For nearly two centuries, the Danish West Indies were entangled in the brutal Atlantic Slave Trade, which saw the forced displacement, cultural erasure, and enslavement of millions of African and Indigenous people across the region.
The Danish West Indies, a prominent midpoint in the Triangular Trade Route, grew rapidly into an economic powerhouse fueled by its proximity to the United States and South America, as well as its booming sugar industry, which was largely cultivated on the fertile, flat land of St. Croix.
By the mid-19th century, the plantation economy was exclusively dependent on enslaved African labor. In an effort to keep enslaved Africans, whose population far exceeded that of the majority white slave owning class, docile, harsh punishments, including whipping, branding, and executions, were enforced for minor infractions.
In 1803, Denmark discontinued its participation in the Atlantic Slave Trade; however, the institution of slavery itself remained an integral fixture in the Danish West Indies. As enslaved populations on neighboring Caribbean islands were granted liberation from slavery, tensions among the enslaved populations in the Danish West Indies began to boil over. Just a few miles across the Sir Francis Drake Channel in the British Virgin Islands, enslaved people were emancipated by 1834, while the enslaved population in the Danish West Indies was told they would have to wait several more decades to be granted freedom.
In June 1848, word spread to St. Croix about the recent slave rebellion on Martinique, which had resulted in the proclamation of emancipation in the French colony. Determined to achieve their freedom, enslaved Africans began to mobilize plans. By July 2, crowds of enslaved laborers from plantations across St. Croix began marching toward Frederiksted. Over the course of a day, a crowd of several hundred had swelled to several thousand as news about the uprising continued to spread rapidly through the community. Leaders like Moses “General Buddhoe” Gottlieb organized the efforts and demanded unconditional freedom immediately.
Danish Gov. Peter von Scholten, who was fearful that this unprecedented uprising could easily overpower colonial militias, made the sweeping decision to declare the emancipation of the enslaved people in the Danish West Indies, drawing an extraordinary end to slavery in the Danish colony. This moment represented one of the rare instances in the Atlantic Slave Trade where freedom was taken, rather than granted.
Despite the end to slavery formally, true liberation remained incomplete. In the aftermath of the abolition of slavery, the Danish government implemented an extractive labor system that forced freed people to continue working on plantations for minimal wages. Restrictions on land ownership ensured that land remained under the control of white plantation owners, and leaders of the rebellion were arrested.
This July 3 marks 177 years since the emancipation of slavery in the Virgin Islands, formerly known as the Danish West Indies. As thousands gather across the territory to commemorate the occasion, the community is called to reflect on the power of collective courage joined with collective action. More importantly, this moment in history serves as a reminder that the struggle for liberation is ongoing — one that demands a unified vision and continued effort.
St. Croix Source
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