[8] The conquest of Jamaica by the English in 1655 led to an influx of Western and Central Africans into the country through the slave trade.
[9] Consequently, a number of the enslaved escaped to various parts of the mountains,[9][10] joining another group that had been released by the Spanish during the Invasion of Jamaica.
[9] These Free black people in Jamaica, who inhabited Moore Town, claim descent from escaped Africans and Taino men and women.
[9][10] After approximately 80 years of warfare, the Maroons controlled a sizeable amount of the mountainous forests of the eastern parts of Jamaica.
[10] Eventually, the British recognized their autonomy by offering them peace treaties which brought an end to the First Maroon War.
[10][12] Nanny refused to sign the Peace Treaty of 1740 between the British colonial government and the Windward Maroons, but acquiesced in the uneasy truce that followed.
The governor of the Colony of Jamaica at the time was Sir Henry Moore, 1st Baronet, and it is possible the town was renamed in his honour.
[17] In 1774, a Maroon officer from Charles Town (Jamaica) named Samuel Grant allegedly killed a white sea captain named Townshend and his black slave while hunting runaways in Hellshire Beach, and then fled to Moore Town for refuge.
Admiral George Rodney, who was in Kingston, Jamaica at the time, sent a fleet to Port Antonio in anticipation of a Maroon revolt.
[23] In 1865, poor free blacks, led by Paul Bogle, rose in revolt against the colonial authorities in the Morant Bay Rebellion.
Fyfe was called up once more to lead a combination of Moore Town Maroons, including some who resided in Hayfield and Bath, and they committed a number of atrocities before they captured Bogle.
However, their cruelty in suppressing the uprising attracted a lot of criticism from Methodist missionaries and residents of Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica.
[1] The name Kromanti is derived from Coromantyn, at the time a Fante slaving sea port located on the Gold Coast of what is now known as Ghana.
[1] Prior to the 20th century Kromanti was spoken conversationally in Moore Town but since the 1930s its fluency has dwindled among the younger members of the community.
[33] Abeng-Language played a major role in communication during the first and second Maroon War, as its high pitch allowed it to convey complex messages across far distances.