British plans for slave registration triggered immediate planter and slave resistance

Evidence

In 1815, a parliamentary campaign resulted in the first Order-in-Council for the Registry. The registration of slaves could now proceed in the Crown colonies (those without assemblies), and colonial governors would encourage colonial assemblies to enact their own registration procedures. The planters, however, recognized the Registry for what it was: an initiative to destroy the slave system. “Resisted by the planters even in Trinidad, implementation was delayed in the Guyanas, and in Jamaica it was categorically rejected.” Four months into 1816, in Barbados, it became clear that the Africans also recognized the import of the Registry: The rebellion broke out with shocking suddenness on Easter Sunday night, 14 April 1816, at a time when the slaves were free from work and had ample opportunities for organization under cover of the permitted festivities. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 790