Behavior: The First Rebels

History question: Who were the first black slaves in the Americas to gain independence from their white overlords? If your answer is the Haitians, you are wrong by more than 100 years. Correct answer: the bushmen of Surinam, formerly Dutch Guiana, who escaped from their Dutch slave masters in the early 1600s, established a nation of small villages in the jungle and won a century-long guerrilla war against the European colonists and their mercenaries.

By the accounts of the time, the rebel slaves were shrewd and able people. The men raided the plantations for...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!