St. Croix’s recorded history began November 13, 1493 when Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage, anchored off the mouth of Salt River on the north coast and sent a crew ashore to find fresh water.  After a less-than-friendly welcome from the Carib Indians, the great explorer hastily resumed his explorations through the island chain he had dubbed The Virgins, in honour of St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgins.  Our island, the largest, he named Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) as he claimed it for Spain.  The Indian name was AyAy.

 

The Carib Indians originated from South America and had conquered the peaceful Arawak Indians who were the earlier inhabitants.  The Carib were man-hunting, man-eating Indians, especially of their enemies.  They made slaves of their other Indian neighbours on the island.  As famine, diseases and settlers from other countries moved in, they began to decrease in number and eventually disappeared.  

 

The Spanish made little effort to colonize, concentrating instead on the mineral wealth of nearby Puerto Rico, but within a century both English and Dutch settlers, at opposite ends of the island, began to exploit St. Croix’s agricultural potential.

 

Repeated squabbles between the three groups gradually ended by the mid-17th century, when the French forcefully moved in, beginning an-80 year tenure over Spanish protests.  

 

For a time, indigo plantations were popular on the island as there was great demand in Europe for indigo for cloth dying.

 

In 1687, it was recorded that St. Croix had 5 churches, a population of 1,125 people, no towns, and no African Slaves.

 

Meanwhile, the Danes became interested in the profits to be gained in the West Indies.  In 1733 the Danish West India & Guinea Company purchased St. Croix from France.  They built the cities of Christiansted (1735) and Frederiksted (1751) and six years later the island had 241 sugar and cotton plantations.  

 

In 1735, the company had posters in Copenhagen trying to persuade Danish people to move to the West Indies for employment, livelihood and prosperity, but none of their promotions seemed to succeed in persuading the Danish to emigrate.  As a result, the English, Dutch and other nationalities outnumbered the Danes.  The Danes firmly controlled the government and were required to communicate in Danish, but English became the language of daily use.  

 

In 1753, the King of Denmark bought the financially troubled Company, and St. Croix was designated the new capital of the Danish West Indies (St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John).  The King later gave the Moravians special permission to help meet the spiritual needs of the slaves, and also lifted the ban against the Presbyterian, Anglican and Catholic Churches.

 

In the 1800’s, the prosperity of “King Sugar” diminished as beet sugar cut into the market.  Despite Danish efforts, the economic decline was aggravated by hurricanes, earthquakes, epidemics, and labor riots.

 

America sought to buy the Virgin Islands from Denmark in the 1860’s, but didn’t succeed until World War I, when the United States was worried about enemy approaches to the Panama Canal.  The islands were purchased by the U.S. for $25 million, and on March 31, 1917, the Stars and Stripes replaced the Danish Danneborg.  

 

For More Historical Information About St. Croix Please Visit  www.StCroixLandmarks.com

Report of Peter Oxholm, Governor General of Danish West Indies

Dated May 4, 1816

 

Number of plantation
slaves in 1815     

20,667

 

Number of slaves converted to Christianity (baptized)   

18,637       (heathen)   2,030

 

Total population of
slaves on St. Croix in 1815   

24,330

 

Number of free
(former slaves) in St. Croix in 1815    

2,480

 

Number of whites
in St. Croix in  1815    

 1,840

 

Total population of
Danish West Indies in 1815

St. Croix  28,650    

 

Broken down  

Whites  4,119

St. Thomas  8,799      

Free Slaves 5,035

St. John  2,734      

Slaves  31,029

 

Total:   40,183