Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1866-12-21
CuRIsrIANsTApr, ST. CRoIx,
Danish W. lulils Nov 81 Is6f (

liuiel 10 Sc ,r.lx Du The ith OF NJ. 1873,
tley vsle 'liihi,si ly tie Carib Indians, a
savage and w-.lik, ra.e ~ho seEe vcu; 90 make
Wal upon th' l-,re pea cable tribes which ilha-
bitel Porto Rico, using 'heu capuyCs fr aoi.
They showed tlsir vaI.,ss srjF.s I'll ou,e By au
lsiae- apoa iae spaniaris Of Colur.tus's vessel
vlru irey landed go ST. Cro-1 As Eurcresn
colonies were f.msl on the is'auIs, war WIS
u.-ie uiJa tIs Clr.fs. aul probably within
Lu-lI,l y,,Is OF ,he if4, discovery Of the Is
lands the IuIau tribes were entirely destroyed.
OF the y.rou, difficulties which aits4l,i sue
oessNe attempts i- .osol ss these ISLANDS by tho
Spaa...is. ,LJ Dutch, ,Le French and the Eng
lsh Of the vlr. between the colonies. their
ownership ssu4etill5z oy Eaforsil Goverum ,n,s,
sometimes b. Individuals or corporations who
purchased and sr'i them, / resd rot spoJk
Though at ore time 50 considerable q pop al.t;aa
uud.r French authority L.i occupied ST Croix
tha. j, =. sis,sl in 1861, after a f.,sh reinforce
neut If color. SIS had arrived that there we're
On tte island 0aa men capable ofteariug arms,
veg th5 suhse.uel, depression became 20 great
TIA. 'o 1895 she island vas entirely abandoned
At il.. .u.s tbe-e were lut III ud..s persons
aui s-5 .layss or tie !-l.ad. AIl were removed
90 s.. p.uias-. then held by French colony,
and s.. Crulx was left iesolate of inhabitants.
In 1888. Chris,ien VI. King Of Denmark,
purchased So Cr,ix Of france, and added it to
the Danish To,sss..,ns Of ST. Thomas aIl St
Johuz-tl,se Islands having been held by the
Danish gl,.rul.slt f.s 4-ny ye4Is-probahly
ir1L. as early IS 1870 I. was not however til
the frepart Of 1855 that formal transfer cfthe
island 10 Danish authority was made The
island having been ieft uuiahabited Er forty
years was So overgrown vith bushes, vines and
trees The: tss landing party at Basin harbor-
the hs1bar Of Chris.ianst4l,-tc1k several days
Of labor 20 clear space sufficient fr landing
nj occupation The little fort with nine guns,
which the French had lsfJ vhsu they deserted
the island. remliuel in a fair safe Of ureserva-
tor Dusing ,ha European wars at the begin
ning Of the present century, some, or all these
Islands iell, for few years. under English rule,
but were restored by treaty. with ttal slight
exception they have been under the DANISH
crown, ever sine. they we're permanently settled
by Europeans.
slavery began IN the ulaish Islands as it Jill
in ,Ie other Wet India Islands, almost .imulta-
nsously with ,b,iI occupation. TIE Danish
West India AMI Guinea eompe1y had for a spe-
cial object the supply OF the islands With slaves
from the coast of Africa and the .uljugation
Of them 90 labor and obedience was Effected and
maintained by measures Of severity sni inhu-
maui;y much the same as have been resortel to
in some form or other wherever the unnatural
and uuchristian practice of enslaving human
beings has been rtsJrtcl TO- Tie natural re-
sults-indiyiiual resistance, sseape and insur-
rec.ion in urmbers-vsre oscourse the acc0mPs-
uimeuts Tie character Of the measures re-
sorted to, 70 prevent such ass, mag be juigel Of
from q ieW Of the ordinances set forth by Placard
of the Royal Council, IN Jauusry 1893, in view
Of fears fslsye irs1bordiua,ion, in st. Thomas
and st. Johns.
I. The leader oi runaway slaves shan he p'nched
tirec tunes viii red h1' 4ror, anc then hung
?. Zach other runaway slave shall lose one leg
or If the owner Vartcu him snail lose ear, and
receive one hundred sud hity stripes
c. SlavCs who steal 20 she value of four rix dol
lars shall be pnched and hung; less than iour riI
dollars 10 be branded. ana receive ore hundred
$ A save Who shall .li. bis band 20 strike .
white person, or threaten him ~ h violence. shall
/ he pnched and hung, should the white person de-
/ mand it, II not, 20 lose his right hand.
2 One white person shall be sufficient witness :
| against a slave, and % slave he suspected r'
i crime he can be tried by torture.
4 These ordinances are rot quoted to fhow that
barbari;y was more prevalent aud more stro
cious in the Danish West Indies than in tho
other Islands They are given merely as samp
/ les Of the kind # measures which were thought
iustihatle in those times throughout all th'
Islands cf the West Iniiss-saying nothing O.
other parts Of the world--to make sure ant
eaeciual the rover Of the masters over thos'
whom they hcil in bondage believe it to b
generally conceied that the treatment Of slave
was on the whole miller in the Danisb Islanl
after the swsy q Denmark over them vas iplll
established. than IN these which belonged to th
other European powers.
The slave trade was abolished by the Danisi
Government in 1893. though No; fully supFrcsss'
il its colonies for several years afier. In lsi
the King q Denmark. Christien VIII, enacte'
that from the 25th Of July Of that year. 81
children born Of those held IN bondage shoul
be free and that at the end Of twelve year
, thereafter slavery should entirely cease. Tn
slaves however were not satisfied with the pres
, pect Of freedom twelve years on, and on the 2
Of July ls4s, formidable rrsurrectian brok
5 out IL 81, CroiE, which had evidently been eOu
cocted before hand throughout the entire island
II broke out simultaneously ell over the island
;. though On some estates the slaves did not joi
I 10 It, ard even violently resisted the attempts
i destroy their masters property In fact. thoug
Il considerable property destroyed it Is state
e positively that not a single white person lOst
life. though before order was restored several
the slaves were killed by the military forces.
o, The demand Of the slaves was that their FIRE
+, dom should be granted forthwith and to {
surprise Of the white population, who believ
/ that by energetic measures the revolt could
euslled, the Gov General oftbe Danish ISLAM
L Van ssboltsn, made proclamation from