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High School Level

Who Ended Slavery in the Danish West Indies, and Does it Matter?

Activity Type: Written Document
Peter von Scholten became the Governor-General of the Danish West Indies in 1827. Under his leadership there were reforms that eased conditions for the free-Blacks and for the enslaved laborers. These included free-Blacks having largely the same civil rights as Europeans in the islands (1834), and having some schools…
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High School Level

St. John to BVI, Running away to “Freedom”

Activity Type: Written Document
The Danish West Indian archives contain a vast amount of documentation about police matters, including correspondence, reports, and cases that demonstrate unrelenting resistance to enslavement, as well as actual crimes. Although most of it is rendered in the Danish gothic script, some of the correspondence, like these two letters,…
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High School Level

Running Against the Odds, Sarah of St. Croix

Activity Type: Artwork, Map, Written Document
During the time of slavery in the Danish West Indies enslaved Africans regularly attempted to escape. At times, they succeeded. Danish West Indian authorities issued laws, such as the slave code of 1733, to sanction and punish such behavior. Slave owners used island newspapers to notify the community that…
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Junior High School Level

Emancipation Proclamation July 3, 1848

Activity Type: Written Document
Slavery ended in the Danish West Indies on July 3, 1848, when thousands of enslaved protesters assembled in Frederiksted, St. Croix and forced Governor-General Peter von Scholten to verbally proclaim “all unfree are now free”. That momentous event was largely peaceful, but disturbances broke out the following day. The…
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Junior High School Level

Runaway Notice in St. Thomas Tidende, St. Thomas, 14 December 1825

Activity Type: Written Document
Newspapers provide abundant information about the people and communities they serve. On their pages can be found accounts of local and international events, government proclamations, notices of happenings, arrivals and departures, marriages, deaths, items for sale, public notices, international events, and the like. The first newspaper was published in…
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Junior High School Level

Letters about the St. John Slave Revolt 1733-1734

Activity Type: Written Document
The most common type of archival record is correspondence. Civil servants transmit documents of all kinds, add commentary and information, and receive feedback through letters. While official correspondence is often bureaucratic in style, it is also informative and insightful. The letters shown here are part of a collection of…
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Getting Started
Teach VI History has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: CARES Act Emergency Relief Grants for Humanities, through the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI). 
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