Slavery's Exiles: The Story of the American Maroons

 

Slavery's Exiles: The Story of the American Maroons by Sylviane A. Diouf explores the little know phenomenon of “maroonage” in what is or would become the United States.  

In Jamaica and South American countries, escaped slaves (maroons) formed large settlements that were more or less self-sufficient.  In the period of Diouf’s study, the early British colonies and early United States, escaped slaves formed smaller communities, and did not live in such total isolation from the white world.  

Diouf provides us in numerous examples of maroon existence.  In the end, we realize how resourceful and robust escaped slaves were in order to maintain their freedom, often at a cost none of us can imagine.