf. du vendeur 623610

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : Eyewitness Account of the The Baptist War: ...
Éditeur : Jamaica
Date d'édition : 1832
Reliure : Unbound
Etat : Very Good