Our Jamaican Heroes and Heroine

Hi boys and girls!   Welcome to fun facts, created by Stacy Crossman with you in mind. This website was generated to assist grade five students identify some of the important persons that have helped to shaped their community and Jamaica as a nation.

Who do consider as a hero/heroine?

What are some of the characteristics of hero/heroine?

Are there persons in your community whom you consider heroes/heroine?

WELL, DON’T GO ANYWHERE, STAY WITH ME AND YOU WILL LEARN ALL ABOUT JAMAICA’S NATIONAL HEROES!!!

The following are your tasks for this lesson:

1. Identify some important persons in your community and in Jamaica.

2. Identify the National Heroes of Jamaica.

3. State how these heroes helped to shape Jamaica.

LEARNING IS AS MUCH FUN AS YOU WANT IT TO BE!

Boys and girls let us watch an enlightening video before we begin our lesson. Click on the links below to watch videos:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG23Occn1j8&t=47

 To see how much you score, click on Submit Quiz for Marking

STEP ONE:

 Click this link to complete a fun quiz to test your knowledge about Jamaica’s National Heroes:

• Goal of this quiz: To test your knowledge about the National Heroes of Jamaica and their contribution to the nation.

• Taking notes is very essential to learning.
• Once you have completed the Quiz we can move on to our next step...

EVALUATION:

Number of correct answers _______________

Number of incorrect answers _____________

Candidates result: _____________________ (Pass/Fail)

You should feel a sense of achievement now that you have completed the lesson. Job well done! Here is a review of what you have learned...

In Jamaica’s history, many persons are remembered for their hard work as nation builders. They had a strong desire to make the lives of their fellow Jamaicans better. They struggled to achieve the freedom we now enjoy and were fearless even in the face of death. Some of these persons have been awarded the nation’s highest award, that of the Order of National Hero.   

Nanny of the Maroons

Nanny of the Maroons, also called Granny Nanny is our only national heroine. We are not sure when she was born, but it is believed that she was from the Ashanti tribe in West Africa and was taken to Jamaica as a slave. Nanny was a leader of the Maroons. The Maroons were slaves who ran away from the plantation when the English captured the island from the Spaniards in 1655. Nanny became leader of one group of the maroons who li8ved high up in the Blue Mountains in an area later named Nanny Town. Nanny was an outstanding military leader. She organized the guerrilla warfare where her people camouflaged themselves, hid in the bushes, laid traps for English soldiers and killed many of them. The English eventually signed a peace treaty with them.

Nanny was considered strong, clever, courageous, inspiring and even super natural. She died in the 1750s and was buried on a hill in Nanny Town. 

Samuel Sharpe

Samuel Sharpe or Daddy Sharpe was born in Montego Bay in 1801. He could read and write, and unlike most slaves he lived with his owner, an English Lawyer. Although Sam Sharpe was a privileged slave, he didn’t like slavery. It was Sam Sharpe who said, “I would rather on yonder gallows than live in slavery.”

Samuel Sharpe became a bible leader in the Baptist church and during his meetings he organized a Christmas strike which became known as the Christmas Rebellion. The plan was that the slave would go on strike just after Christmas when the sugar cane was reaped. This they believed would force the slave masters to increase wages and improve working conditions. The strike did not go as planned and on December 27, 1831, the Kensington Estate in St. James was set on fire. During the upheaval other plantations was lit and some slave owners were killed. As a result, over 500 slaves lost their lives including Samuel Sharpe who was found guilty of inciting rebellion and was hanged on May 23, 1832 in what we know today as Sam Sharpe Square.

Alexander Bustamante

Alexander Bustamante was born on February 24, 1884 in Blenheim, Hanover. He was an outspoken leader as he tried to address the problems of low wages and poor working conditions for the masses. He wrote several letters to newspapers outlining the problems. From 1937 to 1939 there was social unrest across the country. Bustamante travelled the island and organized the workers. He was blamed for getting them to rebel, and during riots in 1938, Bustamante said, “shoot me and let my people go.”

In 1938 Bustamante set up the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (B.I.T.U.). In 1940 he was imprisoned for 17 months. In 1943 he formed and became the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (J.L.P.). In 1962, he became the first Prime Minister of Independent Jamaica. He died on August 6, 1977.  

Norman Washington Manley

Norman Manley was born at Boxborough, Manchester on July 4, 1893. He was a brilliant scholar, athlete, soldier and lawyer. Norman was concerned about the conditions of the poor. He worked with his cousin, Alexander Bustamante and represented him when he was imprisoned due to the 1938 riot. Manley persuaded the governor to released Bustamante so that the workers would stop rioting. Manley founded the People’s National Party (P.N.P.). In 1938. He assisted in getting the British government tom grant adult Jamaicans the right to vote. He helped to lead Jamaica into independence in 1962. Manley died on September 2, 1969.

Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey was the first Jamaican to be awarded the order of National Hero. He was born August 17, 1887 in St Ann’s Bay, St Ann.  He was a printer and even published is own newspaper. He had a special love for black people at home and abroad, so he established the united Negro improvement association (U.N.I.A). Through this organization he believed that h could help to raise the standard of lack people and unite them. He encouraged blacks to become educated and work hard to be successful.

Garvey started a shipping company known as the Black Star Line. He hoped that black people could travel the world and find back their roots in Africa but he was unsuccessful. Garvey not only preached his message to black freedom in Jamaica but in other places like England, South America and the United States of America. When his movement ran into difficulties in the United States, he was jailed and later deported. Garvey died in England on June 10, 1940. His body was exhumed and brought to Jamaica in 1964. His remains were buried in the National Heroes Park in Kingston.

Paul Bogle

It is believed that Paul Bogle was born around 1822. He lived at Stony Gut in St. Thomas. He could read and write and own enough land to qualify him to vote. He became a deacon in the Baptist Church in his community. During the 1860’s, working conditions worsened on the island as a small farmers have difficulties getting land to cultivate, wages are low, taxation was high and there was a severe drought. Paul Bogle and a group of men marched from Stony Gut Town to complain to the Governor- Governor Eyre about the problems. Eyre did no come to see them, so tired, disappointed and angry, they walked back to Stony Gut. Paul Bogle held secret meetings with his followers and formed a small army since they were determined to take matters in their own hands.

On October 11, 1865, Bogle led a protest march on the Morant Bay courthouse there were angry exchanges and the militia was called out. A building behind the courthouse was set on fire and flames spread to the main building. Riot broke out and nearly 500 persons were killed. Subsequently approximately 600 persons were beaten and several houses burnt. This uprising became known as the Morant Bay Rebellion. Paul Bogle was captured, tried and hanged on October 24, 1865.

George William Gordon

George William Gordon was born in 1820 at cherry gardens estate in St. Andrew. His mother was a slave and his father was Scottish Planter. Gordon taught himself to read and write. He became a successful businessman. Gordon entered politics and spoke frequently about the unjust treatment of free slaves. He bought land, subdivided it and sold it cheap to peasants who had no land on which to live and farm. Gordon was accused of giving advice to Paul Bogle and supporting the Morant Bay Rebellion. He was illegal and hanged on October 23, 1865.

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K_WlJ-M4g4.

Regions of our country: my world social studies, 4th grade. textbook/workbook. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/4th-grade-social-studies-workbook/s?k=4th+grade+….

LESSON OBJECTIVES

1. Cognitive Objective- The student will be able to build on prior knowledge about the National Heroes of Jamaica
   
   b. Affective Objective- The student will be able to share their feelings about their favorite National hero (es).
   
   c. Psychomotor Objective- The student will be able to label correctly the name of each hero.

The following are the lesson objectives used to create this webquest:

1. Who is a hero?
2. How important are these heroes to us as Jamaicans?
3. How have the heroes contributed in shaping Jamaica as a nation?
4. What is a community?