Denmark: A Niche Player in a Global Crime
The Historical Reality
Denmark's role in the transatlantic slave trade was that of a minor but fully committed participant. Seeking to emulate the colonial wealth of larger European powers, the Dano-Norwegian kingdom established a small but brutal slave system connecting its forts on the African Gold Coast to its sugar plantations in the Caribbean. Denmark's history in the trade is marked by a particularly cynical paradox: it was the first European nation to legislate an end to the slave trade, yet it did so in a manner designed to intensify the traffic in the short term and prolong the institution of slavery itself.
Entry and Authorization
Denmark-Norway entered the trade in the mid-17th century. The Danish Africa Company was founded in 1659, and in 1671 it was incorporated into the Danish West India and Guinea Company, which was formally chartered by King Christian V. This royal charter granted the company the authority to establish colonies, build forts, and conduct trade—including the trade in enslaved people—on behalf of the Crown. The primary motivation was to establish a profitable sugar-producing colony in the Caribbean, the Danish West Indies (consisting of St. Thomas, St. John, and later St. Croix), which required a steady supply of enslaved African labor.
Gains and Human Cost
Over its history, Denmark is estimated to have transported approximately 120,000 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. To facilitate this trade, the Danes established and maintained a series of forts on the Gold Coast (modern Ghana), the most significant of which was Christiansborg Castle in Osu, Accra. These forts served as dungeons where captives were held in horrific conditions before being forced onto slave ships.
The profits from the slave trade and the sugar produced in the Danish West Indies contributed significantly to the wealth of the Danish elite, financing the construction of grand townhouses and palaces in Copenhagen. The Danish West Indies experienced a "Golden Age" of prosperity in the late 18th century, a period of wealth built entirely on the forced labor of an enslaved population that grew to outnumber the European colonists by a ratio of ten to one.
This wealth was extracted at a terrible price. Conditions on the plantations were brutal, and resistance was a constant threat to the Danish colonial authorities. In 1733, the enslaved population of St. John launched a major rebellion, successfully seizing control of the entire island for more than six months before they were finally and brutally suppressed with the help of French forces from Martinique.
Abolition and Legacy
Denmark's most noted claim in the history of slavery is that it was the first European nation to abolish the transatlantic slave trade. On March 16, 1792, King Christian VII signed a royal ordinance to that effect. However, this celebrated humanitarian gesture was, in practice, a pro-slavery measure. The law included a ten-year grace period, meaning the ban would not take effect until 1803. During this decade-long window, the Danish government actively encouraged planters and traders to import as many Africans as possible, offering state loans and tax incentives, particularly for the purchase of women. The explicit goal was to create a "self-sufficient," naturally reproducing enslaved population in the colonies, thereby securing the future of the plantation economy without relying on the risky and increasingly costly transatlantic supply chain.
While the trade ended in 1803, the institution of slavery continued in the Danish West Indies for another 45 years. Final emancipation in 1848 was not a gift from the Danish Crown but a concession won by the enslaved themselves. Faced with a massive, coordinated slave revolt on St. Croix, where thousands gathered and threatened to burn the town of Frederiksted to the ground, Governor-General Peter von Scholten had no choice but to declare immediate and unconditional freedom. This history, which centers the agency of the enslaved led by figures like John "General Buddhoe" Gotlieb, is celebrated on the islands but often obscured in the Danish national narrative that credits the governor.
After emancipation, the formerly enslaved were forced into a system of contract labor that kept them tied to the plantations with meager wages and poor conditions, leading to another major labor revolt, the "Fireburn," in 1878. Denmark sold the islands to the United States in 1917, and they are now the U.S. Virgin Islands. The legacy of Danish colonialism remains visible in the islands' architecture and social fabric, a lasting reminder of a colonial capital built on sugar and slavery.
This is not just history; it's our call to action. By confronting the past, we empower our present and forge a new genesis of wealth, well-being, and power for the Black community.
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