slaves revolt in jamaica

Jamaican Maroons From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search This article needs attention from an expert in Ethnic groups. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. WikiProject Ethnic groups may be able to help recruit an expert. (February 2009) Jamaican Maroons Regions with significant populations Jamaica Languages Jamaican Patois, Kromanti Related ethnic groups Coromantee, Jamaicans of African descent, Maroon people The Jamaican Maroons are descendants of maroons, Africans who escaped from slavery on the island of Jamaica and established free communities in the mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. African slaves imported during the Spanish period likely were the first to develop such refugee communities. The English expanded the importation of slaves to support their extensive development of sugar cane plantations. Africans in Jamaica continually fought and revolted, with many who escaped becoming Maroon. The revolts had the effect of disrupting the sugar economy in Jamaica and making it less profitable. The revolts simmered down only after the British government promised to free the slaves if they stopped revolting; and slavery was abolished in 1834. The Windward Maroons and those from the Cockpit Country resisted conquest in the First Maroon War, which the government ended in 1738-1739 by making treaties to grant lands and to respect their autonomy, in exchange for peace and aiding the colonial militia if needed against external enemies. Tensions between British colonial Governor and the residents of Trelawny town resulted in the Second Maroon War from 1795-1796. Although the governor promised leniency if men surrendered, the Assembly insisted on deportation of 600 Maroons to British settlements at Nova Scotia. After Freetown was established in West Africa as a British colony in 1792 (present-day Sierra Leone), the British deported additional Maroons fearing slave rebellion on Jamaica. Contents 1 History 1.1 Establishment of the Leeward and Windward Maroons 1.2 First Maroon War 1731-1739 1.3 Intervention in Tacky's War 1760 1.4 Second Maroon War 1795-1796 2 Maroons in the 21st century 3 Films 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links History Further information: Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies and Slavery in the British and French Caribbean In all likelihood, the words "Maroon" and "Seminole" share the same origin in the Spanish word cimarrón, meaning "wild" or "untamed". This word usually referred to runaways or castaways and is ultimately derived from the word for "thicket" in Old Spanish.[1] When the British captured Jamaica in 1655, the Spanish colonists fled. Many of their slaves escaped and, together with free blacks and mulattoes, former slaves, and some native Taíno[2] coalesced into several heterogenous groups in the Jamaican interior.[3] Some created palenques, or stockaded mountain farms at Lluidas Vale in modern-day St Catharine Parish under Juan de Bolas (also known as Lubolo). Toward the western end of Cockpit Country were the ‘Varmahaly or Karmahaly Negroes’ under the leadership of Juan de Serras; a third group was active in the region of Porus, in modern Manchester Parish; and there was possibly a fourth in the Blue Mountains.[3][4] During the first decade of British rule, these groups were active on behalf of the Spanish. But, as it became increasingly obvious that the British would hold their conquest, the group run by de Bolas changed its position. Faced with discovery and defeat in 1659, de Bolas allied with the British and guided their troops on a raid which resulted in the final expulsion of the Spanish in 1660. In exchange, in 1663, Governor Lyttleton signed the first maroon treaty, granting de Bolas and his people land on the same terms as British settlers.[5] The colonial authorities paid the men of de Bolas to hunt the supporters of de Serras and recent runaways.[6] The other maroon groups remained independent in the mountainous interior of Jamaica, surviving by subsistence farming and periodic raids of plantations. These initial maroon groups dwindled, migrating or merging with settlers.[7] Others may have coalesced to form the nucleus of what would later be called the Windward Maroons.[8] Over time, runaway slaves increased the maroon population, which eventually came to control large areas of the Jamaican mountainous interior.[9] Establishment of the Leeward and Windward Maroons Between 1673 and 1690 there were several major slave uprisings, mainly prompted by newly arrived, highly militarized Coromantee groups from the Ashanti Empire.[10] On 31 July 1690, a rebellion involving 500 slaves from the Sutton estate in Clarendon Parish led to the formation of Jamaica’s most stable and best organized Maroon group. Although some were killed, recaptured or surrendered, more than 200, including women and children, remained free after the rebellion was considered over.[10] They established an Ashanti-style polity based in the eastern Cockpit Country, notably Trelawny Town; the most famous ruler of the western Maroons was Cudjoe. They incorporated outsiders only after newcomers had satisfied a strict probationary period.[11] The leader of the eastern Maroons when they agreed to peace was Quao.[12] The Windward Maroons, in the wilder parts of eastern Jamaica, were always composed of separate highly mobile and culturally heterogeneous groups.[13] It is possible that the runaway slaves from de Serras' group of Karmahaly Maroons formed the initial nucleus of the Windward Maroons.[14] From early on, the Jamaican governors considered their settlements to impede British development of the interior. They ordered raids on the Maroon settlements in 1686 and 1702, to little effect.[15] By about 1720, a stronger Windward community had developed around the culturally Africanised group of three villages known as Nanny Town, under the spiritual leadership of Queen Nanny, an Ashanti woman, sometimes in allegiance and sometimes in competition with other Windward groups.[16] She was known for her exceptional leadership skills, especially in guerrilla warfare during the First Maroon War. One tactic particular to the Jamaican Maroons involved the art of camouflage using plants. Her remains are reputedly buried at "Bump Grave" in Moore Town, the main town of the Windward Maroons, who are concentrated in and around the Rio Grande valley in the northeastern parish of Portland. Queen Nanny, also known as Granny Nanny (died c.1750s), is the only woman honored as one of Jamaica's National Heroes. She has been immortalised in songs and legends.[17] First Maroon War 1731-1739 Main article: First Maroon War Disturbed by plantation raiding, the colonial authorities of Jamaica wanted to eradicate the maroon communities in order to promote British settlement. Their strategy, beginning in the 1730s, was to break off lines of communication between the Windward and Leeward Maroons, then first pick off the less organized Windward Maroons.[18] In practice, the Maroon troops’ command of the territory and skill in guerrilla warfare gave them a strong advantage over colonial forces.[19] After much fighting, the British took and destroyed Nanny Town in 1734, but most of the Windward Maroons simply dispersed and formed new settlements.[20] At this point, however, fighting shifted to Leeward, where the British troops had equally limited success against the well-trained and organized forces of Cudjoe.[21] By the mid-1730s, warfare was proving costly to Maroons and British alike and was turning into an ongoing stalemate. Cudjoe rejected suggestions of a treaty in 1734 and 1736, but by 1738 he agreed to parley with John Guthrie. This local planter and militia officer was known to and respected by the Maroons.[22] In 1739, the treaty signed under British governor Edward Trelawny granted Cudjoe’s Maroons 1500 acres of land between their strongholds of Trelawny Town and Accompong in the Cockpits and a certain amount of political autonomy and economic freedoms, in return for which the Maroons were to provide military support in case of invasion or rebellion, and to return runaway slaves in exchange for a bounty of two dollars each. This last clause in the treaty caused tension between the maroons and the enslaved black population, although from time to time runaways from the plantations still found their way into maroon settlements.[23] In addition, a British superintendent was to be assigned to live in each maroon town.[23] In 1740, similar treaties were signed by Quao and Nanny, major leaders of the Windward Maroons.[24] The Windward Maroons were originally located at Crawford's Town and the new Nanny Town (now called Moore Town). However, in 1754, Quao attempted to overthrow Edward Crawford, the new Maroon leader of the Windward Maroon town, and in the resulting conflict, Crawford's Town was destroyed.[25] Governor Roger Hope Elletson re-established control over the uprising with the help of other Maroons. He then ordered that the Maroons of Crawford's Town be resettled in the new, nearby Windward Maroon towns of Charles Town and Scott's Hall.[26] Intervention in Tacky's War 1760 Main article: Tacky's War In April 1760, the Jamaican government called upon the maroons to honor their treaties and come to their assistance during the major slave uprising led by the Fante leader, Tacky. The Windward Maroons were first to be mobilized. Their intervention often appeared half-hearted: the Scott's Hall Maroons began by claiming outstanding arrears in bounty, while those of Down's Cove simply took cover when attacked by the rebels.[27] In the end, it was a Scott's Hall Maroon, Lieutenant Davy, who killed Tacky during a skirmish.[28] Although the loss of Tacky's leadership essentially ended the rebellion, by October, related uprisings broke out on the leeward side of the island. Cudjoe's well-trained forces were also mobilized to help deal with them, apparently to good effect.[29] Second Maroon War 1795-1796 Main article: Second Maroon War The Second Maroon War began in 1795 against the background of the British Jamaican plantocracy panicked by the excesses of French Revolution, and by the corresponding start of a slave revolt in neighboring Saint-Domingue, which ended with the independence of Haiti in 1804. At the same time, an increasing hunger for land among expanding maroon communities in Jamaica coincided with several more immediate and proximate causes of grievance among the maroons of Trelawny Town.[30] The treaties following the First Maroon War had called for the assignment of a white ‘superintendent’ in each maroon community. Trelawny Town had objected to the official recently assigned to them and eventually expelled him.[31] At this, the new, hardline Governor, Balcarres, sent William Fitch to march on Trelawny with a military force to demand their immediate submission. Balcarres ignored the advice of local planters, who suggested giving the Maroons some more land in order to avoid conflict. The governor refused to heed the advice, and instead provoked a conflict that could have been avoided by demanding their unconditional surrender.[32] The Trelawny Maroons chose to fight and were initially successful, fighting a guerrilla war in small bands under several captains, of whom the most noted were Johnson, Parkinson and Palmer.[33] The casualties suffered by Fitch and his men were significantly higher than those felt by the Maroons of Trelawny Town.[34] When the Trelawny Town Maroons killed Fitch, several of his officers, some Accompong Maroon trackers, and many militia soldiers in an ambush, Balcarres appointed a new general, George Walpole.[35] This new general suffered more setbacks, until he eventually opted to besiege the Cockpit Country on a massive scale, surrounding it with watchposts, firing in shells from a long distance, and intending to destroy or cut off all maroon provision grounds.[36] Meanwhile, maroon attempts to recruit plantation slaves met with a mixed response,[37] and other maroon communities maintained neutrality. Accompong Town, however, fought on the side of the colonial militias against Trelawny Town.[38] Despite signs that the siege was working, Balcarres grew impatient and sent to Cuba for a hundred hunting dogs and handlers. The reputation of these was so fearsome that their arrival quickly prompted the surrender of the majority of Trelawny forces.[39] The Maroons however, only put down their arms on condition that they would not be deported, and Walpole gave his word that would be the case.[34] To Walpole's dismay, Balcarres refused to treat with the defeated maroons and had them deported from Jamaica, at first to Nova Scotia, then to the new British colony of Sierra Leone, and joined the ‘African American founders’ who established the Colony of Sierra Leone and the settlement of Freetown, Sierra Leone.[40][41][42] From the 1830s on some Maroons (or their descendents) returned to Jamaica to work as free laborers (although many of these returnees resettled in Sierra Leone)[43] (see Jamaican Maroons in Sierra Leone) or formed the new Creole ethnic group of Sierra Leone which established diaspora communities along the West African shores from Sierra Leone to the Gambia to Fernando Pó.[44] Maroons in the 21st century Hon. Colonel Ferron Williams, Colonel-in-Chief and elected leader of Accompong To this day, the maroons in Jamaica are to a small extent autonomous and separate from Jamaican culture. Those of Accompong have preserved their land since 1739. The isolation used to their advantage by their ancestors has today resulted in their communities being amongst the most inaccessible on the island. Today, the four official Maroon towns still in existence in Jamaica are Accompong Town, Moore Town, Charles Town and Scott's Hall. They hold lands allotted to them in the 1739-1740 treaties with the British.[45] These maroons still maintain their traditional celebrations and practices, some of which have West African origin. For example, the council of a Maroon settlement is called an Asofo,[46] from the Twi Akan word asafo (assembly, church, society).[47][48] Native Jamaicans and island tourists are allowed to attend many of these events. Others considered sacred are held in secret and shrouded in mystery. Singing, dancing, drum-playing and preparation of traditional foods form a central part of most gatherings.[49] In their largest town, Accompong, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, the Leeward Maroons have a vibrant community of about 600. Tours of the village are offered to foreigners.[50] They hold a large festival annually on 6 January to commemorate the signing of the peace treaty with the British after the First Maroon War.[51][52] Moore Town, located between the Blue Mountains and John Crow Mountains in Portland Parish, was relisted on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 for its Maroon heritage, particularly music. Films 1984 - Caribbean Crucible. From Repercussions: A Celebration of African-American Music TV series, program 6. Directed by Dennis Marks and Geoffrey Haydon. See also Coromantee Jamaican Maroons in Sierra Leone Maroon (people) Maroon Town, Sierra Leone Dread & Alive, comic series centered on a maroon. Sierra Leone Creole people Black Nova Scotians Notes "Seminole - Origin and meaning of Seminole by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Madrilejo, N; Lombard, H; Torres, JB (2015). "Origins of marronage: Mitochondrial lineages of Jamaica's Accompong Town Maroons". Am. J. Hum. Biol. 27: 432–7. doi:10.1002/ajhb.22656. PMID 25392952. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 70 Mavis Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica 1655-1796: a History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal (Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey, 1988), pp. 25-26. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 71 Bev Carey, The Maroon Story: The Authentic and Original History of the Maroons in the History of Jamaica 1490-1880 (Kingston, Jamaica: Agouti Press, 1997), p. 113. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 71-74 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 74 Sainsbury, W. Noel. "America and West Indies". Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies. 1, 5 (1574-1660, 1661-1668). Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 75-76 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, pp. 77-78 Philip Thicknesse, Memoirs and Anecdotes of Philip Thicknesse (Dublin: Craisberry and Campbell, 1790), pp. 56-77 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 78-81 Mavis Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica 1655-1796: a History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal (Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey, 1988), pp. 48-49. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 78-79 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 81 Jamaican Ministry of Education, Youth & Culture: Jamaica's National Heroes Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 82-83 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 84 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 85 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 87 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 87-88 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 89-90 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 91-92 H.P. Jacobs, ‘Roger Hope Elletson Letter Book 1766-1768’, Jamaican Historical Review, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1946), p. 216 Journals of the Assembly of Jamaica, Vol. 6, 30 October 1770, p. 283. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 130-131 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, pp. 136-137 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 135-136 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 211-214 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 214 Mavis Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica 1655-1796: a History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal (Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey, 1988), pp. 209-249. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, pp. 215, 217-219 Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica, pp. 209-249. Mavis Campbell, Maroons of Jamaica, pp. 209-249. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 219 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 218 Mavis Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica 1655-1796: a History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal (Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey, 1988), p. 220. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 220-221 Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains. Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 222-223 "USI Home Page". www.understandingslavery.com. Grant, John. Black Nova Scotians. Nova Scotia: The Nova Scotia Museum, 1980. Fortin (2006), p. 23. Baron,Robert & Cara, Ana C. Creolization as Cultural Creativity. p. 152 Bev Carey, The Maroon Story: The Authentic and Original History of the Maroons in the History of Jamaica 1490-1880 (Kingston, Jamaica: Agouti Press, 1997). Sangster, Ian, Jamaica: A Benn Holiday Guide. 1973. Anyamesɛm Anaa Twerɛ Kronkron Akan Kasa Mu (The Bible in Twi: Asante), The Bible Society of Ghana, Accra, 1964. Rottmann, W. J., compiler, Kristo Asafo Abakọsẹm Tẇi Kasa Mu (Church History in Tshi), Basel: Basel Evangelical Missionary Society, 1913. A History of the Maroons of Jamaica, Farin Voice "Government of Accompong". Campbell, Mavis Christine (1988), The Maroons of Jamaica, 1655-1796: A History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal, Granby, MA: Bergin & Garvey, ISBN 0-89789-148-1 Edwards, Bryan (1796), "Observations on the disposition, character, manners, and habits of life, of the Maroon negroes of the island of Jamaica; and a detail of the origin, progress, and termination of the late war between those people and the white inhabitants", in Edwards, Bryan (1801), Historical Survey of the Island of Saint Domingo, London: J. Stockdale, pp. 303-360. References Campbell, Mavis C. The Maroons of Jamaica, 1655-1796: A History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal. Granby, Mass: Bergin & Garvey, 1988. ISBN 0-89789-148-1 Carey, Bev. (1997). The Maroon story: The authentic and original history of the Maroons in the history of Jamaica, 1490-1880. A Maroon and Jamaica heritage series. Gordon Town, Jamaica: Agouti Press. Craton, Michael. Testing the Chains: Resistance to Slavery in the British West Indies. Cornell University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-8014-1252-8 Dallas, R. C. The History of the Maroons, from Their Origin to the Establishment of Their Chief Tribe at Sierra Leone. 2 vols. London: Longman, 1803. Fortin, Jeffrey A. "'Blackened Beyond Our Native Hue': Removal, Identity and the Trelawney Maroons on the Margins of the Atlantic World, 1796-1800", Citizenship Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1, 5-34, February 2006. Thompson, Alvin O. Flight to Freedom: African Runaways and Maroons in the Americas. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2006. ISBN 976-640-180-2 Further reading Bilby, Kenneth. "Jamaican Maroons at the Crossroads: Losing Touch With Tradition," Caribbean Review, Fall, 1980. Bilby, Kenneth M. (2005). True-born M'[/. maroons. New World diasporas. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. Blake, Edith. "The Maroons of Jamaica", North American Review, 1898, online text at Archive.org, via JSTOR Campbell, Mavis C. The Maroons of Jamaica 1655-1796: A History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal. Granby, MA: Bergin & Garvey, 1988. Dunham, Katherine. Journey to Accompong. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1946. External links Common Medicinal Plants of Portland, Jamaica, Maroon/Marocon culture "Queen Nanny Windward Maroons", Itz Caribbean vte Jamaica Jamaicans vte African diaspora vte UNESCO Oral and Intangible Heritage: representative list Categories: Jamaican MaroonsMaroons (people)History of Sierra Leone