The Great Dismal Swamp Summary

The Great Dismal Swamp, located across parts of Virginia and North Carolina, allowed a number of slaves to escape and live freely. The article describes the area as thick with vegetation and filled with mosquitos and venomous snakes. Grant described the swamp as an area that was, “not the type of place you would make a choice to live in, unless you needed to hide” (2016).
The escaped slaves who lived in this swamp, and those like it, are more well known as “maroons”. The 20-acre island that these maroons inhabited followed traditional rules of an African Village. This meant that the community had prominent chiefs and followed africanized religious practices (Grant, 2016). Much, if not all, of the labor was communal. Charlie, a previous inhabitant

of the swamp noted that it wasn’t unusual to see community members crafting furniture or musical instruments.
Great Dismal Swamp maroons, opposed to other maroon communities, had successfully and utterly removed themselves from the United States (Grant, 2016). This was in part due to the geography and landscape of the area. Hardships and deprivations were still problems but complaints were scarce seeing as they were free from slavery and the violence that had previously been endured. Grant states that many maroons would rather have been shot and killed then taken back into slavery (2016).
From the information in the article it can be assumed that without the swamp many of these maroons would never have gained that title. Evidence shows that after the Civil War there were few inhabitants left, meaning that many of them integrated themselves back into society. During a time when slavery was prominent in the Unites States, the Great Dismal Swamp provided invaluable refuge.