Activity: Illustrated talk
Topic: History
Host: Moray House Trust
Date: Tuesday 7th March 2023
Time: 11 AM Guyana
YouTube: https://youtu.be/gNb2O71ZI8k
This talk continues our Samaan Tree Series.
Event: An illustrated history talk
Title: The Berbice Uprising of 1814
Speaker: Dr. David Alston
Date: Tuesday 7th March 2023
Time: 11AM Guyana, 10AM EST, 3PM GMT
YouTube: https://youtu.be/gNb2O71ZI8k
In early February 1814 enslaved Africans across the West Coast of Berbice were ready to rise up against the colony’s white planters. As they prepared for an oath-swearing ceremony which would begin the war, they were betrayed and their plans were revealed – along with similar plans on the East and Corentyne Coasts. Over 100 people were seized and interrogated. The leaders were executed and many others were punished. Those involved had drawn inspiration and lessons from memories of the Berbice Rising of 1763 and this almost forgotten revolt was less than ten years before the Demerara Rebellion of 1823.
Dr Alston is a historian and former museum curator and teacher. He has compiled research about Scotland’s links to Guyana pre-1843 on the Slaves and Highlanders website for many years. He has also recently published a book entitled ‘Slaves and Highlanders: Silenced Histories of Scotland and the Caribbean.’