Maroons and the Jamaican frontier zones of the eighteenth century

UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Greg Zugrave (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
Advisor
Paul Townend

Abstract: Throughout the eighteenth century, Jamaican maroons, or original bands of runaway slaves, utilized frontier zones to maintain independence. Frontier zones were desolate, unoccupied areas that no group fully controlled because of the harsh environments. Jamaican maroon groups lived autonomously from the late seventeenth century until the end of the eighteenth century, due to the inaccessibility of their villages and an expertise in unconventional warfare. In 1739, treaties ended years of fighting with the British colonists. The treaties damaged the frontier areas through the presence of British officers, the maintenance of clear roads, and a requirement that granted the maroons freedom for their collaboration. Despite the treaties, frontier zones remained until the Trelawny maroon rebellion in 1795. This event marked an ending point in one Jamaican frontier. Furthered colonization, along with added fears of widespread rebellion, compromised the frontier areas surrounding the Trelawny community. Only in frontier zones could maroons exist autonomously and apart from the rest of the colony. As demonstrated by the Trelawny event, without surrounding frontier zones the maroons held no place in social structure of colonial Jamaica.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts
Language: English
Date: 2009
Keywords
African diaspora--History, Fugitive slaves--Jamaica, Fugitive slaves--West Indies, Maroons--Jamaica, Slavery--Jamaica--History
Subjects
Slavery -- Jamaica -- History
African diaspora -- History
Maroons -- Jamaica
Fugitive slaves -- Jamaica
Fugitive slaves -- West Indies

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