The Fireburn of 1878 is one of the most important events in USVI history. We often reference it in jest to display our frustrations (e.g., Aye, I will bun dis [redacted] dung like Queen Mary dem, ehno!), but it was far more than just frustrated people burning the island. This was a people, long abused, refusing to be complacent in unacceptable labor conditions following the formal end of slavery. Though we just celebrated Labor Day in September, I would argue that the mainland’s Labor Day is not ours; Contract Day/The Fireburn is our Labor Day. Still, as significant an event as it was, there’s some information that we get wrong, so here are a few points we wanted to clarify so that we can all be on the same page about such a monumental day in history!
Credit: Fireburn Foundation
1) Emancipation Day and Fireburn/Contract Day are not the same
I know, I know. For some of us, this is a given. However, we’re not here to judge; the strength of a people grows where collective knowledge thrives, and that’s what we’re here for today. Emancipation Day occurred on July 3rd, 1848, when enslaved Africans–led by General Buddhoe–demanded their freedom from slavery. Fireburn/Contract Day was October 1st, 1878–30 years later–when laborers, in protest of unfair labor laws and conditions, burnt down large portions of the island of St. Croix.
2) There were more than three queens
While many of us were taught that there were three Queens of the Fireburn, in the early 2000s, we learned that was at least four. With a recent analysis of Danish prison records and other historical documents, we now know that there were at least five queens and even some kings. The Queens we know are Queen Mary Thomas, Queen Mathilda Macbean, Susanna “Bottom Belly” Abrahamson, Axeline “Queen Agnes” Salomon, and Rebecca Frederik. Get it right and spell it right.
3) Christiansted used to be referred to as Bassin
In the song “Queen Mary,” actually written after the Fireburn, part of the song goes, “Bassin Jailhouse ah weh we going guh burn!” While many of us are familiar with Bassin Triangle, Older Virgin Islanders (especially Crucians) might be aware that the town of Christiansted used to be referred to as “Bassin,” while Frederiksted was simply referred to as “Westend.”
4) The Fireburn resulted in the repeal of the Labor Act of 1849
The Fireburn and Emancipation Day may have been different events, but the events of 1848 are undoubtedly a part of the 1878 story. Following Peter von Scholten’s infamous declaration that “all unfree in the Danish West Indies are from today free,” the Labor Act of 1849 was passed by the Danish government as a means of establishing labor law post-slavery (“post-slavery” is used quite loosely here since it ended formally, but conditions still mirrored slavery for the next thirty years). Workers under this Labor Act were (among many other vile things) paid menial wages and were obligated to sign a contract with an employer for at least one year, with the ability to negotiate another contract only after that year on, you guessed it, October 1st. This is why the Fireburn is also referred to as Contract Day: it occurred on the day contracts were to be renewed. After the labor riot, the Labor Act of 1849 was repealed, setting the stage for radical social and economic changes to occur.
5) Queen Mary was not originally from St. Croix
Queen Mary might be one of the most influential figures in US Virgin Islands history, but she was not born in the territory. Mary Thomas was born around 1848 in Antigua, moving to the island of St. Croix in the 1860s for work.
As the saying goes, “he who does not know his past is doomed to repeat it.” As Virgin Islanders, let us make a concerted effort to learn more about our history so that we can take the teachings of our ancestors and apply them today. We are a people with a rich history of organizing and demanding our rights be given to us, one way or another. A very happy Contract Day/Fireburn/Labor Day (I’m coining today as USVI Labor Day. Fight me.) to us all, and a heartfelt thank you to the ancestors who light them MS up that fateful day.
Thank you very much for this. VI history lives on.