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Description

Scarce plan of Berbice, Surinam, illustrating the town at the time of the Slave Revolt of 1763.

The Berbice Slave Revolt began in February 1763 and lasted into 1764. The uprising began on Plantation Magdalenenberg on the Canje River in Berbice. The slaves rebelled, protesting harsh and inhumane treatment, and took control of the region. As plantation after plantation fell to the slaves, the European population fled. Eventually only about half of the whites who had lived in the colony remained.

Led by a slave named Cuffy, the rebels came to number about 3,000 and threatened European control over the Guianas. The insurgents were defeated with the assistance of troops from neighboring French and British colonies and from Europe.