A Maroon at Heart, a Maroon in Practice: INSERTING MARRONAGE INTO THE FREE BLACK COMMUNITY OF ANTEBELLUM DELAWARE.

Delaware was notorious for oppressing the liberties of its large free Black population during the antebellum era. Despite harsh legislation, community members were able to actively resist by acquiring land, petitioning for additional rights, and participating as members of the Underground Railroad. Similarly to Maroons within the Atlantic World, (1) the free Black population of Delaware's sheer existence was a byproduct of slavery, (2) communities were established on the periphery of slaveholding society, and (3) community members actively resisted enslavement. This paper examines the experiences of the free Black population living in Delaware during the antebellum period through the lens of marronage both theoretically and in practice. Although the free Black community of Delaware were not maroons, they applied tactics of marronage in their resistance to enslavement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]