The Maroons of Dominica 1764 - 1818

For over fifty years the Maroons of Dominica resisted being enslaved, choosing instead to live free in the country's mountainous interior. They dared to challenge the very system of slavery and scores paid the ultimate price with their lives. Their sacrifice, however, was not in vain. So dramatic were their exploits, unparalleled bravery and sacrifice, that it stirred the consciences of the British public, including William Wilberforce and Granville Sharp, and helped focus attention on slave conditions in the West Indies. Ultimately, the mistreatment and suffering of the Maroons and those enslaved in Dominica, would ignite the debate in Great Britain and prove pivotal in putting an end to the slave trade and the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies. The book succeeds in painting a holistic struggle for freedom from slavery in Dominica, and its impact on the rest of the British West Indies. Carefully woven into the narrative is the influence of the French Revolution, free people of colour, and the fight for Independence in Haiti; on the ultimate success of the Maroon movement.