1 March 2026

Historians have found that in the history of Atlantic slavery, the period from the 1770s to 1840s saw the most slave rebellions, and within that period, the 1790s are a moment when slave revolts peaked. In this workshop, we explore why so many of the leaders and participants in so-called slave revolts were not enslaved themselves. How sustainable is the framing of these uprisings as revolts for and by enslaved people? 

Workshop Reinterpreting the Caribbean age of revolutions: Slave revolts, their non-slave participants and proto-citizenship

We propose to reinterpret these events through the lens of the relationship between the state and subject populations. Within the tumultuous Age of Revolutions, 1795 stands out with a unique spike in slave rebellions, rupturing the Caribbean plantation economies. 

David Geggus has found that several rebellions should be categorized as multi-class rebellions, in which not only the enslaved, but also others participated. While there is utility in an ever more precise categorization of events, both the slave rebellions and the multi-class rebellions share features that make it relevant to identify a common source of the breakdown of plantocratic or colonial power and the violence of those who came out in open rebellion. Many have noticed the surge in violent revolts in the late eighteenth century, and it has resulted in numerous studies of the events that unfolded in those years. 

Stages in the development of capitalism, the arrival of egalitarian ideology, or the continuation of African wars have been pointed to as the cause of this period of open resistance. Much has been made of the balance between ‘creole’ and African slaves, the latter argued to be more prone to open rebellion. None of these interpretative ideas, however, seriously examine the longer developments in the relationship between the population and the state.

We invite participants to present a specific case study or comparison of cases relevant to the themes of the conference.

Our guiding questions are:
•    How can rebellions and resistance in the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Caribbean be reinterpreted beyond the category of “slave revolts”?
•    What roles did free people of African and Indigenous descent and other non-enslaved actors play in episodes of collective resistance?
•    How did changing relationships between the state and subject populations shape pathways toward rebellion?
•    In what ways did infringements on formal or informal rights contribute to resistance?
•    How can concepts such as (proto-)citizenship and subjecthood help us understand resistance in colonial societies?
•    What methodological or archival challenges arise when studying multi-class or cross-status resistance movements?

Special issue

With the selected research papers we aim to make journal special issue on this topic (publisher to be determined). At the conference, authors present the first draft of their articles. 

Timeline

Deadline for abstracts (1 page): 30 March 2026, please send to: negron@kitlv.nl 
Deadline of research papers: 28 September 2026, please send to: negron@kitlv.nl 
Date workshop: 23 October 2026.

Venue

KITLV, Herta Mohr building, room 1.30, Witte Singel 27 A, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Extra information

Participants are welcome to attend the dinner on Thursday 22 October 2026 (free of charge). Lunch and coffee/tea are provided. Unfortunately, we cannot cover travel or accommodation expenses at this time.

Contact

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or doubts.
Ramona Negrón: negron@kitlv.nl
Karwan Fatah-Black: k.j.fatah@hum.leidenuniv.nl 

For the original call, click here.