Nannys War to Destroy Slavery

Male leaders of rebellious slaves, from Spartacus to Nat Turner, are well-known today. By comparison, female leaders of revolts against slavery are little known and forgotten. A remarkable African Jamaican woman ahead of her time, Nanny emerged as a spiritual, military, and political leader of the resistance effort against the forces of the British Empire during the first half of the eighteenth century, waging a relentless guerrilla war to destroy slavery during the First Maroon War. Most importantly, in overall historical terms, she played a key role in the war against slavery and in the liberation movement, before the rise of egalitarian sentiments that fuelled the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. She continued to defy British authority after male Maroon leaders on both sides of the island had signed treaties to end the First Maroon War. Tucker has presented an insightful and revealing new look at this remarkable African Jamaican leader, freedom fighter, and liberator named Nanny.