Description
Belvidere Estate…Fédon’s House brings to life and celebrates the 1795-1796 insurrection now known as Fédon’s Revolution, which occurred on what was, at the time, the British colony of Grenada.President George Washington was aware of problems brewing on the island but Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson advised Washington to ignore the request of the French-speaking mulattoes. Sir Ralph Abercromby, the celebrated British war hero who captured Spanish Trinidad for the British, visited Belvidere in June, 1796 with German commandos in the quest to defeat Fédon. Almost 187 years later when U.S. President Ronald Reagan dispatched troops to invade or rescue the Spice Isle, Grenada, soldiers landed in Belvidere.Historians explain that the U. S. War of Independence, the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution all influenced Fédon’s Revolution, although they acknowledge that Fédon’s Revolution was actually a product of the bitter rivalry between Britain and France for empire expansion. Indeed, within an unsettling 20-year period–1763 to 1783–control of Grenada passed between France and England three times, moving from French to English, English to French and, once again, French to English.It took British soldiers, sailors and marines–along with German commandos–16 months to crush the rebellion. Was Fédon killed? Was he caught? Did he commit suicide? Did he escape? And if so, where to? Was Fédon exploited when he purchased Belvidere Estate? Did he deliberately participate in fraud when he assumed ownership of Belvidere Estate? Did he ever really own the estate? More than 200 years later, people are still asking these questions.The memory and exploits of Julien Fédon serve as a backdrop for Belvidere Estate…Fédon’s House. The story of Julien Fédon is, in fact, the story of Belvidere Estate; the story of Belvidere Estate is, in fact, the story of Julien Fédon. Belvidere Estate…Fédon’s House takes the reader on a journey through time to experience life on a mid-20th-century Caribbean plantation, with the spirit of 18th-century Julien Fédon as a continuous presence and, even now, in Century 21.It is a historical narrative that provides:*A historical account of Julien Fédon and Fédon’s Revolution *A memoir of plantation life in Colonial Grenada *A coming-of-age story about the authorMany chapters begin with a contemporaneous scene of life at Belvidere Estate in the 1950s, as experienced by the author as a youth. He then analyzes the conversations about Julien Fédon that he heard as a youth, placing them in a historical perspective while also celebrating the wisdom and informal knowledge of everyday folks. Throughout this chronicle, Fédon’s Revolution is sometimes referred to by the various names by which the British branded it: a revolt, rebellion, uprising, insurrection, or insurgency.
