As a Jamaican living in Jamaica this was the last thing i expected to wake up and see. I cant thank you enough for this, the international history of maroons was almost totallly new to me and a welcome reminder that my home also has a rich and diverse history that needs to be remembered.
Fascinating. How a group could so bravely persist in fighting for their independence across time, against a great empire and across a great ocean - what, three times? This, indeed, deserves to be remembered.
This topic is well-known to those people who have studied Nova Scotia history (the dozen or so of us... 🙄), but I think that it is great you are bringing it to a much larger audience! Please consider covering more Canadian topics.
was not unheard of in our "old school" history class before the "dumbing down" of our youth.... they used to teach this info before it was deemed not necessary by those whom still to this day must ignore or change history to promote hate and discontent.... (black lives matter comes to mind pretty much immediately).... sorry im not racist look it up dont be a sheep ans hate for no reason
Grady Turner so after watching this particular video, the comment that seemed to you most appropriate to leave is one essentially implying that black people are the ones promoting hate & discontent. You racists really are something else 🙄
@@porschetech72901 why did you feel the need to bring your smack-talk to my comment? Please, in the future, if you feel the unbearable need to spread negativity, do it in your own comment, and not as a reply to the comment of others. I hope your today was much better than your yesterday.
Very awesome story. The twist and turns that the maroons had to go through and the fact that there is still a community of them in Jamaica is very astounding. Thank you once again THG for another great bit of history.
@ArmchairWarrior I'm sorry, but your comment made me snicker. I get the gist of what you're saying, and I agree.... BUUTTTT...... I have to admit, I've never ONCE heard 'being cultured' associated with GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. Quite the opposite, in fact. But you pulled it off anyway. Thank you, this provided a badly-needed laugh.
I'm currently going through a Latinamerican history class and we're talking about the Maroons all over the continent and my search led me to you. thank you for your video lesson. Well appreciated mate.
It's really sad that our own people have totally forgotten this, including the leaders. But it is good that their history is still preserved to validate the 1738 Treaty. I'm sure the successors of the Maroons can find persons like this man to substantiate their claims against the Jamaican Government.
I don't remember hearing any of this information during my history classes. A few of the dates I remember but this story was never told to me. Thank you for this.
@tfs2O3 Granted that level of humidity is very oppressive too, but in a way I can deal with more so than our winters. It gets very hot here in the summers now where I am on the east coast, 30-38 most days between june and August, but it drops pretty well at night below 20 and the humidity is never that bad nor sustained. Even in these hot summer days I love sitting in my car on break with full cooks uniform on having a coffee, I dont even sweat. In contrast, by november the cold and the wind come suddenly and you never see above freezing for like 6 months most years, or its warmer but you get buried under literally 15 feet of snow ( hopefully not all at once). I get terribly depressed and the cold sets my bones shivering for months.
MrLoobu I'm from Ohio, I like Canada, but much less in the winter...I'm cut out for tropical climates, I REALLY liked Jamaica the 3 times I've been there.
Were I live in south-western Canada we had a bit of snow about three times last winter, its to warm the snow never stayed more then a week, lawns stay green Christmas.
Thanks for the video. As always a home run! Please do a video about the journey of the Cajun people from Eastern Canada to south Louisiana in the 1700's. I'm sure lots of people are unaware of the great contributions of the Cajun and Creole cultures of south Louisiana. Thank you.
Fascinating! I don't know how you are able to come up with such detail, but thank you so much for your work documenting so many topics of forgotten history. I find your work important as well as entertaining, and I thank you for the education. You are the best! ❤️
Wow, that's one of your best tellings of such an intensely interesting group of people. People who not only overcame, but flourished through hell and back. These people endured more awful and wretched heartbreaking & life changing event's than anyone could imagine for ten lifetimes. These amazing people are incredibly indestructible. And definitely worth remembering. Thank You History Guy.
@@biggiebaby3541 He's that guy clarifying a point about history in a history discussion. You're That Guy who comes off as .. well a little bit less than.
When I saw the title I thought that it might be about Cornish lifeboats or pirates. Trelawny is a town in Cornwall. Maroons are a type of warning rocket used by lifeboats (or from my time in the Royal Observer Corps to warn of approaching fallout). So you can see my confusion.
The Trelawny family has had a good amount power in Cornwall since 1628. Cornwalls unofficial anthem "The Song of the Western Men" is more commonly known as "Trelawny".
Have you done an episode about the Garrison Dam, Lake Sakakawea, and/or the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara? The histories of the Garrison Dam and those tribes definitely deserve to be remembered.
A somewhat similar occurrence of "maroons" took place on the mainland of the United States. The Gullah people of North and South Carolina and parts of Georgia created their own creole culture and language (Geechee, which also serves as another name for the Gullah people), while working the isolated plantations of that region. At the start of the Civil War, they were among the very first Confederate slaves to be freed due to the fact that the area where they lived was one of the first occupied by the Union. Much of the Gullah culture and language survives to this day, although the area where they now live has shrunk drastically to only a very small portion of South Carolina.
When I was in Jamaca in 1970, i saw a map of the island with a portion in the mountains labeled " You No Come We No See", we were told that is where the Maroons still lived.
there are FOUR separate and distinct Maroon communities in Jamaica and the Trelawny Maroons are , interesting as this is, among the lesser ones.Browns Town Maroon, Maroon Town Maroons and Acumpung Maroons have even more interesting histories. I am a St Thomas maroon, one of the least known maroon settlements in Jamaica. Fun Fact. Percival James Patterson, former Prime Minister of Jamaica is a Trelawny Maroon and cousin to my grandfather. I agree. I have even written a mininscript (fact based fiction) and often fantasize about how great such a movie would be.
Jamaican maroons came, founded and settled in Freetown Sierra Leone. They formed the Sierra Leonean Creole Ethnic Group. Sierra Leoneans eat Bammy & fried fish, beat the goombay drum and preserved so much more culture they inherited from Jamaica. Sending love to Jamaica from your brethren in Freetown Sierra Leone🇸🇱❤️
Speaking of cultural oddities, here's one for you. I'd be interested to hear a special on the Gullah people of the outer islands of southern coastal South Carolina. They still exist today and have their own unique culture.
.y parents never drove on Hwy.17, the coastal road from Savannah, without stopping for an intricately made seagrass basket and boiled peanuts. Dad spoke Gullah( very unusual)...growing up visiting the Sea Islands every summer. The ladies thought him special and brought their young children( who did not always speak English, but understood perfectly) to meet him. Needless to say, everyone we knew received a basket sooner or later. They are now heirlooms.
@@Brissaveli Can you suggest where we may learn more of another, maybe Eastern perspective? I'm not of Jamaican descent, but the British and Dutch slave trading before the founding of America fascinates me. It seems to hint toward an ancient and systematic oppression with the power to unify the scattered moral compass we see in the majority today.
I recall from my Nova Scotian history class a brief comment that Jamaican maroons help build the Halifax Citadel after the revolution. Afterwards they were granted land outside Halifax. Only recently has the Nova Scotian government been forced to insure that clear title of the land goes to those who have lived and toiled for over 225 years on those land grants.
Always interesting and informative! Please do an episode on George Edward "Rube" Waddell. Another fascinating life that deserves to be remembered. Thank you.
Great video and fascinating story. Great example of the complexity of the relationship between various groups of people. It should be noted the Jamaican government had intended to send the Maroons to Canada and by that they meant the British colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. Nova Scotia was a separate colony. The British then decided to disembark the Maroons at Nova Scotia until further instructions were received.
Astounding! I never knew this! What a remarkable lineage. Those whose lineage follows from this and now animated and living have a history worth remembering!
What a wonderful tribute to a people who persevered after hundreds of years of mistreatment. I believe the Gullah culture of South Carolina and part of Georgia is similar. It is much more documented, but even as a person growing up in the South I only came to be aware of the Gullah history just a few years ago. As you say, it is a history of a people's trials and triumphs that should be remembered. If you have not already done a video on the Gullah culture, perhaps it may be an idea for a future episode. It is a culture that is little known but has a rich history.
The Gullah do have an interesting story, and, of course, a coincidental intersection with the Trelawny Maroons in that Gullah heritage is from Sierra Leone. We certainly may do an episode on the history of the Gullah at some point.
The etymology is an interesting discussion. The Spanish word marrón likely derives from the ancient Greek maraon, and is the root of the the word "maroon" as a color. The reason that etymologists contend that cimarrón is the root of the word "Maroon" to refer to fugitive slaves is that the use of the term seems to have been limited to the Americas, and thus likely had a local root.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I always suspected a French root; Mar, or Mer, meaning 'sea', and a link with 'Dragooned', meaning to coerce. Essentially, to be coerced by the sea...?
History guy, thank you very much. I went to school on a Maron hill in Nova Scotia. I never knew where the "maroon" came from until I was an adult. Now I know a bit more about my home province. I see some comments requesting a program or 7 the Acadia expulsion. My surname is one of the family names on the church role as being removed. Now I learned about this in school,, in the 70`s, in the school on maroon hill, they called it a deportation, but when I was in Bosnia in 92,93 and 96 they called what happen there ethnic cleansing.....it really changed my views on many subjects afterwards
An excellent presentation, as is usual with your work. I have become acquainted with Maroon history while researching my second novel about the Golden Age of Piracy, which is partly set in Port Royal. The history of the Maroons is fascinating and quite complicated, and I congratulate you on selecting this story as an example of that people's history. I would encourage people interested in knowing more to let their fingers do 'the google' and read about this part of Caribbean history. (And yes, you can find the first volume of this story on Amazon. Couldn't resist throwing in a plug.)
Much has also been written about the Seminole Maroons in Florida, mostly blood descendants of escaped slaves who intermarried with Seminole Indians during Spanish Florida times. There were also maroons in Texas, and quite a few hiding in the Great Dismal Swamp in North Carolina since the 1600s. I'd never heard of the Canadian connection until now. I think you could do quite a series on these folks.
Extremely interesting and complex. Would be interested in seeing more on this subject, such as those who stayed in Nova Scotia etc. I have now subscribed to your channel. 🇬🇧
As a former resident of Illinois your state also. I am also a Jamaican resident and historian so I was amazed you chose this topic. I love your show. I would recommend you read "Jamaica plantership " by Benjamin Mcmahon.
MAROON - Origin Theory. Great format. I follow a number of 'history' channels and I enjoy learning of historic events, people, etc, in bite-size chunks. I also learn about history through one of my hobbies. I regularly research the etymology, the root or truth, of a word or term. Which brings me to my theory. My parents were born on the Caribbean island of Dominica. I discovered that during a seven decade occupation (c. 1700s), some of the French language was absorbed by the indigenous population. Often, newly 'imported' words or terms were misheard or misinterpreted by the locals. As an historian you'll be familiar with how most 'locations' and 'objects' get their name. The 'location' or 'object' is usually named either after the 'discoverer' or to describe a geographical/geological or anthropomorphic characteristic. In either case, the description used would be very 'literal'. Romance languages such as French, Spanish and Portuguese, all of which have Latin as their root, can be found interspersed among many of the islands. Did you know that the Spanish term/word for 'black' is, 'negra'? It's not that much of a stretch of the imagination to extrapolate what 'negra' transliterated into. Did you know that the Spanish word for 'brown' is, 'marron'? Perhaps, over time, 'marron' transliterated into 'maroon'. Plausible theory? Tell me what do you think?
I love your channel. Your research and method of delivery are spot-on. Have you considered doing a video on the earliest years of US military powered flight program. I just finished some family research and found out that my Great Grandfather was one of the first enlisted pilots, trained in 1915. While looking for information on him, I found a shocking lack of RU-vid content on pre WW1 aviation in the US from College Station thru to the beginning build up to WW1. Many famous men and machines came from this era. There were many firsts and many brave men died. I think it is history worth being remembered.
Really appreciated this episode, a story very much untold or in need of amplifying. Learnt alot and inspired to delve deeper. Would love to hear an episode on Gwenllian.
THG... This episode was a “WILD” ride!!!! Wow!!! Felt like watching a hand-ball match, inside a tennis match, inside a jai-lai match!!! At the end of the episode I felt FULL!!!! Thanks, HG....Now I gotta burp!!!
@@seafodder6129 I think Barti Du activities compared to Morgan doing the English crowns bidding show a sharp contrast... Barti would never of been made governor
Hello, I'm relatively new to your channel but your videos are always full of amazing stuff. This video is no exception and has me wondering about Irish people being transported as indentured servants or sometimes migrating to Jamaica among other places. Would you consider doing a video about that, or could you recommend some literature about those events? Please and thank you.
They say the word "SEMINOLE" comes from the word "CIMAROON" or just pronounced differently. The Cimaroons were scattered all over the new world and they backed the British over the Spanish. Basically escaped slaves that hid in the jungle and took up arms to fight against the Spanish along with indigenous tribes and they intermixed. Ever hear about the GARIFUNAS?
The origins of the word “cimarrón” used in Hispaniola to refer to enslaved Taino Indians and later Africans who ESCAPED to the hills, derives from the Arawakan root word “simarabo” construed to mean ‘fugitive', in the Arawakan language spoken by the Taíno people, who were also indigenous to the island of Jamica.
I recently found that my great great grandfather Thomas Augustus Henry was a Jamaican Maroon from Portland Parish who later moved to St James in Cornwall County where my great grandfather was born in 1875 or 1876, when Thomas was already almost 70 years old!
Interesting. Trelawney maroons were from the maroon Town which was located in St. James. Trelawney maroons was also called Cojoe town which is located in today's Parish of St. James.
you did it again. You took a topic I knew nothing about, had no interest in, and 15 minutes later made me really glad I clicked the link anyway. Thanks for taking my 51 year old brain to school
"When the missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible" - Jomo Kenyatta
@@kenbellchambers4577 Yes they were great a destroying local society, customs and traditions. Forcing their belief on others and softening them up for colonization a tradition to be proud of. If the Christian God were true and loved everybody why was he so poor at his job that it took 1800 years for his message to reach these peoples? that means 1800 years of deaths of people that never heard of Jesus so according to Jesus they could not get to heaven as nonbelievers. So is your deity stupid, sadistic or both?
@@mathewkelly9968 right. While I agree with him that it is an issue, it's not our issue to address. I'm white as well. Now, if he's Arabic, then it's totally valid for him to bring it up.
Your research, videos, and presentation in general are so marvelous and fascinating that it was nice and actually brought a quick smile and an “Aha!” at your making the first “mistake” (actually, only a slip up of a microsecond) that I’ve ever noticed after all of these wonderful videos! I love the word “disFatisfaction!” I also love the fact that you just kept going. Historically speaking, I think you just switched over to reading as if using what has always looked to me like the intended pronunciation of the Declaration of Independence, with all of the “S’s” looking like “F’s!” 🤓😉
How very interesting! All that travel just to end up where you came from. Could you imagine? I sure couldn't imagine ending back up in Scotland or Germany after living in the U.S.A. my whole life. EDIT: What brave souls. Good on them. Thank you for teaching me, I never would've known about them otherwise.
I respectfully bring points of disagreement. The Maroons did not “establish” their own culture. The Maroons continued the culture that was interrupted before they were captured for slavery. Many of our people continued our practices in secret. African studies departments at every university have proper statistics about Maroons. Thank you for highlighting the bravery of our ancestors who would not accept enslavement. There are over 250 revolts that are documented by European historians. I understand from our historians that we were either in planned revolt, coming out or one, or in an active attempt to escape. Thank you again. Dannah McKellar Ntaka, Clinical Research Professional
Dear History Guy, your accounts of the many Maroon settlements causes me to recall the Appalachian-American settlements of the Melungeons of which I am distantly related.
Love the episode, loyal watcher. Not sure how many others are interested but I would love to see an episode on Florida City history and the rum runner, drug smuggling mayor.
Oh, what a tangled web is woven by the happenings of history. I'm sure this was a test of your research abilities to bring this to conclusion accurately. Well done, HG.
