The Jamaican Maroons
Enslaved people who fled, fought, and won a treaty
See it on the timeline →In depth
Maroon comes from the Spanish cimarrón, “wild”, and denotes enslaved people who escaped and built their own communities beyond the colonial power's reach. Maroon communities existed across the Americas — Palmares in Brazil, Suriname, Florida — but Jamaica is the clearest case of a colonial power having to negotiate as with a state. The treaty of 1739 carried a price still debated: the Maroons undertook to return new escapees. The communities persist today with a measure of self-government, and their campaign in the Cockpit Country is an early and well-documented guerrilla war.
For children
Enslaved people who escaped into the mountains of Jamaica built their own communities and defended them for eighty years. In the end the British had to make peace and recognise their freedom and their land.
Sources
This event has no source references yet. Do you know where it is well attested — a book, an article, a reference work? We would very much like to hear from you.
Help us with sourcesConnects to
Report a correction
Found something that does not hold? Tell us — sources help, but are not required.
Report a correctionPart of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org ·