Hello, I'm Mr. Marcher and thank you for joining me for today's history lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources today and my top priority is to make sure that by the end of our lesson, you're able to successfully meet our learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the British Empire, where we've been asking ourselves, to what extent was the British Empire transformed in the mid 19th century? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain whether life improved for Black Jamaicans living under British rule during the 1860s.

There are three key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are House of Assembly, discrimination, and abolish.

The House of Assembly was the group of politicians who were responsible for making many of the laws in colonial Jamaica.

Discrimination refers to the unfair treatment of someone because of characteristics such as their sex, race, or religion.

And if you abolish something, you've put an official end to it.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and we'll begin by focusing on life in Jamaica in the 1860s.

Jamaica became a British colony in the 17th century.

Roughly 96% of the 432,000 people living in Jamaica in the 19th century were Black.

It was only during the 1830s that most of Jamaica's Black population had gained freedom when slavery was abolished in the British Empire.

So, thinking about what we've heard so far, which statement is most accurate? The majority of Jamaicans were Black the majority of Jamaicans were white, or an equal number of Jamaicans were Black and white.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A, the majority of Jamaicans were Black.

In fact, 96% of the 432,000 people living on the island were Black.

Despite the abolition of slavery, Jamaica's Black majority still faced many difficulties in the 1860s.

In particular, Jamaica's Black population were challenged by political problems and also by socioeconomic problems. So we'll think about these in turn.

Beginning with the political problems in Jamaica, Jamaica was a self-governing colony.

The colony had a British governor but most decisions were made by the House of Assembly.

Members of the House of Assembly were elected by Jamaicans themselves.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, what was the name of the group of representatives who were responsible for making most political decisions in Jamaica? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the answer was the House of Assembly.

The name of the group of representatives who were responsible for making most political decisions in Jamaica was the House of Assembly.

Some Black Jamaicans were able to gain political power.

Some representatives in the House of assembly were Black or mixed-race but most power in Jamaica was held by the white minority.

Discrimination meant that just 2,000 Black men could vote and most assembly representatives were white.

Now, we need to keep this in mind with the statistic that 96% of the 432,000 people living on the island were Black, yet just 2,000 of them could vote.

Most officials, including judges, were also rich, white landowners, which meant that Black Jamaicans had very little political power.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've heard so far.

We have a statement on the screen that reads "Most power in Jamaica was held by Black Jamaicans." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that there were no Black representatives in the House of Assembly, and the second says that most members of the House of Assembly were rich, white landowners.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct justification was B, most members of the House of Assembly were rich, white landowners.

In large part, this was because restrictions stopped many Black Jamaicans from being able to vote for representatives.

And now we can think about some of the socioeconomic problems in Jamaica in the 1860s.

Poverty amongst Black Jamaicans was widespread.

Most jobs for Black Jamaicans were found on plantations but there were shortages of work.

Available work was also very poorly paid.

In fact, average wages actually fell by 25% in the early 1860s.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, how did average wages in Jamaica change in the early 1860s? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that.

in the 1860s, average wages in Jamaica fell by 25%.

So this meant that poverty was a growing problem for Black Jamaicans.

Black Jamaicans also suffered from high taxes.

The House of Assembly did not introduce any income taxes, which would've been paid only by those who were very rich.

Instead, taxes were kept high on important everyday products such as bread, salt, and clothing.

Everyone, including poor Jamaicans, had to pay these taxes.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

How did the House of Assembly increase the socioeconomic challenges faced by Black Jamaicans? Was it that few Black Jamaicans were given the right to vote? That taxes on basic goods such as food and clothing were high? Or that there was a shortage of work on plantations? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

The House of Assembly increased the socioeconomic challenges faced by Black Jamaicans because it kept taxes on basic goods such as food and clothing high.

Although the restrictions on Black Jamaicans being able to vote and the shortages of work on plantations were challenges faced by Black Jamaicans, these were not socioeconomic challenges created by the House of Assembly.

And so they weren't the correct answers for this question.

And so now I want us to study an extract from a letter written by Dr.

Edward Underhill, a man who was working in Jamaica in the 1860s about the conditions he found on the island in 1865.

Underhill said that, "There has been an alarming increase of crime, mainly theft, in Jamaica.

This is caused by the extreme poverty of the people.

They cannot purchase clothing, partly from higher taxes which have greatly increased costs, and partly from their lack of employment and wages." So thinking about that extract, does Underhill's letter suggest Black Jamaicans received much help from the colonial government and how can you tell? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, so if we think about Underhill's letter, there's a couple of phrases that really stand out.

He talks about extreme poverty, about Black Jamaicans not being able to purchase clothing, and he talks about higher taxes being placed on those items as well as there being a lack of employment and wages.

From all of this, we get the impression that Black Jamaicans did not receive much help from the colonial government.

In fact, we actually can assume from Underhill's letter that some problems were made worse by the government and forced some Jamaicans to turn to crime instead.

We see this when Underhill talks about there having been an alarming increase in crime, especially theft.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, what did Dr.

Edward Underhill blame for the rise in theft in Jamaica in the 1860s? Was it poor policing, racial discrimination, or widespread poverty? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

Dr.

Edward Underhill blamed widespread poverty for what he called an alarming increase in crime, especially theft.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about life in Jamaica in the 1860s into practise.

I want you to answer two questions.

Firstly, you should describe one political difficulty faced by Black Jamaicans in the 1860s.

And then I want you to describe one socioeconomic difficulty faced by Black Jamaicans in the 1860s.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, I asked you to describe one political difficulty faced by Black Jamaicans in the 1860s, and your answer may have included Black Jamaicans did not have a lot of political power.

For example, despite making up a majority of the colony's population, racial discrimination meant that just 2,000 Black Jamaicans could vote.

And most members at the House of Assembly were white.

So well done if your own response to question one look something like that model.

And for question two, I asked you to describe one socioeconomic difficulty faced by Black Jamaicans in the 1860s.

For this question, your answer may have included, many Black Jamaicans lived in poverty.

Average wages actually fell by 25% in Jamaica from 1861 to 1865 and high taxes made it hard for people to afford basic goods such as food and clothing.

So again, if your answer looks something like that model we've just seen, really well done.

And now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today where we're going to focus on the Morant Bay Rebellion.

In 1865, a rebellion began in Jamaica.

The rebellion occurred as a result of the various difficulties Black Jamaicans faced in the economy.

Although the rebellion only lasted for days, it led to the deaths of over 400 people and had a significant impact on Jamaica.

In October 1865, a Black man stood on trial in a Jamaican court at Morant Bay.

The man faced charges of trespassing on a plantation despite the fact that the plantation itself had been abandoned for many years.

Believing this was unjust, a large crowd of Black Jamaicans gathered outside of the court in protest.

Whilst the protest had been peaceful, a fight later broke out after the police attempted to arrest one of the protestors.

Following this, orders were issued for the arrest of several protestors for rioting.

Two days later, a crowd of Black Jamaicans marched to Morant Bay once again.

The crowd was met by a group of militia, voluntary soldiers organised in a colony.

After being hit with sticks and stones by the crowd, the militia opened fire on the crowd.

Angered by this, the crowd burned down the court in Morant Bay alongside several other buildings.

25 people were killed on both sides during this violence, which saw the entire area around Morant Bay taken over by the rebels.

So, thinking about what we've heard so far, what triggered the beginning of the Morant Bay Rebellion? Was it tax increases on food, an unfair court case, or the appointment of a new governor? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

The Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865 was triggered by an unfair court case against a Black Jamaican man.

Although the rebels were poorly armed, the governor of Jamaica, Edward Eyre, sent government troops to end the rebellion and permitted the use of extraordinary violence.

Soldiers burned thousands of homes belonging to Black Jamaicans and killed hundreds of people.

Amongst those killed by soldiers were many Black men and women who had not even been involved in either the riot outside of the court or the rebellion which followed.

354 Jamaicans also faced arrest as a result of the Morant Bay Rebellion.

This included George William Gordon, a mixed-race businessman and a representative in the House of Assembly.

Although Gordon lived in a different part of Jamaica to where the rebellion had occurred, he had been openly critical of the government's failure to do more to help Black Jamaicans in the past.

Governor Eyre believed that Jamaica's Black population were not capable of organising rebellion on their own and suspected that Gordon must have been involved.

Gordon was denied a fair trial, found guilty after just two days without any proper evidence, and executed.

Many other Black Jamaicans were also executed despite there being little evidence of their individual guilt.

In total, 439 Black Jamaicans had been killed by the end of the rebellion.

So, let's reflect on everything we just heard.

Who was the governor of Jamaica at the time at the Morant Bay Rebellion? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was Governor Edward Eyre.

And let's try another question.

This time we have a statement that says, many innocent Black Jamaicans faced punishment during the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that George William Gordon was arrested and executed and the second says that 439 Black Jamaicans were killed during the rebellion.

So which one of those two justifications is best at demonstrating that our original statement was true? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the better justification was A, George William Gordon was arrested and executed.

This was despite the fact that Gordon lived in an entirely different part of Jamaica to where the rebellion had taken place and had not been involved in it at all.

So, we're now ready to put our knowledge of the Morant Bay Rebellion into practise.

I want you to study the events shown in the table.

Starting with the earliest, you should sort those events into chronological order.

Use the numbers one to six to indicate your answers.

The events which you need to think about organising are large crowd of Black Jamaicans march to Morant Bay.

Total death toll of Black Jamaicans reaches 439.

Protests outside of Morant Bay Court turns violent.

Government troops burn down whole villages.

Rebels burn Morant Bay Court after militia attack.

And George William Gordon arrested and executed.

So remember, you're organising each of those events into chronological order using numbers one to six to indicate your answer.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answers.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, to organise the events chronologically, they should have gone as follows.

The first event was that protests outside of Morant Bay Court turned violent.

Secondly, a large crowd of Black Jamaicans marched to Morant Bay.

This was followed by rebels burning Morant Bay Court after the local militia attacked them.

Fourthly, government troops burned down whole villages.

This was followed by George William Gordon being arrested and executed.

And then finally, from our events on our list, you should have had that the total death toll of Black Jamaicans reached 439.

So really well done, especially if you managed to organise each of those events into their correct chronological order.

So now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of today's lesson where we're going to focus on Jamaica after the rebellion.

In the wake of the Morant Bay Rebellion, the British government made important changes to how Jamaica was governed.

This included making Jamaica a Crown Colony and replacing Governor Eyre.

The violence involved in the ending of the Morant Bay Rebellion led to widespread criticism in Britain of Jamaican politics.

Consequently, the British government made the decision to abolish the Jamaican House of Assembly.

This decision meant that Jamaica was no longer a self-governing colony.

Instead, it became a crown Colony ruled directly by the British government.

It was argued that this action would help to protect Black Jamaicans from mistreatment as important decisions on the island would no longer have to be approved by the white-dominated assembly.

However, individuals such as Edward Johnson and Robert Osborne, who had both been Black representatives in the House of Assembly, criticised the end of self-governance.

Although Black Jamaicans had been badly underrepresented in the House of Assembly, they had still gained a voice in government through the assembly.

By contrast, direct rule excluded Black Jamaicans from political decision making as power was held by white British governors who chose rich, white Jamaican landowners to help them.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

The British government's decision to abolish the House of Assembly meant that Jamaica became a blank colony.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was crown.

The British government's decision to abolish the House of Assembly meant that Jamaica became a Crown Colony.

In other words, it came under direct rule of the British government.

And let's try another question.

How did the abolition of the House of Assembly affect Black Jamaicans' political power? Was it that they gained political power, that there was no impact on their political power, or that they lost political power? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

Although Black Jamaicans had been underrepresented by the House of Assembly, they'd still been able to elect some representatives to that body.

When Jamaica was placed under direct rule as it became a Crown Colony, Black Jamaicans were completely excluded from government and decision-making, meaning that they lost some of the political power which they did have.

The British government also made the decision to replace Governor Eyre after the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Eyre's replacement was John Peter Grant.

As governor, Grant was responsible for many reforms in Jamaica, including the appointment of judges from Britain rather than Jamaica as it was believed these judges would be more willing to treat Black Jamaicans fairly.

Grant also oversaw the introduction of the first large scale government project for improving farmland on the island and provided greater access to medical services.

Nevertheless, poverty remained a serious issue for many Black Jamaicans as no direct financial assistance was provided to help them and there remained considerable inequality between the wealth of the colony's white and Black populations.

So, thinking about what we just heard, I want you to tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

Governor Grant helped most Black Jamaicans to escape from poverty.

So is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that Grant followed the exact same policies as Governor Eyre before him.

And the second says that Grant made some helpful reforms but provided no financial assistance.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct justification was B, Grant made some helpful reforms but he failed to provide direct financial assistance to Black Jamaicans so they continued to live in poverty.

We're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about life in Jamaica into practise.

So, I want you to answer the following question.

Did the lives of Black Jamaicans improve after the Morant Bay Rebellion? And you need to explain your answer.

You may refer to the following as part of your response.

Crown Colony and Governor Grant.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you, did the lives of Black Jamaicans improve after the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865? And your answer may have included, after the Morant Bay Rebellion, there was some improvements in the lives of Black Jamaicans.

For example, after Governor Eyre was replaced by John Peter Grant, the Colonial government provided greater access to medical services and appointed judges who were less likely to discriminate against Black Jamaicans.

Nevertheless, even under Governor Grant, poor islanders received no direct financial assistance, so poverty remained a major problem.

Furthermore, when Jamaica became a Crown Colony, it lost its House of Assembly which also cost Black Jamaicans the opportunity to gain political power.

Therefore, it could be argued that overall, Black Jamaicans' lives did not improve after 1865.

So really well done if your own answer looks something like our model, especially if you were able to include both of the prompts which are provided at the start of this task.

And that means we'd now reach the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about the British Empire in Jamaica.

We've seen that the majority of colonial Jamaica's population was Black.

In the early 1860s, Black Jamaicans suffered from political discrimination and poverty.

In 1865, many Black Jamaicans rebelled during the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Black Jamaicans lost political power after the Morant Bay Rebellion as the island became a Crown Colony.

And Governor John Peter Grant introduced many reforms after 1866 but these made little difference to poverty in Jamaica.

So really well done for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you for our resources and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about the British Empire and continue to ask ourselves, to what extent was the empire transformed in the mid 19th century?.