The History of St. John

Information for Caribbean Vacations in St. John

Archeological discoveries show that Arawok Indians, migrating northward in dugout canoes from Venezuala and Guyana, lived on St. John as early as 710 BC, making a living by hunting and fishing. The Arawok's were forced from the island, or eaten, by the cannabalistic Carib Indians before Cristopher Columbus visited St. John during his second voyage in 1493. He named the island after St Ursula and her virgins, whose feast was then being celebrated, but left nothing else behind. St. John became a possession of Denmark in 1694 and remained Danish until the United States purchased in 1917.

The Danish West India Company first settled on St. John in 1694. The Danish had claimed St. John as early as the 1680's, however hostility from the neighboring British on Tortola prevented the Danes from establishing a settlement. The British, in order to remain on peaceful terms with Denmark, eventually gave up their opposition. After the Danes settled St. John plantation agriculture developed rapidly.

In 1685, the Danish government signed a treaty with the Dutch of Brandenburg allowing the Brandenburg American Company to establish a slave-trading post on neighboring St. Thomas. This brought a steady stream of slaves to cultivate the sugarcane plantations that dominated St. John's economy for most of its early existence. The slave population eventually came to outnumber the free people of the island by five to one.

A July 2, 1848 slave rebellion on nearby St. Croix, prompted Danish governor Peter von Scholten to declare what he had long pressed for, that all slaves in the Danish West Indies were from that day free.  While his proclamation was in direct contradiction of the King of Denmark's orders and plantation owners refused to accept the proclamation, slavery was abolished on July 3rd, 1848. After this time, the plantation economy was no longer competitive, and the Virgin Islands required frequent subsidies from the Danish Crown. During this time, the sugar plantations were gradually replaced with rum production and cattle ranching.

The Danish Crown made periodic attempts to sell its possessions in the Caribbean, but could not reach an agreement until the First World War broke out. The United States became concerned with the possibility that Germany could invade Denmark and establish a submarine base in the Virgin Islands. The two governments signed a treaty and the U.S. took possession of the islands in 1917.

St. John remained a quiet island paradise until the 1959 revolt in Cuba and the subsequent travel ban against U.S. citizens visiting Cuba. St. John and the U.S. Virgin Islands quickly grew as a popular tourist destination for those who could no longer visit Cuba. In 1956, Laurance Rockefeller donated over 5000 acres of land to the National Park Service and currently over half of the land area of St. John is a National Park, to be enjoyed by the many visitors to the island. Later additions by the National Park Service included much of the waters surrounding St. John.

Until 1970, St. John was ruled by a governor appointed by the President of the United States. Since then, the governor has been an elected position, along with the local Senate, which consists of 15 Senators. St. Croix elects 7, St. Thomas and St. John elect 7, and the remaining Senator is elected by the entire Territory, but must be a resident of St. John. The U.S. Virgin Island also sends one non-voting Representative to the U.S. Congress.