The destruction of Napoleon’s fleet at Trafalgar in 1805, and the subsequent defeat of the French off Santo Domingo by Admiral Duckworth (February 6, 1806), resulted in Jamaica ceasing to have to provide largely for her own defence. During the years when Napolean’s ships were moving over the waters of the Caribbean, this Colony sometimes spent as much as $120,000 a year for the support of the soldiers maintained here. This huge expenditure steadily creased after the defeat of Napoleon at sea, and his later downfall.

Jamaica’s importance as a military and naval station declined steadily during the nineteenth century. The wealth which came to this island through its being made, at the time of the Napoleonic wars, a depot for goods to be smuggled or sold to the neighboring Spanish-American countries, diminished also. Twenty years after the battle of Trafalgar the Jamaican planters began to complain bitterly of poverty. The great days of Jamaica’s prosperity were over. Her days of adversity had begun.

The abolition of the slave trade also brought about considerable changes in the treatment of the slaves. It no longer paid to work a slave beyond the limits of his endurance. As no more workers could be imported from Africa, the value of those in the island increased greatly. The slaves were allowed a small piece of land on the plantations on which they worked, and they could cultivate this bit of land one day in every two weeks. What remained of the provisions they grew after had taken enough for their own support, they were allowed to sell. Thus a good many slaves acquired money. These either bought themselves out of slavery, or purchased the freedom of their children, before the abolition took place.

In 1808 The Duke of Manchester, who also held the title of Viscount Mandeville, arrived as Governor. In the same year there was a mutiny among the men of the 2nd West India Regiment, stationed at Fort Augusta. The mutiny was chiefly confined to the recruits, who were Africans. The older soldiers remained faithful, and shot down the mutineers.

In 1809 a conspiracy of the slaves in Kingston to burn down the city and murder the white inhabitants was discovered. The ringleaders were put to death.

In 1814 the Baptist Mission was founded, and the largest coffee crop ever reaped in Jamaica was shipped away.

In 1816 the law which enacted that for giving a slave his liberty the owner should pay £100 to the Government was rescinded. This law had been passed to prevent owners from liberating too many of their slaves.

In 1815, Simon Bolivar, the Liberator of Spanish Central America, came to Jamaica as a political refugee and remained for about seven months. The Duke of Manchester entertained him. This was the year of the Battle of Waterloo.

In 1818 Jamaica was visited by two severe hurricanes, one in the month of October and another in November. In the following year the Government made a determined effort to exterminate the dangerous gangs of runaway slaves, numbering nearly 2,600, who infested the country, robbing travellers, stealing cattle and whatever else they could put their hands upon. Many of them were captured or slain.

In 1820 the Duke of Manchester fell from his horse and fractured his skull. He left the island for a time, and General Conran became Lieutenant-Governor.

In 1823 the House of Assembly refused to accept the British Government’s instructions for making easier the condition of the slaves. The House of Assembly declared that the code under which the slaves were governed was calculated ‘to render the slave population as happy and comfortable, in every respect, as the labouring class in any part of the world.’ The planters objected to any interference on the part of the British Government with themselves or their slaves.

In 1824 the Presbyterian Church of Jamaica was founded. The year after Jamaica was constituted an independent Episcopal See, and the Right Reverend Christopher Lipscombe, D.D., came to Jamaica as the first Bishop of the Anglican Church.

In 1827 the Duke of Manchester retired after having governed Jamaica for nineteen years. The parish of Manchester and the town of Mandeville had both been named for him. Major General Sir John Keen became Lieutenant-Governor.

In 1829 the Earl of Belmore arrived as Governor. The year after hi arrival there was a hurricane.

In 1831 a great insurrection of the slaves broke out in St. James and rapidly spread to the parishes of Trelawny, Hanover, Westmoreland St. Elizabeth and Manchester. For many years the agitation against the treatment of the slaves in Jamaica had been going on in England with increased vigour. The oppression of the slaves by Jamaican planters was violently denounced in England by the abolitionists, and in Jamaica the planters talked loudly of the injustice to which they were subjected in England. The slaves heard of what was taking place in England, and some of them believed that the King had granted them freedom and that they were being wrongly kept in bondage by their owners.

In 1832 the Earl of Belmore left Jamaica, and the Earl of Mulgrave arrived as Governor. He urged upon the House of Assembly the necessity of adopting measures looking to the better treatment of the slaves. The House returned a petulant answer. It denied the right of the British House of Commons to assume any power of supremacy over the colonists of Jamaica, and it declined to act on either the suggestions of the Governor or the resolutions of the House of Commons. The British Parliament then determined to act decisively.

In 1833 in May, the English Colonial Secretary stated in the House of Commons that all appeals to the slave-holders had been made in vain, and that the British nation must now, on its own initiative, suppress slavery in all the British Dominions. The Abolition Act was passed on August 28. It enacted that all children under six years of age should be set free. There was to be a six years’ period of ‘apprenticeship’ from 1834 to 1840, after which every slave in the British Empire should receive full freedom. The British Parliament voted £20,000,000 as compensation to the slave-holders in the Empire. Of this amount, £5,853,975 was the share that fell to the Jamaican slave-holders.

In 1834 the Marquis of Sligo arrived as Governor. The apprenticeship system began under him. On the Ist of August, 1834, all the chapels and churches in the island, except one or two churches in Kingston, were opened for Divine Service. These places of worship were attended by thousands of the people. On the following Monday the ‘apprentices’ turned out to work, except in the Parish of St. Ann. In two or three other parishes some minor disturbances occurred later on. On the whole, it was soon found that the apprenticeship system was not working well. The planters, angry that they had been defeated in their struggle to maintain slavery, inflicted numerous punishments on the apprentices. Consequently it was determined, by the British Parliament in 1838, that the period of apprenticeship should cease on the Ist August, 1838.

In 1838, on August 1, there were demonstrations throughout the island to celebrate the first day of complete freedom. In Spanish Town, the capital, a hearse containing the chains and shackles that were sometimes put on rebellious slaves was driven through the streets, and these symbols of slavery were solemnly buried. There were bonfires and feasting every-where. Queen Victoria, who had lately ascended the throne, was blessed as the author of the people's freedom.

In 1839 Sir Charles Metcalfe succeeded Sir Lionel Smith as Governor. In this same year a drought began; and it lasted till the Spring of 1841, causing a great deal of loss and distress.

In 1841 a number of African immigrants arrived to work on the sugar estates. These people were imported to replace the slaves, as the planters contended that it was absolutely necessary to get labour from outside Jamaica. The importation of African labour was not continued.

In 1842 the Earl of Elgin arrived as Governor. In that same year the General Agricultural Society of Jamaica was founded, and the Calabar College was opened.

In 1845 two very important events occurred. The Jamaica Railway, then under a private company, was opened for traffic. The line ran from Kingston to a place called Angels, nearly fifteen miles away.

In 1847 Sir Charles Edward Gray became Governor. The financial condition of the colony was bad, and a year later it became much worse.

In 1848, adopted the policy of Free Trade, allowing goods from foreign countries to enter the English market on the same terms as goods from the British colonies. In former days, sugar from Cuba had paid a far heavier duty in the English market than Jamaican sugar. When this advantage was lost, Jamaica could not compete with Cuba and other foreign sugar-producing countries, especially as many of those countries cultivated their estates by means of slave labour. A crisis occurred in Jamaica. The Planters’ Bank which had helped the planters in need of ready money, closed its doors, and the people of the colony declared loudly that the expenses of the Government would have to be reduced. The financial troubles continued for some time, but a still more serious calamity was approaching.

In 1850 Asiatic cholera made its appearance in Jamaica. There was little or no sanitation in the towns of Jamaica at that time. Dwelling houses were crowded; the yards were kept in a filthy condition; the streets were neglected, and refuse of every description was allowed to rot in them. The water for use in the city and towns was often very impure. Cholera therefore found this country an easy victim and 32,000 people died during the epidemic.

In 1852 smallpox broke out in Jamaica. It also claimed a large number of victims.

In 1853 Sir Henry Barkly arrived as Governor. He inaugurated a change in the Constitution under which Jamaicans, including Edward Jordan, were appointed to an executive committee. Population had decreased, many estates had gone out of cultivation, the people were poverty-stricken, revenue could not easily be raised and there was no money in the Treasury. The British Government was compelled to lend Jamaica £500,000 to pay off the debts that had accumulated.

In 1857 Captain Charles Darling was appointed Governor of Jamaica. By this time the colony had somewhat recovered from its recent deplorable condition.

In 1858 Jamaican postage stamps were first issued.

In 1859 the telegraph system was introduced into the colony. There were two local riots during this year.

In 1861 a great religious revival occurred in Jamaica. It soon degenerated into superstitious practices.

In 1862 Mr. Edward John Eyre became Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica, and in 1864 he was made Governor. The disputes between the planters and the labouring population had grown more bitter and more intense every year since the emancipation. The labourers and their leaders objected to the bringing of cookies to the country. Since 1861 the American Civil War had been raging, with the result that food imported from America was very dear. The Revival had also unsettled the minds of the people, and from 1863 a severe drought had begun to afflict the country.

In 1866 early in January, a Royal Commission arrived from England to enquire into the origin and suppression of the rebellion.