In December 1831, the Baptist War erupted in Jamaica when enslaved people, inspired by the preaching of Baptist deacon Samuel Sharpe, rose in a massive rebellion against the plantation system. The revolt involved up to 60,000 enslaved people and lasted for several weeks, with rebels destroying sugar plantations and attacking white overseers before being crushed by British troops. The brutality of the suppression, which included the execution of hundreds, shocked the British public and accelerated the movement for abolition. Samuel Sharpe was hanged in 1832, and the rebellion became a key catalyst for the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.

The Baptist War has been commemorated in Jamaican literature and poetry, with Samuel Sharpe celebrated as a national hero. The rebellion appears in works by Jamaican poets such as Claude McKay and Louise Bennett-Coverley, who use it to explore themes of resistance and colonial oppression. The event also influenced British abolitionist poetry, which cited the rebellion as proof of the inhumanity of slavery.