Jean Saint Malo in French (died June 19, 1784), also known as Juan San Maló in Spanish, was the leader of a group of runaway enslaved Africans, known as

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery, through flight or manumission, and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with Indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into ...

, in

Spanish Louisiana Louisiana (, ), was a province of New Spain from 1762 to 1801. It was primarily located in the center of North America encompassing the western basin of the Mississippi River plus New Orleans. The area had originally been claimed and controlle ...

. Saint Malo and his band escaped to a marshy area near

Lake Borgne Lake Borgne ( ; , ; ) is a lagoon of the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Louisiana. Although early maps show it as a lake surrounded by land, coastal erosion has made it an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Geography In southern Louisiana, three large ...

, with weapons obtained from

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (; ) were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not enslaved. However, the term also applied to people born free who we ...

and plantation enslaved. The maroons lived in the

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s east of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and made their headquarters at Bas du Fleuve, located along Lake Borgne in present-day

St. Bernard Parish St. Bernard Parish (; ) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest community is Chalmette, Louisiana, Chalmette. The parish was formed in 1807. St. Bernard Parish is part of the New Or ...

. The Spanish colonial authorities led a campaign to suppress slave revolts and eliminate Maroon colonies in the region, capturing more than a hundred escaped slaves. In 1783, Col. Francisco Bouligny led an expedition against Bas du Fleuve, capturing 60 people, including Saint Malo. Jean Saint Malo was condemned to death by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

, on charges of murder. The execution was carried out by the ''

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' Francisco Maria de Reggio on June 19, 1784, in front of St. Louis Cathedral next to the present-day Jackson Square in New Orleans. The Filipino community of

Saint Malo, Louisiana Saint Malo ( ) was a small fishing village that existed along the shore of Lake Borgne in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana as early as the mid-18th century until it was destroyed by the 1915 New Orleans hurricane. Located along Bayou Saint Malo ...

, was named after him.Filipino-American history: The Other Spirit of St. Louis
Reviewed 2017-05-10

References

General references

* "Juan San Maló" (1988). In ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'', Vol. II. New Orleans: Louisiana Historical Association. p. 714 * * * * Medley, Keith Weldon (2000). "Black New Orleans." ''American Legacy Magazine''
transcription
Pre-statehood history of Louisiana Rebel slaves 1784 deaths People from New Orleans People executed for murder Spanish slaves People executed by New Spain Year of birth unknown 18th-century executions of American people People executed by Spain by hanging People from Louisiana (New Spain) People from Galliano, Louisiana 18th-century slaves 18th-century rebels {{AfricanAmerican-stub

See also

References

General references