1795-Aug.-Mid: A violent rising of the enslaved erupted on the island of Curaçao, beginning as a coordinated work stoppage on a western sugar p

1795-Aug.-Mid: A violent rising of the enslaved erupted on the island of Curaçao, beginning as a coordinated work stoppage on a western sugar plantation. More than one thousand enslaved people joined the strike, demanding their freedom and directing their rage against the local prisons for the enslaved. The rebels freed inmates and launched a wave of attacks on plantations that threatened the entire Dutch colonial administration. Influenced by the nearby Haitian Revolution, leaders like “Toussaint” and “Rigaud” (Toelo) sought to replicate the successes of the French Negroes. Although the insurrection was eventually contained by government troops, the public execution of its leaders underscored the state’s terror of the revolutionary spirit.