FOR over 43 years, starting from 1975 when the Rt Excellent Samuel Sharpe was declared national hero, the Sam Sharpe Rebellion 1831/32 and the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 — 33 years apar t— have been taught in our schools to be seen as markedly different from each other, as one incident took place during slavery while the other occurred after slavery was abolished.

To the extent that the dates of the two rebellions occurred at different times with different leaders, that emphasis, while correct, missed the greater opportunities of a broader context and vision for us to see the deeper connectivity inherent in the relentless struggles of Paul Bogle both witnessed the Sam Sharpe Rebellion during slavery in 1831/32.

And no doubt they would have been influenced by the evil and cruelties they both witnessed being unleashed on the rebel slaves, particularly by the equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan ….. a national organisation called the Colonial Church Union….. and founded by the rector for the St Ann Parish Church, Reverend George W Bridges and Major General Hamilton Brown after whom Brown’s Town, also in the parish, is named. Both George William Gordon growing up in western Jamaica and Paul Bogle growing up in eastern Jamaica, saw first-hand the unyielding massacres, hangings, beatings, lynching and other atrocities meted out to the slaves in response to their uprising.

Other than the continuum of cruelty which contained consistency in its intensity between the two rebellions, no serious focus had been paid to the consistency in the presence of the personages of George William Gordon and Paul Bogle over the entire period. During this period that elapsed between the two major incidents in our history, the Christmas Rebellion and the Morant Bay Rebellion, the two leaders of the Morant Bay Rebellion were boys growing up in separate parts of Jamaica. George William Gordon, born in 1820, grew up in the town of Black River and was old enough at over 11 years not only to witness but to understand the issues of oppression, dehumanisation and injustice associated with the Christmas Rebellion led by Sam Sharpe.

Paul Bogle, born in the year 1822, was over nine years old when he would have witnessed the Sam Sharpe Rebellion and its aftermath of unspeakable cruelty to the slaves, as well. His parish, as a matter of fact, St Thomas, was not a spectator to the Christmas Rebellion but also an active participant; so was the parish of Manchester among others outside of western Jamaica, the epicentre of the 1831/32 insurrections.

Gordon and Bogle were old enough to exercise judgements on people and things they saw and heard around them. They would have begun to form opinions on issues and take decisions in respect to certain courses of action in light of the evidence with which they were confronted. Accordingly, I wish to suggest strongly that Gordon’s and Bogle’s experiences with the Sam Sharpe Rebellion during their childhood years have had some influence that led both men to a resolution of bringing the post-emancipation experiences which they found to be similar if not worse than slavery, to a head.

They had seen enough of the same social conditions both in slavery and after, and were determined, from all credible accounts, to bring this sorrow as well as this deluge on our black ancestors to a climactic end — their collaborative response now known in history as the Morant Bay Rebellion. It should be a matter of habit, as we seek to make greater sense of the stories in our history, for us to look for the threads of continuity, similarity, proximity and familiarity between major events in our history and try to discern what motivate the key players. For while the passage of time will not linger, the economic and political establishment, while responding to the distortions from internal or external pressures occasioned by rebellion, though even appearing to change, oftentimes a tactical manoeuvre to get back to where they were, feeling smarter and more assured to resurrect the old habits and attitudes. And the cycle continues.

One sage sums up these observations thus: “Freedom does not come the easy way…. you’ve got to work for it…. fight for it…day and night for it… and every generation has to win that freedom again.” Gordon and Bogle came to that realisation, no doubt.

Lingering a while on the Morant Bay Rebellion led by George William Gordon and Paul Bogle in 1865, there are other personalities and players of both sides of the historically adversarial divide. There were Lord Torrington, a close friend of Governor Edward Eyre; Dr Robert Bruce, the coroner for the parish of Vere; newspaper publisher in Montego Bay and western Jamaica Sydney Lindo Levien, organiser of the “Underhill Meetings” in western Jamaica at which George William Gordon was the main speaker. At these meetings Gordon excoriated Governor Edward Eyre for the misuse of funds of one thousand pounds voted by the Assembly (Parliament) to effect repair to the governor’s mansion, which Governor Eyre used to buy himself a personal piano instead.

Eyre was livid by Gordon’s consistent attack on his honesty or lack thereof, and explained why Gordon, as it was opportune for Governor Eyre, was arrested outside the zone of special emergency in Kingston transported by ship HMS Lilly, hurriedly tried in St Thomas, and hanged.

The HMS Lilly was dispatched from Port Royal to Montego Bay to arrest also Sydney Lindo Levien and, on its way to Morant Bay, picked up George William Gordon. Levien, a Jew, got off on some legal technicality and was spared the hangman’s noose.

Dr Robert Bruce was also arrested but the record does not say what became of him. The parish of Vere existed until 1814 when the parish of Manchester was created and named after the governor…the duke of Manchester. The remainder of the parish of Vere was incorporated into the parish of Clarendon.

And now we come to disgraced former British governor in Ceylon, Lord Torrington, after whom Torrington Bridge, part of a larger property, was named. Torrington property in Kingston is connected to the community of Torrington in Westmoreland, as both were owned by Lord Torrington who was disgraced by the British Government and dismissed from his post as governor of Ceylon.

Lord Torrington massacred the indigenous people of Ceylon who stood up for the rights to their land and other customary privileges that they enjoyed. He was recalled to England after the massacre, tried, disgraced and dismissed. He left England for Jamaica to join his long time friend and professional colleague Governor Edward Eyre, who, before being posted as Governor to Jamaica, was protector of the Aboriginal people of Australia.

It was clear from investigation that the nature of the massacre carried out by Governor Eyre in the response to the Morant Bay Rebellion came straight from the playbook of his friend Lord Torrington — Massacre in Ceylon.

Governor Eyre was recalled to England, charged and put on trial for his excessive use of political power and authority. George William Gordon and Paul Bogle were tried in Governor Eyre’s kangaroo courts and hanged. Today, they are National Heroes of the nation of Jamaica, loved by all and respected by all.

I cannot help but think that from their early, though traumatic experiences, they took a stand for righteousness, respect and justice. I believe they expect us all to grasp the vision … and stand!

Shalman Scott, a political commentator and historian, is the first Mayor of the city of Montego Bay