History: Slave Trade, Caribbean, The Maroons

America, Haiti, Revolution, Fracois Dominique Toussaint

Who Are The Maroons?
These runaway slaves were called "The Maroons." The purpose for them was to be free, to reclaim their Nationality and to arrange freedom for the other slaves either by purchasing them, or by smuggling other slaves into freedom. They lived amongst the various tribes of Native Americans as well as breeding with them. The darker Moors and Yoruba mixed and breed with the Native Americans.

"The first African slaves fled o the natives but that was only the beginning. Individuals and groups in modern day United State and the West Indices, fled to the Native Americans in the Carolinas, Desoto, Corondado Kansas, Peru, and Mexico especially along the Coast of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala." Taken From The Black Africans And Native Americans By: Jack, D. Forbes. Other slaves ran into the Bayous of the swamps and became known as the Guiches.

The Revolution
The mixture of the Yoruba and their Voodoo practices, the Zulu and Ibo, and their warrior mentality in the Caribbean Island, was a powder keg waiting to explode. The slave masters couldn't control these slaves. Some of them were sent to Cuba and Haiti. This is why the history of the slaves in the Island States was littered with continuous revolt against the slave owners.

"Their First Move Toward Overthrowing The White Slave Owners Was A Highly Effective Campaign Of Poisoning. It Began In The Mid-18th Century. So Well Organized Was The Poisoned Network That Barrels Of Ale Straight Off Ships From Europe Were Already Rendered Deadly. As The Tide Turned In Favour Of The Rebels, The Revolution Proper Was Launched In 1791 With A Voodoo Ritual Involving The Sacrifice Of A Black Pig."

"According To Multimedia Grolier Encyclopaedia:
Inspired By The French Revolution (1789) The Slaves In The Colony, Under The Leadership Of Francois Toussant L'ouverture, Rebelled (1791) And Gained Control Of The Colony But Did Not Declare Independence. In 1802, Napoleon I Sent A French Army Under General Charles Leclerc To Subdue The Haitians. Leclerc Captured Toussaint, But The Haitian Force Under Jean Jacques Dessalines And Henri Christopher Defeated The French. The Whole Island Was Declared Independent On Jan. l, 1804 And Given The Name Of Haiti."

Francois Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture (1743-1803 AD)
Toussaint L'Ouverture is heralded for his shrewd abilities to mobilize and command thousands in an unseen army. He demanded discipline, loyalty, and allegiance to the cause of liberty. John Hope Franklin states in From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Negro Americans, "Haiti was the first of the New World countries to sweep slavery aside." Without the military genius of L'Ouverture, Haiti would never have defeated the French for her freedom. Toussaint L'Ouverture spent most of his life as a model captive working as a carriage driver on the Breda plantation in Haiti. He was married to Suzanne and they had two sons. L'Ouverture was a devout Roman Catholic, self-educated and literate in French.

He had extensive knowledge of the usage of medicinal herbs and used this skill in 1791, when the revolution began, as a physician for the rebel troops. He quickly rose through the ranks and became responsible for training the men. He turned them into a well- disciplined military force with the ability to use maneuvers conducive for guerilla warfare or regular land-force fighting. For ten years he outmaneuvered the Spanish, the English, the French, and a small rebellious force of mulattoes.

He used his influence and charisma to restore the country to peaceful growth. Bridges were built, schools were encouraged with awards for the best scholars. L'Ouverture also encouraged the minority White population to contribute their talent toward the development of Haiti. L'Ouverture was too successful and Napoleon knew that he needed the island to forward his plans for the Louisiana Territory. Napoleon sent his brother-in-law, Le Clere, with an additional 25,000 soldiers to recapture the tiny island. Betrayed by one of his aides, L'Ouverture was captured and taken to France. He was accused of conspiracy, imprisoned, and died the next year in a cold prison cell, far from his native island.

After his capture by the French, a major revolt occurred. The French forces were defeated by the heat, malaria, yellow fever, and tenacious cunning of the officers and captives trained by L'Ouverture. Lerone Bennet, Jr. states in Before the Mayflower, "The French lost some 60,000 men and a rich colony and Napoleon soured on the Western Hemisphere and sold the Louisiana Territory to America for four cents an acre - the biggest real estate bargain in history," in 1803. Francois Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture is revered and praised today as one of the courageous founders of Haiti.

We have been able to establish early migration and immigration of Nubians, Kushites, Pygmies, Il-Moro, Moors or Black People via Malaria parasite Plasmodiun falciparum, Pottery and their religion of Divination for over 100,000 years. So, Voodoo also called Juju in Yoruba-land, Orisha, Lucumi Ifaism, Obeah, Shango Baptist, Ofo (Spiritual Spell) Or Santeria, was nothing more than traditional ancestral acknowledgment among our people.

It was an attempt to keep alive our custom and practices that went back thousands of years before we had any contact with the European, Whom himself and herself borrowed from and created various cults, sects, covens fraternities, societies and churches.