Jamaica imposes an additional duty on enslaved people imported to the island

A Jamaican act freed Jack Pearson, who had been enslaved by the estate of William Ricketts. The statute said Pearson supplied information about a 1760 rebellion in Westmoreland and helped pursue...

A Jamaican statute freed Cato, who had informed colonial officials about the 1760 uprising and helped pursue rebels. The assembly paid his enslaver £70 as compensation. The act records a coerced...

A statute freed York and Cuffee, whose actions colonial lawmakers said helped suppress the 1765 uprising in St Mary. York was credited with saving his enslaver’s widow; Cuffee with disclosing a...

The assembly ordered owners to register separate huts in Spanish Town, Port Royal and Kingston and report which enslaved people lived there. It required enclosures and allowed officials to demolish...

A Jamaican statute freed Will, who had been enslaved by the estate of William Jones. It said Will helped investigate the disappearance and murder of overseer Andrew Ross and directed an annual payment...

A statute funding British regiments also regulated the importation of enslaved people. It required shipmasters to report cargoes, imposed duties, and created port inspections. It set different rates...

A Jamaican act restricted who could legally manumit an enslaved person. Except for the island’s legislature, an owner had to provide security for an annual £5 payment to the freed person for life...

The assembly confirmed that wills could transfer enslaved people as property, including some wills that did not meet the English Statute of Frauds. It set a future standard for wills to be properly...

A Jamaican act required people who had been enslaved when an alleged offense occurred to be tried under the rules applied to enslaved people, even if their owner later granted manumission. A person...

A consolidated slave law came into force on 1 March 1788, replacing earlier acts and restating controls on enslaved people. It prescribed severe penalties for flight, resistance, alleged Obeah and...