Slavery

The free coloreds – not so free after all

In addition to Europeans and enslaved laborers, a third population group lived in the Danish colony in the West Indies: the so-called free coloreds. These were people of African or African-European descent who were not enslaved but free. Formally, the free coloreds had the same rights as Europeans, but in practice they encountered many restrictions.
Certificate of manumission for the enslaved laborer Nancy from 1816.
Certificate of manumission for the enslaved laborer Nancy from 1816. The document declares that henceforth Nancy is free of all slavery and thralldom. In addition, it states that she was born on St. Croix and plans to support herself as a seamstress after her manumission. (The Danish National Archives).

The free coloreds achieved their freedom in several ways. They could be given their freedom by their owners, purchase their freedom, or be born free. Manumission (being granted freedom by an owner) was by far the most common of these different ways to freedom before 1800. As proof of their freedom, they were issued a so-called certificate of manumission, which the free coloreds were required to carry on them at all times.

In the first half of the 1700s, the number of free coloreds was relatively limited. Toward the end of the 1700s, the number of free coloreds increased markedly – from 418 in 1775 to 1148 in 1797 and 5035 in 1815.

Free coloreds in Christiansted on St. Croix

The majority of the free coloreds lived in the cities, mostly in Christiansted on St. Croix. They were typically craftsmen, fishermen, tradesmen, seamstresses, washerwomen, or servants. They could even purchase property, which free coloreds in other European colonies in the Caribbean could not do. Several free coloreds earned money by renting out their properties, and some even owned enslaved laborers – which could also be rented out.

The free coloreds’ limited freedom

In principle, according to King Frederik V’s slave regulations from 1755, the free coloreds had the same rights as the colony’s other free population. In practice, their freedom was restricted in a number of areas. Beginning in 1733 and for the next hundred years, the local administration issued over forty regulations and public notices which all had this objective. For example, it was decided in 1747 that the free coloreds in Christiansted could only live in the part of the city that was called the free gut or the black gut. In 1786 a regulation was issued which dictated to the smallest detail which clothes and decorative objects the free coloreds could – and could not – wear. In addition, it provided that all free coloreds were required to wear as visual evidence of their freedom a red and white emblem, a so-called cockade, visible on the cap or the hat. Not until 1834 did the free coloreds achieve full equality.

Maria Elizabeth Yard: A free colored businesswoman

The bulk of the enslaved laborers who were either emancipated or bought their freedom were women. Maria Elizabeth Yard was one of them and became a representative for the free coloreds, who were caught in a difficult position in the racially segregated West Indian society. She also became a representative of the women who defied norms and understood how to create their own existence.

Christian Sort: Slave, doctor and planter

Very few enslaved laborers wrenched themselves free of the brutal life of a slave. Christian Sort was one of them. He got his freedom because he helped his owners during the slave rebellion on St. John in 1733. But he also won respect among both Europeans and enslaved laborers because he was a capable doctor.

The population trend in the Danish West Indies, 1672-1917

The composition of the population in the Danish West Indies changed a great deal through the colonial era. The trend in the population reveals some of the fundamental problems that characterized the colony, with respect to the excess mortality in the enslaved population, the growing number of free coloreds and the differences between St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John.