#coromantee

Onesimus (late 1600s–1700s) was an African man who was instrumental in the mitigation of the impact of a smallpox outbreak in Boston, Massachusetts. His birth name is unknown. He was enslaved and, in 1706, was given to the New England Puritan minister Cotton Mather, who renamed him. Onesimus introduced Mather to the principle and procedure of the variolation method of inoculation to prevent the disease, which laid the foundation for the development of vaccines. After a smallpox outbreak began in Boston in 1721, Mather used this knowledge to advocate for inoculation in the population. This practice eventually spread to other colonies. In a 2016 Boston magazine survey, Onesimus was declared one of the "Best Bostonians of All Time"

Onesimus's name at birth and place of birth are unknown with certainty. He was first documented as living in the colonies in 1706, having been brought to North America as an enslaved person. In December of that year, he was given as a gift by a church congregation to Cotton Mather, their Puritan minister of North Church, as well as a prominent figure in the Salem Witch Trials. Mather renamed him after a first-century AD enslaved person mentioned in the Bible.The name, "Onesimus" means "useful, helpful, or profitable".

Mather referred to the ethnicity of Onesimus as "Guaramantee", which may refer to the Coromantee (also known as Akan people of modern Ghana). 

Mather saw Onesimus as highly intelligent and educated him in reading and writing with the Mather family (for context, according to biographer Kathryn Koo, at that time, literacy was primarily associated with religious instruction, and writing as means of note-taking and conducting business)

In 1716 or shortly before, Onesimus had described to Mather the process of inoculation that had been performed on him and others in his society in Africa (as Mather reported in a letter): "People take Juice of Small-Pox; and Cut the Skin, and put in a drop." In the book, African Medical Knowledge, the Plain Style, and Satire in the 1721 Boston Inoculation Controversy, Kelly Wisecup wrote that Onesimus is believed to have been inoculated at some point before being sold into slavery or during the slave trade, as he most likely traveled from the West Indies to Boston.

The variolation method of inoculation was long practiced in Africa among African people.

The practice was widespread among enslaved colonial people from many regions of Africa and, throughout the slave trade in the Americas, slave communities continued the practice of inoculation despite regional origin.

Mather followed Onesimus's medicinal advice because, as Margot Minardi writes, "inferiority had not yet been indelibly written onto the bodies of Africans."

Kromanti dance or Kromanti play (capitalised to Kromanti Dance or Kromanti Play) is a Jamaican Maroon religious ceremony practiced by Jamaican Maroons. It is rooted in traditional African music and religious practices, especially those of the Akan people of Ghana. The name Kromanti (or Coromantee) derives from Kormantin (or Cormantin ) where a historical slave fort in the coast of Ghana was located. Many slaves shipped to Jamaica during the Atlantic Slave trade originated from present–day Ghana in West Africa

The pure form of Kromanti dance is not one of those contemporary dances of Jamaica, neither is it a Jamaican party or hall dance, but a sacred dance based on the tenets of traditional African religious practices. Although the dance has influenced some aspects of Jamaican culture, and is still practiced today, the religious aspects of the dance are no longer performed as in the past—due to Jamaican Maroons' conversion to Christianity.Despite its modern twist, it is still concerned with solving problems of day-to-day life, such as illnesses resulting from spirit possessions, infidelity, and any other life problems. The Maroons viewed Kromanti dance as a form of metaphorical warfare, a protection on a spiritual level rather than a physical one.

Rituals

The ritualistic aspects of Kromanti dance involves a "distinctive music and dance styles" which is "centered around possession by ancestral spirits."

Some of the surviving elements derived from African tradition are Country, a music style that uses a drum language like the Dondo, in order to play songs and proverbs; and healing, which is achieved through a rhythmic dance, music, and possession. Like "many other African-derived healing ceremonies, a possessed medium attends to patients, employing song, dance, sacrifice, and herbal remedies."

Coromantee people (derived from the name of the Ghanaian coastal town "Kormantse"), also called Coromantins, Coromanti or Kormantine people was the designation for recent Caribbean and South American people who were enslaved and brought from the Gold Coast or modern day Ghana. Coromantins were from several Akan ethnic groups – Ashanti, Fanti, Akyem, etc. – presumably taken as war captives. Owing to their militaristic background and common Akan language, Coromantins organized dozens of slave rebellions in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Their fierce, rebellious nature became so notorious among white plantation owners in the 18th century that an Act was proposed to ban the importation of people from the Gold Coast despite their reputation as strong workers. The Coromantins and other Akans had the single largest African cultural influence on Jamaica, including Jamaican Maroons whose culture and language was seen as a derivation of Akan. Names of some notable Coromantee leaders such as Cudjoe, Quamin, Cuffy, and Quamina correspond to Akan day names Kojo, Kwame (Kwamina), Kofi, and Kwabena, respectively.

[Asante Empire in the 19th century as depicted on an English atlas.]

"Throughout history, Jamaica was home to more slave rebellions than all of the other British islands combined."

Coromantee people, also called Coromantins or Coromanti people was the designation for recent Caribbean and South American people who were enslaved and brought from the Gold Coast or modern day Ghana. Coromantins were from several Akan ethnic groups – Ashanti, Fanti, Akyem, etc. – presumably taken as war captives. Owing to their militaristic background and common Akan language, Coromantins organized dozens of slave rebellions in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Their fierce, rebellious nature became so notorious amongst white plantation owners in the 18th century that an Act was proposed to ban the importation of people from the Gold Coast despite their reputation as strong workers. The Coromantins and other Akans had the single largest African cultural influence on Jamaica, including Jamaican Maroons whose culture and language was seen as a derivation of Akan. Names of some notable Coromantee leaders such as Cudjoe, Quamin, Cuffy, and Quamina correspond to Akan day names Kojo, Kwame, Kofi, and Kwabena, respectively.

In the 17th and 18th century, captive Africans from the Gold Coast area, modern day Ghana, were sent to Caribbean colonies. Jamaica received a high percentage of people from this region because of Great Britain’s control of the Gold Coast. These would have included people sold by the Ashanti, but because of frequent wars between Akan groups, would have also included Ashanti, Fanti, and other Akan prisoners of war. White slave owners began to distinguish Africans by place of origin and attach behaviors and characteristics based on their ethnicity. “Coromantee” was defined as the country from where people came since they shared a common language today known as Twi, and this language formed the basis for membership in a loosely structured organization of people who socialized and helped one another. Edward Long, an 18th century white Jamaican colonist who strongly advocated banning Coromantins, noted that this unity amongst the Akan groups played an important role in organizing plots and rebellions despite the geographical dispersion of Coromantins across different plantations. The organizational unity of Coromantins, due to their common background also contributed to a mutual aid society, burial group, and places to enjoy social entertainment. Most of the slave revolts in Jamaica were led by Coromantee slaves. Many slaves brought to the islands were Coromantee Africans, slaves brought in from the Gold Coast. Many of these people were the Akan, often from the Ashanti tribe. However, Coromantee warriors captured in battle did not easily leave their leadership positions for servitude. A particularly noteworthy example of such a Coromantee-chief-led rebellion is Tacky's Rebellion on Jamaica in 1760. Tacky led slaves around the island to revolt, murdering a shopkeeper on Easter morning and stealing guns, gunpowder, and other necessary supplies. They then moved inland, taking over estates and killing the whites of the plantation - who were often still asleep in their beds. Though the militia and armed troops quickly captured and put down this first outbreak, the next several months on the island of Jamaica were filled with slave uprisings. In the end, some 60 whites and between 300 and 400 blacks were killed.  Names like Tacky, Albert Sam, Quamina, Cudjoe and Adoe, documented as ‘rebel slave leaders’, have their roots in Ghana. The reference to British slaves as ‘coromantee Negroes’ is traced to the Ghanaian fishing community, ‘Koromantin’, where the British built a fortified lodge to keep slaves brought from the hinterland. Presently, there are people in the Caribbean whose names and cultural traits bear close resemblance to the Ghanaian culture.