| Windberg Excerpted from St. John Off The Beaten Track
Slaves on the Windberg Plantation, as well as on plantations all over the island, did anything in their power to resist the conditions to which they were subjected. These acts of resistance included such tactics as shipboard mutiny aboard slave ships, overt rebellion such as the violent and almost successful slave rebellion of 1733, suicide, self-mutilation, abortion and marooning or running away from the plantation. They resisted as well by pressing for the enforcement of already established laws, which had been passed by Danish liberals to improve the conditions of slavery, and by conducting labor actions, such as strikes, work stoppages and sick-outs. In 1831 the slaves at Windberg staged such an action. Forty slaves
reported to be ill and checked into the plantation sick house. The
overseer on the plantation reacted by forcing the slaves to work.
One woman died, and the police conducted an investigation. The overseer
was fired, and a new overseer was brought in. The new overseer,
reluctant to use extreme force, was faced with the difficult task
of restoring the plantation regime. He was neither feared nor respected
and was unsuccessful in compelling the slaves to go back to work.
Windberg remained in a state of disorder until the landfoged (island
administrator) intervened on the overseer's and owner’s behalf. |
