Maroons

The Maroons (also Marron, derived from the Spanish Cimarrón) are slaves escaped from plantations in sub-Saharan Africa and their descendants in the West Indies, Central, South and North America.

Maroons in Jamaica

In Jamaica, the Maroons mixed with the indigenous peoples, the Arawaks and Miskitos. The Africans shipped by slave traders for the sugar cane plantations came mainly from what is now Ghana and the Ivory Coast. These slaves spoke mostly Akan, like the Fante and Aschanti. Their common language enabled them to maintain lines of communication in preparation for escape from the plantations and to form alliances.

• Beginning of the 18th century - Unification of different Maroon groups and negotiation with the British.
• 1730 - 1739 - First Maroon War: This was the climax of the conflict with the English colonial power that had already existed since 1655. It ended in 1739 with a peace treaty that granted the Maroons extensive autonomy rights. Among the leaders of the Maroons were Granny Nanny and her brother Cudjoe. Through their skillful guerrilla tactics and leadership skills, the Maroons were able to hold their own against the British military and ultimately forced them to sign a peace treaty. Jamaicans immortalized her in songs and legends. She is the only woman on the list of Jamaica's national heroes. In addition, the Maroon settlement of Nanny Town, northeast of Kingston in the Blue Mountains, is named after her and her likeness is immortalized on the 500 Jamaican dollar bill.
• 1760 - Coromantee Rebellion, called Tacky's Rebellion: A group of Maroons led by Tacky, who had been a tribal chief before his removal from Africa, entered the port of Port Maria on the night before Easter Monday and captured muskets, gunpowder and bullets. By the time day broke, hundreds had joined them. They moved inland, destroying several plantations and killing their owners. The English sent two full companies after them, and in the end Tacky was shot from behind.
• 1795 - Second Maroon War: Two Maroons from Trelawny Town were punished for an (alleged) theft and (allegedly) severely humiliated in Montego Bay. As a result, there was a call for revenge against the people of Montego Bay. The new Governor of Jamaica, the Earl of Balcarres, took the matter seriously, declared martial law and sent a special detachment to Trelawny Town to destroy the rebels' supply base. However, by the time they arrived, the entire village had been razed to the ground. On the way back, the task force was ambushed and completely destroyed.

This was the prelude to the Second Maroon War. It was to last another five months, during which 300 Maroons from the mountains withstood a superior force of about 1500 selected European soldiers and 3000 militiamen. The Earl of Balcarres finally realized that he could not deal with the Maroons so easily and imported one hundred bloodhounds from Cuba. When this news reached the Maroons, a near panic broke out. They had proved that they could withstand superior force in the Cockpit Country, but against these fearsome animals, which they could track even in the bush, there was no chance. Even before the animals arrived the Maroons endeavoured to make peace.

To this day, the Maroons in Jamaica are autonomous and have preserved their original culture. The village of Accompong in the mountains of St. Elizabeth, in the southwest of the island, still knows a living community of about 600 people. Every year, on January 6, a large festival is organized here to commemorate the day the peace treaty with the British was signed. Guided tours of the village are also offered to tourists. A total of about 7,000 Maroons still exist in Jamaica. They live mainly in Cockpit Country, a karst landscape in the interior of the country that is difficult to access.

Maroons in Colombia

In the village of Palenque de San Basilio near Cartagena, Maroons with a Bantu-Spanish creole language, the Palenquero, still live today.