Thread by @StaceyPlaskett

July 3 is #EmancipationDay in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 
 
On this day 174 years ago, in what was then the Danish West Indies, thousands of enslaved people led by their leader General Buddhoe rose up to end slavery on St. Croix. (1/7)

Slaves around the island e mass organized and marched to the Fort to challenge the Danish rule that kept them in chattel slaver. Demanding freedom against a brutal system  (2/7)

Overwhelmed, the Danish colonial Governor Peter von Scholten declared “all unfree in the Danish West Indies are from today free.” 
 
This freedom was hard-won. (3/7)

Enslaved Africans were initially brought to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the late 1600s under brutal conditions. 

The 1733 Slave Code on St. John was horrific. Among its punishments, the code ordered that enslaved people who tried to run away would have a leg amputated. (4/7)

Later that year, 146 enslaved people on St. John revolted. They took control of the island, repelled a counter-invasion, and fought on for 6 months before eventually being defeated.  
 
This revolt was the first and one of longest slave rebellions in New World. (5/7)

Despite the official emancipation in 1848, living conditions for black residents scarcely improved.  
 
In 1878, four black women - now known as the ‘Queens of the Fireburn’ - led a labor riot on St. Croix to demand higher wages and better working conditions. (6/7)

On this #EmancipationDay, I am grateful for my ancestors courage and will to be free. we pay homage to our ancestors and reflect on their courageous centuries-long struggle for freedom and equality. (7/7)

To read more about the history of enslaved individuals in the U.S. Virgin Islands, please visit: 
 
virgin-islands-history.org/en/timeline/th… 
 
theworld.org/stories/2017-0… 
 
blackpast.org/global-african…