Two Akan Takyis – Antigua and Barbuda and Jamaica

Throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean, Emancipation Day, end of slavery, is commemorated in August. Many enslaved had been in continuous rebellion.

On April 8, Jamaica observed Chief Takyi Day recalling the leader of the 1760 Easter slave rebellion in the parish of St Mary. Tacky was from the Gold Coast region of West Africa, now Ghana. In the British West Indies (BWI), Akan people were known as Coromantee. In Akan, Takyi is a traditional name. Anglicised, it became Tacky or Tackey. Takyi refers to someone of strength and authority and was associated with leadership.

The first foiled slave revolt planned in British-ruled Jamaica in 1690 reportedly involved Akan peoples.

Several leaders of slave uprisings in the BWI were of the Akan people. These included Takyi Kwaku, also known as King Court Tackey and Prince Klaas in Antigua, Tacky in Jamaica, and Kofi in Guyana. Kofi led the unsuccessful 1763 slave uprising in Berbice, then a Dutch colony. The leaders of the Jamaican Maroons, free people who were either descendants of or former slaves, were Akan. The Maroons had their own war with the British from 1728 to 1740, which inspired those then enslaved.

ANTIGUA’S TACKEY

Antigua’s Tackey was born circa 1694 and was from the Akan Ashanti ethnic group. It seems that at the time of his capture on the Gold Coast his name was Takyi Kwaku. At 10 years old, he was a prisoner from the Eguafo civil war. He was then sold into slavery to the British and was transported to Antigua, becoming the property of Thomas Kirby, a justice of the peace and Speaker of the Assembly. He was reportedly allowed a considerable level of authority and autonomy.

At some point, Court Tackey or Klaas was crowned king in an Akan ceremony, which, among the African people, was considered a declaration of war.

From 1728-1736, while the Maroon war was in progress in Jamaica, King Court Tackey and other enslaved comrades in Antigua, mainly fellow Akans, planned a slave revolt that was intended to seize control of the island from the British and establish a black kingdom. The plans involved 10 plantations. Their plot was betrayed by a fellow slave.

In November 1736, King Court Tackey (Prince Klaas) was found guilty of treason. He and about 88 others were executed by gruesome methods then considered appropriate for such a crime. He was about 45 years old. This Tackey was proclaimed a national hero of Antigua and Barbuda in 2000.

JAMAICA’S TACKY

Jamaica’s Tacky was a chief of the Akan Fante ethnic group. He reportedly spoke English fluently, which was not unusual at the time given involvement with the British in Africa. He was defeated in battle by a rival ethnic group and was taken prisoner and sold into slavery. As a warrior chief, it is reported that it was likely that Tacky himself, in the many local wars, had delivered enemies into trans-Atlantic slavery. He was transported to Jamaica and was enslaved on the Frontier Plantation in St Mary owned by Robert Sterling Sr. Tacky’s age is not given, but he must have been a mature man on arrival in Jamaica.

With other Africans, mainly Akan, he organised a quite audacious slave uprising, which appeared to be well coordinated. The intent was also to depose the British and gain control of the island. The revolt began on the morning of Easter Monday, April 7, 1760. It spread to other plantations. Again, apparently, it was another enslaved who alerted the British authorities. The island militia was dispatched, supported by Maroons. Tacky and his comrades, though continuing to fight, were defeated. He was reportedly killed in a confrontation with Maroons on April 14.

But it seems that that was not the end of the uprising. Flare-ups reportedly continued up to October 1761 in several parts of the island. Interestingly, this revolt took place during the European Seven Years’ War, 1756-1763. For protection against French attacks, it is recorded that several British warships were stationed in the vicinity of Jamaica.

So Tacky was responsible for planning, executing, and inspiring a high-risk slave revolt in Jamaica. It was quashed. Tacky and his many supporters either died in battle, committed suicide, or were executed in pursuit of their freedom.

Like Antigua’s Tackey, should Jamaica’s Tacky be elevated to the status of national hero? These Takyis and their comrades demonstrated that the Africans and their progeny enslaved in Jamaica and other BWI territories craved freedom, abhorred their oppression, and were prepared to fight and die. Whatever the circumstances, these were heroic characters.

Contributed by Marcia Thomas