This slave rebellion on an idyllic island was almost lost to history–until now

When one imagines St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, warm thoughts conjure of postcard-worthy beaches, happy-hour sunsets, and catamarans shuttling snorkelers into gentle turquoise bays. The crowning jewel of the island, Virgin Islands National Park, covers two-thirds of its 19 square miles and prevents this natural beauty from being overrun by resorts and tourist shops. However, despite being home to award-winning beaches like Trunk Bay and stunning coastal trails like the Ram Head, the island has long sat heavy under the weight of a trauma. Until recently, it remained obscured to visitors arriving primarily in search of romance and relaxation. 

Since 1733, a time when sugar production rather than tourism drove the economy on St. John, the Ram Head Trail has been just one location on the island left invisibly scarred by the memory of a slave rebellion that triumphed before it ended in tragedy. However, a new plaque recently placed on the Ram Head lookout ensures that hikers––wandering to the end of this point-nine-mile cliff-lined peninsula discover much more than panoramic sea views and dreamy sunrises. 

Revolution of the enslaved Akwamu people

The build-up to 1733 began around 1730, when the once-dominant Akwamu people on Africa’s Gold Coast (near what we know as Ghana today) lost their leader and hold on the region. Having formerly benefited from the spoils of tribal warfare, which often meant selling off defeated rivals to European slaveholders, the tables had turned. The defeated Akwamu were soon sold-off themselves and shipped across the Atlantic to St. John, then part of the Danish West Indies. 

Upon their arrival, these newly enslaved Africans not only suffered from hard labor, but also hurricane devastation, drought, and widespread crop failure. When slaves began fleeing the plantations and marooning themselves in St. John’s dense forests, Danish Governor Philip Gardelin responded by enacting harsh slave codes on September 5, 1733. 

“The Akwamu were warriors and noble people and when they got here, they realized the disparity of numbers between the number of enslaved people and the number of enslavers, says Ahmad Toure, division chief for interpretation, education, and volunteers at Virgin Islands National Park. “There was about three to one with the advantage to the enslaved people.” 

Indignant and emboldened, the Akwamu immediately began planning an armed resistance, setting things in motion the morning of November 23, 1733 at the Danish fort in Coral Bay (Fortsberg). A group of slaves, under the guise of delivering firewood, brandished concealed cane knives and killed all but one Danish soldier. They then fired the fort’s canon as a signal to the wider enslaved population that the revolution had begun. 

As the slaves-turned-freedom fighters marched across the island, they killed any slaveholder they encountered. Panicked Danish plantation owners who were not killed either fled on boats or took shelter at Durloo plantation near Caneel Bay. This would be the sole Danish stronghold on St. John for the duration of the revolution.

An honorable end to a rebellion

With the Danish militia lacking the manpower to defeat the revolutionaries, the British sent 58 reinforcements on a warship from neighboring Tortola. However, they remained unable to subdue the African freedom fighters on St. John, who would ultimately control the island for about six months until 200 French forces from Martinique arrived on April 24, 1734. 

Refusing to be recaptured after their maroon encampment was discovered by the French, 11 freedom fighters committed ritual suicide at the Ram Head on May 4, 1734 as a final defiant act against re-enslavement or execution by the Danish. On May 23, 1734, the additional 24 bodies of freedom fighters, who had chosen ritual suicide as their fate, would be discovered on the island’s north side, which local lore places near Mary’s Point.

Keeping St. Johnian history alive for future generations

Despite this tragic conclusion, the 1733 Akwamu revolution on St. John remains one of the earliest and most enduring battles for freedom in the Western hemisphere, serving as a precursor to future revolts like the Haitian Revolution. However, in the 290 years since, it is primarily the oral tradition of St. Johnians that has kept this history alive. Dr. Gilbert Sprauve, an author and retired professor of modern languages, recalls first learning about the revolution on his father’s boat during a routine trip to Tortola.  

“On one of those trips, as we came through the area between Mary's Point and Whistling Cay… one of the elders in the boat pointed to the area on Mary’s Point,” recalls Sprauve. “This is where he said the story was told of Africans who, instead of facing slavery again, they’d taken their lives.” 

Dr. Sprauve is a 1955 graduate from Charlotte Amalie High School in St. Thomas and he also has ancestral ties to St. John dating back to the mid-18th century. However, he was not taught about these 1733 events at school. He attributes this omission to a desire to “raise up loyal American citizens in the wake of the Danish occupation and not delve too much on what had happened in the past.” 

Acknowledging the past 

Virgin Islands National Park has also been slow to acknowledge the events of 1733 since its inception in 1956, and historically had little incentive to do so. “The National Park Service was an institution that was brought into existence by legislation of Woodrow Wilson’s administration,” says Toure, who worked as a park ranger at national park sites including the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. “Woodrow Wilson was a staunch racist and segregationist. The National Park Service was established as a segregated agency in the government. The National Park Service upheld racist and segregationist laws. It was directed to do so, probably until the late 1960s, early 1970s.” 

In fact, it was the passage of bill H.R. 7496, championed by the territory’s non-voting congressional delegate Stacey Plaskett, that ultimately ordered the National Park Service to erect a plaque on the peak of Ram Head overlook. This initiative was completed during an official dedication ceremony on March 3, 2024.   

While the plaque is a small step towards bringing the 1733 revolution to the forefront within Virgin Islands National Park, Toure points out that symbols have long been present on the island inviting tourists to look beyond the façade of paradise. “The reality of the situation is, anyone who comes to St. John, once you get off the ferry dock … the Freedom Statue is right there,” says Toure, “It greets you as you come onto the island if you’re not taking the car barge.” 

Where to find the commemorative plaque

Virgin Islands National Park is open year-round; so, viewing the Ram Head plaque possible at any time. Hikers can park at or taxi to the Salt Pond Bay trailhead, hike a quarter mile to Salt Pond Beach, and find the Ram Head trailhead on the southern end of the beach.

For almost 40 years now, St. Johnians like Dr. Sprauve have taken the lead on commemorating the revolution of 1733, holding annual pilgrimages to key sites like Fortsberg every Friday after Thanksgiving. Many of these same locals hope to see more sites receive recognition like that of Ram Head; particularly Mary’s Point, where Dr. Sprauve first learned of the revolution.  

Sprauve believes the new plaque at Ram Head will allow tourists venturing down the popular hiking trail to discover the struggle for freedom that happened under their feet. Sprauve says, “I think there’s been a kind of gradual awareness that this slave event on St. John in 1733 really does count, and that they need to do something more than just promote St. John as a place where people can come and enjoy the beaches and that type of thing.”