Denmark and Her Overseas Possessions
An Exibit of
October — December 1998
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Denmark has always been considered a
minor player in the age
of European expansion. As such the country has received less attention by scholars
of European interaction with non-Europeans. One strength of the James Ford Bell Library
is its concentration of materials on Europe’s expansion and therefore a smaller
country like Denmark is included and significant materials collected documenting
Denmark’s
role. To a large degree Denmark’s minor role stems from internal affairs which distracted
attention away from overseas colonies. Wars with Sweden and competition from German states
siphoned off major resources and left the Danes with little time and energy to devote to
colonization. This exhibit only touches the surface of what is available in the James Ford
Bell Library. We welcome your questions and hope that you discover for yourself some of the
resources our library has to offer.
In the course of mounting an exhibit one learns a great deal. In working on the
West Indies case I came across this description of a hurricane by Alexander Hamilton:
Saint Croix, September 6, 1772
Honoured Sir,
I take up my pen just to give you an imperfect account of the most dreadful hurricane
that memory or any records whatever can trace, which happened here on the 31st ultimo at
night.
It began about dusk, at North, and raged very violently till ten o’clock.
Then ensued a sudden and unexpected interval, which lasted about an hour. Meanwhile
the wind was shifting round to the South West point, from whence it returned with redoubled
fury and continued so till near three o’clock in the morning. Good God! what
horror and destruction —it’s impossible for me to describe — or you to
form any idea of it. It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The
roaring of the sea and wind — fiery meteors flying about in the air — the prodigious
glare of almost perpetual lightning — the crash of the falling houses — and the
ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels.
A great part of the buildings throughout the Island are levelled to the ground —
almost all the rest very much shattered — several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined
— whole families running about the streets unknowing where to find a place of
shelter — the sick exposed to the keeness of water and air — without a
bed to lie upon — or a dry covering to their bodies — our harbour is entirely bare.
In a word, misery in all its most hideous shapes spread over the whole face of the country.
— A strong smell of gunpowder added somewhat to the terrors of the night; and
it was observed that the rain was surprisingly salt. Indeed, the water is so brackish
and full of sulphur that there is hardly any drinking it.
—Alexander Hamilton writing to his father about the famous
hurricane of 1772. Hamilton was born at Nevis and spent his teenage years at Saint
Croix. I would like to thank our exhibits person Vicki Zobel for all her help in mounting
this exhibit and Jamie Hubbs for the loan of certain items. Thanks also to Brockman
Schumacher III for designing the web page for
this exhibit.
Brad Oftelie |
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The entrance into the James Ford Bell Library exibit room, containing the exibit entitled "Denmark and Her Overseas Possessions." The exibit is divided into six different cases based on a region where Denmark was active. Click on whatever exibit case you are interested in. |
GreenlandThe world’s largest island, Greenland (pop. 53,000), lies between 83 N and 59 N latitudes. Of its 840,000 square miles, 708,000 are perpetually covered in ice, which has an average thickness of 5,000 feet. If this ice cap melted, it would raise the level of the world’s oceans approximately 20 feet. It can snow any time of year. Human habitation has always been concentrated along the southwest coast where a branch of the Gulf stream washes the shore. Along the eastern coast a polar current flows. The first Greenlanders arrived sometime in the 8th century crossing over from Arctic islands lying west of Greenland. They migrated south along the west coast eventually reaching Cape Farewell, the south point of Greenland. In the meantime Eric the Red formed a number of settlements along the southwest coast in the late 10th century. European contact with these Norse villages gradually faded away, the last ship from Greenland to Scandinavia was in 1410. European contact was reestablished by the voyage of Martin Frobisher in 1578. However, it was left to a missionary from Denmark, Hans Egede, to begin a new European settlement. He arrived in Greenland in 1721 fully expecting to meet the descendants of the Norse. He found none. Medical evidence suggests that malnourishment, disease and the harsh climate were the probable causes of extinction. Egede did find native Greenlanders and settled among them to begin the conversion to Christianity. This led to Danish control over the island and today Greenland is an integral part of Denmark.
IcelandIceland (pop. 266,786) was first visited by Irish monks in the 9th century A.D. It seems they left soon after the Vikings started their own settlements around the year 900. It was from Iceland that voyages to Greenland and Vinland were undertaken. Because of Iceland’s geographic isolation the Norwegian-based language of Icelanders has not changed as dramatically as modern Norwegian so that today the two languages are no longer mutually intelligible. During the 12th and 13th centuries the Icelandic Sagas were written, considered the golden age of Icelandic literature. Our knowledge of Norse gods and heroes is largely from the Sagas of Iceland. Iceland is quite active volcanically, during the last few centuries eruptions have occurred on average every fifth or sixth year. Many Icelanders have their homes heated by this thermal activity. When Denmark gained control over Norway, Denmark also established control over Iceland. There has always been a strong desire for local government, however, and Iceland’s legislative body, the Althingi, is the world’s oldest. Today Iceland is completely independent.
West IndiesIn 1754 Denmark purchased Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, Saint John and approximately fifty small islets and cays from the French. The other major islands of the Virgin Island group, Tortola, Jost van Dyke, Virgin Gorda, and Anegada, have been in British control since 1666. It was Columbus in 1493 who named the islands Las Virgenes in honor of Saint Ursula and her companions. Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, and to a lesser extent Saint John quickly became important Danish overseas possessions. By 1754 Denmark had long established trading colonies in West Africa and was involved in the slave trade. Sugar was grown on Denmark’s Caribbean islands with slaves supplied from Africa. By the time the Panama Canal was completed in 1914 the United States had become anxious to secure a strategic base in the Caribbean. In 1917 the United States purchased the Danish Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25,000,000. Today tourism is the mainstay of the islands and a popular destination of vacationers worldwide.
IndiaThe Danish East India Company (Danske ostindiske kompagni), chartered in 1616, built fort Dansborg and established a trading station at Tranquebar on the southeast coast of India in 1619. King Frederick IV (1671-1730) decided to send missionaries to the station once he learned that the company chaplain was unable to minister to the local Indians. Two German missionaries arrived in 1706 and immediately began to build a mission. There was friction between the mission and the company, at one point Ziegenbalg, the head of the mission, was arrested. But the mission did survive and continued for 140 years. Most of the missionaries were trained at the University of Halle and increased in number from thirty-five in 1707 to 428 by 1719. The mission obtained a printing press and began to translate and publish the Bible and other works in Tamil. Danish activity continued in India until 1845 when Denmark turned over control of her possessions to Great Britain.
AfricaThough Denmark was one of the last of the European countries to establish itself along the west coast of Africa, Denmark stayed longer than Portugal, the first European country to do so. The Portuguese built the Elmina fort in 1482 and held it for 155 years when, in 1637, the Dutch took control. In contrast Denmark purchased several Swedish forts in 1658 and later sold them to the British in 1850, an interval of 192 years. The Danes quickly established themselves in the slave trade sending slaves to their West Indian sugar plantations. Danish slave ships also supplied other Caribbean islands, particularly those of the Spanish and French. The principal areas of Danish concentration were the forts of Christiansborg, Frederiksberg and Fredensborg. In 1792 Denmark prohibited Danes from participating in the slave trade. An attempt was made to establish Danish plantations in Africa but they did not flourish. By the middle of the nineteenth century British influence in the region was growing and Britain expressed interest in acquiring the Danish settlements. On September 11, 1850 Great Britain and Denmark ratified the treaty whereby Denmark sold to Great Britain all of Denmark’s possessions on the west coast of Africa.
Jens MunkVoyages to the polar regions are fraught with dangers and many a life has been lost on the frozen sea and land. A few lived to tell the tale. Jens Munk was one such explorer. Born in Norway in 1579, Jens grew up in Jutland, Denmark. At the tender age of twelve he shipped out to Portugal, at thirteen to Brazil, remaining six years. By 1598 he was back in Denmark. Over the next several years Jens worked a number of jobs on merchant vessels sailing the northern seas as far as Nova Zembla. When war broke out with Sweden, he joined the Danish navy. Because of his experience in Arctic waters, King Christian IV hand picked Munk to command a voyage to discover the northwest passage for Denmark. He left Copenhagen May 9, 1619 with two ships, the Unicorn and the Lamprey, and a crew of sixty-four men. On September 21, 1620, the Lamprey arrived off the coast of Norway. A local farmer helped three ghostly figures to shore. It was all that was left of Denmark’s attempt to find the northwest passage. One of the men, Jens Munk, clutched a journal. His manuscript, preserved in the Royal Library in Copenhagen, describes an incredible story of hardship, disease and death. It has been translated into English; you would do well to give it a read.
The illness that had fallen upon us was rare and extraordinary, with
the most peculiar symptoms. The limbs and joints were miserably drawn together,
and there were great pains in the loins as if a thousand knives had been
thrust there. At the same time the body was discolored as when someone has
a black eye, and all the limbs were powerless. The mouth, too, was in a
miserable condition, as all the teeth were loose, so that it was impossible to eat.”
from the English translation of Jens Munk’s journal.
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