Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War by Vincent Brown (review)

In Tacky's Revolt, Vincent Brown asserts that slave revolts were "viewed as war" (5). Furthermore, he argues that Tacky's revolt in Jamaica was simultaneously part of four conflicts. These included "an extension of African wars" that continued in the colonies after the forced migration of enslaved people; "a race war" as white and black people came into conflict on plantations; an internal conflict among black Jamaicans; and "one of the hardest-fought battles" of the Seven Years' War (7). Generally, Brown's purpose is to bring Africa into focus as an integral part in the development of European Atlantic empires, and to show the way wars for enslavement stretched throughout the Atlantic region to morph into race war on plantations and wars for imperial dominance. This Atlantic history of war brings the interconnectedness of Africa, the colonial Americas, and Europe into sharper focus. More specifically, Brown points to Tacky's rebellion, and the larger Coromantee War, in Jamaica as a major military event of the Seven Years' War. In six chapters, Brown convincingly accomplishes his goals.

In Chapter 1, Brown takes readers to Africa in an examination of African politics and wars for enslavement. Slave uprisings and wars for domination had roots in Africa with the enslaved people at the heart of these violent conflicts. European involvement among African polities caused widespread disarray as entire societies were devastated by wars to capture slaves. Furthermore, the enslaved people who took part in slave uprisings came from a variety of military and leadership backgrounds from these same wars that caused their capture. Brown also takes readers down multiple intellectual paths as he offers various backstories for Apongo, or Wager, one of the leaders in the Coromantee uprisings in 1760–61. Although we do not know much about Apongo's background before enslavement, Brown provides several convincing possibilities. The precise backstory of Apongo is less important than understanding how the growing violence and instability in Africa offers many ways for military men to be enslaved and sent to Jamaica.

Brown continues his argument for the connection between enslavement and Atlantic war in Chapter 2 by examining the violence that was colonial Jamaican society. Reminiscent of Trevor Burnard's argument in Mastery, Tyranny, and Desire, Brown offers convincing evidence that Jamaica was a militaristic society where white planters waged unrelenting war on their enslaved labourers for dominance and control. The institution of slavery and success of plantations hinged on ensuring enslaved people worked the land to its complete and full potential. Militarism threaded through Jamaican society from a "military governor" at the top to combat-ready militiamen seeded throughout the island working in towns and on plantations overseeing their enslaved labourers. Before Apongo ended up on a Jamaican plantation, he worked as an enslaved sailor under his owner, Captain Arthur Forrest. This ship, the HMS Wager, eventually provided Apongo's other given name in the records. Just as Apongo likely had a military and leadership background in Africa, the enslaved man also fought in Britain's imperial wars.

Chapter 3 focuses on "Coromantee", the term for the prized enslaved people from the Gold Coast. Coromantees were not one linguistic group. In fact, the enslaved people described as "Coromantee," and a variety of other spellings, spoke a myriad of languages from diverse polities. Most importantly, before Coromantee slaves came to be prided in Jamaica, the diversity of their backgrounds and paths to enslavement allowed for a multitude of perspectives for navigating enslavement and dealing with plantation whites. Particularly, war came to define the Gold Coast. New weapons, alliances, and European involvement altered political and social life. An understanding of military tactics and a knowledge of navigating terrain were imperative skills. After enslavement, Gold Coast people carried this knowledge to Jamaica and adapted it to the mountainous landscape. Although they shared a common ethnicity, Gold Coast Africans did not necessarily share political bonds. Enslaved people had to often navigate around...