JAMAICAN HEROES

SAM SHARPE
Sharpe was born into a world of slavery where one human could buy and sell another human being. His master was reported to be a kind person and he was given the opportunity to learn to read and write. He grew up in Montego Bay where he became a Baptist by religion.
 He was made a class leader and his primary goal was the destruction of slavery. He persuaded the other slaves to follow his plan for "Passive Resistance" a technique similar to a general all-island sit down strike. It was planned for December 28, 1831. On the night before, however, some slaves got drunk and set fire to buildings and cane fields. Other estates were burnedn and a rit was started.
Sharpe gave himself up and was executed in the Montego Bay market place on May 23, 1832. In July 1833, The Abolition Bill was tabled in the British Parliament. Samuel Sharpe and the 500 slaves who were killed as a result of the uprising, had not died in vain.

PAUL BOGLE
Paul Bogle, a Baptist Deacon, emerged a leader for the people of Jamaica in 1865 due to poor conditions for peasant farmers and a lack of publick confidence in the Government. Bogle was born in Stony Gut, a few miles north of Morant Bay, St. Thomas. He formed a committee to present the grievances of the people to Governor, Edward Eyre.
On August 12, 1865, after walking 45 miles to Spanish Town, he was denied an audience with Governor Eyre. On October 7, Bogle and a small crowd marched to the Morant Bay Courthouse and a fight broke out between Bogle's men and the police. On October 11, they marched again and the militia was called out. Bogle was later caught by a party of maroons and brought to Morant Bay for trial. He was hanged on October 24, 1865.
A statue of Bogle was erected in front of the Morant Bay Courthouse. His picture appears on the Jamaican two dollar note and ten cent coin.
GEORGE WILLIAM GORDON
Gordon was the son of Scottish planter Joseph Gordon and a slave woman. They lived in the hills of St. Andrew. Gordon was educated in Black River, where he was a Baptist by religion and erected a tabernacle in Kingston, the Kingston Tabernacle, where he often preached. He ordained deacons such as Paul Bogle.
In 1844 he entered politics as an advocate of the poverty-stricken negro peasants. He bitterly criticised the insensitivity of Governor Edward Eyre. He was blamed for the "Morant Bay Uprising" in 1865, arrested and court-martialed on board the HMS Wolverene on October 21, 1865. He was hanged on October 23.
Gordon House, the House of Parliament, is named after him and his picture appears on the Jamaican ten dollar bill.
SIR ALEXANDER BUSTAMANTE
He was born at Blenheim Estate in Hanover on February 24, 1884. His father was an Irish Planter, Robert Constantine Clarke and his mother Mary Clarke nee Wilson. He was named William Alexander Clarke, but later changed his name by deed poll. His grandmother, Elsie Clarke-Shearer was also the grandmother of Bustamante's great contemporary and fellow National Hero, Norman Washington Manley.
He attended elementary school at Cacoon and Dalmalley. In 1904, he was employed as a store clerk and shortly after he became a junior overseer at Belmont Estate. He travelled the island as well as Cuba, Panama and the United States. In 1938, he became a labour leader speaking for the rights of sugar, dock and railway workers.
He was arrested on May 23, and charged with sedition but was freed on May 28, largely due to the negotiation skills of Norman Manley. He formed the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (B.I.T.U.) and later the Jamaica Labour Party in 1943. He won the first general election held in 1944 and later became Jamaica's first Prime Minister after Independence on August 6, 1962.
He married Miss Gladys Longbridge, his private secretary and long time confidante. His portrait appears on the Jamaica one dollar coin. His birthplace is a national shrine. Bustamante Port in Newport East & West as well as the Bustamante Children's Hospital were named after him. He died on August 6, 1977.
NORMAN WASHINGTON MANLEY
Norman Manley was one of Jamaica's modern founding fathers who helped forge the dream of nationhood. He was born on July 4, 1893 at Roxborough in the Mandeville hills. His parents were Thomas Albert Samuel Manley and Margaret Manley. At the age of six, the family moved to Belmont in Guanaboa Vale, a property jointly owned by Margaret and her father Alexander Shearer. He attended Old Beckford & Smith High School and Jamaica College. He was awarded the 1914 Thodes Scholaship to Oxford University.
With the declaration of war, Norman enlisted in the British Army and was awarded the Military Medal. He entered Oxford after the war and was called to the Jamaican Bar in 1922.
He married Edna Swithenbank and produced two sons Douglas and Michael. Norman Washington Manley launched the People's National Party in 1938 and led the demand for full Adult Suffrage in 1944. He also led the fight to abolish the British Constitution.
He died on September 2, 1969 at the age of 76 after a brief illness. Norman was declared a National Hero in 1969. The International Airport at Palisadoes, a high school, as well as the Law School at U.W.I., Mona, bear his name and his face appears on the Jamaican five dollar note.
MARCUS MOSIAH GARVEY
Garvey was born in St. Ann's Bay on August 17, 1887. After completing elementary school he continued his education through private tuition and Sunday School. He later became a printer and his interest grew in politics, cultural organisation, trade union, development and journalism.
In 1910 Garvey set off to Costa Rica where he worked as a timekeeper on a banana plantation. He travelled South America extensively. In 1911, he went to England where he learned about leading black nationalists and Africa. In 1914, he returned to Jamaica and started the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). He later moved to New York where he set up a chapter of the UNIA. By 1921, he was the leader of the largest black organization in history with membership of 11 million. In 1919, he launched the Black Star Line Steamship Company. He was arrested in 1922 for using the mail to defraud. He was deported to Jamaica in 1927 and threw himself into the hub of political life. He founded the People's Political Party in 1929. He died in June 1940, after suffering two strokes.
A statue of Garvey has been erected on the grounds of the St. Ann Parish Library and his picture appears on the Jamaican fifty cent coin.
NANNY OF THE MAROONS
Nanny, a vibrant energetic African girl, came to Jamaica as a slave along wither her five brothers, Cudjoe, Accompong, Jonny, Cuffy and Quao. They were descendants of the powerful Ashanti tribe of West Africa. They were well trained warriors.
When Nanny came to Jamaica, islandwide slave rebellions were taking place. Maroon villages were well organized and defended. Accustomed to women being treated with respect, Nanny hated the severe cruelty meted out to female slaves. She and her brothers escaped from the estate on which they were placed. She went to Portland.
Nanny became leader of the Blue Mountain Rebel Town Maroons (later renamed Nanny Town), in 1920 and was a pillar of strength as well as an outstanding military leader. The British were only able to capture Nanny Town in 1734. She later agreed to a truce with the British. Nanny's Maroons were later given 500 acres of land in Cotta Wood (renamed New Nanny Town).
Nanny died in 1750 and was buried at the "Bump Grave" in Maroon Town. Her face appears on the Jamaican five hundred dollar note.