1791-Dec.-10: Facing the approach of the Christmas season, traditionally the most difficult time to enforce plantation discipline, the Governor and Assembly…

1791-Dec.-10: Facing the approach of the Christmas season, traditionally the most difficult time to enforce plantation discipline, the Governor and Assembly of Jamaica instituted martial law throughout the island. This drastic measure was intended to preempt any local imitation of the general insurrection in Saint-Domingue by mobilizing newly raised militia units. The state shored up its defenses and petitioned London for additional arms, soldiers, and warships to maintain the racial order. For the white minority, the suspension of civil law represented a desperate attempt to suppress the “phrenzy” of revolution spreading through the archipelago. The imposition of military rule highlighted the fragility of a colonial system built upon the intense exploitation of a restless black majority.