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Quamina Gladstone, most often referred to simply as Quamina, was a Guianese slave, a Coromantee, who was father of Jack Gladstone. He and his son were involved in the Demerara rebellion of 1823, one of the largest slave revolts in the British colonies before slavery was abolished. He was a carpenter by trade, and worked on an estate owned by Sir John Gladstone. Quamina was implicated in the revolt by the colonial authorities, apprehended and executed on 16 September 1823. He is considered a national hero in Guyana, and there are streets in Georgetown and the village of Beterverwagting on the East Coast Demerara, named after him.〔 == Biography == Quamina was a carpenter who lived and worked on "Success" plantation in Demerara.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Case Study 3: Demerara (1823) - Quamina and John Smith )〕〔McGowan, Winston (30 August 2007). ("The 1823 Demerara slave rebellion (Part 2)" ) ''Stabroek News''〕 According to da Costa, Quamina was African-born; he and his mother were sold into slavery when he was a child. His mother died on a plantation in 1817.〔da Costa (1994), p. xviii.〕〔 In some source material, he is surnamed Gladstone, as the enslaved adopted surnames of their masters by convention. Sir John Gladstone, who had never set foot on his plantation, had acquired half share in the plantation in 1812 through mortgage default; he acquired the remaining half four years later. Quamina〔"Quamina" corresponds to Kwamena, a name of Ghanaian origin denoting a male born on Saturday.〕 He attended services at the Bethel Chapel of the London Missionary Society on neighbouring Le Resouvenir plantation when the chapel opened in 1808.〔 Under the guidance of Reverend John Wray,〔 he learned to read and write.〔da Costa (1994), p. 181.〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=PART II Blood, sweat, tears and the struggle for basic human rights )〕 As was witnessed in a letter he wrote to the LMS, he was persuaded to attend the recently opened church by the person who he served as apprentice.〔 Wray noticed positive changes after he became Christian.〔 Quamina was proud and hardworking, and was baptised on 26 December 1808.〔 On being assessed for fitness to become a member, Quamina declared that when he was young, he had been a houseboy and had to "fetch" girls to entertain the estate's managers.〔 When Wray was sent to nearby Berbice in 1816,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Anti-Slavery Movement In British Guiana )〕 his replacement John Smith was equally impressed by Quamina's qualities.〔 He took an interest in others, and had become widely respected by slaves and free blacks throughout the colony.〔〔 One of five slaves elected deacon by the congregation in 1817,〔da Costa (1994), p. 145.〕 Quamina became Smith's personal favourite, and was highly trusted by John Smith and his wife, Jane.〔〔McGowan, Winston (13 September 2007). ("The 1823 Demerara slave rebellion (Part 3)" ) ''Stabroek News''〕 According to da Costa, he was a "loyal, well-behaved, trustworthy and pious deacon." He brought news of the congregation members on a day-to-day basis, and was always consulted about the affairs of any member.〔〔 Quamina had many wives, but he cohabited for twenty years with Peggy, a free woman. As was common with other slaves, he had been harshly treated and humiliated by his masters and once was beaten badly and incapacitated for six weeks. He was frequently forced to work, thus missing religious services.〔 In 1822,〔 when Peggy was taken seriously ill, he was forced to work all day, every day, and was not allowed any time off to look after her. One evening, he returned to find her dead.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quamina」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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