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70-403: Locals often call Frederiksted "Freedom City". This nickname has to do with the fact that the town was the site of the emancipation of slaves in the then- Danish West Indies . On July 3, 1848, freed slave and skilled craftsman Moses Gottlieb, also known as "General Buddhoe", led the uprising, organized slaves on St. Croix's West End plantations, and marched on Frederiksted. The emancipation of slaves

140-567: A Danish colony in the Caribbean , consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with 83 square kilometres (32 sq mi); Saint John ( Danish : St. Jan ) with 49 square kilometres (19 sq mi); and Saint Croix with 220 square kilometres (85 sq mi). The islands have belonged to the United States as the Virgin Islands since they were purchased in 1917. Water Island

210-503: A British fleet captured St Thomas on 22 December and Saint Croix on 25 December. The Danes did not resist and the invasion was bloodless. This British occupation of the Danish West Indies lasted until 20 November 1815, when Britain returned the islands to Denmark. By the 1850s, the Danish West Indies had a total population of about 41,000 people. The government of the islands was under a governor-general, whose jurisdiction extended to

280-612: A base for pirates attacking ships in the vicinity and also for the Brandenburg African Company . Governor Lorentz raised enormous taxes upon them and seized warehouses and cargoes of tobacco, sugar, and slaves in 1689 only to have his actions repudiated by the authorities in Copenhagen; his hasty action to seize Crab Island prohibited the Brandenburgers from establishing their own Caribbean colony, however. Possession of

350-458: A better life, and therefore many slaves were converted. By 1900, with a population of 30,000, a fourth of the people were Catholics , while most of the rest were Anglicans , Moravians , or other Protestants . For decades, the Moravians had organized missions and also taken charge of the educational system. Chattel slavery was practiced in the Danish West Indies from at least the 1670s until

420-444: A course along which the winds can be expected to blow in the direction of travel. During the Age of Sail , the pattern of prevailing winds made various points of the globe easy or difficult to access, and therefore had a direct effect on European empire-building and thus on modern political geography. For example, Manila galleons could not sail into the wind at all. By the 18th century,

490-827: A meaningful role in St. Croix. 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the sale of the colony by Denmark to the United States. With this centennial, conversations on the legacy of Danish–Norwegian colonization and slavery were reignited in the Scandinavian mainstream. For example, the artists Jeannette Ehlers and La Vaughn Belle unveiled Denmark's first statue of a black woman, I Am Queen Mary, to memorialize Denmark's colonial impact. 18°19′30″N 64°50′06″W  /  18.3250°N 64.8350°W  / 18.3250; -64.8350 Trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in

560-401: A second rebellion had formed and some fires had been set, and had notices disseminated to the other islands. General Buddhoe worked with the governor and other officials to end the riots and violence that had broken out on a few estates. In the aftermath, Buddhoe is said to have been jailed and exiled to Trinidad . Governor von Scholten also fared poorly. As governor, he did not actually have

630-534: A slave rebellion, taking over Frederiksted , Saint Croix. That evening, hundreds of slaves gathered peaceably outside Fort Frederik refusing to work the next day and demanding freedom. By 10 a.m. the following morning, about 8,000 slaves had joined. On the afternoon of 3 July 1848 (now known as Emancipation Day ), Peter von Scholten, in order to end the rebellion and prevent bloodshed and damages, went to Frederiksted and announced an immediate and total emancipation of all slaves. He then went to Christiansted , where

700-450: A slower pace than Christiansted , except for carnival in January and whenever cruise ships dock in its deepwater port. In recent years successful redevelopment efforts have begun to restore and revitalize this National Historic Site. The 2000 census population of the town was 732, and that of the larger sub-district was 3,767. Several companies have drafted plans to refurbish and enhance

770-628: Is at the South Port and includes the tank farm of the former Hovensa oil refinery and Renaissance Industrial Park. Several government offices occupy historic buildings in the town. In the early 2000s, Frederiksted was briefly a port for Seaborne Airlines seaplanes, which are based in Christiansted. Seaplane service ended after less than a year when a tropical storm damaged the port facility. The 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and tsunami heavily damaged

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840-534: Is caused by descending air aloft from within the subtropical ridge . The weaker the trade winds become, the more rainfall can be expected in the neighboring landmasses. The trade winds also transport nitrate- and phosphate-rich Saharan dust to all Latin America , the Caribbean Sea , and to parts of southeastern and southwestern North America. Sahara dust is on occasion present in sunsets across Florida . When dust from

910-485: Is in the leeward side (shadow of the island's wind) with about a 12 inches or 0.30 metres tide. The sunrise varies from 5:30 a.m. in summer to 7:00 a.m. in winter. Sunset varies between 5:40 p.m. in winter to 7:10 p.m. in summer. St. Croix does not use Daylight Saving Time. The ultraviolet index varies from 10+ in the summer and a maximum of 7 in winter. Persistent 19-knot (35 km/h; 22 mph) easterly trade winds , moving from east to west across

980-672: Is known as a temperature inversion. When it occurs within a trade wind regime, it is known as a trade wind inversion. The surface air that flows from these subtropical high-pressure belts toward the Equator is deflected toward the west in both hemispheres by the Coriolis effect . These winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere . Because winds are named for

1050-510: Is warm, trade winds are stronger within the tropics. The cold phase of the AO leads to weaker trade winds. When the trade winds are weaker, more extensive areas of rain fall upon landmasses within the tropics, such as Central America . During mid-summer in the Northern Hemisphere (July), the westward-moving trade winds south of the northward-moving subtropical ridge expand northwestward from

1120-627: The Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean . In meteorology , they act as the steering flow for tropical storms that form over the Atlantic, Pacific, and southern Indian oceans and cause rainfall in North America , Southeast Asia , and Madagascar and East Africa . Shallow cumulus clouds are seen within trade wind regimes and are capped from becoming taller by a trade wind inversion , which

1190-447: The Caribbean Sea into southeastern North America (Florida and Gulf Coast). When dust from the Sahara moving around the southern periphery of the ridge travels over land, rainfall is suppressed and the sky changes from a blue to a white appearance which leads to an increase in red sunsets. Its presence negatively impacts air quality by adding to the count of airborne particulates. Although

1260-612: The German Empire , respectively. The islands were eventually sold to the United States for $ 25 million (equivalent to $ 594,550,000 in 2023) which took over the administration on 31 March 1917 and renamed the territory the United States Virgin Islands. Merchants in Copenhagen asked King Christian IV for permission to establish a West Indian trading company in 1622, but, by the time an eight-year monopoly on trade with

1330-419: The Sahara travels over land, rainfall is suppressed and the sky changes from a blue to a white appearance which leads to an increase in red sunsets. Its presence negatively impacts air quality by adding to the count of airborne particulates. The term originally derives from the early fourteenth century sense of trade (in late Middle English ) still often meaning "path" or "track". The Portuguese recognized

1400-604: The West Indies , Virginia , Brazil and Guinea was granted on 25 January 1625, the failure of the Danish East India and Iceland Companies and the beginning of Danish involvement in the Thirty Years' War dried up any interest in the idea. Prince Frederick organized a trading mission to Barbados in 1647 under Gabriel Gomez and the de Casseres brothers, but it and a 1651 expedition of two ships were unsuccessful. It

1470-1039: The abolition of slavery in 1848. Most slaves worked on plantations, particularly in sugar production , though some also worked at the harbors. Slaves outnumbered Europeans on all islands, often by large margins. On Saint Thomas, population expansion was recorded as 422 Africans and 317 Europeans in 1688, 555 Africans and 383 Europeans in 1699, and 3,042 Africans and 547 Europeans in 1715 (a ratio of more than 5:1), and by 1755 slaves outnumbered Europeans 12:1. On Saint John, there were 677 Africans and 123 Europeans in 1728, 1086 Africans and 208 Europeans in 1733 (a ratio of more than 5:1), and by 1770 slaves outnumbered Europeans 19:1. On Saint Croix in 1797, there were 25,452 slaves and 2,223 Europeans (a ratio of more than 11:1) as well as 1,164 freedmen, and in 1815 there were 24,330 slaves and 180 Europeans (a ratio of more than 135:1) as well as 2,480 freedmen. At that time, freedmen (many of whom had purchased their freedom) also outnumbered Europeans on Saint Thomas and Saint John. Trading African slaves

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1540-537: The local population approved the transfer in a plebiscite , but the US Senate never voted on the treaty and it expired. The Danish Parliament rejected both a convention and a treaty in 1902. The United States acted again in 1915 because of the islands' strategic position near the approach to the Panama Canal and because of a fear that Germany might seize them to use as U-boat bases during World War I. A referendum

1610-452: The Danish West Indies depended on slavery. After a rebellion, slavery was officially abolished in 1848, leading to the near economic collapse of the plantations. In 1852, the Danish parliament first debated the sale of the increasingly unprofitable colony. Denmark tried several times to sell or exchange the Danish West Indies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: to the United States and to

1680-563: The Dutch assisting their countrymen on Ter Tholen in stealing everything of value, particularly the remaining Danish guns and ammunition. The Danes formed a Board of Trade in 1668 and secured a commercial treaty with Britain, providing for the unmolested settlement of uninhabited islands, in July 1670. The Danish West India Company was organized in December and formally chartered by King Christian V

1750-595: The Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere , strengthening during the winter and when the Arctic oscillation is in its warm phase. Trade winds have been used by captains of sailing ships to cross the world's oceans for centuries. They enabled European colonization of the Americas , and trade routes to become established across

1820-507: The European population. One of the earliest colonial governors , Gabriel Milan , was a Sephardic Jew . In spite of a general tolerance for religion, many African religions were not recognized because they typically revolved around belief in animism and magic, beliefs that were consistently met with scorn, and were regarded as immoral and subservient. A widespread viewpoint was that if one could convert slaves to Christianity, they could have

1890-706: The Southeast US has some of the cleanest air in North America, much of the African dust that reaches the United States affects Florida. Since 1970, dust outbreaks have worsened due to periods of drought in Africa. There is a large variability in the dust transport to the Caribbean and Florida from year to year. Dust events have been linked to a decline in the health of coral reefs across the Caribbean and Florida , primarily since

1960-525: The US removing its objections to Denmark taking control of the whole of Greenland . Danish administration ended on 31 March 1917 , when the United States took formal possession of the territory and renamed it the United States Virgin Islands . Rear Admiral James H. Oliver was the first American governor of the Danish West Indies. At the time of the U.S. purchase of the Danish West Indies in 1917,

2030-535: The USVI. Phase I of the project was completed, which consisted of the reconstruction of the waterfront park while maintaining the historical facade representative of St. Croix's heritage. Natural stonework was used throughout the project site in accordance with the local architectural style. Phase II of the project will involve reconstruction of the community waterfront north of the fort and re-creation of breakwaters, reconstruction of Paul E. Joseph Stadium , and restoration of

2100-443: The authority to end slavery, but had found himself in a situation where he needed to take immediate action that could not wait for communicating with Denmark. For his actions, he was called back to Denmark to face a trial for treason. He was first denied his pension, but later cleared of the charges. When Denmark abolished slavery in 1848, many plantation owners wanted full reimbursement on the grounds that their assets were damaged by

2170-552: The beach, restroom facilities, retaining pond, utilities, parking areas, and soccer fields. Volunteerism is a big part of Frederiksted. Clean Sweep Frederiksted engages volunteers in community cleanups, mural and garden projects, and other opportunities. It also worked with the Artists Guild of St. Croix to install dozens of painted rum barrels as community trash bins. The Artists Guild of St. Croix has installed several murals and paintings, and sponsors scholarships. Delta Dorsch , who

Frederiksted, U.S. Virgin Islands - Misplaced Pages Continue

2240-503: The church worked closely together to maintain law and order; the church was responsible for people's moral upbringing, and the king led the civil order. There was no state-sponsored religion in Denmark until 1849, but in the Danish West Indies there had always been a great deal of religious freedom. Danish authorities tended to be lenient towards religious beliefs, but required that all citizens had to observe Danish holidays . Freedom of religion

2310-688: The colony did not include Water Island , which had been sold by Denmark to the East Asiatic Company , a private shipping company, in 1905. The company eventually sold the island to the United States in 1944, during the German occupation of Denmark . St Thomas was a hub of the West Indies packet trade from 1851 to 1885. Denmark issued stamps for the Danish West Indies from 1856 onward. The Danish West Indies were inhabited by many different cultures, and each had its own traditions and religions. The king and

2380-549: The colony, on grounds that it was more disadvantageous than advantageous. The 1733 slave insurrection on St. John, which lasted from November 1733 until August 1734, was one of the earliest and longest slave rebellions in the Americas . The insurrection started on 23 November 1733, when 150 slaves, primarily Akwamus , revolted against plantation owners and managers. The slaves captured the fort in Coral Bay and took control of most of

2450-548: The colony. In 1675, Iversen claimed St. John and placed two men there; in 1684, Governor Esmit granted it to two English merchants from Barbados but their men were chased off the island by two British sloops sent by Governor Stapleton of the British Leeward Islands . Further instructions in 1688 to establish a settlement on St. John seem not to have been acted on until Governor Bredal made an official establishment on 25 March 1718. The islands quickly became

2520-606: The direction from which the wind is blowing, these winds are called the northeasterly trade winds in the Northern Hemisphere and the southeasterly trade winds in the Southern Hemisphere. The trade winds of both hemispheres meet at the Doldrums . As they blow across tropical regions, air masses heat up over lower latitudes due to more direct sunlight. Those that develop over land (continental) are drier and hotter than those that develop over oceans (maritime), and travel northward on

2590-569: The end of March 1801 a British fleet arrived at St Thomas. The Danes accepted the Articles of Capitulation the British proposed and the British occupied the islands without a shot being fired. The British occupation lasted until April 1802, when the British returned the islands to Denmark. The second British invasion of the Danish West Indies took place during the Napoleonic Wars in December 1807 when

2660-502: The equator while the flow aloft is towards the poles . A low-pressure area of calm, light variable winds near the equator is known as the doldrums , near-equatorial trough, intertropical front, or the Intertropical Convergence Zone . When located within a monsoon region, this zone of low pressure and wind convergence is also known as the monsoon trough . Around 30° in both hemispheres, air begins to descend toward

2730-486: The greater Frederiksted area. The Public Finance Authority retained Coastal Systems to develop concepts for a waterfront park, beach, cruise pier, and other site improvements. Teams of land planners, engineers, and landscape architects met with local interest groups to develop plans for redevelopment of the area. Environmental regulatory surveys and permits were managed by the Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Agency of

2800-614: The importance of the trade winds (then the volta do mar , meaning in Portuguese "turn of the sea" but also "return from the sea") in navigation in both the north and south Atlantic Ocean as early as the 15th century. From West Africa, the Portuguese had to sail away from continental Africa, that is, to west and northwest. They could then turn northeast, to the area around the Azores islands, and finally east to mainland Europe. They also learned that to reach South Africa, they needed to go far out in

2870-517: The importance of the trade winds to England's merchant fleet for crossing the Atlantic Ocean had led both the general public and etymologists to identify the name with a later meaning of "trade": "(foreign) commerce". Between 1847 and 1849, Matthew Fontaine Maury collected enough information to create wind and current charts for the world's oceans. As part of the Hadley cell , surface air flows toward

Frederiksted, U.S. Virgin Islands - Misplaced Pages Continue

2940-634: The island was subsequently disputed with the Scottish in 1698 and fully lost to the Spanish in 1811. St. Croix was purchased from the French West India Company in 1733. In 1754, the islands were sold to king Frederick V , becoming royal Danish-Norwegian colonies. The first British invasion and occupation of the Danish West Indies occurred during the French Revolutionary Wars , when at

3010-524: The island year round create a cool breeze. Rainforests occur on the western side of St. Croix due to the topography featuring 1,400 foot or 400 metres peaks, which gather moisture from the trade winds. This rainforest climate is unique to the Frederiksted side of St. Croix. Hurricanes: Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( Danish : Dansk Vestindien ) or Danish Virgin Islands ( Danish : Danske Jomfruøer ) or Danish Antilles were

3080-576: The island. Planters regained control by the end of May 1734, after the Akwamu were defeated by several hundred better-armed French and Swiss troops sent in April from Martinique , a French colony. Colony militia continued to hunt down maroons and finally declared the rebellion at an end in late August 1734. By the 1830s and 1840s, the sugar beet industry had reduced the profitability of sugarcane. The British Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 emancipated slaves in

3150-518: The largest labor revolt in Danish colonial history, took place on 1 October 1878. The revolt began because the formerly enslaved continued to live and work in slave-like conditions even though three decades had passed since the abolition of slavery. Mary Leticia Thomas , today referred to as Queen Mary of St. Croix, spearheaded the revolt alongside three other women: Axeline ‘Agnes’ Elizabeth Salomon, Matilde McBean and Susanna ‘Bottom Belly’ Abrahamsson. The Fireburn uprising and its leaders continue to have

3220-447: The loss of the slaves, and by the fact that they would have to pay for labor in the future. The Danish government paid fifty dollars for every slave the plantation owners had owned and recognized that the slaves' release had caused a financial loss for the owners. The lives of the formerly enslaved people changed very little because many continued to be bound to the plantation system through contractual servitude. Most were bound to serve

3290-567: The neighboring British West Indies , fully effective as of 1840. Abolition in the Danish West Indies was discussed, with Governor von Scholten , who had been seeking reforms since 1830, in favor of emancipation . Scholarly consensus suggests von Scholten's views were influenced by his free-colored mistress Anna Heegaard. King Christian VIII supported the gradual abolition of slavery and ruled in 1847 that every child born of an unfree woman should be free from birth, and that slavery would end entirely after 12 years. That ruling satisfied neither

3360-473: The next year on 11 March 1671. Jørgen Iversen Dyppel , a successful trader on Saint Christopher , was made governor and the king provided convicts from his jails and two vessels for the establishment of the colony, the yacht Den forgyldte Krone and the frigate Færøe . Den forgyldte Krone was ordered to run ahead and wait but ended up returning to Denmark after the Færøe under Capt. Zacharias Hansen Bang

3430-509: The ocean, head for Brazil, and around 30°S go east again. (This is because following the African coast southbound means sailing upwind in the Southern hemisphere.) In the Pacific Ocean, the full wind circulation, which included both the trade wind easterlies and higher-latitude westerlies , was unknown to Europeans until Andres de Urdaneta 's voyage in 1565. The captain of a sailing ship seeks

3500-420: The other Danish colonies of the group. However, because the islands formerly belonged to Great Britain, the inhabitants were English in customs and in language. The islands of that period consisted of: The United States had been interested in the islands since at least the 1860s when President Andrew Johnson came close to obtaining St. Thomas and St. John, as Denmark agreed to sell in 1867 for $ 7.5 million and

3570-433: The plantations where they had previously been enslaved. As employees, former slaves were not the plantation owners' responsibility and did not receive food or care from their employers. As part of a sharecropping system, some formerly enslaved people received a small hut, a little land, and some money; however, this one-time compensation did not change the harsh working conditions. The Fireburn labor riot , considered to be

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3640-536: The slaves nor the plantation owners. Meanwhile, on 27 April 1848, France signed a law to abolish slavery in their colonies within two months, but a slave insurrection on Martinique led to immediate abolition on Martinique on 22 May and Guadeloupe on 27 May. The slaves in the Danish West Indies did not want to wait for their freedom, either. On 2 July 1848, freedman John Gottlieb (also known as "Moses Gottlieb" or "General Buddhoe") and Admiral Martin King (among others) led

3710-433: The surface in subtropical high-pressure belts known as subtropical ridges . The subsident (sinking) air is relatively dry because as it descends, the temperature increases, but the moisture content remains constant, which lowers the relative humidity of the air mass. This warm, dry air is known as a superior air mass and normally resides above a maritime tropical (warm and moist) air mass. An increase of temperature with height

3780-467: The three islands. Britain occupied the Danish West Indies in 1801–1802 and 1807–1815 during the Napoleonic Wars . Danish colonizers in the West Indies aimed to exploit the profitable triangular trade , involving the export of firearms and other manufactured goods to Africa in exchange for slaves , who were then transported to the Caribbean to work the sugar plantations. Caribbean colonies, in turn, exported sugar, rum and molasses to Denmark. The economy of

3850-601: The town. The tsunami with an estimated height of 7.6 meters beached the USS Monongahela onshore. At least five people were killed. The town was destroyed by a labor revolt (known as "The Fireburn " because arson was utilized as a means of revolt) in October 1878, which was led by four Crucian female laborers. Frederiksted was restored during the Victorian era , as reflected in its architecture. Modern Frederiksted operates at

3920-480: The trade of slaves came into effect. Laws and regulations in the Danish West Indies were based on Denmark's laws, but the local government was allowed to adapt them to match local conditions. For example, things like animals, land, and buildings were regulated according to Danish law, but Danish law did not regulate slavery. Slaves were treated as common property, and therefore did not necessitate specific laws. In 1733, differentiation between slaves and other property

3990-584: The trade wind inversion. Trade winds originate more from the direction of the poles (northeast in the Northern Hemisphere, southeast in the Southern Hemisphere) during the cold season, and are stronger in the winter than the summer. As an example, the windy season in the Guianas , which lie at low latitudes in South America , occurs between January and April. When the phase of the Arctic oscillation (AO)

4060-416: The western periphery of the subtropical ridge. Maritime tropical air masses are sometimes referred to as trade air masses. All tropical oceans except the northern Indian Ocean have extensive areas of trade winds. Clouds which form above regions within trade wind regimes are typically composed of cumulus which extend no more than 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) in height, and are capped from being taller by

4130-721: Was born in Frederiksted, wrote The Role of the Storyteller in the Preservation of Virgin Islands Culture (1999) and contributed to The Glory Days of Frederiksted (2004) about Frederiksted's culture. Frederiksted has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen Aw ) featuring very warm to hot weather year-round. Water temperatures are usually around 78 to 79 °F (25.6 to 26.1 °C) in winter and 85 °F (29.4 °C) in September. The waters are typically very calm, as Frederiksted

4200-486: Was delayed for repairs in Bergen . The Færøe completed her mission alone, establishing a settlement on St. Thomas on 25 May 1672. From an original contingent of 190 – 12 officials, 116 company "employees" ( indentured servants ), and 62 felons and former prostitutes – only 104 remained, 9 having escaped and 77 having died in transit. Another 75 died within the first year, leaving only 29 to carry on

4270-545: Was destroyed by a hurricane in August. Smit returned from his fourth expedition in 1663 and formally proposed the settlement of St. Thomas to the king in April 1665. After only three weeks' deliberation, the scheme was approved and Smit was named governor . Settlers departed aboard the Eendragt on 1 July, but the expedition was ill-starred: The ship hit two large storms and suffered from fire before reaching its destination, and then it

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4340-451: Was held in Denmark itself on the future of the islands, which had become both a financial burden and a strategic concern. On 17 January 1917, according to the Treaty of the Danish West Indies , the Danish government sold the islands to the United States for $ 25 million ($ 595 million in current prices), when the United States and Denmark exchanged their respective treaty ratifications and with

4410-474: Was implied by a regulation that stated that slaves had their own will and thus could behave inappropriately or be disobedient. There was a general consensus that if the slaves were punished too hard or were malnourished, the slaves would start to rebel. This was borne out by the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John , where many plantation owners and their families were killed by the Akwamu , including Breffu , before it

4480-456: Was not until Erik Smit 's private 1652 expedition aboard the Fortuna was successful that interest in the West Indies' trade grew into an interest in the creation of a new Danish colony. Smit's 1653 expedition and a separate expedition of five ships were quite successful, but Smit's third expedition found his two vessels captured for a loss of 32,000 rigsdaler . Two years later, a Danish flotilla

4550-570: Was part of the transatlantic slave trade by Denmark–Norway around 1671, when the Danish West India Company was chartered, until 1 January 1803, when the 1792 law to abolish the slave trade came into effect. By 1778, it was estimated that the Danes were bringing about 3,000 Africans to the Danish West Indies yearly for enslavement. These transports continued until the end of 1802, when a 1792 law by Crown Prince Regent Frederik that banned

4620-443: Was part of the Danish West Indies until 1905, when the Danish state sold it to the East Asiatic Company , a private shipping company. The Danish West India-Guinea Company annexed uninhabited St. Thomas in 1672; annexed St. John in 1718; and bought St. Croix from France ( King Louis XV ) on 28 June 1733. When the Danish West India-Guinea Company went bankrupt in 1754, King Frederik V of Denmark–Norway assumed direct control of

4690-415: Was partially granted to help settle the islands, as there was a shortage of willing settlers from Europe. This worked to an extent, seeing that a large proportion of settlers were in fact Dutch and British natives fleeing religious persecution. Jews began settling the colony in 1655, and by 1796 the first synagogue was inaugurated. In its heyday in the mid-19th century, the Jewish community made up half of

4760-475: Was proclaimed on July 3, 1848, at Fort Frederik on the waterfront at the northern edge of Frederiksted by Governor-General Peter von Scholten . Frederiksted is home to one of two deep water ports on St. Croix and is the sole port for cruise ships visiting the island. Passengers disembark at the Frederiksted Pier , where they may explore the town, enjoy the beaches, rent a car, or catch a taxi that to other points of interest on St. Croix. The other deep water port

4830-441: Was raided by English privateers prosecuting the Second Anglo-Dutch War , in which Denmark was allied with the Netherlands. Smit died of illness, and a second band of privateers stole the ship and used it to trade with neighboring islands. Following a hurricane and a renewed outbreak of disease, the colony collapsed, with the English departing for the nearby French colony on Saint Croix , the Danes fleeing to Saint Christopher , and

4900-413: Was suppressed later the following year. In 1755 Frederick V of Denmark issued more new Regulations, in which slaves were guaranteed the right not to be separated from their children and the right to medical support during periods of illness or old age. However, the colonial government had the ability to amend laws and regulations according to local conditions, and thus the regulations were never enacted in

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