In 1718, the Danish had total control of the West Indies. They had completely colonized this small Caribbean island, and had even fully established their government there. After 15 years under their control however, Breffu, a brave Ghanaian female slave, organized a rebellion with another slave named Christian. Their plan was to lead other enslaved Ghanians from the Kingdom of Akwamu to attack the Danish army. On November 23, 1733, they successfully did just that.
Their plan had two phases. During the first phase, they took back control of the Fort Fredericksvaern. To make it work, the slaves managed to hide knives in the woods while going about their daily chores. With these knives, they later entered the fort successfully and killed a great number of the soldiers. Then they fired a cannon in the fort to signal their takeover to the others who were waiting.
The second phase of their attack was when Breffu and the other slaves, who were waiting for the signal in the plantations, heard the cannon, and went to kill their master. Afterwards, the slaves stormed the weapons houses and seized all the guns and gun powder.
Naturally, the Danish slave masters became afraid and began escaping from the island on their boats, and the slaves took charge and complete control of most of the island.
Sadly though, their success didn't last very long. In 1734, the French military invaded the island and Breffu and 23 other leaders of the Akwamu rebels performed a suicide ritual reportedly because they were outnumbered and knew they could not put about a resistance.
