Since the 1760s, St. Thomas, benefiting from free port status and one of the finest natural harbors in the world, has been a hub of Atlantic maritime trade and commerce. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a vast variety of trade goods from the far reaches of the Atlantic World (Europe, Africa, and the Americas) arrived annually onboard thousands of vessels, was warehoused in the town of Charlotte Amalie and sold to local planters as well as foreign merchants and ship captains for transport elsewhere in the region. This lucrative, transit trade was closely supervised and carefully documented by Danish harbor authorities. As shown by this record compiled in 1804, their accounting of ship arrivals showed the date of arrival, the captain’s name, the vessel’s type, name, nationality, port of disembarkation and primary cargo. Note that two of the ships listed were slavers, that were permitted to enter after the official termination of the slave trade in 1803, because their voyage had commenced in that year.
In this activity, students will use questions to Analyze a Written Document, and determine how the information in the document applies to the transit trade. They will also consider why a slave ship was allowed to enter the port after the Danish slave trade was terminated.
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Primary Sources in this Activity
Suggested Teaching Instructions
This primary source activity includes the topic of slavery. Viewed as a sensitive topic for classroom lessons, teachers should consider their students ability to engage with the topic, give background information, create a safe environment for discussion, and be prepared to support their students’ questions and responses to the subject matter.
Before using this document, lead a class in a discussion about the free port status of Charlotte Amalie, Danish West Indies, its significance, and its connection with the transit trade in the 1800s.
This document is written in Danish. Danish was the main language used in government operations in the Danish West Indies. Historians and researchers must transcribe and translate such documents in order to use them in their research. The teacher will therefore need to be prepared to have students transcribe some of the words on the document and then translate them in order to identify the cargo carried by the ships listed. A translation of the column headings is provided.
Load the cargo manifest on a smart board, or individual computers. Help students to make sense of the cargo manifest.
