The Moravians in the Danish West Indies
- Mark Dworkin
- Jul 30
- 8 min read
John F. McKeon
The Moravian Church has had a presence in the Virgin Islands that spans centuries, and has an interwoven history with the island's cultural as well as social history. The Church later played an integral role in both slavery as well as emancipation.
Some Background
As latecomers to the Atlantic World, the Danish colonial authorities adopted and relied heavily on the established transatlantic slave trade to secure success with their sugar plantations. Danish colonial ventures were dictated by those previously established by other European powers in the Caribbean. They focused on trade and slavery through the exploitation of the triangular economic system of exporting goods to Africa, enslaved people from Africa to the Caribbean for sugar production, and sending sugar and other products back to Denmark.
Originally the Danish-Norwegian empire controlled an important part of the slave trade through their forts on the African Gold Coast(1). The Danish West India Company acquired St Thomas and St John in 1694 and Santa Cruz/St Croix from France in 1733. At the time most of the planters in St Thomas were Dutch, and those in St Croix were English. In 1754, The Islands became Danish Crown Colonies. St.Croix’s terrain was more conducive to cultivation and was populated with approximately 30,000 inhabitants, most spoke the English language.(2)
1. The location of the latter slave trade primarily occurred in the Danish West Indies (Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, and Saint John) where the enslaved were used primarily working on sugar plantations.
2. St. Croix's relatively flat land allowed for larger-scale sugarcane cultivation compared to the other islands.St. Thomas and St. John's mountainous terrain required adapting farming techniques like terracing to make land suitable for sugar production.
Enter the Moravians:
In 1732, Moravian missionaries had arrived on St Thomas to convert the enslaved population to their unique form of Christianity. As a result of the oppressive and violent nature of slaveholding practices, several slave uprisings occurred in the Danish West Indies. An uprising had occurred on St.John in 1733(3) and slave ‘marooning’(4)frequently occurred. Plantation slaveholders feared the constant threat of rebellion. As a result, the fear of violence, combined with the prospect of rebellion and retribution created a fear that was a constant reality of plantation life.
Moravians believed the direct, emotional experiences of suffering were conducive to personal awakening. They believed this personal and spiritual transformation was available to all, including African slaves, and was perceived by the Moravians as the impetus of social change
1. The St. John insurrection of 1733 was one of the earliest and longest slave revolts in the Americas, and it served as an inspiration for future rebellions for the enslaved people's fight for freedom. The rebellion led to some planters relocating to St. Croix, which had recently been purchased by Denmark, and it increased awareness of the possibility of slave uprisings
2. "Marooned slave" refers to the runaway enslaved that escaped and established an independent community in remote or inaccessible areas. These communities, known as Maroons, often resisted recapture and maintained their own societies.
The first Moravian missionaries, Leonard Dobler and David Nitschmann,(5) arrived in St. Thomas focused on education, conversion and ministry to both the African enslaved as well as the free population.
Education was a significant part of their broader missionary efforts. The Church subsequently established missions on St. Croix. Their primary goal was to preach the gospel to the enslaved people on the islands.
The St. Croix mission started with the establishment of a mission on the East end of St Thomas in 1737, named New Herrnhut. It was a successful mission and is still a Church operation today. The Church aimed to spread the gospel among the enslaved and indigenous populations. It was rumored the missionaries were prepared to be enslaved themselves to gain access to the slave population,(6) However the Danish government would not allow Europeans to ‘sign up’ for servitude. They feared the confusion and resentment of both the white planters and the African slave population
Moravian missionaries, like Friedrich Moth,(7) established missions and plantations in all of the Danish West Indies, including St. Croix, to provide for their livelihood and facilitate their pastoral work. some of these structures still stand today
5. Johann Leonhard Dober: A potter by trade, is recognized as one of the first two Moravian missionaries to embark on a foreign mission trip in 1732. David Nitschmann a a carpenter, was Dober's companion on that first mission to the Danish West Indies (specifically St. Thomas) to minister to enslaved people..
6. History of the Moravian Church, Chapter VI, The Foreign Missions and Their Influence Some claimed they sold themselves, boarded a ship, and were never heard from again. In fact, after being sent out, the two traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, where their voluntary enslavement plans were met with a quick and decisive veto.
7. Frederik Moth (1694–1746) was a Danish colonial administrator and a central figure in the early history of the Danish West Indies of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. He played a crucial role in the establishment and development of St. Croix as part of Denmark’s colonial ambitions in the Caribbean.
Historic Church Buildings on St. Croix:
The Friedensthal "Valley of Peace" Moravian Church and Mission was founded in the 1750s The parish house (manse) was built on King Street in the 1830s as both a school and dwelling. The present church built in 1852-1854 is relatively unchanged . The entry porch is pedimented masonry and wood . The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It includes a slave quarters, a kitchen, and a 20th-century schoolhouse, according to the National Park Service.
The architecture is a blend of Gothic and Classical Revival not typical of Moravian architectural styles in the islands.The current church building on King Street incorporates parts of an earlier structure and has undergone only minor alterations since then. The Church is a historically significant site, notable for its role in the cultural and social development of the Danish Virgin Islands. It was the first of two churches erected after the Danes purchased the island from the French. Built on a site at the western end of Christiansted, this mission church was founded by German
Moravians who named the area Estate Friedensthal which translates in German to ‘Valley of Peace’. It served as a place of worship as well as an active plantation where ‘converted’ enslaved Africans were introduced to trade skills and the fundamentals of reading and writing. The Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.(8)
In 1771 a second church named Friedensberg or ‘Hill of Peace’ was constructed on high ground above the recently established town of Frederiksted. The Moravians now had two estates of religious communities within the near one hundred estates on the island at the time.
A third Church was added and named Friedensfeld or ‘Field of Peace’ The Midlands Moravian Church and was dedicated in 1852, this wood constructed building replaced the original built in 1810-1819. The church retains its original exterior and interior appearance. Three roof gables, and a barrel vault serve as a ceiling with original lancet windows that illuminate the interior from floor to balcony. The Friedensfeld church possesses an unusual combination of Carpenter's Gothic and Classical Revival architectural styles and may have been prefabricated in Germany, shipped and then assembled on site. The Friedensfeld Midlands Moravian Church and Manse, including its cemetery, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976(9)
8. National Register of Historic Places NRIS File Number: 76001844
9 National Register of Historic Places NRIS File Number: 76001844
Emancipation and the Moravians
The Moravians played a considerable role in preparing enslaved people for freedom. One of the first missionaries, Friedrich Martin, advocated teaching literacy to the enslaved to spread the gospel. Plantation owners resisted this, but later aquiesced with the growth of the abolition movement. Moravians then became the default educational system. In 1839 all schools for free as well as enslaved Africans were placed under Moravian control. In their indirect role as teachers and spreading the gospel, the missionaries hoped to inspire a sense of dignity and equality among the enslaved, and hoped to contribute to the emancipation movement in the Danish West Indies
Anticipating a shift in sentiment Governor-General Peter von Scholten began to prepare the enslaved for emancipation. Von Scholten, (considering the time period,) was a somewhat liberal governor in the Danish West Indies, however he was also a gradualist on the timeline of emancipation.
Von Scholten imposed compulsory education (with Moravian missionaries as his choice of ‘educators’ ) and they were given open travel between the Danish Islands. Historical animosities with the English(10) had led Von Scholten to decree that enslaved converts must join only the Moravian or Lutheran Churches. Yet ,ironically In 1831 the Moravians adopted the English language as their language of choice. In 1848 the Danish Emancipation Act was instituted and the formerly enslaved now worked for meager wages. The as the brutal plantation system grew exponentially, the formerly enslaved sought little change with their new ‘free’ status.
What is the legacy of the Moravian Missions?
Despite its intricate involvement with slavery, the Moravian Church is notable for the equal considerations shared within its community. A member of the community was integrated into the group as an equal, regardless of race, class, or gender. Both free and enslaved converts could become ‘elders’, playing an integral role in the congregation.
The early Danish abolition of the slave trade in 1792 (which took effect in 1803) and later, the complete abolition of slavery in 1848 was a long brutal journey. The Moravians were the first Protestant group to conduct missionary work among the enslaved and free Black people in the Danish West Indies. They established primary and secondary schools specifically for enslaved people and laid a foundation for public education in the islands that benefitted all inhabitants, regardless of the existing class structure. The Moravians also provided education and training in trades like carpentry, masonry, and nursing. After the abolition of slavery, the Moravians purchased and made land available to newly emancipated individuals at significantly reduced costs, helping them achieve greater self-sufficiency. However, the big question that begs an answer is how did The Moravian Brethren square human trafficking with Christian Ministry?
The paradox of Moravian slave owning had to have been a moral conundrum particular to Moravian believers and missionaries who came to the Dutch West Indies not in search of political power or profits. They sought tolerance, and a desire to communicate the message of their belief in Christ’s grace. Their reputation as ultra radical ecclesiastical dissenters as well as the centuries of exile on the European Continent may have inclined them to adopt the collective identity,(11) of an oppressed and marginalized group who carried a religious message of hope to other persecuted and oppressed people. Sadly the pursuit of settlements and missions in the harsh Atlantic world produced unintended consequences. The machine of empire, would dictate their choices and either willingly or not lead them to become complicit in the depraved European Imperial project that produced the horrors of the early Atlantic World. In 2017, the Moravian Church in Denmark issued an apology for its historical involvement in slavery in the US. Virgin Islands, acknowledging the immense suffering and dehumanization caused by its complicity in the plantation system and the slave trade.
10. During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain's fear that Denmark might align with Napoleon led to two invasions and occupations of the Danish West Indies (1801-02 and 1807-15). These were bloodless invasions as the Danes did not resist
11. Research to better understand the Moravian view on the slavery paradox led to this idea from a thesis entitled ‘Distant Garden: Moravian Missions and the Culture Of Slavery in the Danish West Indies 1732-1848’ submitted by Helen Richards to the faculty of Moravian Theological Seminary Theological Studies, May 1, 2003. In a Church Members writings perhaps some sense can be made of it. The idea of a ‘collective identity” would have permitted a ‘group rationalization’ that provided the uncomfortable acceptance by the group of practices inherent in the plantation system. Perhaps they assuaged themselves with the rationalization that theirs was a more noble and humane way when compared to the existing plantation system. - JFM