Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2005
Capstone Advisor
John Burdick
Honors Reader
Doug Armstrong
Capstone Major
International Relations
Capstone College
Citizenship and Public Affairs
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Humanities
Subject Categories
International and Area Studies | Latin American Studies | Other International and Area Studies
Abstract
While many scholars concentrate their research on the enslavement of Africans, there are other stories to tell of Africans peoples in theWestern Hemisphere. The Maroons were fugitive slaves who developed their own communities throughout theAmericas. They were diverse peoples unified by their goal of freedom and self-determination.
This Honors Thesis Project explores the historical situation of the Brazilian, Jamaican and Mexican Maroons and elucidates the similarities and differences between them. The aspects of Maroon life explored here are: lifestyle, leadership and politics. These three countries were selected to illustrate the diversity within the experiences of enslaved Africans throughout the Americas. Chapter I: Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Middle Passage outlines the journey from Africato the Western Hemisphere. Chapter II: Enslavement, discusses the cruelties of enslavement which drove African peoples to maroon, to flee. Chapter III: Marronge explains the creation and use of the word “maroon” and “Maroon” and its different forms. Chapter IV: Lifestyle explores the different aspects of everyday life of Maroons and their communities. Chapter V: Leadership elucidates Maroon leaders and their contributions. Chapter VI: External Politics examines complex Maroon political relations with African, European and Indigenous groups. Chapter VII: Internal Politics reveals interaction between different Maroons inMexico andJamaica.
This inquiry revealed evidence of varied lifestyles, leadership and political relations, but no significant difference in the Maroons’ objective for freedom. Similar obstacles and methods to achieve liberty superceded any variances found in the lifestyles, leadership or political relations of the Brazilian, Jamaican and Mexican Maroons.
Recommended Citation
Moore, Amanda, "MAROON SOCIETIES IN BRAZIL, JAMAICA AND MEXICO" (2005). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 710.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/710
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