Cuffy (slave)
Cuffy († after May 13, 1763 ) is the national hero of Guyana . He was born in the Akan tribe in West Africa and shipped as a slave to America , where he had to work as a house slave in the then Dutch colony of Berbice in Lelienburg.
On February 23, 1763, a revolt began among the slaves who accepted Cuffy as their leader. The blacks captured rifles and gunpowder in raids on plantations. They also captured some whites, including a wife for Cuffy. Cuffy's opponent was the Dutch governor van Hogenheim, who tried to retake the colony.
Although the blacks were in the majority, they could not agree on a unified line against the Dutch. While Cuffy advocated a division of the country (whites on the coast, blacks inland), his deputy Akara pursued an aggressive tactic. This eventually led to internal struggles and Cuffy's suicide in 1763. Ultimately, the Dutch regained control of Berbice.
After Guyana gained independence, February 23 became a national holiday, the anniversary of Cuffy's uprising. Cuffy is depicted on the $ 1 FAO coin from 1970.
Web links
- Odeen Ishmael: The Beginning of the Berbice Slave Rebellion ; from: Odeen Ishmael: The Guyana Story (From Earliest Times to Independence) ; 2005, revised in 2012, on the Guyana News and Information website.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cuffy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | National hero of Guyana |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 18th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | after May 13, 1763 |