This disheartened the fighters causing many to return to their plantations, but Tacky and about 25 men continued

the struggle. They ran through the woods where it is claimed that the Maroons tracked them. One source claims that one of the Maroons, a man named Davy who was known for his sharp shooting abilities, shot Tacky dead while both were running at full speed. It is also claimed that the rest of Tackys men were later found in a cave where they killed themselves rather than be captured. The exact location of this cave is not known. However, oral history indicates that Tacky was not killed by Davy; that he escaped behind the present Tacky Falls and inspired later revolts. The Result The revolt, known as Tackys Rebellion, spurred other revolts throughout Jamaica and it took the British several months to quell the unrest. By the time peace was restored, 60 whites and approximately 300400 enslaved persons had been killed, including some who were tried and publicly executed as ringleaders. Another 600 were transported and sold to the logwood cutters of Belize. In his bold bid for freedom, Tacky displayed the courage that made him one of the early heroes of the Jamaican people.

T ACKY
Cannon at Fort Haldane, Port Maria

Illustrations taken from "Tacky" Jamal Foundation 1977

Freedom Fighter & Leader of the 1760 Enslaved Revolt

Monument located at Claude Stuart Park, Port Maria

Tacky's Monument

Jamaica National Heritage Trust 79 Duke Street, Kingston 922-1287-8 Visit us at www.jnht.com Email us at jnht@cwjamaica.com

Tacky (spelt
Takyi in Ghana), was one of the early heroes of the Jamaican people. A man of great courage, he fought against the brutal system Illustration of Tacky of slavery that existed on the island, leading a struggle against the oppressors in 1760, approximately 74 years before Emancipation finally came in 1834. Tacky was a Coromantee Chief in West Africa. The Coromantees were mainly from the militant Asante ethnic group of Ghana. After being captured and forcibly transported in a slave ship across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean, like thousands of other Africans, he was enslaved on the Frontier Estate in St. Mary. There he demonstrated outstanding qualities and was made foreman of the estate. This gave him the opportunity to devise plans to gain freedom and to get those plans to his trusted followers at Frontier and the neighbouring Trinity Estates.

The Revolt Before daybreak on Easter Monday 1760, Tacky and his followers made their way to Port Maria. There they killed the shopkeeper of Fort Haldane and stole four barrels of gunpowder, forty muskets and a supply of cannon balls. With their new ammunition, the group then went through the plantations in the area, killing the surprised or sleeping white settlers. By dawn, hundreds of enslaved people had joined Tacky and his followers in the fight.

In the meantime, Tacky's co-revolutionaries had the assistance of powerful spiritualists (commonly referred to as obeah men) who distributed a powder among them, claiming that it would protect the revolutionaries from injury in battle. They further claimed that obeah men could not be killed and so confidence was very high in Tackys camp.

Illustration of Tacky planning the Rebellion of 1760

Fort Haldane Amoury, Port Maria

View from Fort Haldane overlooking the Port Maria Harbour & Frontier Estate

At Ballards Valley Estate, a few miles from Frontier, they stopped to rejoice in their success. However, one of the enslaved from the neighbouring Esher Estate, one of the properties that had been attacked, slipped away and raised an alarm. Soon a troop of 70 - 80 mounted militia was on its way to suppress the revolt. Some sources indicate that the militia was assisted by members of the Scotts Hall Maroons; that the Maroons were bound by their 1739 peace treaty to aid in suppressing such rebellions - though other documents indicate that Tacky skillfully negotiated with the Maroons to look the other way.

Illustration of Tacky and his men attacking an Estate

When the British troops heard of the obeah mens claim, they made a special drive, to capture one of the obeah men. They then hanged him in a prominent place still wearing his mask, ornaments of teeth, bone and feather trimmings.