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Maroon Societies: A Political Perspective 
Chantal McFarlane 

 

Chantal Noelene McFarlane is a third year student at the University of Toronto. She is 

presently pursuing her undergraduate degree in Caribbean Studies and English. As a 

proud descendant of the Accompong Town Maroons in Jamaica, she is a staunch 

believer in the concept of “Kindah”, One Family - she believes that this can manifest 

in the Caribbean in the form of regional integration. Chantal is particularly interested 

in the cultural, social and historical aspects of Jamaica.                               .                                                                                            

 

The act of grand marronage had a far reaching impact on 
slave societies. Marronage in its most simplistic sense may be 
described as the running away from slavery by the enslaved.  In 
Jamaica1 slaves who absconded for great periods tended to live by 
themselves or join a Maroon settlement. This essay will argue that 
Maroon societies acted as an entity of defiance against slave 
communities, even though intricate organizational structures had an 
atypical symbiotic relationship with them. It will show that the 
political aspect of Maroon societies acted as a dominant factor in 
solidifying their relationship with slave communities. This paper will 
first establish that Maroons in Jamaica were more autonomous prior 
to 1739 and that the difference in political structures from that of the 
plantation was pivotal in shaping the relationship between the two 
societies. It will then argue that the political scope of Maroon 
societies impacted the culture and socio-economic organization of 
the Maroons. Finally it will posit the idea that a significant change in 
the relationship between Maroons and the plantation in Jamaica 
acted as an impetus which changed the political configuration of 
Maroon communities.  

 
 Alvin Thompson defines marronage as absconding from 
“the system of oppression” (slavery),2 hence it can be viewed as a 
definite form of resistance to slave-holding societies. The plantation 
was severely affected by marronage in that it lost valuable labour 
which in turn cut into profit. Slaves that committed marronage on a 

                                                           
1 This paper will look specifically at the political aspect of Maroon societies in 

Jamaica. It will briefly look at the formation of Maroon societies from 1655; 

however it will concentrate mostly on fully developed societies from late 1600s 

to mid-1700s. 
2 Alvin Thompson, Flight to Freedom: African Runaways and Maroons in the 

Americas (Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2006), 9.  



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85 

grand scale usually joined with other slaves who had run away, they 
would then “create independent communities of their own, ” known 
as Maroon societies;  these societies were ones “that struck directly 
at the foundations of the plantation system.”3 Such „ex-slaves‟ 
congregated and interacted extensively with the slaves still on the 
plantations. According to Mavis Campbell, Maroon societies are 
communities that are self-governed and “outside the purlieus of the 
slave plantations.”4 Even though Maroon societies are described as 
being outside the governance of the plantocracy they still shared an 
unusual mutually beneficial relationship with them. The political, 
economic, cultural and social organization of Maroon communities 
was very much intertwined with the structural organization of the 
plantation. The political aspect however acted as the cementing 
factor in binding Maroon societies and plantations together. The 
political variance in Jamaican Maroon communities provides a 
comparative example under which this can be analyzed; changes in 
the political setting over time significantly altered the organization of 
Maroon societies.  
 
 The first identified Maroon settlements were established in 
Jamaica by Spanish slaves who fled into the mountainous regions 
when the English took over the island in 1655.5 This was the 
beginning of a new threat to slavery as an institution. Maroon towns 
were created based on “strict security consideration.”6 Towns were 
formed in the mountainous interiors of Jamaica so as to make it 
inaccessible for white planters who would raid the areas and re-
enslave Maroons. The political structure of Jamaican Maroons 
during the initial years of their formation was one that is sometimes 
described as a form of despotism, one autonomous from the 
plantation.7 Alvin Thompson asserts however that a major difference 
between slave societies and Maroon societies fuelled the need for 
such political distinctiveness. Specifically, he states that Maroon 
societies were “born out of the quest for freedom” and the plantation 
was constructed out of “the quest for material gain.” This variance in 
the political organization of each society reflects a deeper 

                                                           
3 Richard Price, Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas. 

(New York: Anchor Books, 1973), 3. 
4 Mavis Campbell, The Maroons of Jamaica 1655-1796, (Trenton: African World 

Press, 1990),  
5 Ibid 14 
6 Ibid, 47. 
7 Alvin Thompson, Flight to Freedom, 211 



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significance, which is that the very formation and survival of 
emerging Maroon societies was contingent on a particular political 
organization that embraced collective solidarity and defence.8 
Barbara Kopytoff argues that the period of political formation before 
the first treaty between the Maroons and the Jamaican government 
may be viewed as the only point when the political institutions of 
Maroon societies were outside the influence of colonial rule.9  This 
period had the chiefs much more involved in maintaining order 
within the community.  
 

The selection of a leader was crucial to signing treaties 
between the Maroons and the Jamaican government. Politically, 
having a Creole leader was advantageous to Maroon societies as this 
person would be able to understand both whites and their fellow 
Maroons.10 “Creole” in this context refers to slaves that were born in 
the „New World‟ and not in Africa. The creole preference in 
leadership kept Maroon communities together so as to lessen 
preferential treatment for persons who came from particular tribes. 
The notion of tribalism being less charged, runaway slaves who then 
wanted to join did not have to fret about being refused entry into 
these groups because of their status as a creole, or a slave directly 
from Africa. Initial Maroon groups were usually led by African-born 
slaves who defected from the plantation. This however would result 
in internal strife within or between varying groups of Maroons.11 The 
political choice of creole slaves as leaders was one that changed the 
relationship between the plantation and these communities. 

 
 Jamaica was initially divided into two specific groups of 

Maroons, the Windward and the Leeward. Leeward Maroons 
inhabited the west under the leadership of Cudjoe while the 
Windward Maroons branched out under various leaders, the most 
notable being Nanny.12  Karla Gottlieb notes that a major 
distinguishing factor between the two was that Leeward Maroons 
had in general recently escaped from their plantations and did not 
want to engage with the British whereas the Windward Maroons 
were descendants of the original Spanish Maroons, hence “their 

                                                           
8 Richard Price,  Maroon Societies ,19-20 
9 Kopytoff, 306. 
10 Price, 20. 
11 Kopytoff, 295. 
12 Price, 49. 



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determination to hold on to their lands.”13 The Leeward Maroons of 
Jamaica were governed sternly by Cudjoe; he had inherited his 
position from his father who had led rebellions in the late 1600s.14 
Bryan Edwards in his account of the Maroons in Jamaica speaks of 
Cudjoe as “a very able general.”15 Cudjoe‟s political clout in his 
Maroon band was significant, especially when it raided plantations 
for food. Barbara Kopytoff in her article “The Early Political 
Development of Jamaican Maroon Societies” argues that even 
though Cudjoe was perceived as an authoritarian figure, when his 
gang raided plantations they were strictly forbidden from harming 
whites unless provoked.16 Maroons were usually divided into groups 
along military lines; the society then was a hierarchical one that 
reflected ability and military capabilities. Cudjoe divided his 
Leeward maroons into „politico-military‟ companies17 and by doing 
this, he was better able to manage the Maroons and keep the 
settlements together.  

 
Nanny was seen as the main leader of the Windward 

Maroons in the early 1700s, even though their group was highly 
fragmented. Historical accounts of Nanny‟s reign are generally oral 
and thus historians are highly ambivalent about certain aspects of 
her representation. The high position held by Nanny refutes 
observations of Bryan Edwards which posited lower social roles for 
female Maroons in that society. Edwards notes that women held 
lowly statuses in society and that they were viewed as a “beast of 
burden.”18 Nevertheless, women were pivotal in the clearing of land 
and performing agricultural tasks. Also, the fact that Nanny emerged 
as a fully recognized and respected leader by both her Maroon 
followers and the plantocracy is proof of a greater status given to the 
female subject. Karla Gottlieb argues this extensively in stating 
through Kenneth Bilby and Filomina Steady that Maroon societies 

                                                           
13 Karla Gottlieb, The Mother of Us All (New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2000), 6. 
14 Barbara Klamon Kopytoff, “The Early Political Development of Jamaican 

Maroon Societies” in The William and Mary Quarterly,(1978), 295. 
15 Brian Edwards, “Observations on the Disposition, Character, Manners and 

Habits of Life of the Maroon Negroes of the Island of Jamaica.” Richard Price ed. 

Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas. (Baltimore: John 

Hopkins University Press. 1996) , 233. 
16 Ibid, 297. 
17 Campbell, 46 
18 Edwards, 241 



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were highly matrifocal and women could be viewed as the “main 
source of stability and continuity within the group.”19  

 
 The prominence of Maroon societies throughout Jamaica in 
the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries became a major 
cause of concern for the government of that time. The very fact of an 
autonomous ex-slave community within the confines of slave society 
was a great treachery to those who owned the enslaved. The 
adaptability of the political structure to the development of new 
institutions was needed because if aspects of the early social and 
political organization were not altered then the possibility of the 
Maroon society surviving was slim.20 The change that occurred after 
the signing of the treaty reduced the threat of grand marronage.  
 
 The political structure of Maroon society was heavily 
connected to the religious belief in Obeah. Obeah in part is a belief in 
supernatural powers usually intended to summon spiritual ancestral 
ties. The use of Obeah was pivotal to governing Maroon societies by 
the chiefs. Bryan Edwards argues that the power which Obeah men 
held over Maroon communities “was sometimes very successfully 
employed” in keeping the Maroon population subordinate to the 
chiefs.21 In Jamaica, Nanny was purportedly able to catch bullets in 
her buttocks.22 This kind of super human quality added to the aura of 
chiefs as perceived by the government of the country. Hence, the fact 
that Nanny had swelled ranks was due to the fact that she possessed 
these “uncanny spiritual powers as her martial capabilities.”23 These 
kinds of abilities were not only impressive to the Maroons but also to 
those in slave societies. The political implications of this within the 
militarized setting of a Maroon society would mean that the spiritual 
person would be placed in a high position of council. Those who 
occupied such positions were instrumental in fighting the wars that 
raged between Maroon communities and the Jamaican government. 
 
 The fact that the early Maroon societies had to depend on 
the plantation for food meant that the Maroons had to disrupt 
plantation life. These disruptions, as well as the fact that slaves were 
running away to join the ranks of the Maroons, were not taken 

                                                           
19 Gottlieb, 12-13. 
20 Price, 21. 
21 Edwards, 240. 
22 Thompson, 232.  
23 Ibid, 232. 



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lightly by the planters. This resulted in wars between the Jamaican 
government and the Maroons - the “First Maroon War” lasted from 
the mid-1720s until 1740.24 In this war the Maroons outwitted the 
planters and incited the absconding of other slaves. The treaty signed 
by the Leeward Maroons with Colonel Guthrie on March 1st, 1739 
gave full recognition to the Maroon communities as autonomous 
areas; Maroons were granted land ownership rights, and the ability 
to sell their produce in markets openly.25 The most important clause 
in this treaty according to Orlando Patterson stated that all future 
runaway slaves to Maroon groups were to be returned to their 
masters. The Maroons would then be paid for this service, causing a 
political rift within the Leeward Maroon settlements and within the 
plantations. The very act of agreeing to the treaty meant that Cudjoe 
essentially took away the possibility for the enslaved to resist slavery, 
thereby bounding them to the plantation. The salient fact that needs 
to be stressed is that the political organization of Maroon societies 
interacted with the social, economic, and the cultural aspects of the 
society, in the process, changing the relationship between Maroon 
settlements and the plantation.  
 

The treaties that were agreed upon between the Jamaican 
government and the Maroon communities severely lessened the 
authority of the Maroon chief. Richard Price argues that they had a 
debilitating effect on the Maroon society because the major 
“cornerstone” of the political regime was removed. Barbara Kopytoff 
notes that the signing of the treaty significantly debilitated the 
autonomous power Maroons once had and affected forms of political 
cohesion that could have limited internal strife. Laws that governed 
these communities were also revoked and penalties for breaking a 
law under the treaty became punishable by the Jamaican 
government. This change had a significant impact on the Maroon 
community as certain internal mechanisms enabled chiefs to retain 
their authority. The imposition of the death penalty for example gave 
political credence to the chief in a Maroon society.26 
 
 The treaty that was signed in 1739 between the Maroons and 
the Jamaican government changed the political organization of 
Maroon societies, thus it significantly altered their relationship to 

                                                           
24 Orlando Patterson. “Slavery and Slave Revolts: A Socio-historical Analysis of 

the First Maroon War. 1665-1740.” Ed. Michael Price. Maroon Societies. 246 
25 Ibid 
26 Ibid, 228. 



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the colonial order. Barbara Kopytoff asserts that Maroon 
communities declined significantly as a result of this treaty. She 
states further on that the treaties gave Maroons an ambiguous 
position in the country as they no longer occupied an autonomous 
realm nor did they fall into “the traditional pyramid used to depict 
the social organization of Caribbean plantation slave societies.”27 
This precarious positioning of Maroons affected the slaves directly as 
runaways under the treaty had to be returned; this highlights the fact 
that the situation for the Maroons did not necessarily have a positive 
outcome for the enslaved. Alvin Thompson provides a counter 
argument however when he notes that even before the treaty, 
Maroons would return runaway slaves for “material gains.”28 This of 
course counters the belief of Maroon societies as being exclusively 
accepting of runaways. The historic importance of the negotiations 
between Maroons and the Jamaican government is one that is based 
heavily on the political structure of Maroons before 1739. The 
changing political organization of Maroon societies reshaped the 
relationship between Maroons and the plantation system. Maroon 
societies went from being fully autonomous to being areas that were 
co-governed by Maroon chiefs as well as the governor of colonial 
Jamaica.  
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                                                           
27 Barbara Kopytoff. “Colonial Treaty as Sacred Charter of the Jamaican 

Maroons.” Ethnohistory, Vol. 26, No.1. 1979: 50. 
28 Thompson, 308. 



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Works Cited 

 

Campbell, Mavis, The Maroons of Jamaica, 1655-1796: A History of 

Resistance, Collaboration and Betrayal Granby, Mass.: Bergin & Garvey, 

1988. 

 

Dubios, Laurent. “Essay Review I: On the History of The Jamaican 

Maroons” in The Journal of African  American History Vol. 93, No.1. 

2008, 64-69. 

 

Edwads, Bryan. “Observations on the Disposition, Character, Manners 

and Habits of Life of the Maroon Negroes of the Island of Jamaica.” 

Richard Price ed. Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities  in the 

Americas. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. 1996: 230-245. 

 

Gottlieb, Karla. “The Mother of Us All”: A History of Queen Nanny Leader 

of the Windward Jamaican Maroons. Trenton: Africa World Press. 2000. 

 

Kopytoff, Barbara Klamon.“The Early Political Development of Jamaican 

Maroon Societies” in The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 

35, No. 2 (Apr., 1978), pp. 287-307. 

 

Kopytoff, Barbara Klamon. “Colonial Treaty as Sacred Charter of the 

Jamaican Maroons” Ethnohistory, Vol.26 No.1 1979:45-64. 

 

Patterson, Orlando. “Slavery and Slave Revolts: A Socio-historical 

Analysis of the First Maroon War. 1665-1740.” Richard Price ed. 

Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in Americas. Baltimore: 

John Hopkins University Press. 1996: 246-292 

 

Price, Richard ed. “Introduction.” Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave 

Communities in the Americas. New York Anchor Books, 1973.  

 

Thompson, Alvin. Flight to Freedom: African Runaways and Maroons in 

the Americas Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2006. 

 




