Spirit of Freedom (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Spirit of Freedom (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Subject (Topic)
Hamilton (Bermuda Islands)--History
Slavery--Bermuda Islands
Middle Passage
Transatlantic Slave Trade
Slave Trade
Resistance

Subject (Name)
Sarah (Sally) Bassett, d. 1730

Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

In 1730, the colonial government of Bermuda executed Sarah Bassett, an enslaved woman, for allegedly attempting to poison her granddaughter’s enslavers. In Spirit of Freedom, she is shown with her hand and feet bound, as she gazes defiantly upward.

Dowling, Carlos

Photograph from Monument Lab

Dedicated: February 9, 2009

JPEG

English

Visual Arts-Sculpture

The Cabinet Building, 105 Front Street, Hamilton, Bermuda

The lower step of the base of the statue is divided into six segments. The segments are inscribed with events from Sarah Bassett Life:

Sarah (Sally) Bassett

Sarah (Sally) Bassett was an enslaved woman
Owned by the estate of Francis Dickinson of Southampton

On June 1, 1730, she was tried on the "Suspicion of Poisoning several persons" including the mariner Thomas Forester (who owned sally's granddaughter beck). His wife Sarah for, and Nancey, a household bondswoman.

Sally was charged with supplying beck with the poison that Nancey discovered in the wall of the Kitchen outlet. Although sally maintained her Innocence, stating that she "Never deserved" the Sentence given, she was burned at the stake for the offence.

Local lore holds that it was extremely hot when Sally was executed; and even now, Bermudians may Refer to a scorchingly hot day as "A real Sally Bassett day".

At the time of her sentencing, sally was valued at One pound, four shillings and sixpence. Another local Legend says that Bermuda's national flower, the Bermudiana, grew from sally's ashes.

A pair of bronze plaques on the upper step of the base of the statue inscribed:

The African diaspora heritage trail - Bermuda Officially designated a UNESCO slave route project

Officially opened 9 February 2009 By the honorable premier Dr. The hon. Ewart f. Brown, JP, MP

84 in. (213.36 cm.)

Bronze

Gibson, Stephanie. "Revealing Sally: Unveiling Bermuda's Resistance to Confront its Brutal Past." Monument Lab, May 4, 2020. Accessed February 15, 2021: https://monumentlab.com/bulletin/revealing-sally-unveiling-bermudas-resistance-to-confront-its-brutal-past

Campbell, Sandra. "Searing Memories." The Bermudian, April 10, 2019. Accessed May 1, 2021, https://www.thebermudian.com/heritage/heritage-heritage/searing-memories/.

Renée Ater

Sculpture

84 in. (213.36 cm.)