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St John: Virgin Islands Beachfront Villa And Vacation Rentals, Great Trips
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Published: October 25, 2006
Amid the lush Caribbean backdrop of St. John's intimidating apexes and bountiful valleys lies an island history draped in both man and nature's uninhibited wild side.
Named after the brutally martyred St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgin handmaidens, legendary explorer Christopher Columbus landed on the Virgin Islands in 1493. There, he found two sets of Arawak aboriginals: the Carib and the Taino.
The Carib natives, as opposed to their peaceful Taino counterparts, were an aggressively dominant society said to partake in cannibalistic rituals. After landing, Columbus quickly learned to distinguish the two groups, focusing on enslaving the Taino and extinguishing the Carib.
In his travel log, Columbus noted, "[The Taino] do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. "
"They would make fine servants, " he continued, "With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."
While the Taino race was subjected to slavery and–subsequently–genocide, the Carib fought hard to maintain their fiercely independent existence. They are the only aboriginal society to survive to modernity.
The struggle over St. John continued into the 1600s, with the Danish government continually clashing with Britton over the island's ownership. In 1685, the Danes signed a treaty making neighboring St. Thomas a safe haven for pirates. In return, the government received a percentage of their booty. St. John's Rendezvous Bay and Privateer Bay became notorious pirate meeting points, where some of the biggest names in Caribbean piracy–Blackbeard, Sir Francis Drake and Captain Kidd, to name a few–converged to chart their excursions. The influx of piracy was vital to initially boosting the region's economy.
Agriculture accompanied piracy as the area's economic foundation. African slaves were shipped to the region to work in sugar mills. With St. John's fertile soil and abundant rainfall, the plantation economy helped the region develop as a vital trading post. By the 1700s, slaves outnumbered white plantation owners by a ratio of five to one.
Frustrated by the intense working conditions and the adoption of a harsher slave code, the workers began a revolt in 1733. Hiding knives within bundles of wood, 14 slaves entered Fortsberg and killed six of the seven men in the garrison. Firing the cannons to signify their victory, the slaves cued a revolt resulting in a massacre eliminating nearly a quarter of the island's population. The African slaves held a stronghold on the island for six months before they ran out of food and ammunition. Historians say they threw themselves over the precipice of the scenic Annaberg plantation rather than be captured and returned to their indentured lifestyles.
As the island's population dwindled, the United States bought St. John–along with St. Croix and St. Thomas–in 1917 as a strategic maneuver to prevent German expansion during World War I.
Today, the inhabitants of St. John embrace the island's sordid history. Bars, hotels, beaches and coves are each named for some infamous adventurer. For example, Morgan's Mango–a restaurant named after infamous pirate Henry Morgan–offers St. John's tourists its distinctive Swashbuckler cocktail.
The Annaberg plantation, which allegedly hosted a mass slave suicide, is currently open to tourists. Nearly 20 miles of the Virgin Islands National Park cover St. John, boasting 10 miles of unindustrialized, undeveloped shoreline. In fact, some of the U.S. Virgin Islands' most famous beaches can be found on St. John.
St. John is renowned worldwide for its plentiful underwater exploration and vast array of hiking paths. Trunk Bay boasts a 225 yard self-guided snorkeling trail, leading divers through the plentitude of colorful reef, inhabited by exotic fish. The Reef Bay Valley offers a five-hour hiking trail, leading visitors through a winding path peppered with mysterious ancient rock carvings – called petroglyphs – and the ruins of 18th century sugar mills.
For more information, contact the St. John National Park Service Visitors Center at www.nps.gov/viis, or the Virgin Island National Park at (340) 776-6201.
U.S. Virgin Islands. 1999. COBEX. 23 Oct. 2006.
U.S. Virgin Islands Info. 23 Oct. 2006. < http://www.islandsvi.com/>
Brief History of the Virgin Islands. 2006. Virgin Islands Best Vacation Guide. 23 Oct. 2006. <http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/history/>
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. 2006. Wikipedia. 23 Oct. 2006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John%2C_U.S ._Virgin_Islands>
Schulman, Bob. Pirate Tales Abound in the Virgin Islands. 26 Sept. 2006. SoGoNow.com. 23 Oct. 2006.
Named after the brutally martyred St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgin handmaidens, legendary explorer Christopher Columbus landed on the Virgin Islands in 1493. There, he found two sets of Arawak aboriginals: the Carib and the Taino.
The Carib natives, as opposed to their peaceful Taino counterparts, were an aggressively dominant society said to partake in cannibalistic rituals. After landing, Columbus quickly learned to distinguish the two groups, focusing on enslaving the Taino and extinguishing the Carib.
In his travel log, Columbus noted, "[The Taino] do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. "
"They would make fine servants, " he continued, "With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."
While the Taino race was subjected to slavery and–subsequently–genocide, the Carib fought hard to maintain their fiercely independent existence. They are the only aboriginal society to survive to modernity.
The struggle over St. John continued into the 1600s, with the Danish government continually clashing with Britton over the island's ownership. In 1685, the Danes signed a treaty making neighboring St. Thomas a safe haven for pirates. In return, the government received a percentage of their booty. St. John's Rendezvous Bay and Privateer Bay became notorious pirate meeting points, where some of the biggest names in Caribbean piracy–Blackbeard, Sir Francis Drake and Captain Kidd, to name a few–converged to chart their excursions. The influx of piracy was vital to initially boosting the region's economy.
Agriculture accompanied piracy as the area's economic foundation. African slaves were shipped to the region to work in sugar mills. With St. John's fertile soil and abundant rainfall, the plantation economy helped the region develop as a vital trading post. By the 1700s, slaves outnumbered white plantation owners by a ratio of five to one.
Frustrated by the intense working conditions and the adoption of a harsher slave code, the workers began a revolt in 1733. Hiding knives within bundles of wood, 14 slaves entered Fortsberg and killed six of the seven men in the garrison. Firing the cannons to signify their victory, the slaves cued a revolt resulting in a massacre eliminating nearly a quarter of the island's population. The African slaves held a stronghold on the island for six months before they ran out of food and ammunition. Historians say they threw themselves over the precipice of the scenic Annaberg plantation rather than be captured and returned to their indentured lifestyles.
As the island's population dwindled, the United States bought St. John–along with St. Croix and St. Thomas–in 1917 as a strategic maneuver to prevent German expansion during World War I.
Today, the inhabitants of St. John embrace the island's sordid history. Bars, hotels, beaches and coves are each named for some infamous adventurer. For example, Morgan's Mango–a restaurant named after infamous pirate Henry Morgan–offers St. John's tourists its distinctive Swashbuckler cocktail.
The Annaberg plantation, which allegedly hosted a mass slave suicide, is currently open to tourists. Nearly 20 miles of the Virgin Islands National Park cover St. John, boasting 10 miles of unindustrialized, undeveloped shoreline. In fact, some of the U.S. Virgin Islands' most famous beaches can be found on St. John.
St. John is renowned worldwide for its plentiful underwater exploration and vast array of hiking paths. Trunk Bay boasts a 225 yard self-guided snorkeling trail, leading divers through the plentitude of colorful reef, inhabited by exotic fish. The Reef Bay Valley offers a five-hour hiking trail, leading visitors through a winding path peppered with mysterious ancient rock carvings – called petroglyphs – and the ruins of 18th century sugar mills.
For more information, contact the St. John National Park Service Visitors Center at www.nps.gov/viis, or the Virgin Island National Park at (340) 776-6201.
U.S. Virgin Islands. 1999. COBEX. 23 Oct. 2006.
U.S. Virgin Islands Info. 23 Oct. 2006. < http://www.islandsvi.com/>
Brief History of the Virgin Islands. 2006. Virgin Islands Best Vacation Guide. 23 Oct. 2006. <http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/history/>
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. 2006. Wikipedia. 23 Oct. 2006. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John%2C_U.S ._Virgin_Islands>
Schulman, Bob. Pirate Tales Abound in the Virgin Islands. 26 Sept. 2006. SoGoNow.com. 23 Oct. 2006.
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