Editing Zamastan War of Independence (section)

===Slave Revolts===
Skithan colonists and slaves frequently came into violent conflict. Zamah St'an was a society seething with hatred. The historian [[Paul Mikandal]] wrote: "Whites, natives and blacks loathed each other. The poor whites couldn't stand the rich whites, the rich whites despised the poor whites, the middle-class whites were jealous of the aristocratic whites, the whites born in Skith looked down upon the locally born whites, natives envied the whites, despised the blacks and were despised by the whites; free slaves brutalized those who were still slaves, Zamah St'an born blacks regarded those from Hesperida as savages. Everyone-quite rightly-lived in terror of everyone else ... Zamah St'an was hell, but Zamah St'an was rich". Many of these conflicts involved slaves who had escaped the plantations. Many runaway slaves—called Fleeons—hid on the margins of large plantations, living off the land and what they could steal from their former masters. Others fled to towns, to blend in with urban slaves and freed slaves who often migrated to those areas for work. If caught, these runaway slaves would be severely and violently punished. However, some masters tolerated petit marronages, or short-term absences from plantations, knowing these allowed release of tensions.

The larger groups of runaway slaves who lived in the hillside woods away from white control often conducted violent raids on the island's sugar and coffee plantations. Although the numbers in these bands grew large (sometimes into the thousands), they generally lacked the leadership and strategy to accomplish large-scale objectives. The first effective maroon leader to emerge was the charismatic [[Francis Jonelson]], who succeeded in unifying the black resistance. A [[Church of Zian]] priest, Jonelson inspired his people by drawing on native traditions and religions, while combining the widely accepted Christian beliefs. He united the Fleeon bands and also established a network of secret organizations among plantation slaves, leading a rebellion from 1751 through 1757. Although Jonelson was captured by the Skithan and burned at the stake in 1758, large armed fleeon bands persisted in raids and harassment after his death.