Chattel slavery was practiced in the Danish West Indies from at least the 1670s until the
abolition of slavery in 1848. Most slaves worked on plantations, particularly in
sugar production, though some also worked at the harbors.
Demographics Slaves outnumbered Europeans on all islands, often by large margins. On Saint Thomas, population expansion was recorded as 422 Africans and 317 Europeans in 1688, 555 Africans and 383 Europeans in 1699, and 3,042 Africans and 547 Europeans in 1715 (a ratio of more than 5:1), and by 1755 slaves outnumbered Europeans 12:1. On Saint John, there were 677 Africans and 123 Europeans in 1728, 1,086 Africans and 208 Europeans in 1733 (a ratio of more than 5:1), and by 1770 slaves outnumbered Europeans 19:1. On Saint Croix in 1797, there were 25,452 slaves and 2,223 Europeans (a ratio of more than 11:1) as well as 1,164 freedmen, and in 1815 there were 24,330 slaves and 180 Europeans (a ratio of more than 135:1) as well as 2,480 freedmen. At that time, freedmen (many of whom had purchased their freedom) also outnumbered Europeans on Saint Thomas and Saint John.
Slave trade Trading African slaves was part of the
transatlantic slave trade by
Denmark–Norway around 1671, when the
Danish West India Company was chartered, until 1 January 1803, when the 1792 law to abolish the slave trade came into effect. By 1778, it was estimated that the Danes were bringing about 3,000 Africans to the Danish West Indies yearly for enslavement. These transports continued until the end of 1802, when a 1792 law by
Crown Prince Regent Frederik that banned the trade of slaves came into effect.
Slave codes Laws and regulations in the Danish West Indies were based on Denmark's laws, but the local government was allowed to adapt them to match local conditions. For example, things like animals, land, and buildings were regulated according to Danish law, but Danish law did not regulate slavery. Slaves were treated as common property, and therefore did not necessitate specific laws. In 1733, differentiation between slaves and other property was implied by a regulation that stated that slaves had their own will and thus could behave inappropriately or be disobedient. There was a general consensus that if the slaves were punished too hard or were malnourished, the slaves would start to rebel. This was borne out by the
1733 slave insurrection on St. John, where many plantation owners and their families were killed by the
Akwamu, including
Breffu, before it was suppressed later the following year. In 1755
Frederick V of Denmark issued more new Regulations, in which slaves were guaranteed the right not to be separated from their children and the right to medical support during periods of illness or old age. However, the colonial government had the ability to amend laws and regulations according to local conditions, and thus the regulations were never enacted in the colony, on grounds that it was more disadvantageous than advantageous.
1733 slave insurrection The 1733 slave insurrection on St. John, which lasted from November 1733 until August 1734, was one of the earliest and longest
slave rebellions in the Americas. The insurrection started on 23 November 1733, when 150 slaves, primarily
Akwamus, revolted against plantation owners and managers. The slaves captured the fort in
Coral Bay and took control of most of the island. 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
Martinique, a French colony. Colony militia continued to hunt down
maroons and finally declared the rebellion at an end in late August 1734.
Emancipation By the 1830s and 1840s, the
sugar beet industry had reduced the profitability of sugarcane. The passing of the British
Slavery Abolition Act in 1833
emancipated slaves in the neighboring British West Indies, to be fully effective as of 1840. Consequently, abolition in the Danish West Indies was discussed. The governor,
Peter von Scholten, who had been seeking reforms since 1830, was in favor of
emancipation. Scholarly consensus suggests von Scholten's views were influenced by his
free-colored mistress Anna Heegaard.
King Christian VIII supported the gradual abolition of slavery and ruled in 1847 that every child born of an unfree woman should be free from birth, and that slavery would end entirely after 12 years. That ruling satisfied neither the slaves nor the plantation owners. Meanwhile, on 27 April 1848, France passed a law to abolish slavery in its colonies within two months, but a slave insurrection on
Martinique led to immediate abolition there on 22 May, and on
Guadeloupe on 27 May. The slaves in the Danish West Indies did not want to wait for their freedom either. On 2 July 1848, freedman John Gottlieb (also known as "Moses Gottlieb" or "General Buddhoe") and Admiral Martin King, among others, led a slave rebellion, taking over
Frederiksted, Saint Croix. That evening, hundreds of slaves gathered peaceably outside
Fort Frederik refusing to work the next day and demanding freedom. By 10 a.m. the following morning, about 8,000 slaves had joined. On the afternoon of 3 July 1848 (now known as
Emancipation Day), Peter van Scholten went to Frederiksted. To end the rebellion and prevent further bloodshed and damage, he announced an immediate and total emancipation of all slaves. He then went to
Christiansted, where a second rebellion had formed and some fires had been set, and had notices proclaiming emancipation disseminated to the other islands. General Buddhoe worked with the governor and other officials to end the riots and violence that had broken out on a few estates. In the aftermath, Buddhoe is said to have been jailed and exiled to
Trinidad. When Denmark abolished slavery in 1848, many plantation owners wanted full reimbursement on the grounds that their assets were damaged by the loss of the slaves, and by the fact that they would have to pay for labor in the future. The Danish government paid plantation owners fifty dollars compensation for every slave they had owned and recognized that the slaves' release had caused a financial loss for the owners. Most were bound to serve the plantations where they had previously been enslaved. As employees, former slaves were not the plantation owners' responsibility and did not receive food or care from their employers. As part of a
sharecropping system, some formerly enslaved people received a small hut, a little land, and some money; however, this one-time compensation did not change the harsh working conditions. The
Fireburn labor riot, considered to be the largest labor revolt in Danish colonial history, took place on 1 October 1878. The revolt began because the formerly enslaved continued to live and work in slave-like conditions even though three decades had passed since the abolition of slavery.
Mary Leticia Thomas, today referred to as Queen Mary of St. Croix, spearheaded the revolt alongside three other women: Axeline ‘Agnes’ Elizabeth Salomon, Matilde McBean and Susanna ‘Bottom Belly’ Abrahamsson. The Fireburn uprising and its leaders continue to have a meaningful role in St. Croix. 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the sale of the colony by Denmark to the United States. With this centennial, conversations on the legacy of Danish–Norwegian colonization and slavery were reignited in the Scandinavian mainstream. For example, the artists
Jeannette Ehlers and
La Vaughn Belle unveiled Denmark's first statue of a black woman, I Am Queen Mary, to memorialize Denmark's colonial impact. ==Currency used in the Danish West Indies, 1672–1917==