Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Anthropology

Major Professor

Thomas Pluckhahn, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Antoinette Jackson, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Diane Wallman, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Terrance Weik, Ph.D.

Keywords

refusal, anti-slavery, American colonialism

Abstract

Grand marronage describes the process whereby Africans sought to liberate themselves from enslavement through means of escape to establish permanent communities and create a truly free society. The Southeastern region of the modern United States was once a geopolitical arena where European and Euro-American empires sought to spread their power and influence over both the Indigenous and African inhabitants. Following the American Revolution was the War of 1812, fought between the former colonial master and the recently formed United States. Commonly referred to as the Second War of American Independence, and infamously known for the burning of the White House. During the war, along the Gulf Coast of Florida, the British constructed a military installation along the Apalachicola River. From here they would recruit local Indigenous warriors and African Maroons to fight alongside them. At the end of the war, these African Maroons would be given possession of the fort, where they would defend their freedom from American imperial expansion.

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