The History of the Maroons
From their Origin to the Establishment of their Chief Tribe at Sierra Leone

This 1803 work outlines the background to, and conduct of, the war between the British and Maroon rebels in Jamaica.

Robert Charles Dallas (Author)

9781108024143, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 December 2010

498 pages, 1 b/w illus. 1 map
21.6 x 14 x 2.8 cm, 0.63 kg

Born in Jamaica, Robert Charles Dallas (1754–1824) was prolific author in a variety of genres, dedicating all of his work to 'the defence of society and reason against Jacobinism and confusion', having been forced to leave his residence in France by the Revolution. Despite 'an ardent tendency in my heart to disapprove the slave-trade', The History of the Maroons, published in 1803, offered a qualified acceptance of the institution of slavery in a fallen world, and addressed criticisms of planters' behaviour and the government's conduct against the rebellious Jamaican Maroons - runaway slaves who formed their own communities in the West Indies. They settled the mountainous inland areas of Jamaica and resisted assimilation by the British; two Maroon Wars were fought in the eighteenth century. They were deported by the British to Canada and then to Sierra Leone, but many returned to Jamaica, where they remain.

Preface
A succinct history of Jamaica
1. Subjects proposed
2. Jamaica relinquished by the Spaniards
3. Party sent to discover the Windward Maroon town under Quao
4. Maroon towns
5. Causes of the Maroon war
6. The Maroon captains set out for the capital
7. Plan of operations
8. General Walpole appointed to the command
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH]