National Park After Dark - On Our Signal: Virgin Islands National Park

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

Take to Google, type in “US Virgin Islands” and you’ll be met with photos of turquoise waters and smiling faces sipping on drinks atop sparkling white sand. This destination is among the most popular in the Caribbean for vacationers, but it was once at the core of the transatlantic slave trade and the location of the 1733 Akwamu Insurrection. Thousands of enslaved Africans took fate into their own hands as they rose up against their oppressors - an event which was among the first, longest running and bloodiest rebellions in North American history.For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!Acorns: Use our link or download the app to start saving and investing in your future.Lume Deodorant: Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with@lumedeodorant and get 15% off with promo code NPAD at LumeDeodorant.com! #lumepodProse: Use our link for a free in-depth hair consultation and 50% off your first subscription order.IQBAR: Text PARK to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products and free shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Limitless. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally. Breathe. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders.

That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Anyone who has been involved in a new introduction, whether it be at work, a social setting, or a budding relationship is likely familiar with icebreakers.

Some of these types of games can be silly and feel awkward at surface level, but one in particular can go as deep as participants are willing to venture. 21 questions is a classic and can be superficial or profound, work-friendly or spicy. Questions can be simple, like, where is your dream vacation? Others can probe further. For example, what are five words to describe you? For those brave enough, questions can get really deep and can enter the realm of personal philosophies, spiritual beliefs, personal strife, or triumph.

One of the most contemplative, however, is, what are you willing to die for? Depending on who you ask, the answer will vary. My children, my country, my bodily autonomy, equality, our planet, universal peace. The list continues. However, for millions throughout history, the answer to that question came down to one thing that was valued above all else, the thing that was violently taken from them for which they fought for until the very end. They didn't need to be asked because they showed their answer. They were willing to die

for freedom. Welcome to National Park After Dark. I'm excited for this episode because you've kind of hinted at me what it's about and told me a little bit about it. And I think this is going to be, I've never, I don't know anything about this, which also makes me excited to hear it. Well, I was kind of like, as one does from time to time, I was looking at my list of U.S. national parks, kind of like the scratch off, tick off like the list. Obviously, we're all familiar with that. And I was just kind of mentally going through and being like which parks have. we covered, you know, together on the show. And obviously there are quite a few of the big, you know, main 60-something parks that we haven't done yet. And this one really jumped out at me. And when I first began researching it, I didn't really know what to expect. I've never personally been here to this area, let alone this park. And I was just thinking that there would be some sort, which I'm sure there are many other stories that have happened here that we could cover, but this one just screamed importance. And I really wanted to highlight it today. But before we get

into it, just as a brief mention, this one is pretty heavy. And there are discussions and mentions of violence and some sexual abuse. So there is that to be forewarned about. Second thing is there are a lot of African, Dutch, and Spanish names throughout this story. And I'm going to do my darn best to to pronounce pronunciate. It's not even a word? Penanceate. Oh, honey. To pronounce them.

But knowing me, I'll likely struggle, but I'm going to try. So don't come at me if I can't pronounce a Dutch word. Okay? And then third is we have merch. We sure do. We launched our merch. It came out last week. We're super stoked on it.

There's so many cool things that's on there. And we're really proud and excited to bring it to you. you guys. So we'll link it in the show notes if you haven't seen it yet, if you haven't heard it on the podcast. We just want you to know it's there. It's up. We're very, very excited. Yeah, so go check it out. All right. Well, without further due, let's go somewhere tropical. Oh, okay. Continuously topping the Caribbean's must-see lists, the U.S. Virgin Islands offer some of the most beautiful beaches, coral reefs, and marine wildlife watching in this part of the world. And as we know them today, the U.S. Virgin Islands are a group of Caribbean islands.

that consists of three main islands, St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas, along with 50 other smaller islands and caves, or low island clusters of reef, sand, or coral. In total, the combined land area of the islands is roughly twice the size of Washington, D.C., just to give some sort of perspective on that. The islands are precisely what you would imagine a tropical paradise to be. There's sparkling white sands, turquoise waters teeming with vibrant sea life and lush tropical forests. On land, there are numerous species of reptiles and insects that scurry in the sand and the forests containing over 800 species of vegetation. And it's also a birder's paradise. I know you're in your birding era.

I am in my birding era. What birds are there? There are nearly 200 species of birds on this cluster violence. So bring your binoculars. I'd bring my binoculars and my Merlin birding app and I'd sit there and find them all. However, under the sea is where a lot of the action takes place with over 400 species of fish, dozens of whale and dolphin species, and nearly 50 coral species. A visit here without spending time underwater would be a pretty big mistake.

And just as a side note, which is like, again with the weird intersecting parallels and things that happened in life. Obviously, we're recording this a bit early. I know this comes out in July, but as of today, which is June 24th, I picked up the remains of my dog blue. And in his, the little package they gave me of just like grief support materials and things like that, they gave me this pamphlet. And I have not, I've heard of this concept, but not in this way. And I got this thing. And it's called Pet Memorial Reefs. Oh. Basically, it's, they take. take your pets cremated remains and they become a living underwater memorial reef. Wow, that's so cool.

Yeah. I've never heard of that. Me either. And I was like, and it's from a company that we used to utilize when we were in the veterinary world. So I don't know if this is like a newish thing that they're offering, but there are different tiers that you can do because I obviously looked into it. And for a couple of the tiers, they offer you can get these like bronze statues or plaques put on to the actual thing that goes down there that creates the structure.

And then the reefs like grow on top of it. Yeah. And then you can put your dog's name like in memory of blue or, you know, whoever on there. And then yeah, it becomes a little place for coral to grow. And yeah, isn't that crazy? Wow, that's so cool. What's the company? It's, it's, sorry, let me look at it.

Pet Reefs by Memorial Reefs International. And I actually went on really quick because before this recording, I tried to see where they were placing them. Like, obviously, it's in a place where coral reefs are. But I didn't get any clear answer. So I'm going to kind of, I'm going to email them and just ask because I have some plans for some of his remains. But, I mean, depending on how much they need, like, I think this would be a cool way to have him live on. So, yeah. It's a really cool concept.

Maybe one day you'll find yourself diving in that reef years from now when it's covered in coral. That's the thing. No. Oh, God. Okay. Moving on. So back to the Virgin Islands. Today, millions flock to the Virgin Islands who pride themselves in sustainable tourism to

snorkel the reefs, explore tropical forests, wander through historic districts, lounge at beach clubs, and of course, visit the National Park. Established in 1956 as the 29th site in the national park system, the park protects thousands of acres of terrestrial shoreline and marine habitat from coral reefs, mountainous terrain, mangroves, seagrass beds, and tropical rainforest. This park was one of the first UNESCO biosphere reserves in the world, and it's actually only one of 30 that contains both marine and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. So it's pretty cool. Cool. The park has expanded over the years, as many parks do. And as of today, they manage nearly 60% of the land area of

St. John. So remember the three main islands. So nearly 60% of St. John is managed by the park service, along with more than 18,000 acres of offshore underwater habitat. All of this protected space offers numerous protections for both marine and terrestrial animals who rely on the space for breeding, nesting, feeding, and more. And the park system also preserves abundant and diverse cultural sites. There are hundreds of historic structures, shipwrecks, archaeological sites, and museums, with collections dating back thousands of years. So despite its relatively small size, there is a ton going on here. And one park just wasn't enough.

Over the years, Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, Christianstead National Historic Site, Buck Island Reef National Monument, and Salt River Bay National Historic Park, and ecological preserve have been established amongst the islands as well. So the park system is very prolific down here. Ferries and flights, from island to island to provide visitors with the opportunity to experience all that the U.S.

Virgin Islands have to offer and gives people the perfect opportunity to explore the islands in their entirety, including the area's lengthy history. While the numerous beaches lined with lounge chairs, gear rental shops, doling out paddle boards and snorkeling equipment, trendy restaurants, serving up dairies, these are all wonderful. The park service does not shy away from highlighting and displaying the long, complex, not so pleasant, and frankly, pretty brutal history that took place on the same shores that we are sunning ourselves on. With human occupation dating back to 2000 BCE, there are hundreds of stories that are worthy of discussing from what is now, this park, kind of like I mentioned in the beginning, but I decided on one of the most pivotal and poignant

of them all. Today, we will be talking about the 1733 Aquamo insurrection. So before, Before we get into the story, I'm going to need to set the scene a bit because the islands, as we know them today, and as I just described, are a far departure from what they were for most of history. As I mentioned, human presence has been recorded here for thousands of years, despite Christopher Columbus getting credit for discovering these islands in 1493 after landing on the island of St. Croix. By the time he had first arrived, the Taino culture was already thriving. They had their own advanced political organization. They had a spoken language, elaborate religious life, and more. Like, you can't say you discovered something when this culture has been. People are living there.

It's like, excuse me, what? It's like you're, there's literally people here you didn't discover it. Yeah. As we are aware throughout most of the world, the arrival of Europeans marked the end of indigenous life as many knew it. And this case is unfortunately no different. Following European arrival, the indigenous population was completely decimated through disease, warfare, and forced enslavement.

If I were to get into the details of all the arrivals, exchanges, and falls of power on this cluster of islands, we would be here literally all day. I tried to understand it, and I got a little bit, I have a little bit of an understanding, but it would just be too much for here. So just know that in the centuries that followed Christopher Columbus's arrival, the islands were ruled by the English, Dutch, Spanish, Knights of Malta, and the Danes, before the U.S. ever got involved. Oh, wow. Okay.

So, which by the way, wasn't until 1917 when they first started to enter the picture. So there's been a lot. I mean, it's only a little over 100 years ago. Yeah. So since, you know, the end of the 1400s when Columbus got there up until 1917, there was a lot of rises and falls of power. It was like 600 years of back and forth and up and down. And yeah.

Yeah. As a result, though, of all of that, changing of hands and lots of different influence of different cultures. Present-day Virgin Islands culture is rich and unique and it has a blend of West African, Danish, Spanish, Irish, and German heritage. So there's a lot going on here. It's really culturally diverse and rich. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L. Every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more.

Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. In the early 1600s, as I just alluded to, many countries took a big interest in the Caribbean. Throughout the 17th and into the 18th century, several colonies inhabited the islands and battled it out, or bartered for control of St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. By the late 1600s, the Danish gained control of all three and brought them together under what was then called the Danish West Indies.

Along with opening the door to other foreign settlers and creating a melting pot, Columbus, when he arrived, also brought something that changed everything here. And that was sugarcane. And that was the primary reason that the Danes wanted control of the islands for the purpose of establishing plantations where they could cultivate tropical products and crops. These included cotton, indigo, coffee, and various other goods that couldn't be grown well in other environments, especially in colder environments. But none of those products were as lucrative as sugar. Sugar, which again, who would have thought? Sugar has a very, a very, I'm sure there are podcasts out there

entirely dedicated to the history of sugar because it is also very lengthy. And there are varying, there's varying information out there as far as when sugar first appeared in Europe, like actually like five different sources said five different things. But the biggest consensus I got out of everything was around the 11th century where it kind of first came onto the scene. But it really started to take off in the 16th century. So the 1500s. And as, as a result of that, it's kind of like more common and widespread and everyone was going wild for it. You know, the demand for this fancy exotic product just skyrocketed. I mean, I get it. You're eating bread and like unflavored meats and then suddenly someone presents sugar to you. And for those people who are

like, I'm not a big sugar fan. Sugar is in probably 90% of things that you eat and you would have no idea. But it's in the ingredients. So, you know, at this time, it's kind of this new revolutionary thing that no one had had or it wasn't readily accessible. So the demand, you know, totally went up the roof and as a result, the price reflected that. So the price was also pretty high at this time for sugar. So this relatively new industry created an opportunity to accumulate enormous wealth and power. In the 1600s, nearly every European country was desperate for control of a tropical colony to establish sugar cane plantations because the demand was so high, there was such an opportunity to make a ton of money. And to compare to a present day business, it is said that a comparable

business to the sugar trade during this period of time in the colonial times is comparable to present day drug trafficking. Like that's how. Yeah. Sugar was a drug. Yeah. Sugar is my drug. When the Danish finally gained control of the pirates occupying the islands because also, yeah, I forgot to mention, you know, there were privates as well that were in the mix for control. Fun. So when they finally got them out of the way and colonized the islands for themselves, the king formed the Danish West India Company in 1671. And it was a business that was backed by the state that would manage the Danish settlement

and its various plantations on the island. It got off to a pretty rough start. So basically what happened is the king establishes this company and says, okay, I'm going to send this company out to the islands to manage the sugar production and other crops, but mainly for the sugar cane. And he sent 190 people on board a ship. And that ship sailed to the islands from Denmark. During its voyage, dozens died or escaped during the journey and even more died within a year,

leaving less than 30 people. in the colony. They began plans for cultivating various goods, but they weren't going to do the hard work themselves. Upon arrival, it was clear that the indigenous inhabitants had been wiped out, and their absence poised a problem. So originally their plan was, all right, 190 of you are going to go to these islands and start establishing plantations and get these crops going. All of a sudden, done, 30 arrive to these islands to get this going. And at first, you know, obviously that's a big blow to the original group. But their plan was to rely on the indigenous people to enslave the indigenous peoples of the island to get their plantations going.

But when they arrived and realized that most of the indigenous community had already been wiped out, they're like, now what? We can't do this ourselves. Absolutely not. Yeah. So they were like, yeah, no, we're not doing that. So the Danish government encouraged young Danes to emigrate to St. Thomas to work the plantation. They're like, okay, I guess we'll advertise in our own country, like, look at these islands. It's beautiful, work, and, you know, come on down.

But their pleas were met with a less than enthusiastic response. The inadequate manpower and frequent pirate raids made life and plantation viability difficult. Prisoners then were brought to St. Thomas to work on the plantations as indentured servants from Denmark. So they're trying everything here. Yeah. And the deal was that they would work for six years and then receive their freedom, these prisoners. That was how they kind of advertised this. That's not a bad deal if you're in prison for longer than six years. For life or something like that. Yeah. However, on paper, that may sound great. However, very few survived the six years because they were worked so hard and treated so poorly. So a lot of them died. before their six years was complete. Their living and working conditions were absolutely horrendous. And their social position, which at that time was considered of the lowest order,

opened them up to pretty severe punishment. It wasn't long until word of the conditions got back to Denmark. And prisoners heard of all of this. And they viewed being shipped to the Caribbean as a death sentence. So because of that, mutinies and resistance led the day. to shift focus once again because they could not get people to go there. Yeah, I'm sure they hear that and they're like, never. What sounded nice is we're not even going to survive. Yeah, I'll stay in myself. To get our freedom. I'll stay in myself. Yeah. Especially if you're there for like 10 years, 15 years.

It's like, I'm good. Right. I have a life to make it out too. So as a result, they began importing enslaved people from Danish trading posts on the west coast of the African continent, primarily in the present day country of Ghana. And we have discussed. the slave trade before at length in a couple different episodes. But just off the top of my head, I know that I covered an episode. I think it was episode 65. That seems a little early, but you could double track me. I think it's 65. It was the one focusing on the Grouero. Grerero. I know I have to roll my R's, but I can't do that. I can't either. It was the one in Biscayne National Park. I think it was a bonus story. I guess that was a lot.

time ago, maybe 65 zones, right? Yeah, it was a bonus story originally and then, yeah, and then we released it when Ian passed away just to give me a kind of a week of a breather. So I think... Yeah. So that may be, that may be right. But yeah, so anyways, we really went into it. I know for a fact in that one. But of course, it bears repeating. I'm not going to go into as lengthy of detail, but because it's pertinent to the story and also because it's an important reminder of just how brutal this chapter in history was. And to breeze over it feels like a little bit of an oversight. So the institution of slavery that rose in the colonization of the Americas was a business. It was motivated by profit and greed and lacked significantly in any sort of

morality. Inslave captives were brought to European forts where buyers would purchase humans using a barter system or money. The enslaved were then chained and stored in warehouses until ships arrived, which would transport captives into cramped quarters. The conditions in the confined spaces so small that the possibility of standing or even sitting at times was pretty much not existent, and obviously the conditions beyond that were atrocious. And due to those conditions, including no proper ventilation or sanitary facilities, disease, starvation, and dehydration, also ran rampant. Women were raped. Thousands lost their lives in route to their destinations due to these factors, or by claiming their own lives prior to arrival. And then upon arrival,

enslaved people were sold at public auction and marched to plantations where the suffering continued and in many cases grew worse. And as I mentioned, the Danish entered the slave trade on the Guinea coast in present-day Ghana and they worked alongside the Akara tribe who acted as a middleman in the exchange of enslaved people as well as different goods such as gold, ivory and other manufactured items like firearms and rum. So this tribe, the Akara, at the time, controlled all the transportation and travel from the interior of the continent to the coast where the Danish forts were. They also controlled many neighboring tribes, including the Aquamu, forcing them to pay their tribe tributes, taking members of their tribe and other tribes and enslaving them

for themselves. However, as time went on, the Aquamu started to rise to power and the roles kind of reversed a bit. So the Aquamu were extraordinarily powerful. and had excellent warriors amongst their tribe. And they overthrew their oppressors, which were the Akara tribe, through a series of violent military campaigns, ultimately killing and enslaving thousands. So it was like a role reversal over a few years there. And they went on to rise above all other tribes in the area,

and they took control of the region. So to say the least, their rough-handed ruling didn't gain them much love or support by other tribes in the area. So when the Aquamu king died in 1725, and there was some debate within the Aquamu tribe on who was going to rise to power next, there was a lot of different, again, kind of glazing over this part. A lot of history here. But essentially, while this debate was going on, it kind of fractured that rigidity and that cohesive ruling that the other tribes were kind of bowing down to.

and they took this opportunity as a moment of weakness to attack the Aquamu nation. Five years later, the Aquamu were conquered, their capital was destroyed, and their new king, which was eventually elected and rose to power, was beheaded. And this, that moment in time, really scattered the Aquamu nation and resulted in thousands of the Aquamus being sold to the Danish in the early 1730s, many of whom were forced onto ships, headed straight for St. John. By 1733, there were roughly 200 European settlers and more than 1,000 enslaved people, the majority of which were Aquamu working on 109 plantations on the island of St. John. So this is where our story is now taking place. Gotcha. That's a lot of enslaved people

to not enslaved people. The ratio is very... Yeah, the ratio is very... It will come into play. It will come into play. Yeah. So the inslave people. So the inslave people... Slaved, lived, and worked under brutal conditions, working long hours, and of course, very hard labor. Additionally, they were required to brought, this is critical. I mean, the whole thing. We don't have to say it. We've talked about it how insane. The history of slavery is, especially in colonial America. But particularly here, they were required to provide their own food. So essentially in their quote unquote spare time. So let's imagine whatever that would be. In their spare time, they were to labor in fields of small plots of land that were kind of like sequestered aside for their own use. And those were called provision grounds. And on those provision grounds, they were required to grow and harvest. And that's how they would get their food. So they work them and don't feed them. You're like, okay, so you can work for 20 hours a day and on your off time, grow your own food as well. figure out how to feed yourself. Yeah. The island experienced prolonged droughts in the years preceding this date of the story, which is 1733, and in 1733 itself. And that's important because 1733

brought not only another drought, but a severe hurricane and a plague of insects. So all of these combined events, the kind of back-to-back droughts, you know, all these insects that are devastating the crops and bad weather. It devastated their provision plots, leaving those who relied on the food on those plots facing starvation because nearly all of their crops faced total failure. Oh, that's awful. So it's putting them in a really, an even worse position than they were already in. And these events led to a large number of enslaved St. Johnians to run from and abandoned their plantations. Much of the island, and it's hard to, because, If you look at pictures now, and especially if you've been there, if you look up St. John, like, it's lush,

like tropical, like, tropical. Beautiful. Tropical. I've never been, but I've definitely seen photos. Yeah. I mean, obviously, the photos not of the beach. Like, you see in the background a lot of lush vegetation and forests. But at this time, in the 1730s, or by the 1730s, I should say, much of the island was

clear cut to make way for these plantations. So there wasn't a ton of places to go, but some of the areas of the thick. forest did remain and it was there that the enslaved peoples who decided to abandon their plantations hid and attempted to live off the land on their own. And the Danish deemed this maroonage. And in response, the governor of the islands enacted what was called the 1733 slave code in May of that year. And the code which essentially expressed the philosophy that the enslaved were property of plantation owners. And this property, these people, had zero rights. And the code also included harsh penalties for acts of defiance against the Danish.

And again, the code is very lengthy and filled with many words, too many words. Like, let's just get to the point. So to condense it down a bit, just to give an example and give some context here, if an enslaved person committed grand larceny, they were to be pinched three times with red hot tongs and hanged. In the case of an attempted runaway or conspiracy to run away, leg amputation, branding, or if their master forgave them, their punishment was 150 lashes and the cutting off of an ear. And these were all very standard. Like this was in the code, like written in the code. That's messed up.

If an enslaved person was to come into contact with a European, they were to have to step aside, stand still, and be subservient. And if they did not abide by these guidelines, or if their behavior was not. deemed good enough by said European, they'd be beaten for that. Nice. Even a menacing gesture, which is a direct quote, I don't know. Like, that's so open to interpretation. What, like, what does that mean? Yeah.

Or any sort of verbal insult was grounds for torture and hanging. Any dancing, tribal customs, including traditional funerary rituals and rights, were punishable by whipping. The code, which was written with the intention of controlling the enslaved through fear tactics, only intensified the already deep motivation for revolt, and seeing no other alternative, that is exactly what happened. So shortly after the announcement of the Code, a group of enslaved Aquamu began working on a plan

to take down their enslavers and take control of the island as well as the estates and the plantations on it. However, their aim was not escape. It was to make St. John an Aquamu ruled state. To take control of the island, the people, both Danish and other enslaved peoples from other tribal nations in Africa and use the plantations for their own benefit. So I think that's so such a departure from other stories that we've read and shared here because the goal was always to run away. We don't want to be involved anymore.

And I think it's an interesting mixture because number one, this is an island where are you going to escape to? Like without adequate. Yeah, you have to stay. Transportation. Essentially. Yeah, unless you took over a ship or a crew or, you know. But then you still have to go somewhere where you're accepted. Which where is that going to be anywhere near, you know, the islands without a long voyage? So there's that, obviously, at play. Yeah. But it's also interesting because it's so telling of, you know, at home, like the Aquamu Nation ruled other tribal nations in Africa. So it's like they wanted to kind of replicate that. Have that again. Yeah, have that again. So essentially, their aim was to recreate and re-institute their home nation's former reign and create the first

free African state in the Americas. So that was their goal going into this. And four people emerged as the rebellions leaders. There was King Clay's, King Juni, King Kanta, and Breffu. King Klaes, King Juni, and King Kanta had been prominent members of their nation before they were abducted from Africa. And their social status warranted a lot of respect from the enslaved community on the island. Like, people knew who they were. They were nobles, you know, so the enslaved community plotted during secret meetings and established a communication network throughout the island. And word of the rebellion spread very quickly throughout the enslaved community on the island. And instructions were given about the plan, the goal, what everyone, you know, how was going to go

down. But most importantly, their instructions were to listen for cannon shots. And once you hear them, you kill every European you can find. Damn. It's going to go down. I'm telling you right now. I am. This is about to get bloody and messy. No survivors. Well, you'll see. It's so, it's like, it's crazy because it's not crazy. That's a bad word. But it's just so interesting because the juxtaposition of what we know the Virgin Islands to be now and what is about what I'm about to tell you. It's just, it's crazy to like overlay the two. And like I kind of mentioned, we'll get to it in detail further at the end. But the park service does highlight the, the, um, Obviously, I mean, it's a huge chunk of the island's history is slavery and what happened.

So, I mean, and if these people are about to go in and kill everybody, I'm sure that that left a major mark on the history there as well. And I mean, you can't blame them. No. They've all been enslaved. They're being killed. They don't have food. They're being overworked. They're not paid.

They're in a foreign country. Yeah, you're going to insult me. I'll take your leg or I'll hang you. Yeah. You know, it's just... It's... The punishments don't fit the crime. Yeah.

And you're already holding these people against their will. Yep. So it's about to all unfold here in the early morning hours of November 23rd of 1733. And remember, the slave code or whatever went into effect in May. So since that, that was like the last straw, essentially. Gotcha. So in the months between May and November is kind of... of when this plan started to really gain legs and take form. So on the 23rd in the early morning

hours, a group of enslaved people carried bundles of wood into the fort on Coral Bay. What looked like a simple delivery was in fact the violent beginning of their plan. Hidden in the woodpiles were knives. And I'm going to say in many, many of these sources, including on the National Park Service site, they refer to the enslaved peoples as the rebels, because they're the people. they're rebelling against the system or whatever. Rebels, they're fighting for their freedom. So the rebels. Rebels usually referring to like someone who's doing something wrong against.

Right. Yeah, like bad. Like they're just trying to be alive and treated like actual people. Yeah. So I just want to clarify that. Like I don't want that connotation to be taken for when I'm trying to explain the story. It's just how they've been referred to in history. Yes.

Of course. Gotcha. Yep. So in the woodpiles, there's the knives, which the rebels. used to kill the still sleepy soldiers who were guarding the fort because it's very early in the morning. People are just waking up. So they kill the soldiers. And it also bears mentioning that at the time, there were only six soldiers total on the island. Just again, here's the ratio starting to come into play. I would not want to be one of those soldiers, like creating these rules. It's like,

have you counted how many there are of us? Yeah, maybe we have weapons. But what's that going to do against a thousand people to six. And it does also, it's important to mention that a lot of these rules and regulations and all that are kind of coming from the higher-ups who aren't really on the island themselves. You know what I mean? So there's a mixture here of, I'm sure, you know, when that kind of came down, it's like, okay, there's all these rules and regulations and all these harsh punishments and there's six soldiers.

and some plantation owners, you know. Yeah. So anyway, after taking the fort, the rebels raised the flag and fired three cannon shots, which was the signal to the others that everyone else was waiting for. One of the fort soldiers was able to hide and ran away when he saw the opportunity, and he managed to secure a small boat and made his way to neighboring St. Thomas, where he alerted Danish officials of what just happened. but chaos was already well underway and the fort had fallen.

Shortly before the cannon shots were fired, Brefou, because remember I said there was the three kings and then Brefoo, as kind of like the leaders of this plan. Brefou and an enslaved man named Christian were waiting quietly outside a small stone house belonging to the family of plantation owners, the Croyers. Once they heard the signal, Brefu entered the house and killed the entire family, raided the home for ammunition and weapons before moving on to the van derives.

Steele family home where three of the plantation owners' families were also killed. King Juni, King Kanta, and King Clay's each split into groups and systematically made their way through Coral Bay, slaughtering men, women, and children as they moved through the island. Rebel numbers rose as they went from plantation to plantation, and the killing continued. Some Europeans were spared, most notably a doctor whose name is Cornelius Bojer. He was given a pass due to the care that he had provided to the enslaved community because he was he was the island's doctor his two sons were also spared however they were made into servants for the new rebel leaders you can live like well you can live but rules are reverse now yep so you work for us now i'm the

captain now i'm the captain now yeah fair yep fair again fair other europeans were able to narrowly escape to other islands after hearing of the plans from loyal, quote unquote, loyal servants. So once like kind of the chaos was unfolding and the cat was kind of out of the bag, some of the enslaved peoples that worked for some plantation owners told them what was happening and they were able to escape. In one case for the Jansen family, their enslaved workers actually kept the rebels at bay while they retreated to safety at the Durlow plantation, which had become a sort of stronghold for the European settlers during this uprising. So they kind of made that plantation into the headquarters safe space. I don't know. They kind of fortified it and that's kind of where

they all went during the uprising. The Aquamu killed or took control over any enslaved person who resisted or did not wish to participate in the rebellion. It's like you're with us or you're not with us at all. Yeah. Essentially. They looted any home that they could after killing the inhabitants of the home before setting their sights on the Durlow plantation where many of the settlers who had not been able to escape by boat had then retreated. As the Aquamu approached, the settlers who had fortified the plantation, fought back with musket fire and cannons, but the Aquamu fought back repeatedly and viciously.

Despite nearly capturing the plantation several times and setting fire to the munition pile at that plantation, the settlers held their ground. Word traveled to the nearby islands and dozens of men were stationed on watch every night in case of a surprise attack, because they didn't know if it was just going to be restricted, just to St. John. They didn't know if there were plans to come to the other places. Right. Yeah. I mean, they're not that far. Right. Please from the Danish on St. John

for aid was sent to St. Thomas. The governor sent a small party of soldiers consisting of other enslaved Africans that were enslaved on that island. The army was well armed and they were able to recapture the fort and scatter the rebels. So the original fort that had fallen, they managed to capture that and kind of scatter out a lot of the people. throughout the island, and the rebels scattered throughout the forests and the bush of the island. They survived off the land and by looting abandoned plantations and farms. They held their ground fighting guerrilla style before disappearing back into the bush, and this continued for over two months before any additional support arrived by way of a British ship

carrying 60 soldiers. 60? 60. 6.0. And how many people are fighting on the other side? The original numbers was a thousand enslaved people to, what did I say, 300? 200, excuse me, 200 European settlers, more than a thousand enslaved people this year in 1733. And now they sent 60 soldiers for still around 1,000 people. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there were some people who lost their lives. Fatalities. Yeah, fatalities. Still, there's hundreds more than 60. But I have a feeling that they probably really underestimated what was happening. Yeah. So that way, part of why they were enslaving these people is because they thought very little of them.

Correct. So they probably didn't think the uprising that was happening was as organized and successful as it was being. Correct. Yeah. So that support, unsurprisingly, didn't last very long. The rebels staged an ambush as soon as that ship was arriving and killed and wounded several of those soldiers before the captain decided to retreat. So he's like, let's turn it right back around and get out here. There's not enough of us.

We're out of here. He read the room. The Danes were more than desperate at this point. None of the support that they had enlisted made even a dent in the insurrection. In February, a St. Kitts-based privateer named John Maddox was hired by Danish officials. And remember, okay, this began in November. We're now in February. So they're getting desperate here.

They're like, please help. This needs to end. It's been a long time. It's been months. And if you think about it, like, I think part of why this is so, why it's taking so long is they already had these people living off the land and surviving on their own. So now it's like, we're good. You have, now we're just like fighting you guys. We can live off the land.

There's not a lot of you. We know our way around. We now know this place. We've been working our asses off for months. Like, we're fit. And the, like, they just so underestimated the Aquamu Nation. because of course there are other people from different tribes and nations that are in this mix, but it's called the Aquamu insurrection for a reason. And they were just so they knew what they were doing. I mean, they had a lot of control in their homeland, you know, like these are not people to mess with and they're showing it now. So back to the privateer, John Maddox, he was hired for help. And the deal was that he and his men could capture as many or were encouraged to capture as many of the enslaved rebels as possible, and he could keep all of

them for his own use. Interesting. Except for the 10 most dangerous rebels or most violent, which would then be turned over to Danish authorities for punishment. Which we all know what that looks like for the smallest thing. Right. So imagine what it would be for this. So again, that did not pan out because on the very first interaction that John Maddox and his

crew had with the rebels. Nearly 10 of his men were dead or wounded immediately, like right off the bat. And he retreated. So, and he gave up his deal. He's like, I don't want it. Like, I don't need any of them, please. Like, I don't want anything to do with this. I don't know what's going on here, but I don't, I'm not interested. Like, we're not a matter. Like, they just, again, the underestimation just keeps coming back. And it wasn't until April that the Danish struck a deal that would turn the tides at the rebellion. They struck a deal with the French, who at the time were indebted. And desperate need of money. On April 23rd, the French arrived with 400 soldiers, many of which specialized in so-called maroon hunting, or, in other words, the tracking, capturing, and killing of runaway enslaved people. A relentless pursual of the rebels ensued as they pushed them to the east side of St. John. Many were captured or killed in this process, but the remaining

rebels who refused to surrender climbed up a rocky cliffside overlooking Brown's Bay, knowing that defeat was imminent together, they jumped, completing a group suicide. Wow. 24 bodies were found at the base of the cliff and among them was Breffu, who, to the shock of the Danish, was a woman. Damn. That's cool. Isn't that cool? That's cool. Good for her. Yeah. Like there was a big, there was a big thing about that. Like, who would have thought a woman? Oh my God, a woman. Was a leader, one of the leaders of this rebellion. And the successful rebellion. How could a woman's brain manage that? And she, I mean, she killed, she killed a lot of people. Because remember, she entered a lot of plantation killed women, children. And, you know, she was just like, this is for my people. And, uh, yeah. So the French troops continued this relentless pursual throughout the island, locating and destroying rebel encampments that were kind of scattered throughout the remaining forests, capturing and killing people as they went. Suicide continued. and some enslaved people surrendered.

Despite surrender, many were not spared. And I'm going to read an excerpt from a document found in the French National Archives written by one of the French commanders, which describes and gives an accurate picture of the horror that even those who surrendered faced. And I'm pretty much going to read it word for word. So as for the warnings, A, number one, it's brutal. And B, the language is clearly, you can tell it was written in 1734 by a French commander. It's completely not acceptable today, but it's very brief as far as that part.

So, quote, on Sunday, May 16th, 1734, six Negroes and two Negro women surrendered at the appeal of their master who spared their lives. I ordered him to bring them to me since they were identified as rebels. I had them put into chains. Three of them were burned at the stake on three different plantations of St. John. I had previously informed the governor while passing through St. Thomas that should I catch a few of the rebels, I would put most of them to death and send him the rest so that he could make an example of them. The following day, I informed him of their capture. He sent a judge who passed sentence for the sake of formality. I sent him the three other rebels along with the two women

and requested that he not have them executed until I be present. One was burned to death slowly, another was sawed in half, and the third was impaled. The two Negro women had their hands and heads cut off after all five had been tortured with hot pinchers throughout the town, end quote. That is horrific and horrible and disgusting. And the fact that the way that is written, it sounds like he was almost bragging about it. A hundred percent. And he was like, I requested that nothing happened to them until I could personally be there. Like, I wanted to be there for that.

It just shows how much they didn't view these people as humans and how it's just, it's disgusting. And it was, you know, in their view, they were making an example out of them, out of the rebels. And it's just... It's like, this is why they rebelled because this is the way that you treat that. It's just awful. So that's just kind of to give a glimpse into how horrific this was, you know? The French successfully reclaimed the island for the Danish and left. However, they were unaware at the time of their departure that there was a very small group of rebels that were still hiding.

in the bush. Eventually, a deal was struck between the leader of that small group named Prince and the settlers through a middleman in which essentially they would be forgiven if they came back to work. Prince and 14 others surrendered. But as we all know, promises are never kept. And sadly, Prince was shot and killed and his head was cut off as a trophy. His followers, the other 14 individuals, four of them died in jail on St. Thomas. Six were tortuous. to death, and four were sent to St. Croix to be worked to death. Yeah. So. Wow. That's horrific.

By the time, it was all over. In May of 1734, there was steep losses on both sides. 44 plantations were damaged. Approximately 300 enslaved people were dead, and three quarters of the European settlers were killed. The rebellion lasted six months and served as one of the earliest and longest lasting revolts of enslaved people in North America. It also inspired other revolts that would take place later, including on St. Croix, in Jamaica, Guyana, and in Haiti. Emancipation was won in the Danish West Indies in July of 1848, and by 1867, all sugar plantations were destroyed or shut down permanently. Shortly after, most of St. John fell into disuse, and the forest began to start reclaiming the land and the...

the abandoned structures. Industry lingered here and there, mainly cattle farming and some bay oil production until 1917, when the islands were purchased by the U.S. The United States was interested in the islands since the 1860s, actually, but negotiations took over 50 years before a deal was finally made. A formal transfer was made in March of 1917 when the islands were bought from the Danish for $25 million in gold coin. It was then, that the name also changed from the Danish West Indies to the Virgin Islands of the United States. From there, tourism kicks up in the 1930s and in the 1950s, the Rockefellers came onto the scene, considered one of the wealthiest families to have ever existed in human history.

They were also one of the first major philanthropists in this country. Lawrence Rockefeller owned an estate on St. John where he had constructed an ecologically friendly commercial resort, but seeking to expand environmental preservation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund supported the expansion of the park of the National Park. So five years after the park first opened, the Rockefeller family donated the resort and surrounding area, which in turn doubled the size of the national park that we have today. Wow, cool.

And they also have done similar preservation donations in Jackson Hole, of all places. Wow. They're also, the Rockefellers are, there's a national park for them. in Vermont. Oh, look at that. It's a marsh billings National Park and it talks a lot about their agricultural advances and how they spread sustainable farming across the country and how it began in Vermont. Look at that. I don't know too much about the Rockefellers. Do you? Um, I know, not really. Yeah, me either. So I can't comment further because I don't know what they're all about other than this nice, shiny good part of them. But they are obviously one of the most well-known

families in history period. Yeah. Them and the Carnegie's are like the big. Yeah. Do you remember that show? God, I think it was on the history channel. And I think it was called The Men Who Built America or something like that. Do you remember that?

And it highlighted like a different powerful family in American history and the Rockefellers, the Carnegie's. And there was like every episode was a different family. No, I don't remember. I don't know if I've ever seen that. Okay. Well, I'll have to look it up after because it was really interesting. But it was many years ago. Anyway, so back to the islands. So it's up for debate and it remains

unclear whether Prefu was of royal society in the Aquamu nation like the others were because I think partially because she was a woman a lot. Sometimes that kind of gets lost to history. But of course, we know the other leaders that the other three leaders were. But regardless, her leadership in the Rebellion gained her the posthumous title of Queen of St. John. There have been other documented cases of women playing roles in events such as the 1733 insurrection, but largely their stories remain invisible and lost to history due to who recorded history, of course. Yep. In fact, all we know today of Breffu is thanks to the verbal testimony in the aftermath of the rebellion. So it's only from word of mouth from the survivors of the rebellion that we know the role that she played.

And that she existed at all. Today in Cruise Bay and in other areas of St. John, she is celebrated at Independence Day festivals and parades as the queen of St. John. Cool. As I mentioned briefly at the beginning of the episode, the park preserves a diverse number of cultural sites, many of which are tied to this event and this period in history. Ruins of many of the plantations that existed on the island during sugar production are located within the park, two of which, Reef Bay Sugar Factory and Annaburg Plantation,

are very popular with visitors. There are ranger guided hikes that also provide a history of sugar production and the enslavement of Africans on the island, as well as an annual festival at the Annenberg Sugar Plantation Ruins during Black History Month, which focuses on cultural traditions and includes the history of sugar production, there's arts and crafts, there's storytelling and music. However, the events of the 1733 insurrection were never commemorated

with any sort of physical marker or memorial or information board or anything. Oh. Until 2022, when legislation was introduced to install a memorial plaque to memorialize the uprising at the peak of Ramshead, which is the site of that ritualistic group suicide that I talked about. Wow. So two years ago at this record, when we're reporting this, two years ago, it was finally memorialized. Well, it was first even brought up. Like, hey, we should do something. Hey, this is an important part of history.

Maybe we should. Especially, we have talks for everything else. Yeah, it took place in the park on one of the hikes that we advertise. Like, we should do something about that. Yeah. And there's a man, his name is Ahmad Torre. I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing that incorrectly. But he's the chief of interpretation at Virgin Islands National Park.

And he researched the rebellion extensively and spoke with various historians to get everything correct for the proposed signs language. He wanted to make sure everything was teas were crossed, the eyes were dotted. And the hike to the lookout at the top of Ram's head isn't a super popular hike with every visitor because it has a little bit of a rough climb. So along with the commemorative plaque that they wanted to put at the summit of that hike, he worked to install other informational signage about the event around the park in other locations so that more people could learn about it and you didn't just have to see it if you happened to hike that particular trail. Yeah, like especially I feel like parks all the time get people who aren't there to hike.

They're just here to visit the visitor center, see the beautiful views. So now for the people who are not venturing way out on these difficult things, they can learn about the park as well. Exactly. Like I totally understand having it at the exact location of a big moment in that insurrection. But of course, the insurrection happened throughout most of the island. So yeah. Let's commemorate that as well. And speaking of other locations, there is an iconic sculpture titled Freedom, known commonly

to Virgin Islander as the Conch Shell Blower, created by Ghanian sculptor Bright Bingpong. It was erected in 1998 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved people on the islands, and it was placed in Cruise Bay on St. John. So if you type in the Conch Shell Blower, you'll see it. And in 2017, a copy of that sculpture, along with two others, by the same sculptor, the same artist, were sent to Denmark, where they were given permanent public locations, including one in Copenhagen to remind the Danish public of their nation's colonial past, including their involvement and status as a quote-unquote slave nation. And the memorial served as the country's first official memorial of the slave era. So there's one on the island and a few in Denmark. Very cool.

University of Maryland history professor Richard Bell, who has studied slavery extensively, said, quote, all of us from the general public to academic historians, can benefit from being presented with the incontrovertible evidence that enslaved people dreamed of freedom every day of their lives. Toray added, quote, national park managers must be hyperconscious about how they are sharing history. We need to be much more intentional about what we are doing and seek to break away from what has conventionally been taught and look to fill the gaps because we are the keepers of American history and we are working in those places where history happened. So if the U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Thomas in particular are on your upcoming travel list,

please consider a hike up to Ramshead. The 2.3 mile out and back trail is considered moderately challenging and is rocky and steep in some areas, but it is a favorite amongst those who actually venture there. And now, as of March, you said, oh my God, two years ago, that's when it was just being presented as an idea. So as of March of 2024, a memorial plaque now sits at the summit of Ramshead. It was three months ago. Three months ago. It was unveiled after a commemorative hike and ceremony led and attended by members of the Park Service, delegates to Congress and the public. And it reads, In memory of the brave St. Johnians enslaved ancestors who, in 1733, organized the first major

battles of resistance against the brutality of the European slave trade in the Americas. On November 23, 1733, Aquamu nobles King Kanta, Kinclais, King Juni, and the legendary Queen Brefou successfully led an organized armed conflict against their European enslavers. The Aquamu of the Gold Coast, today, known as Ghana, West Africa, along with other enslaved individuals, fought and controlled the Danish colony of St. John for almost six months before collaborative European forces managed to regain control. In the area of Ramhead, a number of freedom fighters, rather than be returned to enslavement, ritualistically took their own lives in April of 1734. These events are significant to the history

of St. John, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United States. These events continue to inspire future generations to oppose the injustices of colonialism. And that is the story of the 1733 Aquamu insurrection. Wow. Well, thank you for sharing it because I knew nothing of this at all. I never heard this history. No. And one of the bloodiest, like most brutal uprisings. And it just served as kind of a launch point. Like I briefly mentioned, it inspired a lot of other uprisings throughout history. And I just I mean, after a successful uprising overall, I can see how that would inspire other people to be like, hey, we can't let this keep happening. And we can do this. Like, we can form, we're notable adversaries, you know, like, we are not what our enslavers view us to be.

And let's show them. So, yeah. So, yeah, I thought, you know, like I said, it's, it is kind of hard to imagine all of that happening in a place that people vacation at and all that. Yeah, now you go there to swim and lay on the beach and drink fruity drinks and birdwatch and whatever. It's like, you know actually what happened here? Let me tell you. It was horrific. Yeah.

So that's that. Hope everyone learned a little bit of something today. And if you are ever on the island, please take that hike. If you're able and send us a picture, that would be really cool to see like full circle, like come around. That would be cool. Yeah, to see one of you up there. But yeah, so we will see you next time. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye. Bye.

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