In February 1763, enslaved people on the plantation of Magdalenenburg in the Dutch colony of Berbice (now part of Guyana) rose in revolt under the leadership of Cuffy, a former house slave. The rebels took control of much of the colony for several months, numbering nearly 3,000, until Dutch forces with European reinforcements brutally suppressed the uprising. Cuffy, who declared himself governor, committed suicide rather than be captured. The Berbice uprising became one of the most significant slave rebellions in the Caribbean and a symbol of Black resistance against Dutch colonial rule.

Cuffy is celebrated as a national hero in Guyana, and his revolt has been commemorated in Guyanese literature, poetry, and folklore. The uprising inspired 20th-century Caribbean writers, including Martin Carter and others, who used Cuffy as a symbol of anti-colonial struggle. The event also appears in historical accounts and fictional narratives that explore the brutal realities of plantation slavery in the Guianas.