The U.S. Virgin Islands and the Black Experience

Abstract

In his search for new lands, following his lucky strike the previous year, Christopher Columbus on 14 November 1493 came upon an island which he named Isla de la Santa Cruz (called by the natives Ay Ay, subsequently renamed Croix by the French). Continuing his voyage westward he sighted a few days later an array of islands, islets, and rocks (now known to be over 100 in all). On these, in honor of St. Ursula and her 11,000 martyr virgins (because of their number and, it is claimed, to exaggerate his find in the eyes of his patrons, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain), he bestowed the name Las Once Mil Virgines (the 11,000 Virgins). The whole archipelago is today known to the world as the Virgin Islands. The Virgins straddle latitude 170 40' and 180 51l'North and longitude 600 7' and 650 6' West, being some 1,400 miles from New York. The islands are, for the most part, of volcanic origin, many rising precipitously from the sea. Politically they are territorial possessions of the United States and the United Kingdom.