February 7, 2025 • 29 mins
Explore St. Eustatius from 1750 to 1800, where booming warehouses, bold rebellions, and hidden stories of enslaved women intersect. Historian Dr. Allain reveals sweeping Caribbean upheavals while shining a light on how women quietly resisted an oppressive system. Discover the “First Salute,” recognizing American independence, and witness a fierce hurricane that exposes the island’s fragile success.
Throughout, pressing questions echo: Where were the women in the archives, and why are their voices so rarely heard? Part 1 of “Golden Rock Dreams and Nightmares” challenges the usual accounts, pushing us to look beyond the usual tales of wealth and uncover the hidden truths that shaped this remarkable slice of colonial history.
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Episode Transcript
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>>
We were known as the Golden Rock, but it was
a golden rock with not such a nice history. When you
reflect more deeper, it is not
such a beautiful story.
The foundation on which our economy
was based back in those times was
based on the trading of
human lives.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (00:22):
Welcome M to Whispers of the Past. I'm your host,
Fi de Vitamins. In this episode, we travel
through the years 1750 to
1800, a time when
Syntostatius was known as the Golden Rock.
From a colonial perspective, it was an era of
immense prosperity. Ships piled high
with goods, merchants flocking from every corner
(00:45):
of the globe. And new alliances forged in
the shadows of revolution. Yet
behind that glittering facade lay the
continuation of a darker narrative, one
defined by fierce power struggles, massive
upheavals, and the brutal reality of
slavery. As we continue
exploring how this tiny island stood at the heart
(01:07):
of world shaping events that are often
overlooked by contemporary history, we
also honor the voices that were habitually
silenced, especially those of women.
Our human capacity for sympathy can
flicker. While we recoil at the horror of
slavery, we often overlook just how long
it truly lasted. The
(01:30):
enslavement of African descent people in the
Caribbean lasted roughly 250
years, encompassing entire
lifetimes that stretch across multiple
generations. To give you a number,
it's somewhere between eight or 10
generations. So let's pause for a
moment and reflect on the sheer
(01:51):
duration. Imagine that
staggering timeline began with you. That
would mean your children, your
children's children, and so on.
One generation after another, each
born into the system that refused to let you
go. And though faint echoes of
(02:11):
hope were beginning to stir throughout the
region, unfortunately for the enslaved on
Sintostatius, they still remained bound by the chain
of bondage. Because so many
pivotal developments took place on Sint Eustaceous
from 1750 to 1800, we
divided this era into two episodes. In
(02:31):
this first part, Golden Dreams and
Nightmares, we lay out the broader Caribbean
landscape that profoundly shaped the island. We
begin with historian teacher Dr. Elaine, who
offers a regional overview of this period before we
zoom in on Sintostacia's own unfolding dreams
and its nightmares.
>> Dr. Elaine (02:53):
1750 to 1800. So
let me start by saying this. Over the course of the 18th
century, there were many slave uprisings in
the Caribbean. And of course, the, you know, the most famous
one was 1791 and Saint
Domingue, which led to the first phase of the Haitian
Revolution. Um, and the role of
women in these uprisings has been
(03:15):
analyzed and debated by historians.
Historians have noted that across the Caribbean, we
don't have a ton of evidence of Women playing major roles
in armed rebellion. For example, there was a major
slave up, uh, rising in berbice in, uh,
1763. But most of the rebels were
men, and the majority of women remained non
combatants, uh, neither siding with the colonial
(03:37):
authorities, the Dutch, nor the rebels,
probably because they believed that this would increase their chances
of survival. In other contexts, it's
possible that women played a greater role in
rebellion than meets the eye. But because of
gendered assumptions about female passivity,
their involvement didn't get recorded.
Despite this, we do have some
(03:59):
documentation of women engaging in
armed rebellion. And, for example, the
Haitian Revolution was kind of catalyzed in
1791 by a ceremony in which
a voodoo priestess, a mambo named
Cecile Fatiman, led a ceremony in which she
sacrificed a pig. So this is one example
(04:20):
of a woman kind of engaging in rebellious
activity. But it's important to note that even when
women weren't engaging in armed rebellion,
they were often resisting slavery in different
ways. For example, they were
ensuring the strength of and the survival of
their communities by caring for members of their
communities. Sometimes they were engaging in what's called
(04:42):
everyday resistance, which could take the form of,
for example, feigning sickness to get
off from work, or feigning injury to get off from
work, or sabotaging equipment
on the plantations, stealing from plantation authorities,
and so on. So we shouldn't assume that women didn't engage in
rebellion, but this is just an interesting kind of
(05:03):
lacuna. In the archive, I'll also
mention that the mid to late 18th century is
the period in which the abolitionist movement really starts
getting off the ground. In England, most
abolitionists were white, or most people who were,
like, formally part of the
abolitionist movement were white. But some were
black. Whites had more access to the
(05:24):
written word, to power, to influence
in society. Some were black, though, and a
sizable number were women and abolitionists.
Abolitionists didn't all have the same goals and the same
strategies, but one generalization we can
make about them is that they focused very heavily
on the ill treatment of women in their campaign
to end slavery. So a lot of
(05:47):
abolitionist propaganda, and here I'm not using the
word propaganda in a negative sense, but
merely to describe any material that's intended
to convince an audience of a particular political
viewpoint focused on how
slaveholders beat enslaved women
and separated enslaved mothers and
children. Abolitionists, uh, knew that homing in on
(06:08):
the treatment of enslaved women would provoke a
lot of outrage.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (06:13):
Dr. Elaine lays out a sweeping account
of unrest, resilience, and the rising current
of abolition through the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, Life on Synthesius took a different
course. Even as faint calls for ending slavery
began circulating elsewhere. The
island's colonial power seemed far more focused on
exploiting the Golden Rock economics potential.
(06:36):
A booming trade fueled by rapid growth.
Next we turn to Mrs. Tsutakao, a long term
resident and one of the founders of the island center for
Archaeology and Research, who recalls Sinto
Stacia's astonishing expansion during this era
and the mythical warehouse number that once lined
Stacia's shores.
>> Ms. Sutekau (06:57):
But this is the time period Station was really
growing. We had established a reputation
as a trading colony and we were
expanding rapidly. This was also the
time period when the first
English North American
started coming down here and
(07:18):
beginning what was called the black market in the
United States. So there were
people from the English colonies in
North America coming down here, buying good
illegally, according to the
English, and then taking them back and selling them in the
United States. Which is one reason that by the outbreak of the American
(07:38):
Revolution, we knew about it all
through the mid 17. In the late
1700s, we were called the Golden Rock Group,
the emporium of the Caribbean.
There were over 100 warehouses on the
waterfront. The numbers of warehouses had increased
tremendously. We were having a lot of
trade, um, going on in this
(08:00):
period in the 1790s, there were
supposedly 600 warehouses on the
waterfront. That number really can't be confirmed.
And we aren't knowing whether they're calling
a warehouse what was actually a house because there
were some houses on the waterfront also. So.
But most of those houses were above warehouses.
(08:21):
Um, that number we cannot
confirm. But we know there are many, many
warehouses that are no longer visible
because they're buried under the cliffs,
as we have seen when they've done road work
recently. There were many houses that were
or warehouses that were revealed that
(08:42):
were buried in the cliffs. We also know
there are many warehouses buried in the
slides from the cliff. Like was found
on the, um, Orange Battery
Hotel site where we found a
whole warehouse. So the exact numbers we know
they were on both sides of the road and also in the water.
(09:02):
Remember that land was reclaimed from the sea.
And over time a lot of those warehouses had been
reburied in the sea that were there.
So an exact number is
hard to come by. You see
several numbers about how many there actually
were, but I don't know that there's a real
count of them. But There were over 100
(09:25):
warehouses for the waterfront.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (09:28):
Legends can spring up like wildflowers, especially
when an island's prosperity seems limitless.
Rumors of 600 warehouses and talk of
a population of 20,000
reflects how easily facts can, can merge with
fable. This is also why folklore and
recorded history must always be approached with a critical
eye. Over time, details can be
(09:50):
distorted, romanticized, or even
downplayed. It is up to us to remain
curious and not take every claim at face
value. With that in mind,
Mrs. Sutekau now continues as she unpacks
these legendary figures and the lingering uncertainty
that surrounds them.
>> Ms. Sutekau (10:11):
Um, that 600
warehouses is a number that we've been
told it's like the 20,000 residents of
Stacia. When I first came here, I was told
that the population of Stacia in the early
1700s, 1740s,
1750s, 1760s, with over
20,000 people. That number cannot be backed with
(10:33):
anything. The largest population we really know about
was around 9,000 in the
1790s.
We do know that large numbers of people
died of smallpox epidemic in
1775 and again
in the hurricane of
1780.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (10:54):
Whether the true number of warehouses was
100 or 600 or somewhere in between,
one fact is undeniable.
Synthastacias attained a level of prosperity
rarely matched by other Caribbean islands of the 18th
century. Yet prosperity can be
fragile. Natural disasters sometimes bring even
(11:14):
the mightiest ports to their knees. Before we
delve into, uh, the devastating hurricane of 1780,
Mrs. Tutakow, uh, shares a reflection of the lady of
Quality, whose accounts reveal a
bustling and occasionally off putting trading hub
a window into Stacia's vibrant yet hectic
life.
>> Ms. Sutekau (11:34):
There was a wonderful book written by
Janet Shaw, we call her lady
of Quality, who was here in the
early 17, uh, 70s.
And she talks about the island and how the trade
was going on. She called it a very
disgusting place because she thought the whole
(11:54):
island was the warehouses on the
waterfront and the trade. But she
talks about the multiple,
um, articles that
were available for trade. She
describes many French articles,
other articles from around the world, Mincemeats,
(12:14):
Madeira port. She
describes the people who were in their native
costumes, many of them from
Eurasia, also the Greek, the
Turks, and as well as the Europeans
that were trading on the waterfront. So she gives a
really good description of how
Stacia had grown and become a very international
(12:36):
place during this time. Um, those people
weren't just trading here, they were living here. So
Stacia at this point in time was really
expanding.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (12:47):
Amongst the bustle of trading houses, constant
ship arrivals from various empires, and a
rapidly growing population, Sintostatia
seemed unstoppable. Its enormous
warehouses and steady exchange of goods made
the island a magnet for merchants around the
globe. Meanwhile, across the
Atlantic, the American colonies were fighting for their
(13:08):
own independence from Britain. Due to
Sintostacia's neutral stance and thriving trade
network, the island would soon find itself playing
a pivotal role in that monumental conflict.
Synthastacia's Heritage Inspector M. Mr. Richardson
explains how this small island became such a vital
player in one of history's most significant
(13:28):
revolutionary dramas.
>> Mr. Richardson (13:33):
So we're now in the middle of the
17, um, hundreds and we're going to go into
the 1800s. And what is interesting is that of course
there's the war in the United States going
on. The 13 colonies are fighting the British
for their independence. They want their freedom. The British
were raising taxes. The Boston Tea Party
happened. The whole works of any independent nation
(13:55):
and their struggles. And of course heroes emerged
like George Washington and all the other founding
fathers. So what you see of course is they
need an ally and they need an ally that's
kind of visible but invisible, you know,
because they're fighting the British and the British in Europe and
you know, they're surrounded by the French and the French and the
British hate each other at that time. Time. So that's
(14:18):
also interesting for the America who then has,
you know, a, uh, friendship with France. But one of their
big friends of course are the Dutch. The Dutch now
who was known for their trade and their
neutrality. So the Dutch was kind of the country
that would sell the British the guns, but also sell it to the French
while the British and the French fight each other off. You know, that
was just the Dutch, you know, like not taking aside is
(14:41):
like we're selling everyone everything and we are not in it. It's like
the Switzerland of the Caribbean. And that you see the Dutch are really doing
that. You know, it's like imagine we're surrounded by British
and French islands, but Stusages is trading
the hell, uh, out with the USA.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (14:57):
Mr. Richardson highlights how the Dutch, renowned for
their neutrality, sold arms and goods to both friends
and foes, turning Sintustatias into
a sought after port for those waging war,
those seeking profit, and anyone hoping to
keep a low profile while colonial powers clashed.
But what made Stacia so essential to
(15:18):
merchants, especially from North America?
Archaeologist Dr. Steltson, who has
first hand experience working on the island, offers us
a closer look. Drawing on shipping records and
maritime links, he explains how the
small Caribbean hub became indispensable to
traders across the Atlantic.
>> Dr. Stelton (15:39):
I think it also has to do with the fact that historically
speaking, Stacia, uh, was much more connected
to North America than it was to Europe. Even
though technically, uh, the Europeans,
the Dutch were the colonizers and
they laid claim to the island. But if you look at
for example at the shipping records, there was a lot more trade
(15:59):
between Stacia and North America, the Eastern
seaboard, places like Boston and Philadelphia and New
York and the Carolinas, than there was
with big Dutch cities like Rotterdam and
Amsterdam. There's a few ships a year coming from those ports and from big
British ports, but there's dozens and dozens of ships
coming in from the eastern seaboard of North America. There's a
much stronger connection with the English speaking world
(16:22):
further north. But then there's also a very strong connection with
the English speaking world around them. Right.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (16:29):
As uh, Dr. Stelton shows, shipping records
reveal Syntostacia's strong tie to North
America. Ties even greater than those
with Europe. Constant traffic from places
like Boston, Philadelphia and beyond also
grew some of the most influential figures in early
American history. While a few merely passed
through the islands, others left behind documents
(16:51):
and personal connections that shaped Stacia's
Golden Rock legacy. To
delve into these personal links and the island's pivotal
role during the American War of Independence,
we turn once again to Sintustacia's heritage
inspector, Mr. Richardson.
>> Mr. Richardson (17:09):
So they're having all their supplies or coming through
stages to aid the American war of the
independence trade, even the safety of
letters to France. Everything is passing through central
stations because it's the most trusted partner. Also,
many founding fathers of America you would
see, would have also, you know, station roots or
semi station heritage, even to a point
(17:32):
of having lived on the island. So even the
famous Alexander Hamilton, who's accredited to
being born on Nevis, he
actually lived here and probably would have known more
about St. Eustatius because he recorded it in his
records of his time here on Stasis. His Jewish
teachers, etc. Very interesting book. But also
you would see that many other founding fathers, like even
(17:54):
Benjamin Franklin, had his male rooted true
saints that would go to France and go to England, et
cetera. So you see there's a whole link going
on. And then in that period it's like we're
at the peak. It's like the balloon before it pops.
You know, the trade is going. And think in mind that
the island is already changing hands again over and
over and the trade is still blooming. The island
(18:17):
is at its Golden Rock period. That's where we get the name
from.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (18:23):
Synthesia's role wasn't limited to selling goods under
the table. It also Made symbolic gestures of
solidarity, like the so called first
salute, a recognition of American
independence that would resonate for
centuries.
Mississutikau recounts this pivotal day along with
intriguing and important documents that might have ended
(18:45):
up on this island. A signed copy of the
Declaration of Independence.
>> Ms. Sutekau (18:53):
Well, the first salute is an episode
of an ongoing
story. We take
it as a separate
story by itself because of, uh, the
day of the arrival of the Andrew doria,
which was November 16,
1776. One of the
(19:15):
things that we are learning is
that the American involvement, or
the peoples that will become the Americans,
involvement with Stacia was going a
long time before the first loot actually
happened. And one of the reasons the first loot
happened is that many of the founding fathers in the
United States, uh, actually had involvement
(19:38):
with St. Eustatia. Not just Alexander
Hamilton, who we know now lived here longer than we thought
he did, but many others of the founding
fathers had involvements with St. Eustatia.
But the first saloon, November
16, 1776, was about
a naval ship whose
(19:59):
merchant's name happened to be the
Defiance. But when she became an official
naval ship, her name was changed with
Andrew Doria. She
came here being captained by a man named
Isaiah Robinson, with papers
to be signed by the island governor
to establish relationships between
(20:21):
the new colonies and station for the purpose of
trade. Um, the
stories that we know about it
only tell us really about what happened
that day and what went on afterward.
But the story itself is much
broader. They incorporate a lot more
history in the United States. And St. Eustace,
(20:44):
that is the story we really need to get
out before
2026.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (20:53):
While the first salute remains a key milestone in
Stacia's ties to America, there are other intriguing
pieces of history connecting the Founding Fathers of
America and a possible signed copy of the
declaration of independence. Mr.
Tsutakow now explains how this document reached
Interstatius and the mystery of where it may have
gone.
>> Ms. Sutekau (21:16):
This is one of the most fascinating
things about the Declaration
of Independence. The founders
and the writers of the Declaration of
Independence actually knew in their
heart that they had written a
document that would go down in history.
Now, I want you to think about that. You're
(21:39):
asked to write an essay or a report
or any kind of paper, and
when you produce it in your
own heart, you know
this paper will last
forever. That is an amazing
thing to have. The Founding fathers in
(21:59):
the United States knew that. And one of
the things they did to protect that document
was, was they made copies of that
document. These were all handwritten. Remember,
these were not put on a printing press and they
were all hand signed by all the
signers of the Declaration of Independence. And
these copies sole purpose
(22:22):
was so that the original could not be found.
One of those copies was
sent to St. Eustatia, the
governor, um, Johannes de Grau, in
appreciation in a thank you
and as a gift
for his agreeing to allow the United
(22:43):
States to trade.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (22:44):
What happened to it?
>> Ms. Sutekau (22:45):
Well, we've been trying to find out that for
a long time. Unfortunately,
oftentimes when Station
was being under threat of capture, we
burned our own archives.
A lot of times our archives were kept in
Europe or they were kept in, uh,
(23:06):
Curacao or other islands. Later on,
we have no record of what happened to them.
You must remember that copy had gone to
Johannes de Ro. He probably kept
it within his family. If it stayed within
the family, it could have well been burned.
It could still be around. We might find a hidden
(23:27):
treasure one day, which we all
dream of doing. Probably
it was destroyed at one time or another and it
could have even been traded off island. Or if the
family left the island, it might have gone with the
families. So it's very difficult to say what
happened to it. Unless we find it.
Then we'll know.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (23:50):
By saluting an emerging republic and possible
safeguarding a copy of its founding document,
Sinter Statius gained both admirers and
enemies. Yet amongst its rise
in prestige, nature soon struck a devastating
blow. As Mrs. Sutekow explains, the
hurricane of 1780 shattered the island. Hard won
gains, reminding everyone that even
(24:13):
the golden rock was at the mercy of the sea
and the sky.
>> Ms. Sutekau (24:18):
We all know the stories about the American
Revolution and our agreement
here on Station to trade with the American
colonies, um, and provide them
their arms, their ammunition, their other things that they needed
during the war. But this was
the biggest period of Stacia's
growth then with the hurricane
(24:39):
of 1780, which had greatly
affected the population of October of
1780. A lot of people
died during that hurricane and a lot of
houses were destroyed and Station had to rebuild.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (24:55):
This hurricane became a defining moment for the island,
devastating its bustling lower town and
renowned warehouses in one single night.
Beyond lost cargo and buildings, it
claimed countless of lives, revealing just
how fragile prosperity could be.
Mr. Richardson now shares a firsthand
(25:15):
recorded account that offers a, uh, glimpse of the
havoc that left in the storm's wake.
>> Mr. Richardson (25:22):
Saint Eusatius was one of the places that lost
the most lives in the great hurricane of 1780.
And what is interesting is that the governor wrote in his
letter to the Hague to the colonial chamber at the
Time saying, you know, he went to sleep at
night with a gentle breeze off the east, and
all he saw was about 200 ships in the harbor
(25:42):
still flickering. And after the destruction
through the night and partly losing the roof of his
residence, which we believe would have been the Gadot house at the
time, he comes down into the
administrator's office, which is then the
fort, Fort Oralnia, and he looks
over into the roadstead and is
horrified of what he sees because it's like he
(26:04):
has never seen a naval
battle that has provided as much
destruction as the great storm of 1780.
And all of these ships that were in the harbor are
now no more. You can see that some of them are recently
sunk. It looks like some of them have been set
afire. He looks in the lower town. It's a mess.
There are ships everywhere. The sea had
(26:26):
claimed half of the buildings. There were produce everywhere.
And he gives a pretty good description of what
happened. And let's not talk about the upper
town. It's a mess. It's like a hurricane, probably
we would have labeled it a Category 5 based on the
records. And more than a thousand people lost their lives
on Chinji Seishi's.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (26:53):
As we conclude part one of the Golden
Dreams and Nightmares, we find Syntostatius at the
crossroad of triumph and tragedy, Its
fortune shaped by global trade, colonial powers,
plays, and the brutality of enslavement.
We touched on pivotal moments. The first
salute to a rising new nation of the United
(27:13):
States of America, rumors of a
vanished declaration copy, and the
devastating hurricane that brought the island to
its knees. Yet in all these
grand narratives, one question
persists. Where were the women?
Archival records celebrate governors,
(27:34):
merchants, rebel leaders,
predominantly men. While the names of women
who lived, worked, and resided here are rarely,
if ever, mentioned.
We know they faced the same storms and endured
the same social upheavals. But why do their stories
remain hidden? And how can we
(27:54):
ensure their voices are finally heard?
As we reflect on the island's prosperity,
it ties to American independence
and its struggle under the weight of slavery,
we must consider these.
Whose perspectives are we missing?
And what does that mean for our understanding of this
(28:15):
era? Because
so much happened on St. Eustatius Between 1750
and 1800, we divided this era into
two episodes. In our next episode,
part two of Golden Dreams and Nightmares,
we'll continue the journey into the latter half of this era,
revealing how the island once again confronts shifting
(28:36):
empires and the global call for abolition.
As we delve deeper into the late 18th century,
a time when empires clashed, fortunes soared,
and crumbled, and women's legacies were often
unrecorded. We remind ourselves that no
history is truly complete until every
voice is.
We were known as the Golden Rock, but it was
a golden rock with not such a nice history. When you
reflect more deeper, it is not
such a beautiful story.
The foundation on which our economy
was based back in those times was
based on the trading of
human lives.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (00:22):
Welcome M to Whispers of the Past. I'm your host,
Fi de Vitamins. In this episode, we travel
through the years 1750 to
1800, a time when
Syntostatius was known as the Golden Rock.
From a colonial perspective, it was an era of
immense prosperity. Ships piled high
with goods, merchants flocking from every corner
(00:45):
of the globe. And new alliances forged in
the shadows of revolution. Yet
behind that glittering facade lay the
continuation of a darker narrative, one
defined by fierce power struggles, massive
upheavals, and the brutal reality of
slavery. As we continue
exploring how this tiny island stood at the heart
(01:07):
of world shaping events that are often
overlooked by contemporary history, we
also honor the voices that were habitually
silenced, especially those of women.
Our human capacity for sympathy can
flicker. While we recoil at the horror of
slavery, we often overlook just how long
it truly lasted. The
(01:30):
enslavement of African descent people in the
Caribbean lasted roughly 250
years, encompassing entire
lifetimes that stretch across multiple
generations. To give you a number,
it's somewhere between eight or 10
generations. So let's pause for a
moment and reflect on the sheer
(01:51):
duration. Imagine that
staggering timeline began with you. That
would mean your children, your
children's children, and so on.
One generation after another, each
born into the system that refused to let you
go. And though faint echoes of
(02:11):
hope were beginning to stir throughout the
region, unfortunately for the enslaved on
Sintostatius, they still remained bound by the chain
of bondage. Because so many
pivotal developments took place on Sint Eustaceous
from 1750 to 1800, we
divided this era into two episodes. In
(02:31):
this first part, Golden Dreams and
Nightmares, we lay out the broader Caribbean
landscape that profoundly shaped the island. We
begin with historian teacher Dr. Elaine, who
offers a regional overview of this period before we
zoom in on Sintostacia's own unfolding dreams
and its nightmares.
>> Dr. Elaine (02:53):
1750 to 1800. So
let me start by saying this. Over the course of the 18th
century, there were many slave uprisings in
the Caribbean. And of course, the, you know, the most famous
one was 1791 and Saint
Domingue, which led to the first phase of the Haitian
Revolution. Um, and the role of
women in these uprisings has been
(03:15):
analyzed and debated by historians.
Historians have noted that across the Caribbean, we
don't have a ton of evidence of Women playing major roles
in armed rebellion. For example, there was a major
slave up, uh, rising in berbice in, uh,
1763. But most of the rebels were
men, and the majority of women remained non
combatants, uh, neither siding with the colonial
(03:37):
authorities, the Dutch, nor the rebels,
probably because they believed that this would increase their chances
of survival. In other contexts, it's
possible that women played a greater role in
rebellion than meets the eye. But because of
gendered assumptions about female passivity,
their involvement didn't get recorded.
Despite this, we do have some
(03:59):
documentation of women engaging in
armed rebellion. And, for example, the
Haitian Revolution was kind of catalyzed in
1791 by a ceremony in which
a voodoo priestess, a mambo named
Cecile Fatiman, led a ceremony in which she
sacrificed a pig. So this is one example
(04:20):
of a woman kind of engaging in rebellious
activity. But it's important to note that even when
women weren't engaging in armed rebellion,
they were often resisting slavery in different
ways. For example, they were
ensuring the strength of and the survival of
their communities by caring for members of their
communities. Sometimes they were engaging in what's called
(04:42):
everyday resistance, which could take the form of,
for example, feigning sickness to get
off from work, or feigning injury to get off from
work, or sabotaging equipment
on the plantations, stealing from plantation authorities,
and so on. So we shouldn't assume that women didn't engage in
rebellion, but this is just an interesting kind of
(05:03):
lacuna. In the archive, I'll also
mention that the mid to late 18th century is
the period in which the abolitionist movement really starts
getting off the ground. In England, most
abolitionists were white, or most people who were,
like, formally part of the
abolitionist movement were white. But some were
black. Whites had more access to the
(05:24):
written word, to power, to influence
in society. Some were black, though, and a
sizable number were women and abolitionists.
Abolitionists didn't all have the same goals and the same
strategies, but one generalization we can
make about them is that they focused very heavily
on the ill treatment of women in their campaign
to end slavery. So a lot of
(05:47):
abolitionist propaganda, and here I'm not using the
word propaganda in a negative sense, but
merely to describe any material that's intended
to convince an audience of a particular political
viewpoint focused on how
slaveholders beat enslaved women
and separated enslaved mothers and
children. Abolitionists, uh, knew that homing in on
(06:08):
the treatment of enslaved women would provoke a
lot of outrage.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (06:13):
Dr. Elaine lays out a sweeping account
of unrest, resilience, and the rising current
of abolition through the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, Life on Synthesius took a different
course. Even as faint calls for ending slavery
began circulating elsewhere. The
island's colonial power seemed far more focused on
exploiting the Golden Rock economics potential.
(06:36):
A booming trade fueled by rapid growth.
Next we turn to Mrs. Tsutakao, a long term
resident and one of the founders of the island center for
Archaeology and Research, who recalls Sinto
Stacia's astonishing expansion during this era
and the mythical warehouse number that once lined
Stacia's shores.
>> Ms. Sutekau (06:57):
But this is the time period Station was really
growing. We had established a reputation
as a trading colony and we were
expanding rapidly. This was also the
time period when the first
English North American
started coming down here and
(07:18):
beginning what was called the black market in the
United States. So there were
people from the English colonies in
North America coming down here, buying good
illegally, according to the
English, and then taking them back and selling them in the
United States. Which is one reason that by the outbreak of the American
(07:38):
Revolution, we knew about it all
through the mid 17. In the late
1700s, we were called the Golden Rock Group,
the emporium of the Caribbean.
There were over 100 warehouses on the
waterfront. The numbers of warehouses had increased
tremendously. We were having a lot of
trade, um, going on in this
(08:00):
period in the 1790s, there were
supposedly 600 warehouses on the
waterfront. That number really can't be confirmed.
And we aren't knowing whether they're calling
a warehouse what was actually a house because there
were some houses on the waterfront also. So.
But most of those houses were above warehouses.
(08:21):
Um, that number we cannot
confirm. But we know there are many, many
warehouses that are no longer visible
because they're buried under the cliffs,
as we have seen when they've done road work
recently. There were many houses that were
or warehouses that were revealed that
(08:42):
were buried in the cliffs. We also know
there are many warehouses buried in the
slides from the cliff. Like was found
on the, um, Orange Battery
Hotel site where we found a
whole warehouse. So the exact numbers we know
they were on both sides of the road and also in the water.
(09:02):
Remember that land was reclaimed from the sea.
And over time a lot of those warehouses had been
reburied in the sea that were there.
So an exact number is
hard to come by. You see
several numbers about how many there actually
were, but I don't know that there's a real
count of them. But There were over 100
(09:25):
warehouses for the waterfront.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (09:28):
Legends can spring up like wildflowers, especially
when an island's prosperity seems limitless.
Rumors of 600 warehouses and talk of
a population of 20,000
reflects how easily facts can, can merge with
fable. This is also why folklore and
recorded history must always be approached with a critical
eye. Over time, details can be
(09:50):
distorted, romanticized, or even
downplayed. It is up to us to remain
curious and not take every claim at face
value. With that in mind,
Mrs. Sutekau now continues as she unpacks
these legendary figures and the lingering uncertainty
that surrounds them.
>> Ms. Sutekau (10:11):
Um, that 600
warehouses is a number that we've been
told it's like the 20,000 residents of
Stacia. When I first came here, I was told
that the population of Stacia in the early
1700s, 1740s,
1750s, 1760s, with over
20,000 people. That number cannot be backed with
(10:33):
anything. The largest population we really know about
was around 9,000 in the
1790s.
We do know that large numbers of people
died of smallpox epidemic in
1775 and again
in the hurricane of
1780.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (10:54):
Whether the true number of warehouses was
100 or 600 or somewhere in between,
one fact is undeniable.
Synthastacias attained a level of prosperity
rarely matched by other Caribbean islands of the 18th
century. Yet prosperity can be
fragile. Natural disasters sometimes bring even
(11:14):
the mightiest ports to their knees. Before we
delve into, uh, the devastating hurricane of 1780,
Mrs. Tutakow, uh, shares a reflection of the lady of
Quality, whose accounts reveal a
bustling and occasionally off putting trading hub
a window into Stacia's vibrant yet hectic
life.
>> Ms. Sutekau (11:34):
There was a wonderful book written by
Janet Shaw, we call her lady
of Quality, who was here in the
early 17, uh, 70s.
And she talks about the island and how the trade
was going on. She called it a very
disgusting place because she thought the whole
(11:54):
island was the warehouses on the
waterfront and the trade. But she
talks about the multiple,
um, articles that
were available for trade. She
describes many French articles,
other articles from around the world, Mincemeats,
(12:14):
Madeira port. She
describes the people who were in their native
costumes, many of them from
Eurasia, also the Greek, the
Turks, and as well as the Europeans
that were trading on the waterfront. So she gives a
really good description of how
Stacia had grown and become a very international
(12:36):
place during this time. Um, those people
weren't just trading here, they were living here. So
Stacia at this point in time was really
expanding.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (12:47):
Amongst the bustle of trading houses, constant
ship arrivals from various empires, and a
rapidly growing population, Sintostatia
seemed unstoppable. Its enormous
warehouses and steady exchange of goods made
the island a magnet for merchants around the
globe. Meanwhile, across the
Atlantic, the American colonies were fighting for their
(13:08):
own independence from Britain. Due to
Sintostacia's neutral stance and thriving trade
network, the island would soon find itself playing
a pivotal role in that monumental conflict.
Synthastacia's Heritage Inspector M. Mr. Richardson
explains how this small island became such a vital
player in one of history's most significant
(13:28):
revolutionary dramas.
>> Mr. Richardson (13:33):
So we're now in the middle of the
17, um, hundreds and we're going to go into
the 1800s. And what is interesting is that of course
there's the war in the United States going
on. The 13 colonies are fighting the British
for their independence. They want their freedom. The British
were raising taxes. The Boston Tea Party
happened. The whole works of any independent nation
(13:55):
and their struggles. And of course heroes emerged
like George Washington and all the other founding
fathers. So what you see of course is they
need an ally and they need an ally that's
kind of visible but invisible, you know,
because they're fighting the British and the British in Europe and
you know, they're surrounded by the French and the French and the
British hate each other at that time. Time. So that's
(14:18):
also interesting for the America who then has,
you know, a, uh, friendship with France. But one of their
big friends of course are the Dutch. The Dutch now
who was known for their trade and their
neutrality. So the Dutch was kind of the country
that would sell the British the guns, but also sell it to the French
while the British and the French fight each other off. You know, that
was just the Dutch, you know, like not taking aside is
(14:41):
like we're selling everyone everything and we are not in it. It's like
the Switzerland of the Caribbean. And that you see the Dutch are really doing
that. You know, it's like imagine we're surrounded by British
and French islands, but Stusages is trading
the hell, uh, out with the USA.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (14:57):
Mr. Richardson highlights how the Dutch, renowned for
their neutrality, sold arms and goods to both friends
and foes, turning Sintustatias into
a sought after port for those waging war,
those seeking profit, and anyone hoping to
keep a low profile while colonial powers clashed.
But what made Stacia so essential to
(15:18):
merchants, especially from North America?
Archaeologist Dr. Steltson, who has
first hand experience working on the island, offers us
a closer look. Drawing on shipping records and
maritime links, he explains how the
small Caribbean hub became indispensable to
traders across the Atlantic.
>> Dr. Stelton (15:39):
I think it also has to do with the fact that historically
speaking, Stacia, uh, was much more connected
to North America than it was to Europe. Even
though technically, uh, the Europeans,
the Dutch were the colonizers and
they laid claim to the island. But if you look at
for example at the shipping records, there was a lot more trade
(15:59):
between Stacia and North America, the Eastern
seaboard, places like Boston and Philadelphia and New
York and the Carolinas, than there was
with big Dutch cities like Rotterdam and
Amsterdam. There's a few ships a year coming from those ports and from big
British ports, but there's dozens and dozens of ships
coming in from the eastern seaboard of North America. There's a
much stronger connection with the English speaking world
(16:22):
further north. But then there's also a very strong connection with
the English speaking world around them. Right.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (16:29):
As uh, Dr. Stelton shows, shipping records
reveal Syntostacia's strong tie to North
America. Ties even greater than those
with Europe. Constant traffic from places
like Boston, Philadelphia and beyond also
grew some of the most influential figures in early
American history. While a few merely passed
through the islands, others left behind documents
(16:51):
and personal connections that shaped Stacia's
Golden Rock legacy. To
delve into these personal links and the island's pivotal
role during the American War of Independence,
we turn once again to Sintustacia's heritage
inspector, Mr. Richardson.
>> Mr. Richardson (17:09):
So they're having all their supplies or coming through
stages to aid the American war of the
independence trade, even the safety of
letters to France. Everything is passing through central
stations because it's the most trusted partner. Also,
many founding fathers of America you would
see, would have also, you know, station roots or
semi station heritage, even to a point
(17:32):
of having lived on the island. So even the
famous Alexander Hamilton, who's accredited to
being born on Nevis, he
actually lived here and probably would have known more
about St. Eustatius because he recorded it in his
records of his time here on Stasis. His Jewish
teachers, etc. Very interesting book. But also
you would see that many other founding fathers, like even
(17:54):
Benjamin Franklin, had his male rooted true
saints that would go to France and go to England, et
cetera. So you see there's a whole link going
on. And then in that period it's like we're
at the peak. It's like the balloon before it pops.
You know, the trade is going. And think in mind that
the island is already changing hands again over and
over and the trade is still blooming. The island
(18:17):
is at its Golden Rock period. That's where we get the name
from.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (18:23):
Synthesia's role wasn't limited to selling goods under
the table. It also Made symbolic gestures of
solidarity, like the so called first
salute, a recognition of American
independence that would resonate for
centuries.
Mississutikau recounts this pivotal day along with
intriguing and important documents that might have ended
(18:45):
up on this island. A signed copy of the
Declaration of Independence.
>> Ms. Sutekau (18:53):
Well, the first salute is an episode
of an ongoing
story. We take
it as a separate
story by itself because of, uh, the
day of the arrival of the Andrew doria,
which was November 16,
1776. One of the
(19:15):
things that we are learning is
that the American involvement, or
the peoples that will become the Americans,
involvement with Stacia was going a
long time before the first loot actually
happened. And one of the reasons the first loot
happened is that many of the founding fathers in the
United States, uh, actually had involvement
(19:38):
with St. Eustatia. Not just Alexander
Hamilton, who we know now lived here longer than we thought
he did, but many others of the founding
fathers had involvements with St. Eustatia.
But the first saloon, November
16, 1776, was about
a naval ship whose
(19:59):
merchant's name happened to be the
Defiance. But when she became an official
naval ship, her name was changed with
Andrew Doria. She
came here being captained by a man named
Isaiah Robinson, with papers
to be signed by the island governor
to establish relationships between
(20:21):
the new colonies and station for the purpose of
trade. Um, the
stories that we know about it
only tell us really about what happened
that day and what went on afterward.
But the story itself is much
broader. They incorporate a lot more
history in the United States. And St. Eustace,
(20:44):
that is the story we really need to get
out before
2026.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (20:53):
While the first salute remains a key milestone in
Stacia's ties to America, there are other intriguing
pieces of history connecting the Founding Fathers of
America and a possible signed copy of the
declaration of independence. Mr.
Tsutakow now explains how this document reached
Interstatius and the mystery of where it may have
gone.
>> Ms. Sutekau (21:16):
This is one of the most fascinating
things about the Declaration
of Independence. The founders
and the writers of the Declaration of
Independence actually knew in their
heart that they had written a
document that would go down in history.
Now, I want you to think about that. You're
(21:39):
asked to write an essay or a report
or any kind of paper, and
when you produce it in your
own heart, you know
this paper will last
forever. That is an amazing
thing to have. The Founding fathers in
(21:59):
the United States knew that. And one of
the things they did to protect that document
was, was they made copies of that
document. These were all handwritten. Remember,
these were not put on a printing press and they
were all hand signed by all the
signers of the Declaration of Independence. And
these copies sole purpose
(22:22):
was so that the original could not be found.
One of those copies was
sent to St. Eustatia, the
governor, um, Johannes de Grau, in
appreciation in a thank you
and as a gift
for his agreeing to allow the United
(22:43):
States to trade.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (22:44):
What happened to it?
>> Ms. Sutekau (22:45):
Well, we've been trying to find out that for
a long time. Unfortunately,
oftentimes when Station
was being under threat of capture, we
burned our own archives.
A lot of times our archives were kept in
Europe or they were kept in, uh,
(23:06):
Curacao or other islands. Later on,
we have no record of what happened to them.
You must remember that copy had gone to
Johannes de Ro. He probably kept
it within his family. If it stayed within
the family, it could have well been burned.
It could still be around. We might find a hidden
(23:27):
treasure one day, which we all
dream of doing. Probably
it was destroyed at one time or another and it
could have even been traded off island. Or if the
family left the island, it might have gone with the
families. So it's very difficult to say what
happened to it. Unless we find it.
Then we'll know.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (23:50):
By saluting an emerging republic and possible
safeguarding a copy of its founding document,
Sinter Statius gained both admirers and
enemies. Yet amongst its rise
in prestige, nature soon struck a devastating
blow. As Mrs. Sutekow explains, the
hurricane of 1780 shattered the island. Hard won
gains, reminding everyone that even
(24:13):
the golden rock was at the mercy of the sea
and the sky.
>> Ms. Sutekau (24:18):
We all know the stories about the American
Revolution and our agreement
here on Station to trade with the American
colonies, um, and provide them
their arms, their ammunition, their other things that they needed
during the war. But this was
the biggest period of Stacia's
growth then with the hurricane
(24:39):
of 1780, which had greatly
affected the population of October of
1780. A lot of people
died during that hurricane and a lot of
houses were destroyed and Station had to rebuild.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (24:55):
This hurricane became a defining moment for the island,
devastating its bustling lower town and
renowned warehouses in one single night.
Beyond lost cargo and buildings, it
claimed countless of lives, revealing just
how fragile prosperity could be.
Mr. Richardson now shares a firsthand
(25:15):
recorded account that offers a, uh, glimpse of the
havoc that left in the storm's wake.
>> Mr. Richardson (25:22):
Saint Eusatius was one of the places that lost
the most lives in the great hurricane of 1780.
And what is interesting is that the governor wrote in his
letter to the Hague to the colonial chamber at the
Time saying, you know, he went to sleep at
night with a gentle breeze off the east, and
all he saw was about 200 ships in the harbor
(25:42):
still flickering. And after the destruction
through the night and partly losing the roof of his
residence, which we believe would have been the Gadot house at the
time, he comes down into the
administrator's office, which is then the
fort, Fort Oralnia, and he looks
over into the roadstead and is
horrified of what he sees because it's like he
(26:04):
has never seen a naval
battle that has provided as much
destruction as the great storm of 1780.
And all of these ships that were in the harbor are
now no more. You can see that some of them are recently
sunk. It looks like some of them have been set
afire. He looks in the lower town. It's a mess.
There are ships everywhere. The sea had
(26:26):
claimed half of the buildings. There were produce everywhere.
And he gives a pretty good description of what
happened. And let's not talk about the upper
town. It's a mess. It's like a hurricane, probably
we would have labeled it a Category 5 based on the
records. And more than a thousand people lost their lives
on Chinji Seishi's.
>> Unidentified (Podcast Host) (26:53):
As we conclude part one of the Golden
Dreams and Nightmares, we find Syntostatius at the
crossroad of triumph and tragedy, Its
fortune shaped by global trade, colonial powers,
plays, and the brutality of enslavement.
We touched on pivotal moments. The first
salute to a rising new nation of the United
(27:13):
States of America, rumors of a
vanished declaration copy, and the
devastating hurricane that brought the island to
its knees. Yet in all these
grand narratives, one question
persists. Where were the women?
Archival records celebrate governors,
(27:34):
merchants, rebel leaders,
predominantly men. While the names of women
who lived, worked, and resided here are rarely,
if ever, mentioned.
We know they faced the same storms and endured
the same social upheavals. But why do their stories
remain hidden? And how can we
(27:54):
ensure their voices are finally heard?
As we reflect on the island's prosperity,
it ties to American independence
and its struggle under the weight of slavery,
we must consider these.
Whose perspectives are we missing?
And what does that mean for our understanding of this
(28:15):
era? Because
so much happened on St. Eustatius Between 1750
and 1800, we divided this era into
two episodes. In our next episode,
part two of Golden Dreams and Nightmares,
we'll continue the journey into the latter half of this era,
revealing how the island once again confronts shifting
(28:36):
empires and the global call for abolition.
As we delve deeper into the late 18th century,
a time when empires clashed, fortunes soared,
and crumbled, and women's legacies were often
unrecorded. We remind ourselves that no
history is truly complete until every
voice is.
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