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2 July 1848: St Croix enslaved revolt

On this day, 2 July 1848, enslaved people in St Croix (now the US Virgin Islands) rebelled, burned down plantations and besieged the town of Frederiksted. The Caribbean island was at that time a Danish colony, and it had been decreed that slavery would be abolished in 1859, but the enslaved workers refused to wait. 
After revolutions in Europe led to turmoil in nearby Martinique and Guadeloupe, hundreds of rebels seized the moment and rose up. By the end of the day, only the local military garrison, Fort Frederiksværn, had not yet been overrun. 
The following day, the governor general, Peter von Scholten arrived. Faced with demands from the enslaved people to immediately abolish slavery, or they would burn the town to the ground, he relented and shouted out: “Now you are free, you are hereby emancipated.”
Technically von Scholten had no authority to abolish slavery, and he was strongly criticised by enslavers and Danish authorities. But faced with a fait accompli, Denmark had no real choice but to accept the situation. The agreement achieved by the formerly enslaved people went even further than just immediate emancipation, as the order issued on the night of July 3 also applied to the Danish colonies of St Thomas and St John, and directed that the enslaved had the right to keep their current housing and provisions for three months, and that elderly and ill labourers had to be looked after by the former enslavers "until further determination".
The old enslavers subsequently sued the Danish government demanding recompense for the loss of their "property". Danish Parliament rejected their claim, on the grounds that "slavery [was] itself an institution in conflict with religion and justice". But they did then agreed to pay a relatively low compensation figure of $50 per enslaved person.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9191/st-croix-enslaved-revolt

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Speaker 1: On this day and working class history the second of July.

On the second of July eighteen forty eight, enslaved people

in Saint Croix now the US Virgin Islands rebelled, burned

down plantations, and besieged the town of Frederick's Dead. The

Caribbean island was at that time a Danish colony, and

it had been decreed that slavery would be abolished in

eighteen fifty nine, but the enslaved workers refused to wait.

After revolutions in Europe led to turmoil in nearby Martinique

and Guadeloupe, hundreds of rebels seized the moment and rose up.

By the end of the day, only the local military garrison,

Fort Fredericks Vaughan had been overrun. The following day, the governor,

General Peter von Scholton arrived, faced with demands from the

enslaved people to immediately abolish slavery or they'd burn the

town to the ground. He relented and shouted out, now

you are free. You are hereby emancipated end quote. Technically,

Von Chalton had no authority to abolish slavery, and he

was strongly criticized by enslavers and Danish authorities, but faced

with the fatal compli, Denmark had no real choice but

to accept the situation. The agreement achieved by the formerly

enslaved people went even further than just immediate emancipation, because

the order issued on the night of July third also

applied to the Danish colonies of Saint Thomas and Saint

John and directed that the enslaved had the right to

keep their current housing and provisions for three months, and

the elderly and ill laborers had to be locked after

by the former enslavers quote until further determination end quote.

The old enslavers subsequently sued the Danish government, demanding recompense

for the loss of their property. Danish Parliament rejected their

claim on the grounds that quote slavery was itself an

institution in conflict with religion and justice end quote, but

they then did agree to pay a relatively low compensation

figure of fifty dollars per enslaved person. And the sources

maps and all of our anniversaries each day check out

the on this Day section of our stories at at

stories stopworkingclasshistory dot com, and if you value our work,

support us at Patreon dot com, slash Working class history

links in the show notes. The music by See You Tomorrow,

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