Afro-Jamaican

Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of entirely or predominantly African descent. The first Africans to arrive came in 1513 from the Iberian Peninsula. They were servants, cowboys, herders of cattle, pigs and horses, as well as hunters. When the English captured Jamaica in 1655, many of them fought with the Spanish who gave them their freedom and then fled to the mountains resisting the British for many years to maintain their freedom, becoming known as Maroons. The British in this point in time, brought with them mostly Akan slaves, some of which runaway and joined with Maroons and even took over as leaders.

Origin

Africans arrived in Jamaica nearly five centuries before any Caucasians. They were captured by war, as retribution for crimes committed, or by abduction, and marched to the coast in "coffles" with their necks yoked to each other. They were placed in trading posts or forts to await the horrifying six- to twelve-week Middle Passage voyage between Africa and the Americas during which they were chained together, underfed, kept in the ship's hold in the thousands packed more like sardines than humans. Those who survived were fattened up and oiled to look healthy prior to being auctioned in public squares to the highest bidders.