History of the United States Virgin Islands
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The United States Virgin Islands, often abbreviated USVI, is a group of islands and cays in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. Consisting of four larger islands (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, and Water Island) plus fifty smaller islets and cays, it covers approximately 133 square miles. Like many of its Caribbean neighbors, its history includes native Amerindian cultures, European exploration and exploitation, and slavery.
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[edit] Overview
Early inhabitants of USVI included the Ciboney, Arawak, and Carib tribes.
The first European to visit the United States Virgin Islands was Christopher Columbus. The islands were occupied by several nations over the next century, including England, Holland, France, and Denmark. In 1733, the Danish West India Company purchased St. Croix from the French and brought together Saint Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John as the Danish West Indies.
Danish slave trading posts were set up on the islands, and thousands of slaves were used to grow sugar cane to enrich the Danish. However, a slave rebellion in 1848 forced governor Peter von Scholten to officially abolish slavery.
The islands were purchased from the Danish by the United States in 1917.
[edit] Early History
[edit] The Ciboneys
Although not much is known about the Ciboney people who first inhabited the islands during the Stone Age, they were hunter-gatherers. They made tools of stone and flint, but they left no other artifacts behind.
[edit] The Arawaks
Experts at canoe building and seamanship, the Arawaks migrated from the Amazon River Valley and Orinoco regions of Venezuela and Brazil, settling on the islands near coasts and rivers. These peaceful people excelled at fishing and farming. Their main crops were cotton, tobacco, maize, yuca, and guava; however, they grew a variety of other fruits and vegetables as well.
The Arawaks developed rich social and cultural lives. For recreation, they held organized sporting events. They also valued artistic endeavors, such as cave painting and rock carving, some of which have survived to the present day. Religion played a large role in their daily lives, and through ceremonial rituals they asked their gods for advice to help them through troubled times. Their civilization in the USVI flourished for several hundred years, until the Caribs invaded.
[edit] The Caribs
While the Caribs came from the same area as the Arawaks and may have been distantly related, they didn't share the Arawaks' friendly nature. Not only were they fierce warriors, they supposedly feasted on their adversaries. Their bloodthirsty reputation spawned the English word cannibal, derived from the name the Spanish gave them, Caribal.
Whether or not they actually ate their victims, the Caribs did destroy numerous Arawak villages, murdering as many as they could. By the mid-1400s, the Caribs had slashed the Arawak population from several million to a few thousand. But even the Caribs were no match for the gold-hungry Europeans who were about to descend.
[edit] Colonization
Blown off course during his 1493-1496 voyage, Christopher Columbus landed on St. Croix, then continued his explorations on St. Thomas and St. John. He gave the islands their original Spanish names (Santa Cruz, San Tomas, and San Juan), focusing on religious themes. The collection of tiny islets, cays, and rocks dotting the sea around them reminded Columbus of Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgin martyrs, inspiring the name Las Once Mil Virgenes.
The first encounter Columbus had with the Caribs quickly erupted into a battle. When Columbus and his crew decided to move on to other islands, they kidnapped six Arawaks to guide them. Although Columbus left without founding a colony, many more battles between the Spanish and Caribs followed over the next century.
Other European explorers finished the job the Spanish had begun. They tried to convert the Caribs and Arawaks to Catholicism, which largely failed. Of course, they also enslaved the native populations to work on plantations. With tobacco having already been cultivated on the islands, it made a good cash crop. Later on, coffee, sugar, and cotton also were grown.
Slavery, coupled with murder and disease, took a large toll on both the Arawaks and the Caribs. Several groups of Arawaks committed mass suicide rather than submit to foreign rule. By the late 1600s, the Arawaks had been completely exterminated and few Caribs remained.
With no native slaves left, the African slave trade began in 1673. The difficult conditions and inhumane treatment slaves were subjected to bred discontent. In 1733, a long drought followed by a devastating hurricane pushed slaves in St. John to the breaking point. They staged a massive rebellion, seizing control of the island for six months. The Danish, who controlled the island at that point, enlisted the help of the French to regain control.
Another slave revolt in 1848 was more successful in the long run. The governor at the time, Peter von Scholten, felt enough sympathy for the slaves to grant them emancipation, even though it was against the wishes of Danish rule.
[edit] The 20th Century
After the United States bought what is now known as the United States Virgin Islands from the Danish, the islands became an unincorporated U.S. territory. However, it took fifteen years for islanders to receive some of the rights they wanted. Finally the Organic Act, passed in 1932, granted them U.S. citizenship, a degree of self-governorship, and the right to vote. But as an unincorporated territory, citizens of the USVI cannot cast votes for the President or Vice President of the United States.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- History of the United States Virgin Islands. History of the United States Virgin Islands. Retrieved on September 24, 2005.
- Virgin Islands Guide - History
- Arawak History
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