Jean Saint Malo

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, in Spanish Louisiana.

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 Bas du Fleuve, located along Lake Borgne in present-day St. Bernard Parish.[1]

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.[2][3] In 1783, Col. Francisco Bouligny led an expedition against Bas du Fleuve, capturing 60 people, including Saint Malo.[4]

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 next to the present-day Jackson Square in New Orleans.[4]

The Filipino community of Saint Malo, Louisiana, was named after him.[5]

See also

• List of slaves

References

1. Powell, Lawrence N. (13 April 2012). The Accidental City. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 238–244. ISBN 978-0-674-06544-4.
2. Din, Gilbert C. (1999). Spaniards, Planters, and Slaves: The Spanish Regulation of Slavery in Louisiana, 1763–1803. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0890969043.
3. Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo (1995). Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0807119997.
4. Voisin, Erin Elizabeth (2008). Saint Maló remembered (MA). Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University.
5. Filipino-American history: The Other Spirit of St. Louis- Reviewed 2017-05-10

General references

• "Juan San Maló" (1988). In A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. II. New Orleans: Louisiana Historical Association. p. 714
• Burson, Caroline Maude (1940). The stewardship of Don Esteban Miró, 1782–1792: a study of Louisiana based largely on the documents in New Orleans. New Orleans, Louisiana: American Printing Co., Ltd.
• Din, Gilbert C. (1980). "Cimarrónes and the San Maló Band in Spanish Louisiana". Louisiana History. XXI (3).
• Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo (1995). Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth Century. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0807119997.
• Medley, Keith Weldon (2000). "Black New Orleans." American Legacy Magazine (transcription)