Dansk Vestindiens helte og heltinder

Abstract

TRACING HEROES OF THE DANISH WEST INDIES – HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

There are not a lot of heroes connected to the history of the sugar colony in the Danish West Indies. From a Danish perspective, the story of the Danish governor general Peter von Scholten as the liberator of the enslaved African-Caribbeans of the West Indies has traditionally been the most established narrative. However, this narrative of the colonial power giving freedom to the enslaved, is being contested by competing narratives of heroes and heroines fighting for - and ultimately taking – their freedom. The article focuses on the narratives of the enslaved freedom fighter General Buddhoe, the plantation worker and rebel leader Mary Thomas and on the labour union leader David Hamilton Jackson, and advocates their canonisation even in a Danish context.