Maroons, Insurgents, and Enslaved Peoples

I frequently wonder what kind of maroon I am. Which type of maroon I’ll be. Which marronage I will pass on down my line. What type of marronage I have and am receiving. Am I too light-skinned to be a maroon? Too educated? Too synchronized to respectability? And thus, too untrained? …

The existing historical record refers to Barberá as a freedwoman or “morena libre.” Until the late 1790s, she was registered as residing in rural northern Uruguay, with the respective landowner’s permission. She settled at the intersection of the Tranqueras and Tacuarembó Chico rivers, a site that became known among locals as “el rincón de Tía Ana” (Aunt Ana’s Corner). In July 1804 in Montevideo, Barberá signed a commitment to officially purchase the plot of land, with an area of 16,000 cuadros de campo, or 39,500 acres, with the transaction being completed in 1808.

At night, patrollers’ primary function was to prevent enslaved people from unauthorized gatherings and travel, but as West Turner (b. circa 1842-?) of Nansemond County, Virginia proudly tells interviewers: “There was ways of beating the [patrollers]” (290). Tactics ranged from preventative to defensive.

Antonia and her family were enslaved by Don Antonio de Luna y Cárdenas. Antonia, who was freed after her enslaver’s death occurred at some point before March 1725, was charged with six accounts of homicide as a result of enchantment and witchcraft. Shortly after the judicial proceedings began, Antonia’s sister was burned to death for these alleged crimes, while their mother Simona managed to escape. Despite being given a death sentence on account of six murder charges, evidence suggests that Antonia managed to avoid penal punishment. Nevertheless, Antonia’s life after the judicial proceedings remains mostly unknown.

Chickaua’s sovereignty and freedom were now threatened at a time when slavery and antiblackness had become legally defined in Cherokee legislation, particularly in the Constitution of 1827. Free non-Cherokee Black persons in the nation lived different experiences than those who had clan affiliations—the latter group being granted more societal freedoms like the right to property ownership. Thus, Chickaua’s exceptional story of adoption into the Deer Clan spared her from much of the restrictive laws against non-Cherokee Black people and enabled her to have rights that other free and enslaved Black people did not.

Fermina would become known amongst other enslaved women as a brutal leader of the uprising at Ácana. Two enslaved women named Filomena and Catalina reported that they “distinctly” witnessed Fermina guiding armed rebels through the estate, showing them where white overseers resided so they could initiate their attacks. Fermina, only recently freed from her own shackles, also took charge of freeing other enslaved people from iron weights and chains.

In the Akan way, Queen Akua had chosen territory and had followers committed to her fight to place the island under Akan control. With knowledge of an emerging leader with influence over the island’s Akan, the British government ordered Akua to be deported from the island to Spanish Cuba—a regular destination for exiles—aboard the Norfolk.