CONTEXT: Research, manifests, laws
and contemporary accounts
Scholar writings
George F. Tyson \\ 1995
The Fireburn was directed against an anachronistic labour law that immigrant and native labourers considered 'a species of slavery'. Although the uprising was ruthlessly supressed, the Fireburn compelled authorities to change towards free labour principles (...)
George F. Tyson \\ 1984
'The British Government and it consular representatives became deeply involved in the labor troubles on St Croix for several resons. Forst, emigrant laboreres from the Brish West Indies comprised a large percentage of the island's plantation labor force. Many of these workers took part in the Fireburn because of legitimate gievances of ill-treatment and exploitation by the planters.....'
Clifton E. Marsh \\ 1981
A Socio-Historical Analysis of the Labor Revolt of 1878 in the Danish West Indies.
VISCO:
La Vaughn Belle,
Tami Navarro,
Hadiya Sewer,
Tiphanie Yanique,
VISCO \\ 2019
Ancestral Queendom
- Reflections on the Prison Records of the
Rebel Queens of the 1878 Fireburn in St.
Croix, USVI
Nordics Info \\2020
Århus University (DK)
The 1878 Fireburn uprising in the Danish West Indies
Statements and manifests
Fireburn Statement 2009: to commemorate October 1st as an official government holiday (for download)
George F. Tyson \\ 2009
As a long-time historian, and former teacher of Virgin Islands and Caribbean History, I can state unequivocally that Fireburn was one of the most important events in Virgin Islands and Caribbean history, and that I wholeheartedly support the intent of this legislation to commemorate it on an annual basis every October 1st (...)
Educational materials
Laws and contemporary accounts
John David Merwin \\ 1886
Yankee Trader. The Diary of Robert Lorin Merwin. St. Croix, Danish West Indies
Charles Edwin Taylor \\ 1888
Since its publication a very influential local source, that has informed much of local understanding and writing. It has, however, many defects, including failure to mention the 1879 general strike and an obvious unsympathetic and racist perspective toward the laborers.