Agriculture flourishes in Dutch Guiana, where the…

Agriculture flourishes in Dutch Guiana, where the Dutch planters have relied heavily on enslaved Africans to cultivate the coffee, cocoa, sugar cane, and cotton plantations along the rivers.

Treatment of the slaves by their owners is notoriously bad, and many slaves have escaped the plantations.

With the help of the native South Americans living in the adjoining rain forests, these escapees have established a new and unique culture that is highly successful in its own right.

Known collectively in English as the Maroons, and in Dutch as "Bosnegers," (literally meaning "Bush negroes"), they have actually established several independent tribes, among them the Saramaka, the Paramaka, the Ndyuka or Aukan, the Kwinti, the Aluku or Boni and the Matawai.

The Maroons often raid the plantations to recruit new members, acquire women, weapons, food, and supplies.

These attacks are often deadly for the planters and their families, and after several unsuccessful campaigns against the Maroons, the European authorities will sign several peace treaties with them in the nineteenth century, granting the Maroons sovereign status and trade rights.