Queen Nanny the Black Woman who ruled the Jamaican Maroons

The Jamaican people have always been known for their resistance against slavery. For this very reason one of their most heroic figures in their history is Queen Nanny of the Maroons. Queen Nanny was born in what is now present day Ghana to the Ashanti people. A people known for their war like culture. It is unclear how she got to Jamaica but it is believed that she came as a slave herself. However, her slave status was shortly lived as she quickly escaped the plantation in which she belonged too and ran into the mountains and jungles of Jamaica. There after setting up a place that would later be known as Nanny town and leading a group of escaped Africans known as the windward maroons. During her lifetime she helped to set free more than 1,000 slaves, through a numerous amount of successful raids on European plantations. Kicking off one of the longest wars in Jamacian History, the First Maroon war that lasted 18 years. It is believed by some historians and scholars that Nanny was killed in 1733 during one of the many bloody battles that ensued in the war. However, as some Jamaican oral traditions teach the real Nanny was never killed because during these times everyone was called Nanny for strategic purposes. Which is one of the biggest reasons her name still lives on today in Jamaica. Her life and accomplishments have been recognized by the Government of Jamaica with statues and awards in her name. She is currently the only Jamaican National Hero who is a woman. As well as the only Jamaican woman who is featured on a currency, the $500 note. Which is the largest banknote in circulation in Jamaica.  

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