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Great Dismal Swamp maroons
Fugitive Slaves in the Dismal Swamp, Virginia, by David Edward Cronin, 1888.
Total population
around 2,000
Regions with significant populations
Great Dismal Swamp
Languages
English and or English-based creole
Religion
Christianity and or African diaspora religions
Related ethnic groups
African-Americans, Gullah, Black Seminoles, maroons

The Great Dismal Swamp maroons were people who inhabited the swamplands of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina after escaping enslavement. Although conditions were harsh, research suggests that thousands lived there between about 1700 and the 1860s. Harriet Beecher Stowe told the maroon people's story in her 1856 novel Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. The most significant research on the settlements began in 2002 with a project by Dan Sayers of American University.

History

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Osman, a maroon in Great Dismal Swamp. Image by David Hunter Strother in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1856.[1]
Main article: Maroon (people)

The first Africans brought to the English colony of Virginia arrived in 1619 on the White Lion, an English privateer operating under a letter of marque from the Dutch Republic. These Africans, numbering roughly 20-strong, had been seized from the Portuguese slave ship São João Bautista by the crew of White Lion as the slaver was transporting them from Portuguese Angola to the Americas.[2][3] The Africans were legally deemed to be indentured servants, since slave codes were not passed in Virginia until 1661.[4] As indentured servants, they were automatically entitled to freedom after the passage of a certain period of time, and were also allowed to purchase freedom as well.[5] Other indentured servants gained freedom by converting to Christianity, since the English colonists of Virginia were opposed to the enslavement of Christians.[6] Slave labor was used in many efforts to drain and log the Great Dismal Swamp during the 18th and 19th centuries.[7] People who escaped slavery by running away to the countryside came to be known as maroons.[8][7][9]

Maroonage, self-liberated Africans in isolated or hidden settlements,[9] existed in all the Southern states,[10] and swamp-based maroon communities existed in the Deep South, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina.[11] Maroonage in the Upper South was largely limited to Virginia and the Great Dismal Swamp.

The origin of the word maroon is uncertain, with competing theories linking it to Spanish, Arawak or Taino root words.[12] In all likelihood, the words maroon and Seminole share the same etymology in the Spanish word cimarrón, meaning "wild" or "untamed". This word usually referred to self-liberated Africans who escaped enslavement and is ultimately derived from the word for "thicket" in Old Spanish.[13]

At the beginning of the 18th century, maroons came to live in the Great Dismal Swamp.[14][15] Most settled on mesic islands, the high and dry parts of the swamp. Inhabitants included people who had purchased their freedom as well as those who had escaped.[16] Other people used the swamp as a route on the Underground Railroad as they made their way further north.[15] Some formerly enslaved lived there in semi-free conditions, but how much independence they actually enjoyed there has been a topic of much debate. Nearby whites often left maroons alone so long as they paid a quota in logs or shingles,[16] and businesses may have ignored the fugitive status of people who provided work in exchange for trade goods.[12]

Herbert Aptheker stated already in 1939, in "Maroons Within the Present Limits of the United States", that likely "about two thousand Negroes, fugitives, or the descendants of fugitives" lived in the Great Dismal Swamp, trading with white people outside the swamp.[17] Results of a study published in 2007, "The Political Economy of Exile in the Great Dismal Swamp", say that thousands of people lived in the swamp between 1630 and 1865, Native Americans, maroons and enslaved laborers on the canal.[18] A 2011 study speculated that thousands may have lived in the swamp between the 1600s and 1860.[14] While the precise number of maroons who lived in the swamp at that time is unknown, it is believed to have been one of the largest maroon colonies in the United States. It is established that "several thousand" were living there by the 19th century.[19]

Fear of slave unrest and fugitive slaves living among maroon population caused concern amongst local whites. A militia force with dogs went into the swamp in 1823 in an attempt to remove the maroons and destroy their community, but most people escaped.[20] In 1847, North Carolina passed a law specifically aimed at apprehending the maroons in the swamp.[8][12] However, unlike other maroon communities, where local militias often captured the residents and destroyed their homes, those in the Great Dismal Swamp mostly avoided capture or the discovery of their homes.[14]

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The Chesapeake, the Nansemonds, the Recharians, and the Merrians are all Native American tribes that had connections to the swamp in the 17th century.[21] The presence of hunting bolas indicates that the area may have served as a hunting ground as far back as 5,000 years ago.[16] Native American communities were already in existence in the swamp when the maroons began to settle there.[14] Because leaving the area could lead to recapture, the inhabitants often used what was readily available in the swamp, even recycling tool remnants left by Native Americans.[22]

Since the maroons had few possessions, the few small artifacts that have been recovered have given historians little insight into their day-to-day lives.[15][22] To date, excavation has yet to find any human remains. According to Sayers, historical archaeologist at American University who has led research on the maroons of the swamp, it is possible that the acidity of the water disintegrated any bones which may have been left behind.[15] The Tuscarora tribe resided in the swamp in the early 1700s.[21]

Some maroons were born to those who escaped slavery and lived in the swamp for their entire lives despite the hardships of swamp life: dense underbrush, insects, venomous snakes, and bears. The difficult conditions also made the swamp an ideal hiding place, not just for the formerly enslaved but also for free Africans, enslaved Africans who worked on the swamp's canals, Native Americans, and outcast whites such as criminals.[11][15][23] Maroons are known to have often interacted with enslaved Africans and poor whites to obtain work, food, clothes, and money. Some maroons plundered nearby farms and plantations, stole from anchored boats, and robbed travelers on nearby roads;[20] those caught were tried for murder or theft.[10]

In 1768, George Washington's brother, John, posted an advertisement that his man Tom had run away, likely to the swamp.[24] Some maroon communities were set up near the Dismal Swamp Canal, built between 1793 and 1805, which is still in operation. These maroons interacted more with the outside world than those who lived in the swamp's interior, and had more contact with outsiders once canal construction began. Some took jobs on the canal, and with increased contact with the outside world, some people living in the swamp eventually moved away.[12][15] During the American Civil War, the United States Colored Troops entered the swamp to liberate the people there, many of whom then joined the Union Army. Most of the maroons who remained in the swamp left after the Civil War.[8][12]

The maroon communities in the Great Dismal Swamp were founded on persistence. The conditions in the swamp, whether that be the hot, humid weather, the deadly animals, or the bugs, made it a difficult place to live. These resistant communities would choose areas that were difficult to reach.[25] This allowed for many of these communities to live in peace and to live freely. Maroon communities would also use only natural resources they found in the Great Dismal Swamp to build structures, tools, and other resources. Other more settled communities in this time period would have left behind mass-produced goods, but because of the natural resources maroon communities used, everything marking establishment has eroded away.[25] Maroon communities succeeded in adapting to the ever changing environment and ecology of the Great Dismal Swamp.[26]

These communities disbanded for a number of reasons. When the American Civil War began, many people living in these communities left to fight for the Union.[25] Once the war was over and slavery was abolished, many left to find family and to move north.[25] The further development of the Great Dismal Swamp also led to the end of these communities.[26] Many free and enslaved African Americans worked with companies to develop the land in the swamp. The Great Dismal Swamp was drained to create fields.[26] The swamp was also cleared and graded to build roads.[26] By 1836, railroads were being built through the swamp as well.[26] After this construction in the swamp, a 22.5-mile interstate highway was built around the area. With increasing traffic through the area, the Great Dismal Swamp was no longer seen as a place that was "dismal", but more attractive to the people who could afford to visit, and commercial enterprises started to move into the area. Many tourists would come to see the swamp and use the water for medicinal purposes. Many of the free and enslaved people began to leave as the swamp was taken over by commerce and tourism.

While these communities eventually disbanded, these maroon communities represented opportunities for black resistance, initiative and autonomy.[27] Researchers have criticized the lack of acknowledgment of these communities, due to both the racial makeup of the community and because they left few artifacts for archaeologists to recover and study.[27]

According to American University researcher Daniel Sayers: "There were hardships and deprivations, for sure ... But no overseer was going to whip them here. No one was going to work them in a cotton field from sunup to sundown, or sell their spouses and children. They were free. They had emancipated themselves."[27]

Location

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Main article: Great Dismal Swamp

The Great Dismal Swamp spans an area of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina between the James River near Norfolk, Virginia, and the Albemarle Sound near Edenton, North Carolina.[8] The swamp is estimated to have originally been over 1 million acres (4,000 km2),[8] but human encroachment has destroyed up to 90% of the swampland.[11][14][28]

Today, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is just over 112 thousand acres (450 km2).[29] The swamp also includes Lake Drummond, which is about 3,100 acres (13 square km). The Great Dismal Swamp is now preserved and protected from further destruction by the Dismal Swamp Act of 1974 which included Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, and North Carolina's declaration of the Dismal Swamp State Park.

References in literature and art

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In 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem "The Slave in Dismal Swamp"[16] for his collection Poems on Slavery. The poem uses six quintain stanzas to tell about the "hunted Negro", mentioning the use of bloodhounds and describing the conditions as being "where hardly a human foot could pass, or a human heart would dare".[30] The poem may have inspired artist David Edward Cronin, who served as a Union officer in Virginia[31] and witnessed the effect of slavery, to paint Fugitive Slaves in the Dismal Swamp, Virginia in 1888.[32]

In 1856, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, published her second anti-slavery novel, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. The title character is a maroon of the Great Dismal Swamp who preaches against slavery and incites slaves to escape.[11][16][33]

In 2022, Amina Luqman-Dawson published a young adult novel called Freewater, set in the Great Dismal Swamp.[34] In 2023, the historical fiction novel won the Newbery Medal as well as the Coretta Scott King Award.[35]

Research

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The Great Dismal Swamp Landscape Study began in 2002 and was led by Dan Sayers, a historical archaeologist at American University's Department of Anthropology. In 2003, he conducted the first excavation in the swamp,[12][15] and in 2009, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (which manages the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge) and American University, initiated the annual research program titled the Great Dismal Swamp Archaeology Field School. This effort continues the work of the landscape study. It examines the impact of colonialism, slavery, and development on the swamp, especially on the self-sustaining maroon settlements in the swamp's interior. It also studies native lifestyles before European contact.[14][36][37] Prior to Sayers' efforts, no field research had been done on the Great Dismal Swamp maroons. Even today, the swamp is impenetrable in places; a research group gave up in 2003 because it lost its way so many times.[8] Sites deep in the swamp's interior are still so remote that a guide is needed to find them.[12][15] The National Endowment for the Humanities gave the "We The People Award" of $200,000 to the project in 2010.[11][15]

In fall 2011, a permanent exhibit was opened by the National Park Service to commemorate those who lived in the swamp during pre-Civil War times.[38] Sayers summarizes: "These groups are very inspirational. As details unfold, we are increasingly able to show how people have the ability, as individuals and communities, to take control of their lives, even under oppressive conditions."[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Erickson, Mark St John (February 27, 1994). "Runaway Slaves Found Freedom in the Swamp". Daily Press. tribunedigital-dailypress. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  2. ^ Deetz, Kelley Fanto (August 13, 2019). "400 years ago, enslaved Africans first arrived in Virginia". National Geographic. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019.
  3. ^ Waxman, Olivia B. (August 20, 2019). "The First Africans in Virginia Landed in 1619. It Was a Turning Point for Slavery in American History—But Not the Beginning". Time. Archived from the original on August 25, 2019.
  4. ^ https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/indentured-servants-in-the-us/ Archived August 26, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Indentured Servants In The U.S.
  5. ^ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/horrible-fate-john-casor-180962352/#TewjfFASFy7jWzhh.99 Archived June 7, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, The Horrible Fate of John Casor, The First Black Man to be Declared Slave for Life in America
  6. ^ "Colonization". National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Great Dismal Swamp" (PDF). Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge" (PDF). The Great Dismal Swamp and the Underground Railroad. Fish and Wildlife Service. September 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Maroons in the Revolutionary Period 1775–1783". Public Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on February 1, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  10. ^ a b Lockley, Tim. "Runaway Slave Communities in South Carolina". University of London Institute of Historical Research. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Digging Up the Secrets of the Great Dismal Swamp". Popular Archaeology. May 15, 2011. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Blackburn, Marion (September–October 2011). "Letter from Virginia: American Refugees". Archaeology. 64 (5). Archaeological Institute of America. Archived from the original on January 1, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  13. ^ "Seminole | Etymology, origin and meaning of seminole by etymonline". Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g "Freedom in the Swamp: Unearthing the Secret History of the Great Dismal Swamp". Physorg. May 16, 2011. Archived from the original on January 5, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bartel, Bill (January 29, 2012). "Escaped slaves may have lived in Great Dismal Swamp". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  16. ^ a b c d e Tidwell, John (August 2001). "The Ghosts of the Great Dismal Swamp" (PDF). American Heritage. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  17. ^ Aptheker, Herbert (April 1939). "Maroons Within the Present Limits of the United States". The Journal of Negro History. 24 (2). Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc.: 167–184. doi:10.2307/2714447. JSTOR 2714447. S2CID 149952831.
  18. ^ Sayers, Daniel; Burke, P. Brandan; Henry, Aaron M. (March 2007). "The Political Economy of Exile in the Great Dismal Swamp". International Journal of Historical Archaeology. 11 (1). Springer: 60–97. doi:10.1007/s10761-006-0022-2. JSTOR 20853121. S2CID 143639907.
  19. ^ "Maroon in the United States". New York Public Library – The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Archived from the original on April 10, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  20. ^ a b "The Underground Railroad". Camden County, NC. Retrieved February 11, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ a b Sayers, Daniel (2014). A desolate place for a defiant people : the archaeology of maroons, indigenous Americans, and enslaved laborers in the Great Dismal Swamp. Gainesville, Florida: Gainesville, Florida : University Press of Florida. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-8130-5524-4.
  22. ^ a b "Escaped Slave Settlements in the Great Dismal Swamp". Houghton Mifflin Current Events. October 2011. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  23. ^ "What were a few Routes Along the Underground Railroad?". National Underground Railroad Freedom Research Center. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  24. ^ Daniel, Sayers (2014). A Desolate Place for a Defiant People: The Archaeology of Maroons, Indigenous Americans, and Enslaved Laborers in the Great Dismal Swamp. University Press of Florida. p. 88. ISBN 978-0813060187.
  25. ^ a b c d "The Great Dismal Swamp". 99% Invisible. August 15, 2017. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  26. ^ a b c d e Maris-Wolf, Ted (September 1, 2013). "Hidden in Plain Sight: Maroon Life and Labor in Virginia's Dismal Swamp". Slavery & Abolition. 34 (3): 446–464. doi:10.1080/0144039X.2012.734090. ISSN 0144-039X. S2CID 144721671. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  27. ^ a b c Grant, Allison Shelley,Richard. "Deep in the Swamps, Archaeologists Are Finding How Fugitive Slaves Kept Their Freedom". Smithsonian. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ "Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge". About us. Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  29. ^ "Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge". Welcome!. Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  30. ^ "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp". Maine Historical Society. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  31. ^ The American archivist. The Society of American Archivists. January 1, 1954. p. 173. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  32. ^ "Fugitive Slaves in the Dismal Swamp, Virginia". New York Historical Society. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  33. ^ "Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811–1896 Dred; A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. In Two Volumes. Vol. II". University of North Carolina. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  34. ^ Quattlebaum, Mary (February 2, 2022). "Virginia swamp is a haven from slavery in 'Freewater'". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  35. ^ Fenston, Jacob (February 8, 2023). "Arlington Author Honored For Book Exploring 'Hard History'". DCist. WAMU 88.5. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  36. ^ "The Great Dismal Swamp Landscape Study". Anthropology Summer Field Study. American University College of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  37. ^ "Partnerships: Great Dismal Swamp Archaeology Field School". Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  38. ^ Breen, Tom (July 5, 2011). "Swamp Holds Clues About Runaway Slaves". Daily Herald. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2012.

Further reading

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