“M” is for Maroons. Historically maroons have been described as “bands of fugitive slaves living independently from society.” Maroon communities in the West Indies and Latin America are well documented. Less well-known are those in what is now South Carolina. In 1711, settlers lived in such “great fear and terror” that the government launched raids on maroon settlements in lowcountry swamps. This cycle was repeated over and over with maroon threats and White retaliation. In 1786 a party of White militiamen clashed with a large maroon community living on an island in the Savannah River—resulting in the death and injury of many maroons and the abandonment of the settlement. Maroons continued to exist, however, and to fight for their freedom as witnessed by incidents in Ashepoo (1816), Williamsburg County (1819), Jacksonborough (1822), and Marion (1861).
“M” is for Maroons.
