In the prologue of the first novel William Benton explains that he stayed with a group of maroons after he jumped ship. Nathaniel Bagshaw was unaware of the term. Benton explains that they were communities of escaped black slaves. A large community began to flourish on the island of Jamaica, which was ruled by the Spanish at the time, from 1530 onwards after several slave revolts in the colonies of New Spain. The Spanish called them maroons, which is believe to come from the word ‘cimarron’, meaning ‘fierce’ or ‘unruly’. They were known to often ally themselves with buccaneers.
In 1655 the British conquered much of Jamaica and many slaves took advantage of the opportunity to join the maroon communities in the hills. At first, they fought the British, but later allied themselves with them against the Spanish under their leader Lubolo, finally driving the Spanish from the island in 1660.…