History of the British Virgin Islands

The History of the British Virgin Islands is usually, for convenience, broken up into five separate periods:

• Pre-Columbian Amerindian settlement, up to an uncertain date
• Nascent European settlement, from approximately 1612 until 1672
• British control, from 1672 until 1834
• Emancipation, from 1834 until 1950
• The modern state, from 1950 to present day

These time periods are used for convenience only. There appears to be an uncertain period of time from when the last Arawaks left what would later be called the British Virgin Islands until the first Europeans started to settle there in the early 1600s, but each period commences with a dramatic change from the time period which precedes it, and so is a convenient way to compartmentalise the subject.

Contents 1 Pre-Columbian settlement 2 1472 - Early European exploration 2.1 First Dutch settlements 2.2 Decline of the Dutch West India Company 3 1672 - British colonisation 3.1 Geographical limits of the Territory 3.2 Law and order 3.3 Quaker settlement 3.4 Fortification 4 Slavery economy 4.1 Slave revolts 5 1834 - Emancipation 5.1 Decline of the sugar industry 5.2 Insurrection 5.3 "Decline and disorder" 6 Modern developments 6.1 1950 - Self government 6.2 Financial services 7 See also 8 References 9 Footnotes

Pre-Columbian settlement

The first recorded settlement of the Territory was by Arawak Indians who came from South America, in around 100 BC. However, there is some dispute about the dates. Some historians place it later, at around 200 AD, but they suggest that the Arawaks may have been preceded by the Ciboney Indians, who are thought to have settled in nearby St. Thomas as early as 300 BC.^[1] There is some evidence of Amerindian presence on the islands as far back as 1500 BC,[2] although there is little academic support for the idea of a permanent settlement on any of the current British Virgin Islands at that time.

The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 1400s when they were displaced by the more aggressive Caribs, a tribe from the Lesser Antilles islands, after whom the Caribbean Sea is named. Some historians, however, believe that this popular account of warlike Caribs chasing peaceful Arawaks out of the Caribbean islands is rooted in simplistic European stereotypes, and that the true story is more complex.

None of the later European visitors to the Virgin Islands ever reported encountering Amerindians in what would later be the British Virgin Islands, although Columbus would have a hostile encounter with the Carib natives of St. Croix.

Comparatively little is know about the early inhabitants of the Territory specifically (as opposed to the Arawaks generally). The largest excavations of Arawak pottery have been found around Belmont and Smuggler's Cove on the northwest of Tortola, but many other sites have been found, including at Soper's Hole, Apple Bay, Coxheath, Pockwood Pond, Pleasant Valley, Sage Mountain, Russell Hill (modern day Road Town), Pasea, Purcell, Paraquita Bay, Josiah's Bay, Mount Healthy and Cane Garden Bay. Modern archaeological excavations regularly cause local historians to revise what they thought they knew about these early settlers. Discoveries reported in the local newspapers in 2006 have caused postulation that the settlement of the islands by Arawaks may have been much more significant than had earlier been thought.

1472 - Early European exploration

The first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus gave them the fanciful name Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes (Saint Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins), shortened to Las Vírgenes (The Virgins), after the legend of Saint Ursula. He is also reported to have personally named Virgin Gorda (the Fat Virgin), which he thought to be the largest island in the group.

The Spanish claimed the islands by original discovery, but did nothing to enforce their claims, and never settled the Territory. In 1508 Juan Ponce de León settled Puerto Rico, and reports in Spanish journals suggested that the settlement used the Virgin Islands for fishing, but nothing else. It is unclear whether they sailed as far as the modern British Virgin Islands to fish, and the references may be to the present U.S. Virgin Islands.^[2]

In 1517 Sir Sebastian Cabot and Sir Thomas Pert visited the islands on their way back from their exploration of Brazilian waters.

Sir John Hawkins visited the island three times, firstly in 1542 and then again in 1563 with a cargo of slaves bound for Hispaniola. On his third visit, he was accompanied by a young Captain by the name of Francis Drake in the Judith, for whom the central channel in the British Virgin Islands would later be named.

Drake would return in 1585, and is reported to have anchored in North Sound on Virgin Gorda prior to his tactically brilliant attack on Santo Domingo. Drake returned for the final time in 1595 on his last voyage during which he would eventually meet his death.

In 1598 the Earl of Cumberland is reported to have used the islands as a staging ground for his later attack on La Fortaleza in Puerto Rico.

In 1607 some reports suggest that John Smith sailed past the Virgin Islands on the expedition led by Captain Christopher Newport to found the new colony in Virginia.

The English monarch, King James I, granted a patent to the Earl of Carlisle for Tortola, as well as "Angilla, Semrera (Sombrero island) & Enegada". He also received letters of patent for Barbados, St. Kitts and "all the Caribees" in 1628. Carlisle died shortly after, but his son, the 2nd Earl of Carlisle, leased the patents to Lord Willoughby for 21 years in 1647. Neither ever attempted to settle the northern islands.

First Dutch settlements

It was a Dutch privateer named Joost van Dyk who organised the first permanent settlements in the Territory in Soper's Hole, on the West end of Tortola. It is not know precisely when he first came to the Territory, but by 1615 van Dyk's settlement was recorded in Spanish contemporary records, noting its recent expansion. He traded with the Spaniards in Puerto Rico and farmed cotton and tobacco.

Some sources suggest that the first settlements in the Virgin Islands were by the Spanish, who mined copper at the copper mine on Virgin Gorda, but there is no archaeological evidence to support the existence of any settlement by the Spanish in the islands at any time, or any mining of copper on Virgin Gorda prior to the 1800s.

By 1625 van Dyk was recognised by the Dutch West India Company as the private "Patron" of Tortola, and had moved his operations to Road Town. During the same year van Dyk lent some limited (non-military) support to the Dutch Admiral Boudewijn Hendricksz, who sacked San Juan, Puerto Rico. In September 1625, in retaliation, the Spanish led a full assault on the island of Tortola, laying waste to its defences and destroying its embryonic settlements. Joost van Dyk himself escaped to the island that would later bear his name, and sheltered there from the Spanish. He later moved to the island of St. Thomas until the Spanish gave up and returned to Puerto Rico.

Notwithstanding the Spanish hostility, the Dutch West India Company still considered the Virgin Islands to have an important strategic value, as they were located approximately half way between the Dutch colonies in South America (now Suriname) and the most important Dutch settlement in North America, New Amsterdam (now New York City). Large stone warehouses were built at Freebottom, near Port Purcell (just east of Road Town), with the intention that these warehouses would facilitate exchanges of cargo between North and South America.

At this time, the Dutch settlers erected some small earthworks and a three-cannon fort above the warehouse, on the hill where Fort George would eventually be built by the English. He also constructed a wooden stockade to act as a lookout post above Road Town on the site that would eventually become Fort Charlotte. They also stationed troops at the Spanish "dojon" near Pockwood Pond, later to be known as Fort Purcell, but now ordinarily referred to as "the Dungeon".

In 1631 the Dutch West India Company expressed an interest in the copper which had been discovered on Virgin Gorda, and a settlement was set up on that island, which came to be known as "Little Dyk's" (now known as Little Dix).

In 1640 Spain attacked Tortola in an assault led by Captain Lopez. Two further attacks were made by the Spanish on Tortola in 1646 and 1647 led by Captain Fancisco Vincente Duran. The Spanish anchored a warship in Soper's Hole at West End and landed men ashore. They then sent another warship to blockade Road Harbour. After a team of scouts returned a safe report, the Spanish landed more men and attacked Fort Purcell overland by foot. The Dutch were massacred, and the Spanish soldiers then moved marched to Road Town, where they killed everyone and destroyed the settlement. They did not, apparently, attack the smaller settlements further up the coast in Baugher's Bay, or on Virgin Gorda.

Decline of the Dutch West India Company

The settlements were not ultimately an economic success, and the evidence suggests that the Dutch spent most of their time more profitably engaged in privateering (or piracy, depending upon one's perspective) than trading. The lack of prosperity of the territory mirrored the lack of commercial success of the Dutch West India Company as a whole.

The company changed its policy, and it sought to cede islands such as Tortola and Virgin Gorda to private persons for settlement, and to establish slave pens. The island of Tortola was eventually sold to Willem Hunthum at some point in the 1650s, at which time the Dutch West India Company's interest in the Territory effectively ended.

In 1665 the Dutch settlers on Tortola were attacked by a British privateer, John Wentworth, who is recorded as capturing 67 slaves which were removed to Bermuda. This is the first official record of slaves being held in the Territory.

Subsequently in 1666 there were reports that a number of the Dutch settlers were driven out by an influx of British "brigands and pirates", although clearly a number of the Dutch remained.^[3]

1672 - British colonisation

The British Virgin Islands came under British control in 1672, at the outbreak of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, and have remained so ever since. The circumstances of the British taking control however are somewhat uncertain. The Dutch averred that in 1672 Willem Hunthum put Tortola under the protection of Colonel Sir William Stapleton, the English Governor-General of the Leeward Islands. Stapleton himself reported that he had captured the Territory shortly after the outbreak of war.

What is clear is that Colonel William Burt was dispatched to Tortola and took control of the island by no later than 13 July 1672 (when Stapleton reported the conquest to the Council of Trade). Burt did not have sufficient men to occupy the Territory, but before leaving the island, he destroyed the Dutch forts and removed all their cannon to St. Kitts.^[4]

By the Treaty of Westminster of 1674, the war was ended, and provision was made for mutual restoration of all territorial conquests during the war. The Treaty provided the Dutch with the right to resume possession of the islands, but by then the Dutch were at war with the French, and fear of a French attack prevented their immediate restoration. Although the possessions were not considered valuable, for strategic reasons the British became reluctant to surrender them, and after prolonged discussions, orders were issued to Stapleton in June 1677 to retain possession of Tortola and the surrounding islands.

In 1678 the Franco-Dutch War ended, and the Dutch returned their attention to Tortola, although it was not until 1684 that the Dutch ambassador, Arnout van Citters, formally requested the return of Tortola. However, he did not do so on the basis of the Treaty of Westminster, but instead based the claim on the private rights of the widow of Willem Hunthum. He asserted that the island was not a conquest, but had been entrusted to the British. The ambassador provided a letter from Stapleton promising to return the island.^[5]

At this time (1686), Stapleton had completed his term of office and was en route back to Britain. The Dutch were told Stapleton would be asked to explain the discrepancy between his assertion of having conquered the island, and the correspondence signed by him indicating a promise to return it, after which a decision would be made. Unfortunately Stapleton travelled first to France to recover his health, where unfortunately he died. Cognisant that other Caribbean territories which had been captured from the Dutch during the war had already been restored, in August 1686 the Dutch ambassador was advised by the British that Tortola would be restored, and instructions to that effect were sent to Sir Nathaniel Johnson, the new Governor of the Leeward Islands.

But Tortola was never actually returned to the Dutch.^[6] Part of the problem was that Johnson's orders were to restore the island to such person or persons who have "sufficient procuration or authority to receive the same..." However, most of the former Dutch colonists had now departed, having lost hope of restoration. Certainly there was no official representation of the Dutch monarchy or any other organ of government. In the event, Johnson did nothing.

In November 1696 a subsequent claim was made to the island by Sir Peter van Bell, the agent of Sir Joseph Shepheard, a Rotterdam merchant, who claimed to have purchased Tortola on 21 June 1695 for 3,500 guilders. Shepheard was from the Margraviate of Brandenburg, and the prospect of Tortola coming under Brandenburger control did not sit well in Westminster.^[7] The Brandenburg claim was dismissed by the British on the grounds that Stapleton had conquered rather than been entrusted with Tortola. The now common delaying tactic of forwarding all correspondence to Governor Codrington for comment was employed. Codrington readily appreciated the risks of a Brandenburg trading outpost on Tortola, as such an outpost already existed on nearby St. Thomas.^[8] The Brandenburgers had previously set up an outpost for trading slaves on Peter Island in 1690, which they had abandoned, and they were not considered welcome. At the time they had an outpost on St. Thomas, but they engaged in no agriculture, and only participated in the trading of slaves. Negotiations became more intense, and the British re-asserted the right of conquest and also (wrongly, but apparently honestly) claimed to have first discovered Tortola. During the negotiations, the British also became aware of two older historical claims, the 1628 patent granted to the Earl of Carlisle (which was inconsistent with Hunthum's title being sold to him by the Dutch West India company), and an order of the King in 1694 to prevent foreign settlement in the Virgin Islands. In February 1698 Codrington was told to regard the earlier 1694 orders as final, and the British entertained no further claims to the islands.

Geographical limits of the Territory

Although the islands which presently form the British Virgin Islands have been under British control since 1672, a number of other islands came under the control of the British Crown (some more than once) during the subsequent period, but no longer form part of the Territory. At the time the British took control of the territory, the following islands were considered part of the Virgin Islands.^[9]

• St. Thomas. The British initially claimed St. Thomas (and St. John as well), but in 1717 the Danish disputed their claim to those islands. In contrast to the long dispute over ownership of Tortola, the dispute over St. Thomas was settled readily with a year. The Danish claim was strong; they had the benefit of the Treaty of Alliance and Commerce of 1670 between Britain and Denmark, which led to the founding of the Danish West India Company in 1671 which its charter permitted it to take possession of and occupy the two islands. On 25 May 1672 the Danes took possession of St. Thomas, and discovered it to have been abandoned by the British settlers some weeks earlier. The British could scarcely object to the Danes retaining the island.
• St. John. However, no sooner than the dispute over St. Thomas settled, than acrimony flared up again over St. John, when the Danes purported to settle it on 23 March 1718. The reaction of Walter Hamilton, Governor of the Leeward Islands, was immediate. He dispatched HMS Scarborough to the island. A period of fraught negotiations followed, but ultimately the Danes refused to quit St. John, and the British declined to use force to seize it. Truthfully, the British were less concerned about St. John than about St. Croix, which they thought that the Danes would eventually covet as well.
• St. Croix (or St. Cruz, as it was known at the time). The British fears proved to be well founded. In 1729 a claim was made to St. Croix by the Danes who (in an ironic twist) claimed it had been sold to them by the French. St. Croix had been settled at an uncertain point over a century before by settlers from a number of different European nations, but in 1645 violence had flared up between them, and the English governor was murdered. The English summarily expelled the Dutch, and the French, at their own request, were removed to Guadeloupe, leaving the British in sole control of the island. But in 1650 the Spanish invaded from Puerto Rico and the British surrendered the island. Later in the same year the Dutch had sought to return to St. Croix, believing that the Spanish would by then have returned to Puerto Rico, but when they arrived the Spanish were still there, and the Dutch were all killed or captured. The Governor General of the French Caribbean colonies then subsequently mounted an attack on the island at his own expense and drove out the Spanish, but he was unable to establish a colony, and surrendered the title to the island to the Grand Master of the Order of Malta in 1653.^[10] In 1665 St. Croix reverted by purchase to the French West India Company, and upon the Company's collapse in 1674, the King of France claimed it as part of his dominions, although the island was subsequently ordered to be abandoned as an economic failure - the date of abandoning would later be hotly disputed. In May 1733 the French purported to sell the island to the Danish West India Company. If the French had only abandoned it in 1695 (as they asserted), it was French at the time of the Treaty. If the French had abandoned the island in 1671 (as the British claimed), then under the 1686 Treaty, St. Croix would be peacably in British possession. In the end, the French had documents to support their claim, and the British did not, and so the Council of Trade admitted that "upon the whole we must submit... whether it may be proper to advise His Majesty to insist any longer upon a title so weakly supported." The British thereafter ceased to resist the French sale of the island to the Danes.

Britain would actually conquer St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix in March 1801 through the Napoleonic wars, but they restored them by the Treaty of Amiens in March, 1802. They were then re-taken in December 1807, but were restored again by the Treaty of Paris of 1815. Thereafter they would remain under Danish control until 1917 when they were sold to the U.S.A. for US$25 million, and were later renamed the "U.S. Virgin Islands".

• Vieques (or Crab Island, as the British referred to it). Vieques was periodically settled by the British, but on each occasion they were driven off by Spanish soldiers from nearby Puerto Rico. In the early 1700s the Colonial authorities ordered the removal of British settlers on Vieques and re-settled them on St. Kitts. Ironically enough, a century later after emancipation a number of former slaves would go and seek work on Vieques as free men of colour, notwithstanding that Vieques was still a slave owning society.

Relationships with the Danes were strained from the outset. The Danes continuously resorted to nearby islands for timber, clearly violating British sovereignty. British ships which foundered in St. Thomas was subject to extortionate levy for salvage. Further, St. Thomas became a base for pirates and privateers which the Danish Governor either could not or would not stop. During the War of the Spanish Succession the Danes supported the French colonies, and allowed the French to sell British ships seized as prizes in Charlotte Amalie. No doubt the British invasions in the early 1800s did not help relations, and in later years smuggling and illegal sales of slaves by St. Thomians would frustrate British authorities.

Law and order

See also: Piracy in the British Virgin Islands

Even after British control of the Territory became complete, population infiltration was slow. Settlers lived in fear of possible Spanish attack, and there was the constant possibility that diplomatic efforts might fail and the Territory might revert to an overseas power (as happened in St. Croix). Spanish raids in 1685 and ongoing negotiations between the Dutch and the British over the fate of the islands led to them being virtually abandoned; from 1685 to 1690 the population of the Territory was reduced to two - a Mr Jonathan Turner and his wife. In 1690 there was a relative explosion in the population, which had swollen to fourteen. By 1696 it was up to fifty.

From 1678 the British appointed a deputy-governor for the Territory (initially for the Territory and Saba and St. Eustatius, until the latter two islands were returned to the Dutch). The role was somewhat vague, and had no legislative, executory or judicial powers attached to it. The deputy-governor was encouraged to appoint a local governor beneath him, though it was common complaint being unable "to gett one that's tolerable fitt amongst them to take the command upon them."^[11] In 1709 Governor Parke observed that "they live like wild people without law or Government, and have neither Divine nor Lawyer amongst them..."

It was not until 1773 that the Virgin Islands actually had its own legislature.^[12] The uncertainty of tenure and slightly ambivalent official British attitude to the fate of the Territory influenced the early population - for many years only debtors from other islands, pirates and those fleeing the law were prepared to undertake the risk of settling in the Virgin Islands. Most references to the islands from occasional visitors comment on the lack of law and order and the lack of religiosity of the inhabitants.

The Territory was granted a Legislative Assembly on 27 January 1774, however, it took a full further decade for a constitutional framework to be settled. Part of the problem was that the islands were so thinly populated, it was almost impossible to constitute the organs of government. In 1778 George Suckling arrived in the Territory to take up his position as Chief Justice of the Territory. In the event, a court was not actually established until the Court Bill was passed in 1783, but even then the vested interests ensured that Suckling could still not take up his position, and the islands had a court but no judge. Suckling finally left the islands without ever taking up his post (or ever being paid) on 2 May 1788, impoverished and embittered, due to the machinations of local interests which were fearful of the recourse of their creditors if a court was to be established. Suckling was forthright in expressing his views on the state of law and order in the Territory - he described the residents of Tortola as "in a state of lawless ferment. Life, liberty and property were hourly exposed to the insults and depredations of the riotous and lawless. The authority of His Majesty's Council, as conservators of the peace, was defied and ridiculed... The island presented a shocking state of anarchy; miserable indeed, and disgraceful to government, not to be equalled in any other of His Majesty's dominions, or perhaps in any civilized country in the world."

Almost 100 years after Governor Parke had expressed his views, one of his successors would speak in similar terms. On his appointment in 1810, Governor George Elliot was struck by the "state of irritation ... almost of anarchy". Writer Howard, an agent selling a distressed cargo of slaves from a shipwreck in Tortola in 1803 wrote that "Tortola is well nigh the most miserable, worst-inhabited spot in all the British possessions... this unhealthy part of the globe appears overstocked with each description of people except honest ones."

Quaker settlement

Although short in both duration and number, the Quaker settlement in the British Virgin Islands from 1727 to 1768 would play an important part in the history of the Territory for two reasons. Firstly, the trenchant opposition of the Quakers to slavery had a contributing effect to the improvements in the treatment of slaves within the Territory (the exceptional case of Arthur William Hodge notwithstanding) compared to other Caribbean islands, and to the large number of free blacks within the islands. Secondly, for such a small community, a large number of famous historical figures came from that small community, including John C. Lettsome, William Thornton, Samuel Nottingham and Richard Humphreys. There are some vague assertions that Arthur Penn, brother of the more famous William Penn, also formed part of the Quaker community of the British Virgin Islands for a time.^[13] However, this seems unlikely as the dates of his lifetime do not fit easily within the timeframe of the Quaker community in the British Virgin Islands, and as Quaker history is generally very well documented, it is unlikely that an expedition by a member of such a famous family would go unnoticed.

Fortification

Between 1760 and 1800 the British significantly upgraded the defences of the Territory. Usually building upon earlier Dutch fortifications, new structures armed with cannon were erected at Fort Charlotte, Fort George, Fort Burt, Fort Recovery and a new fort was built in the centre of Road Town which came to be known as the Road Town Fort. As was common at the time, plantation owners were expected to fortify their own holdings, and Fort Purcell and Fort Hodge were erected on this basis.

Slavery economy

Main article: Slavery in the British Virgin Islands

In common with most Caribbean countries, slavery in the British Virgin Islands forms a major part of the history of the Territory. One commentator has gone so far as to say: "One of the most important aspects of the History of the British Virgin Islands is slavery."^[14]

As Tortola, and to a lesser extent Virgin Gorda, came to be settled by plantation owners, slave labour became economically essential, and there was an exponential growth in the slave population during the 1700s. In 1717 there were 547 black people in the Territory (all of whom were assumed to be slaves); by 1724, there were 1,430; and 1756, there were 6,121. The increase in slaves held in the Territory is, to a large degree, consistent with development of the economy of the British Virgin Islands at the time.

Slave revolts

Uprisings in the Territory were common, as they were elsewhere in the Caribbean. The first notable uprising in the British Virgin islands occurred in 1790, and centred on the estates of Isaac Pickering. It was quickly put down, and the ringleaders were executed. The revolt was sparked by the rumour that freedom had been granted to slaves in England, but that the planters were withholding knowledge of it. The same rumour would also later spark subsequent revolts.

Subsequent rebellions also occurred in 1823, 1827 and 1830, although in each case they were quickly put down.

Probably the most significant slave insurrection occurred in 1831 when a plot was uncovered to kill all of the white males in the Territory and to escape to Haiti (which was at the time the only free black republic in the world) by boat with all of the white females. Although the plot does not appear to have been especially well formulated, it caused widespread panic, and military assistance was drafted in from St. Thomas. A number of the plotters (or accused plotters) were executed.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the incidence of slave revolts increased sharply after 1822. In 1807, the trade in slaves was abolished. Although the existing slaves were forced to continue their servitude, the Royal Navy patrolled the Atlantic, capturing slave ships and freeing slave cargoes. Starting in 1808 hundreds of freed Africans were deposited on Tortola by the Navy who, after serving a 14 year "apprenticeship", were then absolutely free. Naturally, seeing free Africans in the Territory created enormous resentment and jealousy amongst the existing slave population, who understandably felt this to be enormously unjust.

1834 - Emancipation

The abolition of slavery occurred on 1 August 1834, and to this day it is celebrated by a three day public holiday on the first Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August in the British Virgin Islands. The original emancipation proclamation hangs in the High Court. However, the abolition of slavery was not the single defining event that it is sometimes supposed to have been. Emancipation freed a total of 5,792 slaves in the Territory, but at the time of abolition, there were already a considerable number of free blacks in the Territory, possibly as many as 2,000.^[15] Furthermore, the effect of abolition was gradual; the freed slaves were not absolutely manumitted,^[16] but instead entered a form of forced apprenticeship which lasted four years for house slaves and six years for field slaves.^[17] The terms of the forced apprenticeship required them to provide 45 hours unpaid labour a week to their former masters, and prohibited them from leaving their residence without the masters permission. The effect, deliberately, was to phase out reliance on slave labour rather than end it with a bang. The Council would later legislate to reduce this period to four years for all slaves to quell rising dissent amongst the field slaves.

Joseph John Gurney, a Quaker, wrote in his Familiar Letters to Henry Clay of Kentucky that the plantation owners in Tortola were "decidedly saving money by the substitution of free labor on moderate wages, for the deadweight of slavery".^[18]

In practice, the economics of the abolition are difficult to quantify. Undeniably the original slave owners suffered a huge capital loss. Although they received £72,940 from the British Government in compensation, this was only a fraction of the true economic value of the manumitted slaves.^[19] In terms of net cash flow, whilst the slave owners lost the right to "free" slave labour, they now no longer had to pay to house, clothe and provide medical attention for their former slaves, which in some cases almost balanced out. The former slaves now usually worked for the same masters, but instead received small wages, out of which they had to pay for the expenses formerly borne by their masters. However, some former slaves managed to amass savings, which clearly demonstrates that in net terms the slave owners were less well off in income terms as well as capital as a result of abolition.

Decline of the sugar industry

An often held view is that the economy of the British Virgin Islands deteriorated considerably after the abolition of slavery. Whilst this is, strictly speaking, true, it also disguises the fact that the decline had several different causes. In 1834 the Territory was an agricultural economy with two main crops: sugar and cotton. Of the two, sugar was the considerably more lucrative export.

Shortly after the abolition of slavery the Territory was rocked by a series of hurricanes. At the time, there was no accurate method of forecasting hurricanes, and their effect was devastating. A particularly devastating hurricane struck in 1837, which was reported to have completed destroyed 17 of the Territory's sugar works. Further hurricanes hit in 1842 and 1852. Two more struck in 1867^[20] and 1871. The island also suffered severe drought between 1837^[21] and 1847, which made sugar plantation almost impossible to sustain.

To compound these miseries, in 1846 the United Kingdom passed the Sugar Duties Act 1846 to equalise duties on sugar grown in the colonies. Removing market distortions had the net effect of making prices fall, a further blow to plantations in the British Virgin Islands.

In 1846 the commercial and trading firm of Reid, Irving & Co. collapsed. The firm had 10 sugar estates in the British Virgin Islands and employed 1,150 people. But the actual economic effect of its failure was much wider; the company also acted as a de facto bank in the Territory, allowing advances to be drawn on the company as credit. Further, the company had represented the only remaining direct line of communication to the United Kingdom; after its collapse mail had to be sent via St. Thomas and Copenhagen.

By 1848, Edward Hay Drummond Hay, the President of the British Virgin Islands, reported that: "there are now no properties in the Virgin Islands whose holders are not embarrassed for want of capital or credit sufficient to enable them to carry on the simplest method of cultivation effectively."

In December 1853 there was a disastrous outbreak of cholera in the Territory, which killed nearly 15% of the population.^[22] This was followed by an outbreak of smallpox in Tortola and Jost Van Dyke in 1861 which caused a further 33 deaths.

Up until 1845 the value of sugar exported from the Territory varied, but averaged around £10,000 per annum over the preceding ten years. With the exception of 1847 (an unusually good year), the average for the subsequent 10 years was under £3,000. By 1852 it had fallen below £1,000 and would never recover.

Although this was terrible news for the islands as a whole, as Isaac Dookhan has pointed out,^[23] this did mean that the value of land plummeted sharply, and enabled the newly free black community to purchase land where otherwise it might not have been able to do so. It also created the basis for the future peasant agricultural economy of the British Virgin Islands.

Insurrection

Soon after emancipation the newly freed black population of the British Virgin Islands started to become increasingly disenchanted that freedom had not brought the prosperity that they had hoped for. Economic decline had led to increased tax burdens, which became a source of general discontent, for former slaves and other residents of the Territory alike.

In 1848 a major disturbance occurred in the Territory. The causes of the disturbance were several. A revolt of slaves was occurring in St. Croix, which increased the general fervour in the islands, but the free population of Tortola were much more concerned with two other grievances: the appointment of public officials, and the crackdown on smuggling. Although Tortola had sixteen coloured public officials, all except one were "foreigners" from outside the Territory. During the period of economic decline, smuggling had been one of the few lucrative sources of employment, and recent laws which imposed stringent financial penalties (with hard labour for non-payment) were unpopular. The anger was directed against the magistrates by the small shop keepers, and they concentrated their attack on the stipendiary magistrate, Isidore Dyett. However, Dyett was popular with the rural population, who respected him for protecting them from unscrupulous planters.^[24] The ringleaders of the insurrection had supposed that their attack would lead to a general revolt, but their choice of Dyett as a target robbed them of popular support, and the disturbance eventually fizzled.

However, the insurrection of 1853 was a far more serious affair, and would have much graver and more lasting consequences. Arguably it was the single most defining event in the islands' history. Taxation and economics was also at the root of that disturbance. In March 1853 Robert Hawkins and Joshua Jordan, both Methodist missionaries, petitioned the Assembly to be relieved on taxes. The Assembly rejected the request, and Jordan is said to have replied "we will raise the people against you."^[25] Subsequent meetings fostered the general discontent. Then in June 1853 the legislature enacted a head tax on cattle in the Territory. Injudiciously, the tax was to come into effect on 1 August, the anniversary of emancipation. The burden of the tax would fall most heavily on the rural coloured community. There was no violent protest when the Act was passed, and it has been suggested that rioting could have been avoided if the legislature had been more circumspect in enforcing it,^[26] although the historical background suggests that insurrection was never far away, and only needed a reason to spark into life.

On 1 August 1853 a large body of rural labourers came to Road Town to protest the tax. However, instead of showing a conciliatory approach, the authorities immediately read the Riot Act, and made two arrests. Violence then erupted almost immediately. Several constables and magistrates were badly beaten, the greater part of Road Town itself was burned down, and a large number of the plantation houses were destroyed, cane fields were burned and sugar mills destroyed. Almost all of the white population fled to St. Thomas. President John Chads showed considerable personal courage, but little judgement or tact.^[27] On 2 August he met a gathering of 1,500 to 2,000 protesters, but all he would promise to do was relay their grievances before the legislature (which could not meet, as all the other members had fled). One protester was shot (the only recorded death during the disturbances themselves) which led to the continuation of the rampage. By 3 August, the only white people remaining in the Territory were John Chads himself, the Collector of Customs, a Methodist missionary and the island's doctor.

The riots were eventually suppressed with military assistance from St. Thomas, and reinforcements of British troops dispatched by the Governor of the Leeward Islands from Antigua. Twenty of the ringleaders of the riots were sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment; three were executed.

"Decline and disorder"

The period which followed the riots of 1853 has been referred to by one historian as the period of "decline and disorder".^[28] Some commentators have suggested that the white population essentially refused to return, and the islands "went to de bush".^[29] But this is clearly an exaggeration. Whilst many whites did not return to their heavily mortgaged and now ruined estates, some did, and rebuilt. But the rebuilding required as a result of the insurrection, as well as the climate of uncertainty it created, alongside the existing poor economic conditions, created an economic depression which would take nearly a century to lift. It would in fact take a full two years before even the schools in the Territory would be able to open again.^[30]

Tensions in the Territory continued to simmer, and local unrest ran high. Exports continued to decline, and large numbers travelled abroad seeking work. In 1887 a plot for an armed rebellion was uncovered. In 1890 a dispute over smuggling led to further violence, and a Long Look resident, Christopher Flemming, emerged as a local hero simply for standing up to authority. In each case widespread damage was averted by bringing in reinforcements for the local authorities from Antigua and, in 1890, from St. Thomas.

Whilst the violence undoubtedly reflected disenchantment with the economic decline and lack of social services, it would be wrong to construe this period as a form of "Dark Ages" for the Territory. During this period there was, for the first time, a significant expansion in the islands' schools. By 1875 the Territory had 10 schools; a remarkable development in light of the complete absence of functional schools after the insurrection of 1853. This period also saw the first coloured British Virgin Islander, Fredrick Augustus Pickering, appointed as President in 1884.

Pickering stepped down in 1887, and in 1889 the title of the office was changed to Commissioner, marking a clear decrease in administrative responsibilities. Offices were also consolidated to save on salaries.^[31] The Council itself became less and less functional, and it only narrowly avoided dissolution by appointing two popular local figures, Joseph Romney and Pickering.

Modern developments

However, in 1901 the Legislative Council was finally formally dissolved, and the islands were then officially administered through the Governor of the Leeward Islands, who appointed a commissioner and an executive council. The Territory was not remotely economically prosperous, and social services had deteriorated to vanishing point. Emigration was extremely high, particularly to St. Thomas and to the Dominican Republic. Both concern and assistance from Britain was in very short supply, not least because of the two World Wars which were fought during this period.

In 1947 another unlikely hero emerged. H. Faulkner was a fisherman from Anegada, who came to Tortola with his pregnant wife. He had a disagreement with the medical officer, and he went straight to the marketplace and for several nights criticised the government with mounting passion. His oratory struck a chord, and a movement started. Led by community leaders such as Isaac Fonseca and Carlton de Castro, a throng of over 1,500 British Virgin Islanders marched on the Commissioner's office and presented their grievances. The voices of the people were heard.

1950 - Self government

As a result of the demonstrations the previous year, the Legislative Council was reinstituted in 1950 under a new constitution. The reformation of the Legislative Council is often left as a footnote in the Territory's history - a mere part of the process that led to the more fundamental constitutional government in 1966 - and the 1950 constitution was in fact always envisaged as a temporary measure. But, having been denied any form of democratic control for nearly 50 years, the new Council did not sit idly by. In 1951 external capital was brought in to assist farmers from the Colonial Welfare and Development office. In 1953 the Hotel Aid Act was enacted to boost the nascent tourism industry.^[32] Up until 1958 the Territory had only 12 miles of motorable roads; over the next 12 years the road system was vastly improved, linking West End to the East End of Tortola, and joining Tortola to Beef Island by bridge. The Beef Island airport (now renamed after Terrance B. Lettsome) was built shortly thereafter. The Territory considered holding a plebiscite as to whether the British and U.S. Virgin Islands should merge under the U.S. flag, but (although there was no opposition from Westminster) it is unlikely that the U.S. State Department would have acquiesced to taking over responsibility for the impoverished Territory, and in the event no plebiscite was ever held.

External events also played a factor. In 1956 the Leeward Islands Federation was abolished. Defederation enhanced the political status of the British Virgin Islands. Jealous of its newly acquired powers, the Council declined to join the new Federation of the West Indies in 1958, a move that would later be crucial in the development of the offshore finance industry.

In 1966 the new constitution with a much greater transfer of powers was brought into effect by order in council. Elections followed in 1967, and a comparatively young Lavity Stoutt was elected as the first Chief Minister of the Territory.

Financial services

The fortunes of the Territory dramatically improved in the late twentieth century with the advent of the offshore financial services industry. Former president of the BVI's Financial Services Commission, Michael Riegels, recites the anecdote that the industry commenced on an unknown date in the 1970s when a lawyer from a firm in New York telephoned him with a proposal to incorporate a company in the British Virgin Islands to take advantage of a double taxation relief treaty with the United States. Within the space of a few years, hundreds of such companies had been incorporated.

This eventually came to the attention of the United States government, who unilaterally revoked the Treaty in 1981.^[33]

In 1984 the British Virgin Islands, trying to recapture some of the lost offshore business, enacted a new form of companies legislation, the International Business Companies Act, under which an offshore company which was exempt from local taxes could be formed. The development was only a limited success until 1991, when the United States invaded Panama to oust General Manuel Noriega. At the time Panama was one of the largest providers of offshore financial services in the world, but the business fled subsequent the invasion, and the British Virgin Islands was one of the main beneficiaries.

In 2000, KPMG were commissioned by the British Government to produce a report on the offshore financial industry generally, and the report indicated that nearly 41% of the offshore companies in the world were formed in the British Virgin Islands. The British Virgin Islands is now one of the world's leading offshore financial centres, and boasts one of the highest incomes per capita in the Caribbean.

See also

• British Virgin Islands
• History of the Caribbean
• History of the United States Virgin Islands
• History of present-day nations and states
• List of Presidents of the British Virgin Islands (1741-1887)
• List of Administrators of the British Virgin Islands (1887-1971)
• List of Governors of the British Virgin Islands (1971-present)

References

It has been commented more than once that there are a paucity of texts which deal with the history of the Territory.^[34] The information in this article has been almost entirely composed from the following sources. For convenience, the primary sources that these texts rely upon are not cited.

• Isaac Dookhan, A History of the British Virgin Islands, ISBN 0-85935-027-4
• Vernon Pickering, A Concise History of the British Virgin Islands, ISBN 0-934139-05-9
• Florence Lewisohn, Tales of Tortola and the British Virgin Islands, ASIN B0007H4XCM, Library of Congress Catalog Card No 66-29446^[35]

Footnotes

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British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations Legend Current territory  ·   Former territory * now a Commonwealth Realm  ·   now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations Europe  18th century 1708–1757  Minorca since 1713  Gibraltar 1782–1802  Minorca 19th century 1800–1964  Malta 1807–1890  Heligoland 1809–1864  Ionian Islands 1878–1960  Cyprus 20th century since 1960  Akrotiri and Dhekelia North America  17th century 1607–1776  Virginia 1610–1907  Newfoundland since 1619  Bermuda 1620–1691  Plymouth Colony 1629–1691  Massachusetts Bay Colony 1632–1776  Maryland 1636–1776  Connecticut 1636–1776  Rhode Island 1637–1662  New Haven Colony 1663–1712  Carolina 1664–1776  New York 1665–1776  New Jersey 1670–1870  Rupert's Land 1674–1702  East Jersey 1674–1702  West Jersey 1680–1776  New Hampshire 1681–1776  Pennsylvania 1686–1689  Dominion of New England 1691–1776  Massachusetts 18th century 1701–1776  Delaware 1712–1776  North Carolina 1712–1776  South Carolina 1713–1867  Nova Scotia 1733–1776  Georgia 1763–1873  Prince Edward Island 1763–1791  Quebec 1763-1783  Florida 1784–1867  New Brunswick 1791–1841  Lower Canada 1791–1841  Upper Canada 19th century 1818–1846  Columbia District / Oregon Country1 1841–1867  Province of Canada 1849–1866  Vancouver Island 1853–1863  Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands 1858–1866  British Columbia 1859–1870  North-Western Territory 1862–1863  Stikine Territory 1866–1871  Vancouver Island                       and British Columbia 1867–1931  *Dominion of Canada2 20th century 1907–1949  Dominion of Newfoundland3 1Occupied jointly with the United States 2In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self-government through the Statute of Westminster. "Dominion" remains Canada's legal title; see Canada's name. 3Gave up self-rule in 1934, but remained a de jure Dominion until it joined Canada in 1949. Latin America and the Caribbean  17th century 1605–1979  *Saint Lucia 1623–1883  Saint Kitts (*Saint Kitts & Nevis) 1624–1966  *Barbados 1625–1650  Saint Croix 1627–1979  *St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1628–1883  Nevis (*Saint Kitts & Nevis) 1629–1641  St. Andrew and Providence Islands4 since 1632  Montserrat 1632–1860  Antigua (*Antigua & Barbuda) 1643–1860  Bay Islands since 1650  Anguilla 1651–1667  Willoughbyland (Suriname) 1655–1850  Mosquito Coast (protectorate) 1655–1962  *Jamaica since 1666  British Virgin Islands since 1670  Cayman Islands 1670–1973  *Bahamas 1670–1688  St. Andrew and Providence Islands4 1671–1816  Leeward Islands 18th century 1762–1974  *Grenada 1763–1978  Dominica since 1799  Turks and Caicos Islands 19th century 1831–1966  British Guiana (Guyana) 1833–1960  Windward Islands 1833–1960  Leeward Islands 1860–1981  *Antigua and Barbuda 1871–1964  British Honduras (*Belize) 1882–1983  *St. Kitts and Nevis 1889–1962  Trinidad and Tobago 20th century 1958–1962  West Indies Federation 4Now the San Andrés y Providencia Department of Colombia Africa  18th century 1792–1961  Sierra Leone 1795–1803  Cape Colony 19th century 1806–1910  Cape Colony 1816–1965  Gambia 1856–1910  Natal 1868–1966  Basutoland (Lesotho) 1874–1957  Gold Coast (Ghana) 1882–1922  Egypt 1884–1966  Bechuanaland (Botswana) 1884–1960  British Somaliland 1887–1897  Zululand 1888–1894  Matabeleland 1890–1980  Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) 1890–1962  Uganda 1890–1963  Zanzibar (Tanzania) 1891–1964  Nyasaland (Malawi) 1891–1907  British Central Africa Protectorate 1893–1968  Swaziland 1895–1920  East Africa Protectorate 1899–1956  Anglo-Egyptian Sudan 20th century 1900–1914  Northern Nigeria 1900–1914  Southern Nigeria 1900–1910  Orange River Colony 1900–1910  Transvaal Colony 1906–1954  Nigeria Colony 1910–1931  South Africa 1911–1964  Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) 1914–1954  Nigeria Protectorate 1915–1931  South West Africa (Namibia) 1919–1960  Cameroons (Cameroon) 5 1920–1963  Kenya 1922–1961  Tanganyika (Tanzania) 5 1954–1960  Nigeria 5League of Nations mandate Asia  18th century 1757–1947  Bengal (West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh) 1762–1764  Philippines 1795–1948  Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1796–1965  Maldives 19th century 1819–1826  British Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore) 1826–1946  Straits Settlements 1839–1967  Colony of Aden 1841–1997  Hong Kong 1841–1941  Kingdom of Sarawak (Malaysia) 1858–1947  British India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Burma) 1882–1963  British North Borneo (Malaysia) 1885–1946  Unfederated Malay States 1891–1971  Muscat and Oman protectorate 1892–1971  Trucial States protectorate 1895–1946  Federated Malay States 1898–1930  Weihai Garrison 20th century 1918–1961  Kuwait protectorate 1920–1932  Iraq5 1921–1946  Transjordan5 1923–1948  Palestine5 1946–1948  Malayan Union 1946–1963  Sarawak (Malaysia) 1948–1957  Federation of Malaya (Malaysia) since 1965  British Indian Ocean Territory 5League of Nations mandate Oceania  18th century 1788–1901  New South Wales 19th century 1803–1901  Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania 1807–1863  Auckland Islands6 1824–1980  New Hebrides (Vanuatu) 1824–1901  Queensland 1829–1901  Swan River Colony/Western Australia 1836–1901  South Australia since 1838  Pitcairn Islands 1841–1907  Colony of New Zealand 1851–1901  Victoria 1874–1970  Fiji7 1877–1976  British Western Pacific Territories 1884–1949  Territory of Papua 1888–1965  Cook Islands6 1888–1984  Sultanate of Brunei 1889–1948  Union Islands (Tokelau)6 1892–1979  Gilbert and Ellice Islands8 1893–1978  British Solomon Islands9 20th century 1900–1970  Tonga (protected state) 1900–1974  Niue6 1901–1942  *Commonwealth of Australia 1907–1953  *Dominion of New Zealand 1919–1949  Territory of New Guinea 1949–1975  Territory of Papua and New Guinea10 6Now part of the *Realm of New Zealand 7Suspended member 8Now Kiribati and *Tuvalu 9Now the *Solomon Islands 10Now *Papua New Guinea Antarctica and South Atlantic  17th century since 1659  St. Helena 19th century since 1815  Ascension Island11 since 1816  Tristan da Cunha11 since 1833  Falkland Islands12 20th century since 1908  British Antarctic Territory13 since 1908  South Georgia and                       the South Sandwich Islands12, 13 11Dependencies of St. Helena since 1922 (Ascension Island) and 1938 (Tristan da Cunha) 12Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April–June 1982 13Both claimed in 1908; territories formed in 1962 (British Antarctic Territory) and 1985 (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands)

History of North America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda · Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Canada · Costa Rica · Cuba · Dominica · Dominican Republic · El Salvador · Grenada · Guatemala · Haiti · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua · Panama1 · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago1 · United States Dependencies and other territories Anguilla · Aruba1 · Bermuda · British Virgin Islands · Cayman Islands · Clipperton Island · Greenland · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Montserrat · Navassa Island · Netherlands Antilles1 · Puerto Rico · Saint Barthélemy · Saint Martin · Saint Pierre and Miquelon · Turks and Caicos Islands · United States Virgin Islands 1 Territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas (South America).