Julien Fédon

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Julien Fédon (also: Fedon , Foedonn , Feydn , Fidon ; † around 1796) was the leader of the Fédon's Rebellion , a revolt against British rule in Grenada , which was carried out by free, racially mixed French-speaking settlers and which took place between 1795 and Occurred June 1796.

The Fédon's Rebellion broke out in the same year as several other rebellions in the West Indies , namely in Cuba , Jamaica , and Coro , Venezuela . In the 19th and 20th centuries, Fédon was considered a folk hero in Grenada and influenced the nationalist leaders and revolutionaries on the island.

Life

Julien Fédon was born in Martinique . The father was Pierre Fédon , a French jeweler who had emigrated from Bordeaux to Martinique in 1749. The mother was a freed black slave. The family moved to Grenada in the 1750s when the island was under French rule. However, the historian Edward Cox writes that Fédon had not yet lived there in 1772 and may have moved there later.

In Grenada, Fédon married Marie Rose Cavelan a mulatto in 1787 and settled on Belvedere Estate, a plantation in the Parish of Saint John . He was appointed General of the French Republican Forces in Guadeloupe .

Fédon began his revolt in Grenada on the night of March 2, 1795. His goals were the abolition of slavery, civil rights for freedmen and the abolition of British colonial rule so that the French people should come back to power. With the help of around 100 freed slaves and mulattos, Fédon fought against the landowners of the island and the white British bourgeoisie . The rebels first attacked the cities of Grenville and Gouyave . They looted and burned houses and dragged the British settlers onto the streets to execute them. After returning to the mountains around Belvedere, the rebels joined forces with a large group of slaves who had left the plantations. Fédon had several fortifications built in the mountains to withstand British attacks.

During the rebellion, 14,000 of the then 28,000 slaves were allied with the revolutionaries. 7,000 of them were killed. Many of the French settlers who witnessed the return of Grenada to the British in 1763 also joined, along with a few French Catholics who, because of their religion, were deprived of their civil rights and political participation by the British as the British suppressed Catholicism.

On April 8, 1796, a brother of Fédon died in a British attack. In order to avenge the death of his brother, Fédon ordered the execution of 48 of the 53 prisoners held at their headquarters, including the then governor Ninian Home .

From their quarters in the mountains, the rebels were able to control the whole island except for the government seat of St. George . The attacks failed and historians consider this to be the main reason the rebellion failed. Fédon also often allowed the British units to regroup and recover without attacking them.

The day after the failed attack on St. George, the units of Fédon were on the steep slopes at Mt. Qua Qua . The few who survived threw themselves down the mountain. Fédon himself was never caught and his whereabouts after the revolt are unknown. Some historians believe that he sought salvation while fleeing in a canoe and that he might have perished at sea.

ideology

Fédon was influenced by the French Revolution , the French revolutionary leaders in Guadeloupe and the Haitian Revolution . His goal was a new Black Republic in Grenada based on the Guadeloupe model. His well-known followers ( Jean-Pierre La Valette , Charles Nogues , Stanislaus Besson , Etienne Ventour and Joachim Phillip ) were also shaped by the ideals of the French Revolution ( freedom, equality, brotherhood ).

legacy

The mountain on which the rebels had their headquarters, at Fédons Belvedere Estate in the center of Grenada, is the only place on the island that was named after him. The mountain was previously called Morne Vauclain . However, the family name Fédon has disappeared from the island of Grenada.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Curtis Jacobs: The Fédons of Grenada, 1763-1814 . 2008-08-31. University of the West Indies .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Paul Crask: Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique . Bradt Travel Guides Ltd, England. January 2009. p. 136.
  3. ^ Edward L. Cox: Fedon's Rebellion 1795-96: Causes and Consequences. In: The Journal of Negro History. vol. 67, 1, 1982-01-01, pp. 7-19 (doi = 10.2307 / 2717757 jstor = 2717757)
  4. ↑ Kit Candlin: The Last Caribbean Frontier, 1795-1815 . Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies. Palgrave Macmillan 2012: p. 3.
  5. ^ A b c Taylor, Caldwell: The Fedon Rebellion (March 2, 1795 – June 19, 1796) . March 2013.
  6. ↑ Reports from the prisoners can be found in the Anglican or Catholic churches in Gouyave, Grenada .

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fédon, Julien
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Foedonn, Julien; Feydn, Julien; Fidon, Julien
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Leader of an uprising in Grenada
DATE OF BIRTH 18th century
DATE OF DEATH around 1796