Helen M. McKee - Negotiating Freedom in the Circum-Caribbean: The Jamaican Maroons and Creek Nation Compared

Bringing together Jamaican Maroons and indigenous communities into one frameworkfor the first timeMcKee compares and contrasts how these non-white, semi-autonomous communities were ultimately reduced by Anglophone colonists. In particular, questions are asked about Maroon and Creek interaction with Anglophone communities, slave-catching, slave ownership, land conflict and dispute resolution to conclude that, while important divergences occurred, commonalities can be drawn between Maroon history and Native American history and that, therefore, we should do more to draw Maroon communities into debates of indigenous issues.

Helen M. McKee completed her Ph.D. at Newcastle University. She is the author of From Violence to Alliance: Maroons and White Settlers in Jamaica, 17391795, published in Slavery & Abolition.

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Negotiating Freedom in the Circum-Caribbean

The Jamaican Maroons and Creek Nation Compared

Helen M. McKee

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-the-History-of-the-Americas/book-series/RSHAM

Helen M. McKee

First published 2019

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McKee, Helen M., author.

Title: Negotiating freedom in the circum-Caribbean : the Jamaican Maroons and Creek Nation compared / by Helen M. McKee.

Description: New York : Routledge, 2019. | Series: Routledge studies in the history of the Americas ; 5 | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2018051042 (print) | LCCN 2018056146 (ebook) | ISBN 9780429024702 () | ISBN 9780367110833

Subjects: LCSH: MaroonsJamaicaHistory18th century. | MaroonsJamaicaHistory19th century. | Creek IndiansHistory18th century. | Creek IndiansHistory19th century. | MaroonsJamaicaEthnic identity. | JamaicaRace relations.

Classification: LCC F1896.N4 (ebook) | LCC F1896.N4 M38 2019 (print) | DDC 972.92/00497385dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018051042

ISBN: 978-0-367-11083-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-02470-2 (ebk)

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by Apex CoVantage, LLC

My greatest academic debt is to my Ph.D. supervisor, Diana Paton, who has been a constant source of knowledge and constructive criticism, and whose endless support enabled my confidence to grow enough to start, never mind complete, a Ph.D. I would also like to thank my second supervisor, Ben Houston, for his continual feedback on my writing and his invaluable input during meetings.

This book would not have been possible without the help of people who care for the records that this manuscript is based upon. I have relied heavily on the advice of those who work at the British Library, the U.K. National Archives, the British Library, the U.S. National Archives, the Library of Congress, the Georgia Department of Archives and History, the Georgia Historical Society, the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the National Library of Jamaica, the Jamaican National Archives, the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History and Florida State University Library.

I have been privileged enough to have received generous financial support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the form of a doctoral award, without which I could not have undertaken this research. I have also received kind bursaries to attend conferences and overseas research from the AHRC Overseas Research Fund and the David Nicholls Memorial Trust. The majority of the Creek sections of this book were written during my six-month fellowship at the Library of Congress, supported by the AHRC. My thanks go to the many people there who made my visit so memorable: Jon, Chris, Jenny, Jamie, Mike, Alex, Mary-Lou and JoAnn.

Aspects of this manuscript have been presented at several conference and workshops in the United Kingdom, the United States and Jamaica and beyond. I am incredibly grateful for the feedback and comments I received from colleagues at The Kluge Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; the Institute of Historical Research, London; the International Maroon Conference, Charles Town, Jamaica; the Society of Caribbean Research, Germany; and the Resistance and Empire Conference, Lisbon. I am also indebted to all those at Routledge for their hard work in bringing this work to publication, in particular Max Novick, Jennifer Morrow and Brindha Thirumoorthy, as well as the endeavours of all of the reviewers who have infinitely improved this book.

Without the support of my family, friends and colleagues, the researching and writing of this manuscript would have been impossible. Firstly I would like to thank my parents, Bill and Anne, who have supported me unconditionally throughout the entire process. I owe them more than I could ever repay. Thank you to Babsi for the unparalleled encouragement, the inspiring discussions and the unwavering belief in me over the last six years. I would also like to thank the rest of my family and friends who have helped me through some of the most trying of times; in particular, Ben, James and Jeanie, Aunty Judy and Uncle Brian, Suzie, Phil, Zoe and Jen. Thank you to my friends who have let me stay with them on research trips, Phil for the countless late-night travel stories after trips to the British Library and Gylfi for providing the best homemade mojitos during my research stays. Zaineb and Muneeb in Georgia, and Barbara and Nicoletta in Jamaica, have made my international trips so memorable. This work would never have made the transition from thesis to manuscript without my current support network in Germany, in particular Jean-Philippe, Marc, Angela, Anke and James, who have always been ready to listen to my rants and frustrations with a smile and a beer. I also could not have completed this book without my friends in Kassel, especially Katja, Alex and Steve. I would also like to remember some of those who are not here to see my work finished: Pev, Aunty Fran, Aunty Kath, Aunty Eva, Uncle John and my deeply missed Grandad. Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to my beloved father who passed away during the final stages of re-writing. He proofread everything I have ever written and I know he would have done the same for me with this manuscript. I love you, Daddy.