Over the next 20 years , several epidemics of cholera , scarlet fever , and smallpox hit the island , killing almost 60,000 people ( about 100 per day ) . Nevertheless , in 1871 the census recorded a population of 506,154 people , 246,573 of which were males , and 259,581 females . Their races were recorded as 13,101 white , 100,346 coloured ( mixed black and white ) , and 392,707 black . This period was marked by an economic , with any Jamaicans living in poverty . Dissatisfaction with this , and continued racial discrimination and marginalisation of the black majority , led to the outbreak of the Morant Bay rebellion in 1865 led by Paul Bogle , which was put down by Governor John Eyre with such brutality that he was recalled from his position . His successor , John Peter Grant , enacted a series of social , financial and political reforms whilst aiming to uphold firm British rule over the island , which became a Crown Colony in 1866 . In 1872 the capital was transferred from Spanish Town to Kingston
Morant Bay rebellion
Morant Bay rebellion
Jamaica