Case file · Witch trials
Tacky's Revolt and the first obeah law
During Tacky's Revolt in St Mary in 1760, obeah men were said to give the rebels a powder that made them immune to bullets. After the rising Jamaica made the practice of obeah a capital crime.
1760 CE · 18.37, -76.89 · status: official
The account
Planters had an obeah man executed publicly to show the charm had failed. The 1760 act was the first of many anti-obeah laws across the British Caribbean; Jamaica's still stands on the books, though rarely enforced.