Name Jean Malo | Died June 19, 1784 | |
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Maroon chief jean saint malo
Jean Saint Malo in French (died June 19, 1784), also known as Juan San Malo in Spanish, was the leader of a group of runaway Enslaved Africans, known as Maroons, in Spanish Louisiana.
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Saint Malo and his band escaped to a marshy area near Lake Borgne, with weapons obtained from free people of color and plantation Enslaved. The maroons lived in the swamps east of New Orleans and made their headquarters at Galliano, Louisiana, from 1780 to 1784.
The Spanish colonial authorities had mostly suppressed the Enslaved revolts by 1783, and more than a hundred of the runaways had been captured. Jean Saint Malo was condemned to death by hanging, on charges of murder. The execution was carried out by the alcalde Mario de Reggio on June 19, 1784, in front of St. Louis Cathedral (present-day Jackson Square, New Orleans).
The Filipino community of Saint Malo, Louisiana, was named after him.
Coincidentally, June 19, the day of Juan San Malo's death, is also recognized by many African Americans as Juneteenth, the day that slavery officially ended in several Southern states, about eighty years later – although there is no connection.