Cockpit Country

Cockpit Country covers 500 square miles or 1,300 square kilometers and it is a rough landscape that is almost entirely limestone. The many cliffs, plateaus, and sinkholes of the land awarded the land its name, Cockpit Country, the “cockpits” referring to the sinkholes in the land. In 1665 the English took over Jamaica bringing their culture and their enslaved people with them. The enslaved people who tried to escape traveled through Cockpit Country to get to safety, earning the land its nickname “The Land of Look Behind”. The Arawak tribe, living in that land at the time, took the escapees in, today around 5,000 people still live in Cockpit Country. The people there have a lot of freedom from government interference. They don’t pay taxes, the central government doesn’t interfere unless there is a capital crime, the set up of division of labor is based on a community, and all land belongs to that community. The main place of settlement in Cockpit Country is Accompong. In conclusion, although Cockpit Country has rugged terrain people used it to their advantage, becoming a key part of history and peoples’ lives today.