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In common with most Caribbean countries, slavery in the British Virgin Islands forms a major part of the history of the Territory. One commentator has gone so far as to say: "One of the most important aspects of the History of the British Virgin Islands is slavery."〔Vernon Pickering, ''A Concise History of the British Virgin Islands'' at page 45, ISBN 0-934139-05-9〕 In 1563, before there had been any European settlement in the British Virgin Islands, Sir John Hawkins visited the islands with a cargo of slaves bound for Hispaniola. In 1665 the Dutch settlers on Tortola were attacked by a British privateer, John Wentworth, who is recorded as capturing 67 slaves which were removed to Bermuda. This is the first record of slaves actually being kept on Tortola. The first Dutch settlers also built slave pens at Port Purcell and on Scrub Island. In 1690 the Brandenburgers built slave pens on Peter Island, however, they later abandoned them in favour of an agreement with the Danes to set up a trading outpost on St. Thomas. The Brandenburgers and Dutch were both expelled by the British (although the remains of the pens can still be seen in Great Harbour, Peter Island and on Scrub Island). ==Plantation economy== After the Territory came under British control, the islands gradually became a plantation economy. As Tortola and to a lesser extent Virgin Gorda came to be settled by plantation owners, slave labour became economically essential, and there was an exponential growth in the slave population during the early 18th century. The figure for 1788 arises from a different source, and may possibly be an overestimate. It seems more likely that the total numbers of slaves would remain fairly constant as the agriculture levels on the islands reached a natural level of saturation (there being only a limited amount of flat land in the British Virgin Islands suitable for cultivation). At the time of emancipation, in 1834, there were 5,792 slaves in the British Virgin Islands. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Slavery in the British Virgin Islands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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