The enslaved laborers in the Danish West Indies were emancipated in 1848. But they were not given much better conditions as free men – not when it came to housing, health, education, or economy.
The West Indian Military Forces are brought in
In October 1878, riots among farm workers on St. Croix developed into a general rebellion. There was extensive looting and burning of many properties and sugar fields, and they had to bring in the West Indian Military Forces. Approximately 60 farm workers were killed during the fighting. At the Grove Place plantation, where the stock of rum violently caught fire, 14 women were killed. Fourteen men were executed after having been convicted at a court-martial immediately after the rebellion. Among those in the frontline of the rebellion were three women called Queen Mary, Queen Agnes, and Queen Mathilda. They were given long prison sentences for encouraging the men to commit violent acts and were transferred to the women’s prison at Christianshavn in Denmark.
