The Prime Minister and the Maroon Chief

In 1739, Britain as the colonial power in Jamaica entered into a treaty (the “Treaty”) with the Maroons of Accompong, a community extending over approximately 1500 acres in the Jamaican heartland. The Maroons were persons of African descent who had escaped from enslavement and had fiercely defended their freedom against British incursions into their settlements. Since the time of the Treaty, some Maroons have argued that the Accompong community constitutes a sovereign state within Jamaica. This chapter reviews this claim and sets out the resistance to the claim advanced by the Government of Jamaica.