US Virgin Islands - a historical guidebook

11/08/2017

RELEASE!

Order your copy on eBay for $11.99

148 pages - illustrated

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/202018052422?

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03/07/2017

Emancipation Day!

1848 the slaves on USVI demanded their freedom and was given it.

This is Governor von Scholtens declaration that followed the emancipation.

18/05/2017

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/27/charlotte-amalie-city-spotlight-cruise-ships-us-virgin-islands

The US Virgin Islands capital used to be a favourite stop for hard-drinking pirates. Today, it boasts grand architecture, a lively arts scene – and an identity that is very much non-American

01/04/2017

Transfer Day 1917

Backside of Fort Christian in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, USVI.

In the foreground is the 'Brandkorps' = fire fighters and in the back a group of civilians.

01/04/2017

27/03/2017

Welcome!

Upcomming this summer!

US Virgin Islands - a historical guidebook

INTRODUCTION

The US Virgin Islands are a tiny American territory in the Caribbean Sea consisting of pristine sandy beaches, palms, spectacular forts and pastel green, yellow and coral houses and surrounded by a vast ocean ever glittering and changing colors. To many Americans, the Virgin Islands are known as a tropical paradise with taxfree shopping, jewelry, cameras and cruise ships.

From 1666 until 1917 St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix were part of the Kingdom of Denmark as the Danish West Indies, and the US Virgin islands hold a dramatic past that is still visible all over the territory. Everywhere in the rolling hills and greens, visitors will find abandoned sugar factories, plantation houses and ruins of the cone-shaped windmills where sugar cane once was crushed for the desirable sweet juice that was boiled to sugar.

St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John are like tiny pearls in the string of islands extending from Cuba and Puerto Rico in the north to Trinidad and Tobago at the coast of South America. The smallest US Virgin - St. John (19.61 square miles) - barely covers New York County. Despite their modest size, the Danish West Indies had a huge impact on the development of Danish society, especially in the 1700s. Distant as this may seem, understanding the Danish perspective is crucial to understanding the Virgin Islands today.

Raw sugar fortunes were loaded onto cargo ships in the picturesque harbor of Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas and shipped to the Danish capital Copenhagen to be refined into white sugar. Entire industries emerged in Denmark to provide knives, boiling pans other utensils for the booming sugar industry. Copenhagen was a financial hub because of the sugar trade from the Danish West Indies.

This guidebook provides fascinating historical perspectives for the traveler who wants to dig a little deeper into the US Virgin Islands and explore the territory beyond the cocktails and the Caribbean breeze. The authors are a Danish historian and a journalist with access to the Danish National Archives and comprehensive understanding of the historical events of the 18th and 19th Century.

The books is also a handy travel guide for visitors already accommodated at the islands, containing specific suggestions and guidelines for hiking, snorkeling and driving the territory.

Photo: Danish governer Konow reads the message from Danish King Christian X on the sale of Danish West Indies to United States of America

27/03/2017