1739: Signing of the Maroon Treaty (December 23rd, 1739)

 

1739: Signing of the Maroon Treaty


December 23rd, 1739 (Diary of an Englishman)


They agreed tonight to the treaty. Named The Articles of Pacification with the Maroons of Trelawney Town (1), this treaty outlines the stipulations for peace between the two groups. I am here at the signing of the treaty, and I can see that Captain Cudjoe and his men are all in attendance here tonight (1). They began discussions of a treaty more than a year ago, specifically on February 24th, 1738 (1). 


This treaty here is meant to legitimize the Maroon communities here in Jamaica (2). We hope with this treaty that they will be able to exist alongside us (the British) and allow them to exist in their land between Trelawney Town and the Cockpits (1). Even so, after the death of Captain Cudjoe and his living successors, we (the British) will appoint our leader of the Maroons (1). 


December 23rd, 1739 (Diary of a Maroon from Nanny Town)


Today they signed with the British. Those men, who claim to fight for our freedom and independence, signed with the British. How do they think this will fare? We rebelled against those very men because of what they did to us, and because of what they did to our ancestors. The print (3) that I have attached here is just one thing they would do to us. They would amputate us, castrate us, suspend us from a meat hook through our ribs, or they would slowly roast us to death (4). How dare they recognize them as equals by signing this treaty?


A note: The print attached is a product of an engraving that was done by William Blake two decades after John Gabrial Stedman would have painted it earlier in the 1700s. The author of this project took some creative liberty when writing this entry, as a Maroon during this time period would not have referred to a painting done about thirty years after this period (1739) by a Dutch colonizer (5). 



December 25th, 1739 (Diary of a Maroon from Nanny Town)


It is lucky that I am not part of those men who claim to fight for us Maroons. I reside in Nanny Town, and our Queen Nanny refused to sign this Treaty (4). We are independent from our oppressors, and we are already free when we declare ourselves Maroons. Our identity as Maroons rejects the ways of the British (2) and opposes the idea of one man owning his own land (2). 


January 14th, 1740 (Diary of a Maroon from Trelawny Town)


The terms that we must abide by in this new treaty is concerning. We have decided to quietly break some of these rules (2) – for example, why must we work with the British to kill or destroy any rebels who do not meet the terms granted by the British? Why must we return any runaways to the British? Why would I betray the cause I stand for and fought for? (1)



(1) “The Articles of Pacification with the Maroons of Trelawney Town”.  Berkman Klein Center. https://cyber.harvard.edu/eon/marroon/treaty.html

(2) Patrick, Nichols. “Freedom as Maroonage as Anti-capitalism.” Black Perspectives. African American Intellectual Historical Society. December 2016. https://www.aaihs.org/freedom-as-marronage-as-anti-capitalism/ 

(3) Blake, William. “A Negro hung alive by the Ribs to a Gallows”. Princeton University Art Museum, 1 December 1792 https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/3251

(4) Price, Richard. “Maroon Societies in the Americas.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. Oxford University Press. December 2020. https://oxfordre-com.proxy.lib.miamioh.edu/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-935

(5) “Narrative, of a five years’ expedition, against the revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South Amaerica, from the year 1772, to 1777.” Slavery and Portraiture in 18th Century Atlantic Britain. Interactive British Art at Yale. https://interactive.britishart.yale.edu/slavery-and-portraiture/304/narrative-of-a-five-years-expedition-against-the-revolted-negroes-of-surinam-in-guiana-on-the-wild-coast-of-south-america-from-the-year-1772-to-1777

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