1733 slave insurrection on St. John
Slave uprising of 1733 | |||||||
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Part of the Slave Revolts in North America | |||||||
Later illustration of a plantation in the Danish West Indies | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Rebel slaves (Akwamu natives) | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
GG, Phillip Gardelin Mag. Johannes Sødtmann John Jansen Lieven Jansen Sergeant Øttingen |
King June Chief Kanta King Bolombo Prince Aquashie Breffu | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Hundreds | 150 |
History of the United States Virgin Islands |
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United States Portal |
A
Planters regained control by the end of May 1734, after the Akwamu were defeated by several hundred better-armed French and Swiss troops sent in April from
Background
Slave trade
Part of North American slave revolts |
When the Spanish first occupied the West Indies, they used the
The Danes embarked in the African slave trade in 1657. By the beginning of the 18th century, the
At the time of the 1733 slave rebellion, hundreds of Akwamu people were among the slave population on St. John. Approximately 150 Akwamu were involved in the insurrection; other African ethnic groups did not support it, and some were loyal to planters.[2]
Danish occupation of St. John
In 1718 the Danish claimed the island of St. John to develop
Marooning
In 1733, in response to harsh living conditions from
Slave revolt
In their homeland many of the Akwamu had been
Events on November 23, 1733
The 1733 slave insurrection started with open acts of rebellion by slaves on November 23, 1733, at the Coral Bay plantation owned by Magistrate Johannes Sødtmann.[8] An hour later, other slaves were admitted into the fort at Coral Bay to deliver wood, a regular event. They had hidden knives in the lots, which they used to kill most of the soldiers at the fort. Soldier John Gabriel escaped to St. Thomas and alerted Danish officials to the revolt.[8] A group of rebels under the leadership of King June stayed at the fort to maintain control; another group took control of the estates in the Coral Bay area after hearing the signal shots from the fort's cannon. The slaves killed many of the whites on these plantations.[2] The rebel slaves moved along to the north shore of the island. In each area, they avoided widespread destruction of property since they intended to take over the estates and resume crop production for their own benefit.[8]
Accounts of the rebel attacks
After gaining control of the Suhm, Sødtmann, and Company estates, the rebels spread out over the rest of the island. The Akwamu attacked the Cinnamon Bay Plantation located on the central north shore. Landowners John and Lieven Jansen and a group of loyal slaves resisted the attack, holding off the advancing rebels with gunfire. The Jansens were able to retreat to their waiting boat and escape to Durloe's plantation. The loyal Jansen slaves also escaped. The rebels looted the Jansen plantation and moved on to confront whites taking refuge at Durloe's plantation. Defenders repelled the slaves' attack at Durloe's, and many planters and their families escaped to St. Thomas, 5–9 miles (8.0–14.5 km) by sea.[2]
End of the rebellion and aftermath
Danish officials appealed for help to French colonists at Martinique, located 324 miles (521 km) away.[10] Two French ships arrived from there at St. John on April 23, 1734, carrying several hundred French and Swiss troops to try to take control from the rebels. With their firepower and troops, they had restored planters' rule of the island by May 27.[11] The French ships returned to Martinique on June 1, leaving the local militia to track down the remaining rebels, which they did over the next three months.[8]
The slave insurrection was considered ended on August 25, 1734
Franz Claasen, a loyal slave of the van Stell family, was deeded the
Denmark ended the African slave trade in the Danish West Indies on January 1, 1803, but slavery continued on the islands. When the British government abolished slavery in the British West Indies in 1833, slaves on St. John began escaping to nearby Tortola and other British West Indian islands, where they were given refuge by the local inhabitants.[13] On May 24, 1840, eleven slaves from St. John stole a boat and escaped to Tortola during the night. The eight men (Charles Bryan, James Jacob, Adam [alias Cato], Big David, Henry Law, Paulus, John Curay), and three women (Kitty, Polly, and Katurah) were from the Annaberg plantation and ten Leinster Bay estates. Brother Schmitz, the local Moravian missionary, was sent to Tortola by the St. John police to persuade the slaves to return. After meeting with British officials in Tortola and the runaway slaves, Schmitz returned to St. John to relay the slaves' resolve to stay away because of abusive treatment by the overseers on the plantations. After planters replaced those overseers, Charles Bryan, his wife Katurah, and James Jacobs returned to work at Leinster Bay. Kitty, Paulus, David, and Adam moved to St. Thomas. Henry Law, Petrus, and Polly stayed on Tortola. John Curry relocated to Trinidad. None of the runaway slaves were punished.[14]
Slaves and free blacks petitioned the colonial government and Denmark to abolish slavery. On July 3, 1848, 114 years after the slave insurrection, enslaved Afro-Caribbeans of
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 directed the placement of a commemorative plaque at Ram Head peak.[16]
Representation in other media
- An historical novel, Night of the Silent Drums: A Narrative of Slave Rebellion on the Virgin Islands (Scribners 1975), by John L. Anderson. It tells the story of the revolt based on careful research and fills in the blank spaces with plausible events. The author was an authority on the St. John Rebellion and also an able historical novelist.
- The young-adult novel My Name Is Not Angelica (1989), by Scott O'Dell, explores the revolt and its aftermath through the eyes of a young African woman, born as Raisha.
- The science fiction novel The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull uses the slave revolt and aftermath as a backdrop for the earliest memories of the Ynaa race on the islands.
References
- ISBN 978-1-4614-6201-9, retrieved May 9, 2020
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "St. John Slave Rebellion". St. John Off the Beaten Track. Sombrero Publishing Co. 2000. Archived from the original on June 21, 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
- ^ a b Theodoor Hendrik Nikolaas de Booy, John Thomson Fariswork (1918). The Virgin islands, our new possessions: and the British islands. J. B. Lippincott company. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
1733 slave insurrection on St. John.
- ^ "Danish-Norwegian Slave Trade". The Slave Ship 'Fredenborg:' An information project. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Archived from the original on December 29, 2005. Retrieved July 22, 2008.
- ISBN 0-465-00071-1.
- ^ a b "Part I: Establishment and Consolidation, 1718–1755". A Documentary History of the Cinnamon Bay Plantation 1718–1917. Little Nordside Press. 1999. Archived from the original on May 6, 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2008.
- ISBN 976-41-0029-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-8101-1299-X.
- ISBN 0-8101-1299-X.
- ^ "Distance from Fort-de-France to ...", Distance Calculator, Time and Date website, accessed November 13, 2014
- ^ "St. John Revolt (1733)", by Lori Lee, in Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion, ed. by Junius P. Rodriguez (Greenwood Press, 2007) p. 435
- ^ David Knight (January 2007). "Mary's Point Hike". St. John Historical Society Newsletter. St. John Historical Society. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- ^ "Timeline of the Emancipation of the Danish West Indies". St. John Historical Society. June 1, 2006. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- ^ David Knight (November 2001). "St. John's Other Revolt: The Desertions of 1840". St. John Historical Society Newsletter. St. John Historical Society. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
- ^ "Monuments and sites in St. Croix". The slave ship Fredenborg: An information project. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
- ^ "Proposed Omnibus Bill Would Boost National Park Service Funding". National Parks Traveler. Retrieved December 27, 2022.