Coroas de glória, lágrimas de sangue. A rebelião dos escravos de Demerara em 1825

by Emília Viotti da Costa

The night of August 17, 1823 saw the start of one of the most massive slave rebellions in the history of the Western Hemisphere, the uprising in the British colony of Demerara (now Guyana), in which nearly twelve thousand slaves took up arms against their masters. In Crowns of Glory, Emilia Viotti da Costa tells the riveting story of this pivotal moment in the history of slavery. Studying the complaints brought by slaves to the office of the Protector of Slaves, she reconstructs the experience of slavery through the eyes of the Demerara slaves themselves. Da Costa also draws on eyewitness accounts, official records, and private journals (most notably the diary of John Smith, one of four ministers sent by the London Missionary Society to convert Demerara's "heathen"), to paint a vivid portrait of a society in transition, shaken to its foundations by the recent revolutions in America, France, and Haiti. Casting new light on the nuances of racial relations in the colonies, the inevitable clash between the missionaries' message of Christian brotherhood and a social order based on masters and slaves, and the larger historical forces that were profoundly eroding the institution of slavery itself, Crowns of Glory is an original and unforgettable book.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Emília Viotti da Costa foi uma historiadora e professora brasileira. Autora de vários livros, entre eles Da Senzala à Colônia, publicado pela Editora UNESP, que aborda a transição do trabalho escravo ao livre na zona cafeeira paulista e é considerado referência obrigatória para estudiosos do período.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale is mostly based on the testimonies of the planters and missionaries as well as periodicals and journals of the time. Despite the harshness of the system, the enslaved showed themselves to be very humane in the treatment of the owners, drivers, and others they subdued during the insurrection.

Unfortunately, the reprisals enacted upon the enslaved after the rebellion failed were violent and done to show that the system should never be challenged. It would have been useful to gain some insight into what was in the minds of the enslaved both before and after these events.

Still, this book contains some good analysis of the causes of the rebellion of 1823.

[Santiago Sousa · Rating 5 out of 5]

do ponto de vista teórico-metodológico, é um dos livros de história mais completos que já li. apesar de um trecho ou outro em que a parte narrativa aparente ser um tanto tediosa, a construção do acontecimento central do livro é feita com maestria ao longo da primeira metade. uma aula!

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emilia Viotti da Costa chronicles the Demerara slave rebellion in British Guiana on the Demerara plantations, and the situation which had been developing in Britain, which ultimately affected the plantations and fostered an environment for the rebellion. Da Costa sets the scene, explaining that the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, the debate in Great Britain about the amelioration of slavery, the Haitian slave revolts, the struggling economy in which the planters depended on all contributed to the state of the Demerara plantations. Add on missionaries, such as John Smith, who many believed was not qualified to preach at Demerara, was attracted to evangelicalism, who endangered the colony’s safety by educating slaves, and the situation is brought to a head. Da Costa does a superb job of not only setting the tone for the rebellion, but for illustrating through the situation in Demerara the debate of the day, and the challenges facing the British, colonists, missionaries and slaves.
Da Costa utilizes mainly primary sources such as periodicals, letters, depositions, the journal of John Smith, and other church and trial records to analyze the Demerara slave rebellion. Of course her greatest challenge is the fact that whites tell this story. Just like James H. Sweet’s Recreating Africa and John K. Thornton’s The Kongolese Saint Anthonty accounts of slave movements, or religious movements are often written by those who are most powerful, which for Demerara were the colonists. Yet Da Costa is able to write effectively about the era, and analyze sources so that the reader can understand the implications for all parties involved in the rebellion.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it half way. Once the book finally made it to the actual rebellion (page 170) it was a very anti-climactic read. The book is drug out and mostly off the main subject. For the subject matter I feel it should be more compelling. Apparently most people enjoy it going by the ratings and reviews, but I personally don't know why. I struggled to get halfway, and that was enough for me.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and compelling, creating a very personal relationship between the readers and the slaves/missionaries/planters during the Demerara uprising.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of events leading up to, during and immediately after the Demerara slave rebellion in what is now the country of Guyana on the Caribbean coast of South America. It revolves around the white English missionary, John Smith, who was sentenced to death soon after the rebellion, but died in jail. He was pardoned, but the pardon was not known in Demerara until after his death. At the time, Demerara was a British colony. It's interesting history. Viotti da Costa's writing seems quite rigorous to me, an amateur history buff. With lots of footnotes and an academic approach, it can be slow moving. To me, it overemphasizes John Smith and other missionaries over the slaves themselves, but that is probably inevitable given the historical record that exists. I think some of the material on John Wray, the missionary who founded the chapel John Smith took over, could have been left out and maybe some of the economic analysis could have too, to make the book more accessible to a layman. But maybe that would have made it less appealing to historians. The most interesting parts to me were those about the lives of the slaves who participated, the immediate precipitating events that led them to plot a rebellion, that plotting, the trial of Smith after the rebellion, and, most of all, the rebellion itself. The rebellion was put down, I think within days, though, so while it is exciting, there's not that much to it. The trial gives very interesting insight into the thinking of Smith and his supporters, but probably more interestingly, the thinking of the colonists who were facing increasingly high expectations of slaves and pressure from economics and the domination of the British in Great Britain who were increasingly intolerant of slavery, that made their situation untenable for very long.