In 1846 Jamaican planters , still reeling from the loss of slave labour , suffered a crushing blow when Britain passed the Sugar Duties Act , eliminating Jamaica 's traditionally favoured status as its primary supplier of sugar . The Jamaica House of Assembly and successive governors stumbled from one crisis to another until the collapse of the sugar trade , when racial and religious tensions came to a head during the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865 . Although suppressed ruthlessly , the severe rioting so alarmed the white planters that governor Edward John Eyre and the Colonial Office succeeded in persuading the two-centuries-old assembly to vote to abolish itself and ask for the establishment of direct British rule . This move ended the growing influence of the people of colour in elective politics . The practice of barring non-whites from public office was reinstated , despite opposition from leading people of colour such as Jordon
Morant Bay rebellion
Morant Bay rebellion
Colony of Jamaica