Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
Pirates, plantations and colonial power-brokering set the storyline for the Virgin Islands.
From fierce indigenous tribes to scallywags named Blackbeard and Bluebeard to bloody
plantation revolts, the islands have seen their share of drama.
The Virgins lie in the path of trade winds blowing from the Iberian Peninsula, so it's prob-
ably no surprise Christopher Columbus washed up on shore here and put the islands on the
map in 1493. The ensuing centuries saw Spain, Denmark, Holland, France and England fight
for territory in the Virgins as part of the land grab throughout the Caribbean. Denmark and
England were the eventual victors. The Narrows strait between St John and Tortola served
as the demarcation line: islands to the east were British controlled, islands to the west were
Danish controlled. This boundary still exists to this day.
No matter who claimed them, all the islands were freewheeling pirates' dens, thanks to
the bevy of secure and unattended harbors. The islands soon grew rich producing sugar and
cotton using slave labor; the surviving tumbledown windmills are remnants of this turbulent
period. The US entered the picture during WWI, when it bought Denmark's islands.
Several colonial forts, warehouses and plantation buildings have been preserved over the
years, especially in the USVI, and these are the main historical sites visitors will see as they
travel in the islands.
