Florida’s History of African Resistance

Last week, I saw one of my mentors — the filmmaker Haile Gerima. He was working when I stepped into his editing station, located in the heart of Washington D.C., near Howard University. At the time, Gerima was busy editing two documentary films, one about the war between Italy and Ethiopia and another about Maroons in America.

If you have never heard of Maroons, it may be a good time to read up on them or watch some documentaries because their history is fascinating. Most Americans have never heard of Maroons because, like much of Black history, their stories have been hidden in obscurity. There’s a reason why.

Have you heard of the Maroons?

Maroons have been described in various ways, but the most consistent feature is they are self-liberated Africans who ran away or escaped slavery and fought to remain free. Often, they formed hidden communities and plotted uprisings to liberate other Africans—some formed bonds with Native American communities, finding allies to aid them in their struggle. This slice of history is beyond the watered-down tales that often find their way into history classes. Most Americans don’t realize that Maroons existed in great numbers. The revolutionary truth that Black people resisted slavery is often concealed.

Archaeologist Terry Weik noted that Maroons “are peoples of the African Diaspora who escaped from enslavement and lived independently of plantation societies in the Americas (Price 1979:1–2; Hart 1985:1–5).”

Historian Tolagbe Ogunleye described Maroons in Florida in the Journal of Black Studies specifically:

“Determined to no longer be held against their will, untold numbers of stalwart Africans emancipated themselves from their enslavers living predominantly in the areas now known as Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana: They headed for the abandoned or remote areas in Florida to establish communities or take up residence in one of the autonomous settlements established by Africans who had previously fled.

Maroon communities in Florida and other parts of the Western hemisphere, where European settler colonialism was resisted with force of arms, contained many Africans who had never been enslaved. In his 2019 article, “Fugitives on the Front,” Justin Iverson explained that fighting for liberation was survival for the Maroons. They allied with Native Americans (Seminoles) and fought to “prevent further American expansion into the Spanish colony during the Patriot War of 1812 to 1814.”

Maroons protected their communities from Georgia armies, who sought to take Florida from Spain and re-enslave Africans who escaped bondage on Georgia plantations. In effect, they sought to enslave Maroons and force them into a system that forced them to labor without compensation. History shows the Maroons would not accept this second-class citizenship; they would die first in battle.

Maroon communities were established all over North America and in the West Indies. This, again, is evidence that the Africans never accepted enslavement. Sadly, since slavery in America created a racial caste system, African people were continuously targeted for bondage and plunder.

Maroon history is American history.

Historical records indicate that resistance by Maroons in Florida endured. These Africans, committed to freedom from exploitation and oppression, continued to fight back. According to Historian Justin Iverson, “from 1812 to 1823 they…fought like other Atlantic maroons in a continual struggle against re-enslavement to white owners.” Iverson described this period as a “prolonged period of violence that finally came to an end in 1823.” The period is today described as the “Gulf Coast Borderlands War” by historians.

Oddly, while public schools teach children about various wars during the colonial period, these conflicts involving Africans and slavery are omitted. According to Iverson, one of the reasons for declaring war on Britain and attacking Spain’s settlements was to invade Maroon lands and re-capture the Africans who escaped and revolted against the evil of chattel bondage.

Is this part of the war taught in public schools? NO!

In East Florida, according to Iverson, Maroons were very successful in their resistance and attacks on U.S. soldiers. Considering that other Africans enslaved in Georgia also desired freedom from chattel bondage, the success of the Maroons was critical. They were trying to liberate others from bondage and suffering in Georgia, so Black enslaved people knew if they could get to Florida, they could be free. And if they could not push back American forces, they would be re-enslaved.

Florida’s tragic whitewashing of history

This is a tiny piece of Maroon history in Florida. It’s a shame, but America, so far, has been unwilling to embrace Maroon history. The nation can barely admit chattel slavery was evil and depraved or an invention of Europeans. While the Governor of Florida claims he wants schools to tell the entire story of slavery, he is clearly lying. If he did, the Maroons would be a major part of Florida’s new curriculum, which alludes to “Black Seminoles” and “Fort Mose,” but not the Maroons.

Given the major role they played, how can the Maroons and their activities be omitted? How can a group of Africans who resisted the British army’s encroachments and then America’s attempts at re-enslavement be omitted from the historical record? The Florida curriculum also tries to spin America’s role in the slave trade, characterizing it as benign, which is tragic. Children in Florida will now learn a whitewashed version of American history. Students should know that Black people were enslaved and stripped of their humanity, human rights, history, religion, and culture for profit.

This is not what Florida will teach the children in their state. This also explains why the story of the Maroons in Florida has to be left out of the lessons by DeSantis. If the history of Maroons were taught in schools, the first question that would be asked is: if slavery was not so wrong, why did all of these Africans fight to the death to escape it and liberate others?

Don’t let Florida or any historian or government off the hook. Demand that the whole truth about American slavery be taught in schools.

Secondary Source Material

The Self-Emancipated Africans of Florida: Pan-African Nationalists in the “New World,” Tolagbe Ogunleye, Journal of Black Studies, Sep., 1996, Vol. 27, №1 (Sep. 1996), pp. 24–38

The Archaeology of Maroon Societies in the Americas: Resistance, Cultural Continuity, and Transformation in the African Diaspora, Terry Weik, Historical Archaeology, 1997, Vol. 31, №2 (1997), pp. 81–92

Fugitives on the Front, Justin Iverson, The Florida Historical Quarterly, Fall 2019, Vol. 98, №2 (Fall 2019), pp. 105–129

Bill Fletcher on Maroons

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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