 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(June 2025) |
 18th-century illustration of a Maroon | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| North and South America, Jamaica, Mauritius | |
| Languages | |
| English-based creole languages,French-based creole languages | |
| Religion | |
| African diasporic religions,Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Maroon peoples Black Seminoles,Bushinengue,Jamaican Maroons,Mauritian Maroons,Kalungas,Machapunga,Palenqueros,Quilombola Great Dismal Swamp maroons |
Africans in the Americas and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped fromslavery, through flight ormanumission, and lived in independent settlements,[1] were referred to asmaroons in English, and ascimarrones inSpanish America.[2][3] The English word "maroon" itself likely derives from the Spanish word "cimarron".[4]
Maroon communities were a constant threat to plantation societies. It was difficult for colonial authorities to eradicate Maroon communities, because they were often hidden in remote environments. Maroons also frequently utilized guerrilla warfare to defend their settlements. This created a constant state of conflict with authorities, where Maroons would sometimes be used as allies by enemies attacking a colony. Sometimes, Maroons would also function as trading partners with remote settlers or Natives.[5]
Maroon settlements often created unique cultures, separate from greater society. Communities sometimes developedCreole languages by mixing European tongues with African languages, creating languages likeSaramaccan in Suriname. On other occasions, Maroons would adopt creolized variations of a local European language as a common tongue.[6]Sometimes maroons mixed withIndigenous peoples, eventuallyevolving into separatecreole cultures such as peoples like theGarifuna and theMascogos.[1]
Maroon entered English around the 1590s, from the French adjectivemarron, meaning 'feral' or 'fugitive', itself possibly from the American Spanish wordcimarrón, meaning 'wild, unruly' or 'runaway slave'.[7][8][9] In the early 1570s, SirFrancis Drake'sraids on the Spanish in Panama were aided by "Symerons", a likely misspelling ofcimarrón.[7] The linguistLeo Spitzer, writing in the journalLanguage, says, "If there is a connection between Eng.maroon, Fr.marron, and Sp.cimarrón, Spain (or Spanish America) probably gave the word directly to England (or English America)."[4]
Alternatively, the CubanphilologistJosé Juan Arrom has traced the origins of the wordmaroon further than the Spanishcimarrón, used first inHispaniola to refer toferal cattle, then to Indian slaves who escaped to the hills, and by the early 1530s to African slaves who did the same. He proposes that the American Spanish word derives ultimately from the Arawakan root wordsimarabo, construed as 'fugitive', in theArawakan language spoken by theTaíno people native to the island.[10][11][12][13][14]
In theNew World, as early as 1512, African slaves escaped from Spanish captors and either joined Indigenous peoples or eked out a living on their own.[15] When runaway slaves andAmerindians banded together and subsisted independently they were called "Maroons". On theCaribbean islands, they formed bands and on some islands, armed camps.[16]
The earliest Maroon communities of the Americas formed in what is now theDominican Republic, following the firstslave rebellion on 26 December 1522, on the sugar plantations of AdmiralDiego Columbus.[17]: 35 A typical Maroon community in the early stages usually consisted of three types of people:[6]
Maroon communities faced great odds in surviving the attacks by hostile colonists, obtaining food for subsistence living, as well as reproducing and increasing their numbers.[16][18] As the planters took over more land for crops, the Maroons began to lose ground on the small islands. Only on some of the larger islands were organised Maroon communities able to thrive by growing crops and hunting. Here, they grew in number as more slaves escaped fromplantations and joined their bands. Seeking to separate themselves from colonisers, the Maroons gained in power amid increasing hostilities. They raided and pillaged plantations and harassed planters until the planters began to fear a massive revolt of the black slaves.[19]
By 1700, many early Maroon communities had disappeared or were displaced from the smaller islands. Survival was always difficult, as the Maroons had to fight off attackers as well as grow food.[19]
Marronage (lit. 'running away') was a constant threat to New Worldslavocracies. Punishments for recaptured Maroons were severe, like removing theAchilles tendon, amputating a leg,castration, and being roasted to death.[5] Maroon communities had to be inaccessible and located in inhospitable environments to be sustainable. For example, Maroon communities were established in remote swamps in thesouthern United States; in deep canyons with sinkholes but little water or fertile soil in Jamaica; and in the deep jungles ofthe Guianas.[5] Maroon communities turned the severity of their environments to their advantage to hide and defend their communities. Disguised pathways, false trails, booby traps, underwater paths, quagmires and quicksand, and natural features were all used to conceal Maroon villages.[5]
_Een_optocht_van_boschneger.jpg)
Maroons utilised exemplary guerrilla warfare skills to fight their European enemies.Nanny, the famousJamaican Maroon, usedguerrilla warfare tactics that are also used today by many militaries around the world. European troops used strict and established strategies while Maroons attacked and retracted quickly, used ambush tactics, and fought when and where they wanted to.[5] Even though colonial governments were in a perpetual state of conflict with the Maroon communities, individuals in the colonial system traded goods and services with them.[5] Maroons also traded with isolated white settlers and Native American communities. Maroon communities played interest groups off of one another.[5] At the same time, Maroon communities were also used as pawns when colonial powers clashed.[5]Absolute secrecy and loyalty of members were crucial to the survival of Maroon communities. To ensure this loyalty, Maroon communities used severe methods to protect against desertion and spies. New members were brought to communities by way of detours so they could not find their way back and served probationary periods, often as slaves. Crimes such as desertion and adultery were punishable by death.[5]
Maroon communities emerged in many places in the Caribbean (St Vincent andDominica, for example), but none were seen as such a great threat to the British as theJamaican Maroons.[20] Beginning in the late 17th century, Jamaican Maroons consistently fought British colonists, leading to theFirst Maroon War (1728–1740). In 1739 and 1740, the British governor of theColony of Jamaica,Edward Trelawny, signed treaties promising the Jamaican Maroons 2,500 acres (1,012 ha) in two locations, atCudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) in western Jamaica andCrawford's Town in eastern Jamaica, to bring an end to the warfare between the communities. In exchange, they were to agree to capture other escaped slaves. They were initially paid a bounty of two dollars for each African returned.[21][22]: 31–46 The treaties effectively freed the Maroons a century before theSlavery Abolition Act 1833, which came into effect in 1838.
TheSecond Maroon War of 1795–1796 was an eight-month conflict between theMaroons ofCudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town), a Maroon settlement later renamed after GovernorEdward Trelawny at the end ofFirst Maroon War, located nearTrelawny Parish, Jamaica in theSt James Parish, and the British colonials who controlled the island. The Windward communities ofJamaican Maroons remained neutral during this rebellion and their treaty with the British still remains in force.Accompong Town, however, sided with the colonial militias, and fought against Trelawny Town.[23]
Remnants of Maroon communities in the former Spanish Caribbean remain as of 2006, for example inViñales, Cuba.[24] To this day, the Jamaican Maroons are to a significant extent autonomous and separate from Jamaican society. The physical isolation used to their advantage by their ancestors has today led to their communities remaining among the most inaccessible on the island. In their largest town,Accompong, in theparish of St Elizabeth, the Leeward Maroons still possess a vibrant community of about 600. Tours of the village are offered to foreigners and a large festival is put on every 6 January to commemorate the signing of the peace treaty with the British after the First Maroon War.[25][26]
The Ndyuka treaty remains important to relations between the Ndyuka and the modern Surinamese government, as it defines the territorial rights of the Maroons in thegold-rich inlands of Suriname.[27][28][29]
There is much variety among Marooncultural groups because of differences in history, geography, African nationality, and the culture of Indigenous people throughout theWestern Hemisphere.[30] Outside of the plantation system, Maroons were also freer to share, retain and adapt various African, European and Indigenous traditions and cultures, resulting in diverse Maroon identities.[31] The Jamaican Maroons, for example, have been recorded using theCoromantee language for ceremonial purpose,[32] and retain certain herbal medicine practices similar to West African traditions.[33][34]
Thejungles around theCaribbean Sea offered food, shelter, and isolation for the escaped slaves. Maroons sustained themselves by growing vegetables and hunting. Their survival depended upon their cultures, and their military abilities, using guerrilla tactics and heavily fortified dwellings involving traps and diversions. Some defined leaving the community as desertion and therefore punishable by death.[6] They also originally raided plantations. During these attacks, the Maroons would burn crops, steal livestock and tools, kill slave masters, and invite other slaves to join their communities. Individual groups of Maroons often allied themselves with the localIndigenous tribes and occasionally assimilated into these populations. Maroons played an important role in the histories ofBrazil,Suriname,Puerto Rico,Haiti,Dominican Republic,Cuba, andJamaica.[citation needed]
Maroon settlements often possessed a clannish, outsider identity. They sometimes developedCreole languages by mixing European tongues with their original African languages. One such Marooncreole language, in Suriname, isSaramaccan. At other times, the Maroons would adopt variations of a local European language (creolization) as a common tongue, for members of the community frequently spoke a variety of mother tongues.[6]
The Maroons created their own independent communities, which in some cases have survived for centuries, and until recently remained separate from mainstream society. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Maroon communities began to disappear as forests were razed, although some countries, such asGuyana and Suriname, still have large Maroon populations living in the forests. Recently, many of them moved to cities and towns as the process ofurbanization accelerates.[35]
Under governorAdriaan van der Stel in 1642, the early Dutch settlers of theDutch East India Company brought 105 slaves from Madagascar and parts of Asia to work for them inDutch Mauritius. However, 50 of these first slaves, including women, escaped in the wilderness ofDutch Mauritius. Only 18 of these escapees were caught. On 18 June 1695, a gang of Maroons of Indonesian and Chinese origins, including Aaron d'Amboine, Antoni (Bamboes) and Paul de Batavia, as well as female escapees Anna du Bengale and Espérance, set fire to the Dutch settlers' Fort Frederick Hendryk (Vieux Grand Port) in an attempt to take over control of the island. They were all caught and decapitated.[36] In February 1706 another revolt was organised by the remaining Maroons as well as disgruntled slaves. When the Dutch abandonedDutch Mauritius in 1710 the Maroons stayed behind.[citation needed]
When representatives of theFrench East India Company landed on the island in 1715 they also had to face attacks by the Mauritian Maroons. Significant events were the 1724 assault on a military outpost in Savannah district, as well as the attack on a military barrack in 1732 at Poste de Flacq. Several deaths resulted from such attacks. Soon after his arrival in 1735,Mahé de La Bourdonnais assembled and equipped French militia groups made of both civilians and soldiers to fight against the Maroons. In 1739, Maroon leader Sans Souci was captured near Flacq and was burnt alive by the French settlers. A few years later, a group of French settlers gave chase to Barbe Blanche, another Maroon leader, but lost track of him atLe Morne. Other Maroons included Diamamouve and Madame Françoise.[37][38]
The most important Maroons onRéunion were Cimendef, Cotte, Dimitile and Maffate.[39] In the 18th century, Dimitile rebelled and found asylum inthe region of the island to which he gave his name.[40][41] In 1743, Dimitile and his companions are said to have freed Jeanneton, a slave from Mozambique, from the hands of her owner Pierre Hibon.[42]
A group of just under 600Jamaican Maroons fromCudjoe's Town, the largest of the five Jamaican maroon towns, were deported by theBritish authorities in Jamaica following theSecond Maroon War in 1796, first toNova Scotia.[43] Four years later in 1800, they were transported toSierra Leone.[44][45][46]
TheSierra Leone Company had established the settlement ofFreetown and theColony of Sierra Leone in 1792 for the resettlement of theAfrican Americans who arrived viaNova Scotia after they had been evacuated as freedmen from theUnited States after theAmerican Revolutionary War.[47][48] Some Jamaican Maroons eventually returned to Jamaica, but most became part of the largerSierra Leone Creole people and culture made up of freemen and liberated slaves who joined them in the first half-century of the colony.[49][50][51]
In the 1790s, about 600Jamaican Maroons were deported to British settlements inNova Scotia, whereAmerican slaves who had escaped from the United States were also resettled. Being unhappy with conditions, in 1800, a majority emigrated toFreetown, West Africa where they identified as theSierra Leone Creoles.[52]
InCuba, there were Maroon communities in the mountains, where African refugees had escaped the brutality of slavery and joinedTaínos.[53] In 1538, runaways helped the French to sack the city ofHavana.[17]: 41
In 1731, slaves rose up in revolt at the Cobre mines, and set up an independent community at Sierra del Cobre, which existed untroubled until 1781, when the self-freed population had increased to over 1,000. In 1781, the Spanish colonial authorities agreed to recognise the freedom of the people of this community.[17]: 41 [54]: 54–55 In 1797, one of the captured leaders of apalenque nearJaruco was an Indian from theYucatán.[54]: 57
In the 1810s, Ventura Sanchez, also known as Coba, was in charge of apalenque of several hundred Maroons in the mountains not far fromSantiago de Cuba. Sanchez was tricked into going to Santiago de Cuba, where he committed suicide rather than be captured and returned to slavery. The leadership of the palenque then passed to Manuel Grinan, also known as Gallo.[17]: 42–43
Thepalenque of Bumba was so well organised that they even sent Maroons in small boats to Jamaica and Santo Domingo to trade. In 1830, the Spanish colonial authorities carried out military expeditions against thepalenques of Bumba and Maluala. Antonio de Leon eventually succeeded in destroying thepalenque of Bumba.[54]: 55
In the 1830s,palenques of Maroon communities thrived in western Cuba, in particular the areas surrounding San Diego de Nunez. The Office of the Capture of Maroons reported that between 1797 and 1846, there were thousands of runaways living in thesepalenques. However, the eastern mountains harboured the longer lastingpalenques, in particular those of Moa and Maluala, where the Maroons thrived until theFirst War of Independence in 1868, when large numbers of Maroons joined the Cuban Liberation Army.[17]: 47–48 [54]: 51
There are 28 identified archaeological sites in theViñales Valley related to runaway African slaves or Maroons of the early 19th century; the material evidence of their presence is found in caves of the region, where groups settled for various lengths of time.Oral tradition tells that Maroons took refuge on the slopes of themogotes and in the caves; theViñales Municipal Museum has archaeological exhibits that depict the life of runaway slaves, as deduced through archeological research. Cultural traditions reenacted during theSemana de la Cultura (Week of Culture) celebrate the town's founding in 1607.[55][56]
Similar Maroon communities developed on islands across the Caribbean, such as those of theGarifuna people onSaint Vincent. Many of the Garifuna were deported to the American mainland, where some eventually settled along theMosquito Coast or inBelize. From their original landing place inRoatan Island off the coast ofHonduras, the Maroons moved toTrujillo. Gradually groups migrated south into theMiskito Kingdom and north into Belize.[57] InDominica, escaped slaves joined IndigenousKalinago in the island's densely forested interior to create Maroon communities, which were constantly in conflict with the British colonial authorities throughout the period of formal chattel slavery.[58]
In the French colony ofSaint Lucia, Maroons and fugitiveFrench Revolutionary Army soldiers formed the so-calledFrench:Armée Française dans les bois,lit. 'French army in the woods', which comprised about 6,000 men who fought the First Brigand War against the British who had recently occupied the island.[59] Led by the French Commissioner, Gaspard Goyrand,[60] they succeeded in taking back control of most of the island from the British, but on 26 May 1796, their forces defending the fort atMorne Fortune, about 2,000 men surrendered to a British division under the command of General John Moore.[61][62] After the capitulation, over 2,500 French and Afro-Caribbean prisoners of war as well as ninety-nine women and children, were transported from St. Lucia toPortchester Castle. They were eventually sent to France in aprisoner exchange; some remained in Europe while others returned to France.[63][64]
Americanmarronage began in Spain's colony on the island ofHispaniola. GovernorNicolás de Ovando was already complaining of escaped slaves and their interactions with theTaíno Indians by 1503. The first slave rebellion occurred in Hispaniola on the sugar plantations owned by AdmiralDiego Columbus, on 26 December 1522, and was brutally crushed by the Admiral.[17]: 35 Though the Admiral crushed the revolt, many of the slaves were able to escape. TheDominican Maroons went on to lead the first Maroon activities of the Americas.Sebastián Lemba, born in Africa, successfully rebelled against the Spaniards in 1532, and banded together with other Africans in his 15-year struggle against the Spanish colonists. Lemba was eventually joined by other Maroons such as Juan Vaquero, Diego del Guzmán, Fernando Montoro, Juan Criollo andDiego del Ocampo in the struggle against slavery. As the Maroons threatened Spanish commerce and trade, Spanish officials began to fear a Maroon takeover of the island.[65]
Maroons joined the natives in their wars against the Spanish and hid with the rebel chieftain Enriquillo in theBahoruco Mountains.[66][67][17]: 38 By the 1540s, Maroons had already controlled the interior portions of the island, although areas in the east, north, and western parts of the island were also to fall under Maroon control. Maroon bands would venture out throughout the island, usually in large groups, attacking villages they encountered, burning down plantations, killing and ransacking the Spaniards, and liberating the slaves. Roadways had become so open to attack, the Spaniards felt it was necessary to only navigate in groups.[65] When Archdeacon Alonso de Castro toured Hispaniola in 1542, he estimated the Maroon population at 2,000–3,000 persons.[66][67][17]: 38
In the 1570s, SirFrancis Drake enlisted severalcimarrones during his raids on the Spanish.[68][69][70] Dominican Maroons would be present throughout the island until the mid 17th century.[71][72]
The French encountered many forms of slave resistance during the 17th and 18th centuries, inSaint Domingue, which later came to be calledHaiti. Formerly enslaved Africans who fled to remote mountainous areas were calledmarron (French) ormawon (Haitian Creole), meaning 'escaped slave'. The Maroons formed close-knit communities that practisedsmall-scale agriculture and hunting. They were known to return to plantations to free family members and friends. On a few occasions, they also joined theTaíno settlements, who had escaped the Spanish in the 17th century.[73]: 135–136
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, there were a large number of Maroons living in theBahoruco mountains. In 1702, a French expedition against them killed three Maroons and captured 11, but over 30 evaded capture, and retreated further into the mountainous forests. Further expeditions were carried out against them with limited success, though they did succeed in capturing one of their leaders, Michel, in 1719. In subsequent expeditions, in 1728 and 1733, French forces captured 46 and 32 Maroons respectively. No matter how many detachments were sent against these Maroons, they continued to attract runaways. Expeditions in 1740, 1742, 1746, 1757 and 1761 had minor successes against these Maroons, but failed to destroy their hideaways.[73]: 135–136
In 1776–1777, a joint French–Spanish expedition ventured into the border regions of the Bahoruco mountains, with the intention of destroying the Maroon settlements there. However, the Maroons had been alerted of their coming, and had abandoned their villages and caves, retreating further into the mountainous forests where they could not be found. The detachment eventually returned, unsuccessful and having lost many soldiers to illness and desertion. In the years that followed, the Maroons attacked a number of settlements, including Fond-Parisien, for food, weapons, gunpowder and women. It was on one of these excursions that one of the Maroon leaders, Kebinda, who had been born in freedom in the mountains, was captured. He later died in captivity.[73]: 136–138
In 1782, de Saint-Larry decided to offer peace terms to one of the Maroon leaders, Santiago, granting them freedom in return for which they would hunt all further runaways and return them to their owners. Eventually, at the end of 1785, terms were agreed, and the more than 100 Maroons under Santiago's command stopped making incursions into French colonial territory.[73]: 139–142
Other slave resistance efforts against the French plantation system were more direct. One of the most influential Maroons wasFrançois Mackandal, ahoungan orvoodoo priest, who led a six-year rebellion against the white plantation owners inHaiti that preceded theHaitian Revolution.[74] Mackandal led a movement to poison the drinking water of the plantation owners in the 1750s.[75]Boukman declared war on the French plantation owners in 1791, setting off theHaitian Revolution. A statue called theLe Nègre Marron or theNèg Mawon is an iconic bronze bust that was erected in the heart ofPort-au-Prince to commemorate the role of Maroons in Haitian independence.[76]
People who escaped from slavery during the Spanish occupation of the island of Jamaica fled to the interior and joined theTaíno living there, forming refugee communities. Later, many of them gained freedom during the confusion surrounding the 1655 EnglishInvasion of Jamaica.[77] Some refugee slaves continued to join them through the decades until the abolition of slavery in 1838, but in the main, after the signing of the treaties of 1739 and 1740, the Maroons hunted runaway slaves in return for payment from the British colonial authorities.[22]: 45–47
During the late 17th and 18th centuries, the British tried to capture the Maroons because they occasionally raidedplantations, and made expansion into the interior more difficult.[78] By the 18th century,Nanny Town and other Jamaican Maroon villages began to fight for independent recognition.[25] An increase in armed confrontations over decades led to theFirst Maroon War in the 1730s, but the British were unable to defeat the Maroons. They finally settled with the groups by treaty in 1739 and 1740, allowing them to have autonomy in their communities in exchange for agreeing to be called to military service with the colonists if needed. Certain Maroon factions became so formidable that they made treaties with local colonial authorities,[78] sometimes negotiating their independence in exchange for helping to hunt down other slaves who escaped.[79]
Due to tensions and repeated conflicts with Maroons fromTrelawny Town, theSecond Maroon War erupted in 1795. After the governor tricked the Trelawny Maroons into surrendering, the colonial government deported approximately 600 captive Maroons toNova Scotia. Due to their difficulties and those ofBlack Loyalists settled at Nova Scotia and England after the American Revolution, Great Britain established a colony inWest Africa,Sierra Leone. It offered ethnic Africans a chance to set up their community there, beginning in 1792. Around 1800, several hundredJamaican Maroons were transported toFreetown, the first settlement ofSierra Leone. Eventually, in the 1840s, about 200 Trelawny Maroons returned to Jamaica, and settled in the village of Flagstaff in theparish of St James, not far from Trelawny Town, which is now namedMaroon Town, Jamaica.[80]
The only Leeward Maroon settlement that retained formal autonomy in Jamaica after the Second Maroon War wasAccompong, inSaint Elizabeth Parish, whose people had abided by their 1739 treaty with the British. A Windward Maroon community is also located atCharles Town, Jamaica, onBuff Bay River inPortland Parish. Another is atMoore Town (formerly Nanny Town), also in the parish of Portland. In 2005, the music of the Moore Town Maroons was declared byUNESCO as a 'Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.'[81] A fourth community is atScott's Hall, Jamaica, in the parish of St Mary.[82] Accompong's autonomy was ratified by the government of Jamaica when the island gained independence in 1962.[citation needed]
The government has tried to encourage the survival of the other Maroon settlements. The Jamaican government and the Maroon communities organised the Annual International Maroon Conference, initially to be held at rotating communities around the island, but the conference has been held at Charles Town since 2009.[83] Maroons from other Caribbean, Central, and South America nations are invited. In 2016, Accompong's colonel and a delegation traveled to theKingdom of Ashanti inGhana to renew ties with theAkan and Asante people of their ancestors.[84]
InPuerto Rico,Taíno families fromUtuado moved into the southwestern mountain ranges, along with escaped African slaves who intermarried with them. Before roads were built into the mountains, heavybrush kept many escaped Maroons hidden in the southwestern hills. Escaped slaves sought refuge away from the coastal plantations ofPonce.[85]
InMartinique, The escaped African slaves had fled to the Maroon settlement in the northern woods to escape the French plantation system as well as the overseers along with white settlers, during theFrench Revolution, theIgbo slaves fought for freedom of which theFrench National Convention abolishedslavery in 1794. But it was not until 1848, where the last slave uprising was occurred, which became the first French overseas territory to abolish slavery along with other French colonies.[citation needed]
Several different Maroon societies developed around theGulf of Honduras. Some were found in the interior of modern-dayHonduras, along the trade routes by whichsilver mined on the Pacific side of theisthmus was carried by slaves down to coastal towns such asTrujillo orPuerto Caballos to be shipped to Europe. When slaves escaped, they went to the mountains for safety. In 1548, in what is now Honduras, slaves in San Pedro rebelled, led by a self-freed slave named Miguel, who set up his own capital. The Spaniards had to send in reinforcements to put down the revolt.[17]: 36
In 1648, the English bishop of Guatemala,Thomas Gage, reported active bands of Maroons numbering in the hundreds along these routes. TheMiskito Sambu were a Maroon group who formed from slaves who revolted on a Portuguese ship around 1640, wrecking the vessel on the coast of Honduras-Nicaragua and escaping into the interior. They intermarried with the Indigenous people over the next half-century. They eventually rose to leadership of theMosquito Coast and led extensive slave raids against Spanish-held territories in the first half of the 18th century.[86]
TheGarifuna are descendants of Maroon communities that developed on the island ofSaint Vincent. They were deported to the coast of Honduras in 1797.[57]
Bayano, aMandinka man who had been enslaved and taken to Panama in 1552, led a rebellion that year against theSpanish in Panama. He and his followers escaped to found villages in the lowlands. Viceroy Canete felt unable to subdue these Maroons, so he offered them terms that entailed a recognition of their freedom, provided they refused to admit any newcomers and returned runaways to their owners.[17]: 41
Later these people, known as theCimarrón, assisted SirFrancis Drake in fighting against the Spanish.[15][68]
Gaspar Yanga was an African leader of a Maroon colony in theVeracruz highlands in what is nowMexico. It is believed Yanga had been a fugitive since the early 1570s, and was the leader of a formidable group of Maroons.[87]: 93–94
In 1609, Captain Pedro Gonzalo de Herrera lad an expedition against Yanga and his Maroons, but despite severe casualties on both sides, neither emerged the victor. Instead, Yanga negotiated with the Spanish colonists to establish a self-ruled Maroon settlement called San Lorenzo de los Negros (later renamedYanga). Yanga secured recognition of the freedom of his Maroons, and hispalenque was accorded the status of a free town. In return, Yanga was required to return any further runaways to the Spanish colonial authorities.[88][87]: 94–97
TheCosta Chica of Guerrero andof Oaxaca include many hard-to-access areas that also provided refuge for slaves escaping Spanish ranches and estates on the Pacific coast.[89] Evidence of these communities can be found in theAfro-Mexican population of the region.[90] Other Afro-Mexican communities descended from people who escaped slavery are found in Veracruz and in Northern Mexico; some of the later communities were populated by people who escaped slavery in the United States via theSouthern Underground Railroad.[91]
Maroons who escaped from theThirteen Colonies and allied withSeminole Indians were one of the largest and most successful Maroon communities in what is now Florida due to more rights and freedoms extracted from the Spanish Empire. Some intermarried and were culturally Seminole; others maintained a more African culture. Descendants of those who were removed with the Seminole toIndian Territory in the 1830s are recognized asBlack Seminoles. Many were formerly part of theSeminole Nation of Oklahoma, but have been excluded since the late 20th century by new membership rules that require proving Native American descent from historic documents.[92][93][94]
In the late 18th century, two Maroon settlements were established on Abercorn Island (then called Belleisle), situated upriver fromSavannah along theSavannah River, in modern-dayEffingham County.[95] In 1787, these settlements were destroyed by a local militia.[95] Afterwards, the Maroons established another settlement at Bear Creek, though this settlement was also raided and its leader was killed.[95]
Lakeview was established as aFreedmen's town by a group of African-Americanrunaway slaves andfreedmen who immigrated fromNorth Carolina shortly after theWar of 1812. They arrived between 1818 and 1820. This area was ideal for the remainingNative Americans who lived, hunted, fished, and farmed this region and the black community integrated with the Amerindians.[96]
Until the mid-1760s, Maroon colonies lined the shores ofLake Borgne, just downriver ofNew Orleans, Louisiana. These escaped, enslaved people controlled many of thecanals and back-country passages fromLake Pontchartrain tothe Gulf, including theRigolets. The San Malo community was a long-thriving autonomous community.[97] These colonies were eventually eradicated by militia from Spanish-controlled New Orleans led byFrancisco Bouligny.Free people of color aided in their capture.[98][99]
People who escaped enslavement in ante-bellum America continued to find refuge and freedom in rural Louisiana, including in areas around New Orleans.[100][101][102]
TheGreat Dismal Swamp maroons inhabited the marshlands of theGreat Dismal Swamp inVirginia andNorth Carolina. Although conditions were harsh, research suggests that thousands lived there between about 1700 and the 1860s.[103][104]
One of the best-knownquilombos (Maroon settlements) inBrazil wasPalmares (the Palm Nation) nearRecife, which was established around 1600.Quilombo dos Palmares was a self-sustaining community of escaped slaves from the Portuguese settlements in Brazil, "a region perhaps the size of Portugal in the hinterland of Bahia". Part of the reason for the massive size of Palmares was due to its location at the median point between the Atlantic Ocean and Guinea, an important area of theAfrican slave trade.[105] At its height, it had a population of over 30,000 free people and was ruled by KingZumbi.[106][107] Zumbi andGanga Zumba are the two best-known warrior-leaders of Palmares who fended off firstDutch and thenPortuguesecolonial authorities.[108]
In 1612, the Portuguese tried in vain to take Palmares in an expedition that proved to be very costly.[109] In 1640, a Dutch scouting mission found that the self-freed community of Palmares was spread over two settlements, with about 6,000 living in one location and another 5,000 in another. Dutch expeditions against Palmares in the 1640s were similarly unsuccessful.[110] Between 1672 and 1694, Palmares withstood, on average, one Portuguese expedition nearly every year.[111] After maintaining its independent existence for almost a hundred years, it was finally conquered by the Portuguese in 1694.[106][107]
Of the 10 majorquilombos in colonial Brazil, seven were destroyed within two years of being formed. Four fell in the state of Bahia in 1632, 1636, 1646 and 1796. The other three met the same fate in Rio in 1650, Parahyba in 1731, and Piumhy in 1758.[112] Onequilombo in Minas Gerais lasted from 1712–1719. Another, the "Carlota" of Mato Grosso, was wiped out after existing for 25 years, from 1770–1795.[111] There were also a number of smallerquilombos. The first reportedquilombo was in 1575 in Bahia. Anotherquilombo in Bahia was reported at the start of the 17th century. Between 1737 and 1787, a smallquilombo thrived in the vicinity of São Paulo.[113] The region of Campo Grande and São Francisco was often populated withquilombos. In 1741, Jean Ferreira organised an expedition against aquilombo, but many runaways escaped capture. In 1746, a subsequent expedition captured 120 members of thequilombo. In 1752, an expedition led by Pere Marcos was attacked byquilombo fighters, resulting in significant loss of life.[114]
Quilombos continued to form in the 19th century. In 1810, aquilombo was discovered at Linhares in the state of São Paulo. A decade later, another was found in Minas. In 1828, anotherquilombo was discovered at Cahuca, near Recife, and a year later an expedition was mounted against yet another atCorcovado, near Rio de Janeiro. In 1855, the Maravilhaquilombo in Amazonas was destroyed.[115] Numerous descendants of Quilombo residents, orQuilombolas, continue to live in historic quilombo settlements post-emancipation. Their status as a "traditional people" was recognized in the1988 Constitution of Brazil, although they continue to campaign for land rights and protections from violence.[citation needed]
 | This sectionrelies largely or entirely upon asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article by introducingcitations to additional sources at this section.(May 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 1529, in what is now Colombia, rebel slaves destroyedSanta Marta.[17]: 35 Escaped slaves established independent communities along the remote Pacific coast, outside of the reach of the colonial administration. At the start of the 17th century, a group of runaways had established apalenque on the outskirts of theMagdalena River. Eventually, in 1654, the governor ofCartegena de Indias, Don Pedro Zapata, defeated and subdued this community of runaway Maroons.[116]: 76–77
In what is now the district ofPopayán, thepalenque of Castillo was successfully established by runaway slaves. In 1732, the Spanish authorities tried to secure peace terms with the Maroons of Castillo by inserting a clause requiring them to return runaways, but the rulers of Castillo rejected those terms. In 1745, the colonial authorities defeated Castillo, and over 200 African and Indian runaways surrendered.[116]: 76
At the start of the 17th century, the Maroon community ofSan Basilio de Palenque was founded, whenBenkos Biohó led a group of about 30 runaways into the forests, and defeated attempts to subdue them. Biohó declared himself King Benkos, and hispalenque of San Basilio attracted large numbers of runaways to join his community. His Maroons defeated the first expedition sent against them, killing their leader Juan Gomez. The Spanish arrived at terms with Biohó, but later they captured him in 1619, accused him of plotting against the Spanish, and had him hanged. But runaways continued to escape to freedom in San Basilio.[116]: 79–80
In 1696, the colonial authorities subdued another rebellion in San Basilio de Palenque, and again between 1713 and 1717. Eventually, the Spanish agreed to peace terms with thepalenque of San Basilio, and in 1772, this community of Maroons was included within the Mahates district, as long they no longer accepted any further runaways. The San Basilio community, where the creolePalenquero language is spoken, is one of several that still exist along the Caribbean coast.[116]: 79–80
In addition to escaped slaves, survivors fromshipwrecks formed independent communities along rivers of the northern coast and mingled with Indigenous communities in areas beyond the reach of the colonial administration. Separate communities can be distinguished from thecantones Cojimies y Tababuela,Esmeraldas,Limones.[citation needed]
Marronage was common in British, Dutch, and French Guiana, and today descendants of Maroons account for about 15% of the current population of Suriname[117] and 22% in French Guiana.[118] In the Guianas, escaped slaves, locally known as 'Bushinengues', fled to the interior and joined with Indigenous peoples and created several independent tribes, among them theSaramaka, theParamaka, theNdyuka (Aukan), theKwinti, theAluku (Boni), and theMatawai.[119]: 295, [120]
In the plantation colony ofSuriname, which England ceded to the Netherlands in theTreaty of Breda (1667), escaped slaves revolted and started to build their villages from the end of the 17th century. As most of the plantations existed in the eastern part of the country, near theCommewijne River andMarowijne River, the marronage took place along the river borders and sometimes across the borders ofFrench Guiana. By 1740, the Maroons had formed clans and felt strong enough to challenge the Dutch colonists, forcing them to sign peace treaties. On 10 October 1760, the Ndyuka were the first to sign a peace treaty, drafted by former Jamaican slave Adyáko Benti Basiton ofBoston, offering them territorial autonomy in 1760.[121] In the 1770s, the Aluku also desired a peace treaty, but theSociety of Suriname started a war against them,[122] resulting in a flight into French Guiana.[123] The other tribes signed peace treaties with the Surinamese government, the Kwinti being the last in 1887.[124] On 25 May 1891 the Aluku officially became French citizens.[125]
After Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands, the old treaties with the Bushinengues were abrogated. By the 1980s the Bushinengues inSuriname had begun to fight for their land rights.[126] Between 1986 and 1992,[127] theSurinamese Interior War was waged by theJungle Commando, aguerrilla group fighting for the rights of the Maroon minority, against the military dictatorship ofDési Bouterse.[128] In 2005, following a ruling by theInter-American Court of Human Rights, the Suriname government agreed to compensate survivors of the 1986Moiwana village massacre, in which soldiers had slaughtered 39 unarmed Ndyuka people, mainly women and children.[117] On 13 June 2020,Ronnie Brunswijk was electedVice President of Suriname by acclamation in anuncontested election.[129] He was inaugurated on 16 July[130] as the first Maroon in Suriname to serve as vice president.[131]
In modern-dayGuyana, Dutch officials in 1744 conducted an expedition against encampments of at least 300 Maroons in the Northwest district ofEssequibo. The Dutch nailed severed hands of Maroons killed in the expedition to posts in the colony as a warning to other slaves.[132] In 1782, a French official in the region estimated there were more than 2,000 Maroons in the vicinity ofBerbice,Demerara, and Essequibo.[133]
| This sectionrelies largely or entirely upon asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article by introducingcitations to additional sources at this section.(May 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
There were a number of rebellions of slaves throughout the history of what later became Venezuela.[17]: 37 Through the region ofBarlovento, many free and escaped slaves founded communities, known ascumbes. One of the most well-known of these settlements isCuriepe, where the annualFiesta de San Juan is celebrated. Another was thecumbe of Ocoyta, led by runaway Guillermo Ribas, which reportedly engaged in a number of attacks on the neighbouring towns ofChuspa andPanaquire. These Venezuelan Maroons also traded in cocoa. Guillermo ran away in 1768, and formed acumbe which included runaways of African and Indian origin.[134]: 65–67
Thecumbe of Ocoyta was eventually destroyed in 1771. A military expedition led by German de Aguilera destroyed the settlement, killing Guillermo, but only succeeded in capturing eight adults and two children. The rest of the runaways withdrew into the surrounding forests, where they remained at large.[134]: 64–65 One of Guillermo's deputies, Ubaldo the Englishman, whose christened name was Jose Eduardo de la Luz Perera, was initially born a slave in London, sold to a ship captain, and took a number of trips before eventually being granted his freedom. He was one of a number of free black people who joined the community of Ocoyta. In 1772, he was captured by the Spanish authorities.[134]: 70–71
There were manycumbes in the interior of the colony. In 1810, when theWar of Independence began, many members of thesecumbes fought on the side of the rebels, and abandoned their villages.[134]: 72–73
The Shorter Oxford Dictionary explains maroon 'fugitive negro slave' as from 'Fr. marron, said to be a corruption of Sp.cimarrón, wild, untamed'. But Eng.maroon is attested earlier (1666) than Fr.marron 'fugitive slave' (1701, in Furetière). If there is a connection between Eng.maroon, Fr.marron, and Sp.cimarrón, Spain (or Spanish America) probably gave the word directly to England (or English America).
Spanish:Y si prestamos atención al testimonio de Oviedo cuando, después de haber vivido en la Española por muchos años, asevera que cimarrón «quiere decir, en la lengua desta isla, fugitivos», quedaría demostrado que nos hallamos, en efecto, ante un temprano préstamo de la lengua taina.» English: And if we pay attention to the testimony of Oviedo when, after having lived in Hispaniola for many years, he asserts that cimarrón "means, in the language of this island, fugitives", it would be demonstrated that we are, in fact, before an early loan of the Taíno language.
Spanish:En resumen, los informes que aquí aporto confirman que cimarrón es un indigenismo de origen antillano, que se usaba ya en el primer tercio de siglo xvi, y que ha venido a resultar otro de los numerosos antillanismos que la conquista extendió por todo el ámbito del continente e hizo refluir sobre la propia metrópoli. English: In short, the reports that I am contributing here confirm thatcimarrón is an Indian word of Antillean origin, which was already used in the first third of the sixteenth century, and which has come to be another of the many Antillanisms that the conquest extended throughout the breadth of the continent and made to reflect on the metropolis itself.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Some maroon communities became powerful enough to force the European powers into formal peace treaties designed to pacify the interior while recognizing the freedom and autonomy of the rebels. Jamaica and Surinam provided the most famous of these cases, which had counterparts in Mexico...
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) A good short history of the "Bush Negroes" of Suriname.| Geography |
| ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secondary Afro-American diaspora |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Related topics | |||||||||||||||||||
