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Run to the Hills

TL by Pat Durham



Author's Note:
My dad is from Trinidad, and spent several years of his life with Maroons from Jamaica, perhaps the most famous maroons in the New World. He learned about their history, and from their passed it on to me orally. As a child I enjoyed hearing his stories of brave Maroons fighting for freedom in the countryside of the West Indies. While that story was bowdlerized and idealized by Father Dearest, I mulled over these stories for the first memorable years of my childhood. I had almost forgotten about the Maroons when I came across an article about Slavery in Jamaica.

I was inspired to make this when I came across this map of Thande's where America became an anologue to South Africa, with English 'Boers'. From their I began to research the Boers, who reminded me in some ways of he Maroons. A Hop, skip, and a leap later, I formulated 'A Maroons in America' TL. Yes, there were Black Seminoles and etcetera, but I wondered to myself how to get more thorns in Colonial America's side. This is that end result.

To those who voted in the thread, I used a 'name out of a hat' thing to break the tie that was there when I last looked. I that tie broke on it's own, then I'm sorry.

Also, I must warn you the readers: This thread involves a small degree of offensiveness, having European-Native American-Cimaroon relations told by Historians from ~1600-1900s. I will usually try to tiptoe around it lightly, however, to keep this TL realistic, when a contemporary account appears, it may have it's true colours (no pun intended) shown raw.
Enjoy.
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O’er hills in ye woods and in ye moors,
Came o’er a thousands shrieking Moores,
Ye Negres sauaged the women,
But if it’s Ye All Mighty Lorde’s will,
May we fight ‘til the Moores are sent back screeching to the Hills
-Excerpt from Claudius Shakespeare’s Voyages[1]

American Negres: A History of the Chepelaye and Colonialism. By Sherlock Bell
University of Edinburgh, 1872 [2]

The History of the Chepelaye tribe in America is described as ‘A series of accumulated coincidences and merry accidents in favor of the Chepelaye’. This statement doesn’t take into account the knowledge of the land gained by living amongst natives for many years, their Moslem background, or their ability to get Europeans and Indians playing against one another. Their savage nature allowed for easy flight in the face of serious European threat. Interestingly, the deeper one travels into Chepelaye history, one may find that these features provided the tribe the ability to create a large sphere of influence within the continent, in staunch contrast to the impression of ‘Lucky Negres’ so many have engraved in their memories.
The Story of the Chepelaye tribe begins with the embarking of the colony of Roanoke, when Sir. Richard Grenville was blown off course due to a storm. He believed the rendezvous point to be in Puerto Rico. Encountering Buccaneer John Hawkins, Grenville purchased slaves to build a fort in Puerto Rico [3]. Fort Muskito was soon abandoned, as Grenville became impatient waiting in the Caribbean.
Arriving in Roanoke later than he had initially planned, he quickly engaged his slaves in labor towards building a fort. The Colony was low on supplies, and Grenville was set to return to England to bring more men and fresh supplies. When he returned in the autumn of 1586, the colony was near collapse as many of the men starved to death.
With fresh supplies and two more garrisons of Englishmen, Grenville began where he left off, establishing Friendly diplomatic relations with the Indians. The Pananiock were initially quite hostile towards the English, until they were appeased with a few of the slaves Grenville had bought. [4]
The Roanoke Colony’s expansion beginning in 1587, with the influx of John White and 150 colonists, and the acquiring of tobaco seeds…





Roanoke Colony prior to Spanish Invasion
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1. Moores = Moors. Used artistically, comparing the Chepelaye to the Spanish Moors. TTL's Shakespeare has a son, Claudius, rather than Judith Quiney, whom survives to adulthood. More on the Shakespeares later.
2. 'Negres' is TTL's equivalent of the N-Word, but in practice used much more like Brazilian Portuguese 'Preto', which in many circles is politically incorrect, and can be used derogatively.
3. The PoD is intended to be vague: Perhaps some more men on Tiger die during the storm near Portugal, and John Hawkins being in Puerto Rico with slaves when Richard Grenville shows up in a similar fashion to OTL; Perhaps John Hawkins being in Puerto Rico is the PoD. I'm not sure either.
4. The Author is biased in favor of the Europeans, over the Natives. More on this later.

Comment, please.
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