Jamaica makes private manumission conditional on lifelong provision

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...

The assembly passed a law adding a 40-shilling duty for each enslaved African or Black person imported to Jamaica. The measure extended a revenue system that treated forced migration as taxable...

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...

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...

Trelawny Town Maroons surrendered after fighting the colonial government. The conflict followed long-standing grievances and a dispute over punishment under the treaty system. British forces used...

The Jamaican government officially declared the Second Maroon War over after Trelawny Town Maroons surrendered. The end of organized fighting did not restore the community's position: British...