Marronage

Marronage

• Those slaves who ran away and established small settlements in the mountainous areas of Jamaica, British
Guiana and Suriname were called the Maroons.
• The word is derived from 'marronage' which came from the Spanish word 'cimarron', meaning fugitive or
runaway.
 Two types can be distinguished

• 'Grand marronage” refers to large groups of people who ran away from plantations and 'petit marronage'
describes individuals or small groups who ran away. The grand marronage led to the establishment of
Maroon communities.
• The petit marronage was comprised of people who would sometimes return to the plantations and who
can be seen as habitual runaways or people who just tried to get away from their situation temporarily.
 Marroon communities in Jamaica

• As the Maroon communities increased the slave owners felt more threatened. Successful Maroon
communities were established in Jamaica, as seen with the Sambo-Mosquito on the Mosquito Coast,
Cudjoe Town (named after leader General Cudjoe) and Nanny Town.
 Reasons for the success of Maroon
communities

Geographical topography was used to advantage.

They settled on mountainous regions such as the 'cockpit country' in Jamaica which received its name
because of the many cockpits and caves in the area. The Europeans had difficulties in traversing these areas
and so the Maroons were able to exist without much harassment by the planters.
 They established well-planned communities

They carefully chose where to settle and when they established their communities they had an organized
system of government (they appointed leaders) and engaged in agriculture and trade.
 They become self-sufficient communities

They produced enough to feed themselves. They planted a variety of crops which included ground provisions
(sweet potatoes and yams), plantains, bananas, tobacco, coffee, beans and some sugar cane in the larger
communities.
 They established symbolic relations with
indigenous peoples

• They met smaller Taino groups in the mountainous areas and formed several agreements with them. The
two groups traded their surplus food. It was a symbiotic relationship in that the Tainos taught the Maroons
to survive in the forests and the Maroons returned the favour by introducing the Tainos to new types of
crops and methods of farming.
 Their knowledge and practice of guerilla
warfare

They frequently used this knowledge defending themselves against European trackers who attempted to find
their communities. It also helped when the Maroons raided plantations for supplies.
 The Maroon Leader was very effective

Various Maroon leaders helped to maintain well-organized communities through their administrative skills.
They also played an important role in creating and maintaining a sense of unity and confidence among
community members. They planned successful raids on the plantations and made decisions regarding the
community. For example, General Cudjoe signed a treaty with the colonial government to gain its cooperation
and to ensure that the Maroon community would survive with little interference from the Europeans.
 To some extent Maroon communities survived
because Europeans grew to fear and even respect
them.

This is evident by the treaties which were signed with some Maroons after the First Maroon War (1729-39)
and the Second Maroon War (1795-96).
First Maroon War
1729-1739
 First Maroon War ( 1729-1739)

• The First Maroon War began in 1728. The campaign against them
made the Maroons more determined than ever. Under their leader
called Cudjoe, the Maroons fought back. In 1739, the British and the
Maroons made peace. The freedom of the Maroons was recognised
and their land was given to them.
• The Maroons were to govern themselves. In return they would
support the British government in Jamaica against foreign invasion
and would help capture rebel slaves and runaways from the
plantations and return them to their owners. Although this agreement
might seem strange now, it was one way for the Maroons to live in
peace with the island’s government.
 Second Maroon War (1795-1796)

There were many years of peace between the Maroons and the
British in Jamaica. But, in 1795, the new Governor of Jamaica,
Balcarres, decided to deal with some minor breaches of the
peace treaty by a community of Maroons called the Trelawney
Town Maroons.
 Second Maroon War (1795-1796)

• The plantation owners asked the governor not to take action.

They felt that an agreement should be reached with the
Maroons to maintain the peace of the town. The governor
went ahead against this advice, arresting several of the
leaders of Trelawney Town.  This started the Second Maroon
War.
 Second Maroon War (1795-1796)

• 300 Maroons in Trelawney Town held out against 1500 troops

and 3000 local volunteer troops. After five months of fighting,
the undefeated Maroons were offered an agreement for
peace. When they surrendered their arms, the Governor
cheated on the peace agreement offered. 
Second Maroon War (1795-1796)
 Second Maroon War (1795-1796)

The Maroons felt they were being mistreated and conflict began again in 1795. Another treaty was signed
whereby the Maroons would return all runaway slaves, ask for the King's forgiveness and be relocated to
other parts of Jamaica.
 Graded Work
(25 marks)

• (a) List FOUR geographical features which facilitated the development of

the maroon communities in the Caribbean.(4 marks)
• (b) Describe THREE features of the origins and growth of maroon
communities in Jamaica. (9 marks)
• (c ) Explain THREE strategies used by maroon communities to overcome the
obstacles to their development. (12 marks)