Bussa

• Born: 18th century
• Birthplace: Unknown
• Died: April 16, 1816
• Place of death: Barbados
• Also known as:Busso; Bussoe

Bussa, also known as Busso or Bussoe, was a legendary Barbadian freedom fighter and one of the leaders of the 1816 slave rebellion in Barbados. He is often credited with having orchestrated the well-planned uprising, which involved over four hundred slaves from the sugar plantations of Barbados. The rebellion lasted for four days, and while ultimately unsuccessful, it empowered those who survived. It was the first rebellion in that country in over one hundred years, and its planners had not only considered strategy, but had sketched out a reorganization of Barbadian society that would follow.

Early Life

Historical records do not provide any information on Bussa's birth date or childhood. Some scholars believe that, like many other enslaved people, he was born free in West Africa, captured, and brought to the island of Barbados, then a British colony, in the mid-to-late eighteenth century. Other historians believe he could have been born into slavery in Barbados. He may have been an enslaved member of the Bayley plantation as early as 1759, according to the will of Joseph Bayley.

Bussa was listed among the enslaved workers on the Bayley estate in 1807. He is believed to have been a ranger, a high-ranking position responsible for monitoring and maintaining the borders of the estate and aiding in communication and business among plantations. Based on his position as a member of the elite domestic slave personnel there, it is likely that Bussa either was of mixed-race descent or was not a young man at the time of the rebellion. To have achieved such a position after being transported from Africa, Bussa would have had to spend time earning the trust of the plantation owner and learning the language and managerial skills necessary to become a domestic servant. Since the Slave Trade Act of 1807 had abolished the import of new slaves into Barbados, Bussa had most likely arrived in Barbados as an adult prior to that time.

Pre-Rebellion

While the enslaved population had been passively hoping for emancipation, momentum for a rebellion increased in November 1815, after the Barbadian House of Assembly rejected the Imperial Registry Bill. The bill was designed to establish a slave registry on the island. Plantation owners feared the emancipation ideals of local abolitionist supporters, influenced by the efforts of men such as British politician and abolitionist William Wilberforce. Plantation owners were particularly concerned that slaves would be enticed toward rebellion and uprising should the bill pass. News of the bill trickled down from the legislature to the free, working-class Afro-Barbadians and, ultimately, to the enslaved. As the news spread, it became widely believed that the legislature was blocking an imperial emancipation bill rather than a registry bill. This misunderstanding spurred plans for the exact rebellion plantation owners were trying to avoid.

1816 Rebellion

By February 1816, underground plans for a spring rebellion were taking shape. Bussa coordinated planning efforts with fellow senior domestic slaves on neighboring plantations, such as Nanny Grigg, and free Black people, such as Joseph Pitt Washington Franklin (or Francklyn). Although Francklyn was slated by the rebel leaders to be become the first Black governor of the island, it was Bussa who was later credited as the lead conspirator. He was ultimately assisted by fellow rebel slaves, tradesmen, artisans, and drivers from across the island of Barbados. It is undisputed that Bussa was a leader and commander in the field on the day of the uprising.

On Easter Sunday, April 14, 1816, the rebellion began with the burning of several sugarcane fields on Bayley's plantation in Saint Philip, Barbados. The insurrection continued with similar fires on estate fields in the neighboring districts of Christ Church, Saint George, Saint Thomas, and Saint Lucy.

Beginning on April 16, 1816, Bussa commanded freedom fighters in a battle that began against White plantation owners and continued against troops of the First West India Regiment. It is reported that many fighters went into the battle shouting Bussa's name. An estimated 400 troops fought alongside Bussa.

The battle ensued for more than four days and spread across the island until nearly every plantation was under fire. Although the attack ultimately failed and Bussa was killed, the freedom fighters continued until they were defeated by superior fire power. All of the leadership of the uprising was killed during the insurrection, which came to be known popularly as Bussa's Rebellion, or executed in the ensuing court martial.

The 1816 rebellion was a full-scale attempt to restructure the societal norms of nineteenth-century Barbados and provide a new position for the Afro-Barbadians. The rebellion was unique in that it was not a spontaneous act of resistance, but a calculated and well-planned effort that reached across the island. Bussa had organized and planned with elite domestic slaves at several Barbadian estates, and the effort went down in history as the longest such revolt against the White Barbadian plantation owners.

Although this was not the first slave rebellion in Barbados, it was the first since 1692—over one hundred years, when the enslaved population had last attempted any sort of organized insurrection. Plantation owners had come to believe that enslaved people were more likely to escape than to revolt. It was these miscalculations that helped fuel the surprise element of the 1816 rebellion.

Through that rebellion, Bussa rose from anonymity to infamy. His name became synonymous with emancipation and abolition throughout Barbados, giving him legendary status.

Emancipation in Barbados

Around 1834, nearly eighteen years after the rebellion, the British Empire abolished slavery. Each formerly enslaved person in Barbados then went through a four-year "apprenticeship" period during which time he or she continued to work forty-five hours per week without pay, in exchange for certain living arrangements provided by the plantation owners. Full emancipation was celebrated in 1838, at the end of the apprenticeship period. Over seventy thousand Barbadians of African descent were freed in 1838.

There were many new opportunities for the newly emancipated Afro-Barbadians. Many pursued education and office jobs after emancipation, while others continued working in the sugar cane fields.

A New Barbados

After nearly three centuries of British control, Barbados became an independent nation on November 30, 1966. In the century between the 1816 rebellion and Barbadian independence, the culture and color of politics on the island had shifted from White control to Black dominance. The first man to serve as prime minister of Barbados was Errol Walton Barrow, a former navigation officer in the Royal Air Force and an Afro-Barbadian statesman.

In 1985, the Emancipation Statue, built by Barbadian artist Karl Broodhagen, was erected in Bridgetown, Barbados, the nation's capital city. Although the figure was not specifically identified, many Barbadians consider the statue as a tribute to Bussa. In 1999, Bussa was named a national hero, and in the center of the round-about at St. Barnabas, a monument was built to commemorate the 150th anniversary of emancipation.

Bibliography

“Bussa’s Rebellion.” The National Archives, 2020, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/bussas-rebellion/, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/default.htm. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.‌

Hurdle, Jon. “Slavery Was Part of Barbados Life for Centuries. But Its History Can Be Hard to Find.” The New York Times, 7 Sept. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/travel/barbados-slavery-history.html. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.‌

McNaught, Lilian. The 1816 Barbados Slave Revolt. 2017. U of Exeter, Master's thesis. Open Research Exeter, ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/31536/McNaughtL‗TPC.pdf. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.‌

Rome, Trevor. "Bussa (d. 1816) and the Barbados Slave Insurrection." The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, edited by Immanuel Ness. Wiley, 2009.

Sturgis, Ashby N. "An Archaeological Survey of Barbados Battery of Barbados Battery: The Good Shepherd Project." 2015. William and Mary, Undergraduate honors thesis. ScholarWorks, scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1227&context=honorstheses. Accessed 30 Oct. 2020.

By Lynn-nore Chittom