This volume is an account of the development and destruction of slavery in St Thomas, St John and St Croix, the Caribbean islands which today comprise the US Virgin Islands. The book sees slavery as fundamental to the entire fabric of colonial society, and pays particular attention to the social and political life of the whites and freedmen in interaction with the slaves. The Danish West Indian colonies contained a small but significant part of the slave population of the Caribbean. Each of the islands had a distinct history during the period of slavery: St Croix was the scene of a full-blown sugar plantation economy; St Thomas served as a major entrepot, with a small plantation sector and a large role in the transatlantic slave trade; St John developed as a plantation economy, but for various reasons the slaves came to engage in relatively independent economic activity. Resistance to slavery was persistent, with important rebellions occurring in St John and St Croix. Although Denmark was the first European nation to abolish the slave trade, emancipation did not come until 1848, so that the gap between abolition and emancipation was longer than in most territories.
Thus, the study of slave society in the Danish West Indies has much to tell about the nature of Caribbean history generally. Based on extensive research in the Copenhagen archives, this book makes an original contribution to the understanding of slave societies throughout the Americas.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Illustrationen
tables, figures, glossary, notes, bibliography, index
Maße
Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
Dicke: 19 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-976-41-0029-4 (9789764100294)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Part 1 Empire without dominion - the Danish West Indies, 1671-1848: early colonization of St Thomas; Dutch cultural and commercial hegemony in St Thomas and St John; Danish settlement and English influences in St Croix; language, amelioration and national identity; the economics of foriegn domination; foreign domination and internal security; slaves and intermal security; deepened difficulties and challenges in the 19th century. Part 2 "The doom of the Almighty" - slaveowning ideology: the sanctions of ancient law; economic expediency; the curse of Ham; the civilizing mission; sin and salvation; racial arguments; the emergence of anti-slavery ideology. Part 3 "Part and parcel of property" - slaves and the law in the 18th century: Gardelin's Code of 1733; Frederik V's Reglement of 1755; subsequent concessions; Lindemann's Draft of 1783; abolition, amelioration and the law. Part 4 The rural milieu - slavery on the plantations: roots; plantation labour; housing; food and clothing; the world the slaves made; family, kinship and demographic survival. Part 5 the urban milieu - slavery in Christiansted, Frederiksted and Charlotte Amalie: domestics, hucksters, artisans; conditions of life; urban-rural interaction; communal interaction; social control; crime and punishment. Part 6 An oasis of humanity - independent slave activity: God; mammon; dances and other diversions; cultural creation. Part 7 Maritime maroons - grand maronage: early patterns; legilsation and diplomacy; new routes to freedom; strategies. Part 8 "An intermediate sort of class" - the emergence and growth of the freedman population: manumission; accumulation of wealth; population size and growth; restrictive legislation; gender and demographic concerns; social control. Part 9 "The rights and privileges of rational creatures" - the Freedman Petition of 1816: white attitudes; interaction with slaves; internal differentiation; challenging inequality; the Petition of 1816; after 1816. Part 10 Strangers within the gate - emigre freedmen in the 19th century: origins; white fears; emigres and the freedman community; the census of 1831. Part 11 "Religion and enlightenment" - education, amelioration and the road to abolition: early attempts at slave education; effects of metropolitan humanitarianism; Von Scholten's initiatives; metropolitan and local opposition; the 1846 Ordinance. Part 12 The victor vanquished - emancipation and its aftermath: the court martial; the trial evidence - prolegomenon to revolt; violence manque 2-3 July 1848; attitudes to the future - race and class; property destruction - 4-5 July 1848; women; differential responses.
