Maroons

==== Relationship to colonial authorities ====

==== Relationship to colonial authorities ====

''Marronage'' ({{Literal translation|running away}}) was a constant threat to New World [[slavocracy|slavocracies]]. Punishments for recaptured Maroons were severe, like removing the [[Achilles tendon]], amputating a leg, [[castration]], and being roasted to death.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Price |first=Richard |title=Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1979 |isbn=0-8018-2247-5 |location=Baltimore |pages=1–30}}</ref> Maroon communities had to be inaccessible and located in inhospitable environments to be sustainable. For example, Maroon communities were established in remote swamps in the [[southern United States]]; in deep canyons with sinkholes but little water or fertile soil in Jamaica; and in the deep jungles of [[the Guianas]].<ref name=":0" /> Maroon communities turned the severity of their environments to their advantage to hide and defend their communities. Disguised pathways, false trails, booby traps, underwater paths, quagmires and quicksand, and natural features were all used to conceal Maroon villages.<ref name=":0" />[[File:SR245u (92) Een optocht van boschneger.jpg|thumb|Maroons in Suriname in the 19th century]]Maroons utilised exemplary guerrilla warfare skills to fight their European enemies. [[Nanny of the Maroons|Nanny]], the famous [[Jamaican Maroons|Jamaican Maroon]], used [[guerrilla warfare]] tactics that are also used today by many militaries around the world. European troops used strict and established strategies while Maroons attacked and retracted quickly, used ambush tactics, and fought when and where they wanted to.<ref name=":0" /> Even though colonial governments were in a perpetual state of conflict with the Maroon communities, individuals in the colonial system traded goods and services with them.<ref name=":0" /> Maroons also traded with isolated white settlers and Native American communities. Maroon communities played interest groups off of one another.<ref name=":0" /> At the same time, Maroon communities were also used as pawns when colonial powers clashed.<ref name=":0" />

''Marronage'' ({{Literal translation|running away}}) was a constant threat to New World [[slavocracy|slavocracies]]. Punishments for recaptured Maroons were severe, like removing the [[Achilles tendon]], amputating a leg, [[castration]], and being roasted to death.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Price |first=Richard |title=Maroon Societies: Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1979 |isbn=0-8018-2247-5 |location=Baltimore |pages=1–30}}</ref> Maroon communities had to be inaccessible and located in inhospitable environments to be sustainable. For example, Maroon communities were established in remote swamps in the [[southern United States]]; in deep canyons with sinkholes but little water or fertile soil in Jamaica; and in the deep jungles of [[the Guianas]].<ref name=":0" /> Maroon communities turned the severity of their environments to their advantage to hide and defend their communities. Disguised pathways, false trails, booby traps, underwater paths, quagmires and quicksand, and natural features were all used to conceal Maroon villages.<ref name=":0" />[[File:SR245u (92) Een optocht van boschneger.jpg|thumb|Maroons in Suriname in the 19th century]]Maroons utilized exemplary guerrilla warfare skills to fight their European enemies. [[Nanny of the Maroons|Nanny]], the famous [[Jamaican Maroons|Jamaican Maroon]], used [[guerrilla warfare]] tactics that are also used today by many militaries around the world. European troops used strict and established strategies while Maroons attacked and retracted quickly, used ambush tactics, and fought when and where they wanted to.<ref name=":0" /> Even though colonial governments were in a perpetual state of conflict with the Maroon communities, individuals in the colonial system traded goods and services with them.<ref name=":0" /> Maroons also traded with isolated white settlers and Native American communities. Maroon communities played interest groups off of one another.<ref name=":0" /> At the same time, Maroon communities were also used as pawns when colonial powers clashed.<ref name=":0" />

Absolute secrecy and loyalty of members were crucial to the survival of Maroon communities. To ensure this loyalty, Maroon communities used severe methods to protect against desertion and spies. New members were brought to communities by way of detours so they could not find their way back and served probationary periods, often as slaves. Crimes such as desertion and adultery were punishable by death.<ref name=":0" />[[File:The Maroons In Ambush On The Dromilly Estate In The Parish Of Trelawney, Jamaica in 1795.jpg|thumb|1801 [[aquatint]] of a Maroon raid on the Dromilly estate, Jamaica, during the Second Maroon War of 1795–1796.]]

Absolute secrecy and loyalty of members were crucial to the survival of Maroon communities. To ensure this loyalty, Maroon communities used severe methods to protect against desertion and spies. New members were brought to communities by way of detours so they could not find their way back and served probationary periods, often as slaves. Crimes such as desertion and adultery were punishable by death.<ref name=":0" />[[File:The Maroons In Ambush On The Dromilly Estate In The Parish Of Trelawney, Jamaica in 1795.jpg|thumb|1801 [[aquatint]] of a Maroon raid on the Dromilly estate, Jamaica, during the Second Maroon War of 1795–1796.]]