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Nanny of the Maroons
Transcript of Nanny of the Maroons
History of the Maroons
The Critical Years
Courage, Ferociousness, Tenacity
Guerrilla warfare (increased in 1720's)
Winward (Nanny) and Trewlawny (Cudjoe)
1732 Nanny Town captured
Unsuccessful attempts to separate Maroons (1935)
Chief Justice John Gregory, Colonel John Guthrie, Lieutenant Sadler
Trewlawny Town War 1975-1976
Queen Nanny of the maroons
By : Ingryd Flores, Tianna Henderson, Darline Seu, Bryan Suarez
Queen Nanny of the maroons
Nanny, Queen Of The Maroons
Where rivers meet with bustling waves, they fought and they survived,
By planting pumpkin seeds; they filled their hunger needs
The homeland of the great Maroon warriors and fighting braves,
Your valleys were shelter for their safety, its bushes and hidden caves.
I want to tell your story and Remember your name,
And tell of brilliant Queen Nanny, that has brought you fame.
With warriors fighting red coat invaders time after time at wars,
Defeating these soldiers in battle superior by far,
The Great Queen Nanny you fought relentlessly,
Bringing freedom to the Maroon Nation and great liberty.
She's The Great Queen Nanny that deserves honor and praise,
Her brilliance and wisdom needed in those trying days,
Raiding the plantations of those who held captive slaves,
Compelling all the captors to the path of freedom paved.
Maroons are great people with a proud history,
They've never settled for, or accepted forced captivity,
Not accepting lesser than total freedom deserved,
Not believing that by captive of forced labor, must any human serve.
So she was victorious in her fight to freedom,
For the noble people of her time, the victories to come,
Forcing colonial government, the Maroon freedom treaty signed,
Self governing, a century before emancipation in 1739.
Sugar cane was the main crop on plantations. It was key to the economic success of Jamaica. Nanny prior to her leading the Maroons, seeing sugar cane was the main crop it was often a target, often times when the Maroon communities rebelled the burned not only the property of slave masters but also the crops of the plantation.
• Queen Nanny probably died sometime in the 1750s, no one knows for sure. Although, Queen Nanny was a significant historical leader, she has been largely ignored. Not until after 226 years later was Queen Nanny named a national hero by the Jamaican Government (1976). Queen Nanny’s portrait was honored with a denomination of currency in 1994 and her picture is on the $500 dollar Jamaican bill, which is colloquial referred to as a “Nanny.”
One of the most famous legend of Queen Nanny is when they were about to surrender and just as she was going to sleep, she heard a voice. The voice of ancestor spirits, exhorting her not to give up, to continue on the struggle a little longer. When she awoke, she found a small bunch of pumpkin seeds in her pocket. She went to the hillside and planted the seeds, and within a few day, they grew into plants with enormous pumpkins. The pumpkins save her people from starvation!
The abeng is a horned instrument that was made out of a cow horn. It is sacred to the maroon communities because it would allow the societies to communicate within guerilla warfare and strategic movements. For these maroon societies it was essential to use the adaptive nature of each place they were in to full advantage to remain unseen and unheard. Since Maroon societies were built upon the wilderness and outer areas of Jamaica, they kept information and many cultural rituals to themselves as a form of their nature. What is interesting to take away from Maroon society and the function of their instruments is the motive in which they were used. For example compared to Brazilian revolts and maroon groups. The berimbau was an instrument made in Brazil. However the history of this instrument is that in the Afro-Brazilian art of Capoeira. The art was disguised as a dance to confuse the Government that it was nothing more than that. When in reality it originally was a deadly combat form of fighting involving acrobatics, kicks, and various high velocity movements requiring skill and precision. While Afro-Brazilian’s used this as a way to disguise its combat moves, the abeng In the Jamaican maroons, was used specifically to let others know of strategic attacks.
Jamaican $500 Bill
Importance of Slavery, Functions of the Maroons, and Sugar Plantations in Jamaica. (16th -18th Century)Importance of Slavery, Functions of the Maroons, and Sugar Plantations in Jamaica. (16th -18th Century)
Those slaves that chose to escape and flee into the wilderness of the island and build adaptive local societies that would cause raids, warfare, and strategic strikes against the Spanish/European government of the time formed maroon societies in Jamaica.
These people found it easier to ‘come from the hills at night time, set fire to the fields, and steal the cattle and stock.’
Some early-recorded warfare by maroons indicates some 76 continuous years of irregular warfare between them and their opponents.
The first maroon wars were known to start back from the joint efforts of the brothers Accompong and Johnny in the west coast of Jamaica, and the sub chiefs Quao and Cuffee in the east or windward side. Cudjoe with the help of these other leaders initiated the first Maroon War in 1690.
The intense labor and dangers of the sugar plantations from the 17th and 18th century is also the reason for much rebellion against the productions of the local economy in Jamaica. The idea that they were property was no light aspect to the African people. They took this and other harsh treatments only up until they could not take it anymore and in individual or group means, take charge into their own hands.
While not all African people chose to rebel and turn to maroon societies their role in Jamaican history is vital to know. Their work in labor tasks, domestic homes, and early adaptive nature is the reason that Jamaica grew ever prosperous from the start. They were the labor force that was needed and got the difficult work done. Maroon societies were even targeted against their own people at times by the local authorities and government with bribes and wagers. Tacky’s rebellion of 1760 sparked not only local revolts but also was a domino effect and platform to stand on for many slaves that would not take slavery any longer. For instance a after the mid 1750’s moment started to gather and have individual slaves rise up themselves and gather revolt groups against the governments orders. Yankee from Esher, was one of those individuals who rose up and sounded the alarm of the revolts going on. Soon after learning about the incident in Spanish Town, the governor sent out two companies of regular troops and Scott’s Hall maroons (one of the manipulated societies) to go out and put ends to these revolts going on across the island.
After many years of guerilla warfare which led to diminishing supplies and hindering Jamaica's economy, both sides have come to an agreement with a signed treaty on February 24, 1738. This treaty gave the Maroons property, freedom and liberty, as well as sovereignty and legal authority. This treaty became the ground basis for Maroon law.
For Consideration of UNESCO's Slavery Routes and Slave Trade Archive Project