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Who Are the Maroons?
Who Are the Maroons?
Maroon is a word used to describe an escaped slave who has run away from their captors in order to return to freedom. Some suggest that the word Maroon refers to a “fugitive slave taking to the woods”. This relates to the African slaves who fled to the hills of Jamaica upon their arrival. They remained in hiding there for approximately 140 years. The Maroons were brought to Jamaica as slaves from Africa in two waves, first by the Spanish in 1517, and second by the British in 1655.
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In 1738, the Leeward Maroons signed a treaty with the British, securing their freedom from slavery. In 1796, after the Second Maroon War, amendments made to the treaty and its conditions allowed the Maroons to remain in Jamaica and keep their freedom. However, in the winter of 1796, the British claimed that one of the conditions - that all runaways must be turned in to the governmentwas broken by the Maroons. This resulted in the Maroons being forcefully deported by the British.
