Existing comment:
William Knibb and Emancipation:
A Baptist missionary from England, William Knibb, and his wife Mary Watkins Knibb, were two of the most important figures in Jamaican Emancipation. They came to Jamaica in 1824, and moved to Falmouth to lead the Baptist Church in 1830. Baptist ministers were strong abolitionists with a mission to educate slaves; many slaves joined the Baptist Church. Knibb went to England in 1832 to advocate for abolition, returning to Jamaica after Emancipation in 1834. A religious revival, the Jamaican Awakening, followed between 1838 and 1845, during which 22,000 former slaves were baptized, 47 new chapels built, and the Baptist Church in Falmouth grew from 650 to 1,280 members. |