Watershed parish bleeding PAUL H. WILLIAMS Gleaner Writer ST JAMES is undoubtedly one of the most important parishes in Jamaica. It is the bedrock of tourism, Jamaica’s leading industry, not just locally, but in the entire English-speaking Caribbean. Hundreds of people from all over western Jamaica are employed in various aspect of tourism in St James. It has the highest number of accommodations per square mile, and its places of interest and attractions are dotted all over the parish. BEFORE THAT, it was a popular banana-producing region, and Montego Bay was at one time the busiest banana export port in the entire country. Though its development did not get off at a fast pace, this parish, more than any other, is the home of the watershed of Jamaica’s political and economical evolution. It is safe to say that St James is where we all started as an Independent nation. Two important events underpin this claim: the signing of the treaty of peace and friendship between the Trelawny Town Maroons and the British in 1738 (one hundred years before Emancipation), and the 1831-32 Sam Sharpe/Christmas Rebellion. The first Maroon War in Western Jamaica was protracted and frustrating. Neither side would back down. Egos were at stake, and the British were unrelenting in their efforts to keep the institution of chattel slavery alive for its economic value. Sugar was aggrandising Europe’s metropolises, and European planters were rich from the proceeds of one of the most inhuman and inhumane systems ever established on Earth. However, some of the enslaved Africans who were trafficked across the Atlantic to the Caribbean to work without pay on plantations and pens did not drown themselves in selfpity, nor did they resign to a life of servitude. Some even planned their escape long before they arrived on the island. They were tribal warriors and traders in human themselves, so they did not arrive to accept their lot in the Caribbean. In Jamaica, they ran away into the hills and mountains in a show of defiance that the British could not control. In western and central Jamaica, the Maroons as the runaways came to be called, established themselves in gangs that had no mercy on their preys. The preys had become predators and the British were now running scared. The Maroons pillaged, routed, burned, killed, captured in their zeal to chart their own freedom and space. The British resisted, but for how long? Several measures were put in place to contain the marauding Maroons,but to no avail. Led by Cudjoe and his brother, Accompong, who was sent from Trelawny Town in St James to hold fort in northern St Elizabeth, the Maroons wore down the resolve of the British, who decided that enough was enough. The white flag was raised, a controversial treaty was signed, and the indomitable Leeward Maroons were left alone to determine what goes on with their existence. The signing of this treaty was significant and unprecedented in theWestern Hemisphere. It predated the AmericanWar of Independence (1776), and the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804. Maroons Independence came long before these two other major insurrections, but there was to be another defining story in the history of St James, in particular, and, by extension, Jamaica. Fomented by rumours that the British had given them their freedom, and determined that they would not return to work after the Christmas break of 1831 enslaved people jolted local authorities and the British empire. On December 27, after the trash house was lit by the enslaved on Kensington Estate in the parish, all hell broke loose, with the fire eventually spreading to surrounding parishes. Many were killed and over 165 estates burned to the ground all over western Jamaica. The repercussions were swift andmerciless. Over 300 people, including Deacon Samuel Sharpe, the alleged leader of the insurrection, were hanged at the place now called Sam Sharpe Square. The rebellion and its brutal aftermath sped up the contentious process of Emancipation. Seven years later slavery ended abruptly, when the Apprenticeship System collapsed in 1838. On August 1, slavery was officially abolished in all of Jamaica. Political Independence came 124 years later, in 1962. It is now 2022, 60 years after Independence, and St James is still a standout patch in this mosaic called Jamaica. Yet, for sometime now, this watershed parish is beset by deep-seated social ills that have led to much bloodshed, sadly. It needs an urgent cleansing, lest we forget its pride of place in our chequered story. Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay, St James. IAN ALLEN/PHOTOGRAPHER jamaica at jamaica AT The first Maroon War in Western Jamaica was protracted and frustrating. Neither side would back down. Egos were at stake, and the British were unrelenting in their efforts to keep the institution of chattel slavery alive for its economic value. PRINTED BY THE GLEANER COMPANY (MEDIA) LIMITED • 7 NORTH STREET • KINGSTON • JAMAICA
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