The Jamaican Maroons Escaped slaves who fought the British rulers in Jamaica

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The Jamaican MaroonsEscaped slaves who fought
the British rulers in Jamaica
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• Jamaica is one of largest Caribbean Islands

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• When Christopher Columbus arrived at the island
  in 1494, he claimed the land for Spain.

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• In 1655, the British captured Jamaica
  from the Spanish.
• When the British captured Jamaica from the
  Spanish, the Spanish ran away from the island
  after freeing their slaves and turning their
  cattle loose.
• The Spanish did not want the British to be able
  to set up farming on the island easily.
• Once they were freed, the slaves became a
  fighting force and adopted the name Maroons.
• They escaped into the mountains jungles.

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• The word Maroon comes from the word cimarrone
  which means runaway slave or savage in Spanish.

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• The British also brought a lot of slaves to
  Jamaica via the Atlantic Slave Trade
• It became the most important slaving colony of
  the British Caribbean and was known as "the
  jewels in the English crown.
• Within 100 years, virtually the whole island had
  been divided up into large plantations. (Mostly
  sugar plantations)

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• Slaves began to escape from their plantations
  because they refused to accept their colonial
  slave masters
• They joined the Maroons in the wilderness of
  Jamaica

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• The Jamaican Maroons began a very successful
  guerilla warfare by striking quickly at night,
  then disappearing.
• At the same time, they established an
  early-warning system - using an abeng (horn) to
  warn their villages of attack by the red-coats
  (British).

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• They were successful, in retaining their
  independence by constantly defending their
  freedom.
• Their settlements were small (not more than 2,000
  strong) but they fought as if they were in
  greater numbers.

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• For the next 76 years the Maroons and the British
  fought with each other.
• The Maroons knew the forests well and used leaves
  to disguise themselves.
• Their successful attacks gave rise to a saying
  Land of Look Behind' - because the British had
  to always look behind them for a sudden ambush. 
• The British lost many people to the sharp
  shooting Maroons.

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• Many of their hit-and-run attacks became
  often-told epics
• The most famous tale was about Nanny, a warrior
  queen

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• Nanny, who fought the British at the beginning of
  the 1700s, is often described as an almost
  supernatural Ashante warrior Queen who could
  catch musket balls and fire them back
• She was the spiritual, cultural and military
  leader of the Windward Maroons who had a
  stronghold in the Blue Mountains, known as Nanny
  Town.
• She was also known as the Mountain Queen

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• She was an excellent leader, who was
• able to keep the British out of the Blue
  Mountains by using guerilla warfare.
• It took the British 6 years to locate
• Nanny Town
• When they tried to attack the town, Nanny and her
  followers dumped boiling water on the troops.
• Eventually, the British destroyed the town,
  killing Nanny, by using canon fire.
• She is still considered a national hero today!

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• In 1729, the British began what was to become
  known as the First Maroon War'.
• Cudjo or Kojo, emerged as leader of the Maroons.

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• In 1739, a treaty was signed with the Maroons.
• Under its terms, they were to remain in their
  five main towns, living under their own chief and
  a British supervisor.
• In exchange, they were asked to agree not to take
  in new runaway slaves, but rather to help catch
  them.

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• In 1795, Trelawney Town Maroons declared war for
  a second time against the British.
• They felt that they were being badly treated
  under the terms of the treaty.
• They felt that the land allotted to them for
  farming was rocky and inadequate
• This time the British were more successful. Using
  dogs, they flushed the Maroons from their hiding
  places, forcing peace. 

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• In order to teach them a lesson, almost 600
  maroons were put on 3 prison ships and were sent
  away from Jamaica in 1796.
• The Mary The Ann The Dover
• The British thought about sending them to Upper
  Canada, but eventually decided on Nova Scotia.

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• They were held in Halifax Harbour until they were
  released to work in Citadel Fort in Halifax.
• One of the walls in the fort is named Maroon Wall.

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• Accommodations were first made in the center of
  Halifax, but were later located to land in
  Preston, which was left vacant by the Black
  Loyalists. Maroon Hall was built for them here.
• Eventually, they were split into 2 communities
  Preston and the other a farming community of
  Boydville located in the area known as Maroon
  Hill (now Middle Sackville)

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• In 1798, the Maroons became dissatisfied with
  life in Nova Scotia.
• They attempted to farm. However, like the
  previous occupants of the poor, rocky land at
  Preston, they had little success.
• They found farming in Nova Scotia difficult,
  especially as the climate prevented the growing
  of familiar food crops such as pineapples,
  bananas, yams, and cocoa.

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• Lieutenant Governor Sir John Wentworth attempted
  to change the Maroons culture by introducing
  them to Christianity.
• However, the Maroons were not interested in
  changing their traditions and customs regarding
  marriage, funerals and religious beliefs.
• They also found it difficult to get jobs because
  they refused to work for less wages than a white
  person would receive. This caused financial
  disputes with the government.
• They also did not enjoy the climate and were
  isolated.

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• They requested permission to leave and the Sierra
  Leone Company came in 1800 to take them to Sierra
  Leone.