Amy M. Johnson published on Jamaica's Windward Maroon Slaveholders in the New West Indian Guide.
Associate Professor of History Amy Johnson’s most recent publication, “Jamaica鈥檚 Windward Maroon ‘Slaveholders:’ Charles Town and Moore Town, 1810鈥20,” is a quantitative analysis of data sets from 1810鈥20 related to Maroon 鈥渟laveholding鈥 in eastern Jamaica.
The data from the Proceedings of the Honourable House of Assembly Relative to the Maroons, which have been published in the Journals of the House of Assembly of Jamaica provide important insights into how bondage may have functioned in Maroon settlements. This scholarship contributes to cutting edge studies of both the Maroons in the Americas and nontraditional slaveholding in general. Johnson argues that slaveholding practices among the Windward Maroons of Jamaica were likely influenced by West African cultural norms and the opportunities that emerged on the Caribbean island. The research complicates one-dimensional characterizations of Maroons as “freedom fighters” and indigenous slavery as largely benign.