ABSTRACT
Jamaica in the 1790s would appear to have been the most vulnerable of all slave societies to the inflammatory example of St. Domingue and attempts of proselytizing agents to spread its message. This chapter examines several episodes that constituted the main challenges to the Jamaican plantocracy of the 1790s. It suggests that the impact of the St. Domingue Revolution on Jamaica's slaves was slight, at least as measured by overt response. The chapter attempts to explain why this was so and, drawing on data from a number of American societies and consider implications for the study of slave resistance in general. The evidence shows that Jamaican slaves were well informed of events in St. Domingue, that they responded positively, and that on the densely populated north coast a rebellion apparently was planned for Christmas 1791. Data from the Spanish Caribbean also point to the importance of troop levels in deterring slave resistance.
