The Cattle Tax Riot: anti-establishment protests in Virgin Islands.
Channel: Island Ancestors
Date: 2023-04-02

Road Town, Tortola, the capital of the Virgin Islands colony, was heavily damaged by fire 170 years ago. 

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The infamous Cattle Tax Riot of 1853 saw global news coverage. In this video, I examine the economic and political situation leading to the riots and reflect on how these events contributed to the emergence of a majority Black consciousness in the Virgin Islands.

🕰  Content
0:20 Introduction 
01:04 Post-Abolition and Apprenticeship 
01:22 Economic Situation
02:20 Subsistence  
02:55 Importance of Cattle Farming
03:04 Trade with Danish and Dutch
04:07 Political Structure and Taxation
06:30 Riot or Revolution?
07:01 The 1853 Tax
07:57 Petition, Protest, and Escalation 
09:04 The Colonel
09:34 Rage, Violence, and Destruction 
11:04 Global News
12:10 What a Story!
12:28 The Genesis of Political Consciousness in the Virgin Islands
13:26 The Role of Women
14:00 Conclusion

Further Reading and Resources
Hidden in Plain Sight: Escaped Slaves in Late Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-century Jamaica
https://oieahc.wm.edu/digital-projects/oi-reader/simon-p-newman-hidden-in-plain-sight-10/

A History of the British Virgin Islands, 1672–1970 / The Virgin Islands Story
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02689398

The National Library of Australia
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13155087/1466387

Harrigan, Norwell E. “A Profile of Social Development in the British Virgin Islands.” Caribbean Studies, vol. 10, no. 4, 1971, pp. 75–92. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25612345. Accessed 1 Apr. 2023.

New York Times October 1, 1853, Page 2
https://www.nytimes.com/1853/10/01/archives/st-thomas-a-hurricanedisappearance-of-the-fever-severe-earthquake.html

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📚 Resources 
Guy Grannum: Tracing Your Caribbean Ancestors
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Southwark Libraries: Tracing your Caribbean family
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Family Search Wiki
https://www.familysearch.org/
🎵 Music
https://artlist.io/Dexter-2490240

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