Pastor John P. Knox om kristendommens indflydelse på oprøret i 1848 (1852)
Den lutheranske præst pastor John P. Knox (1811-1882) var oprindeligt fra Georgia, USA. I 1837-1841 var han pastor i den reformerte kirke på Bahamas, og fra 1855 på St. Thomas i Dansk Vestindien. I en udgivelse fra 1852 skriver han om oprøret og emancipationen i 1848. Han er ikke øjenvidne, eftersom han befandt sig på St. Thomas og ikke St. Croix i oprørsdagene. I teksten gør han sig betragtninger om det faktum, at ingen eurocaribiere mistede livet under oprøret.
Uddrag fra John P. Knox: A Historical Account of St. Thomas, W.I, with its rise and progress in commerce, missions and churches, climate and its adaption to invalids, geographical structure, natural history and botany; and incidental notices of St. Croix and St. Johns, slave insurrections in these islands, emancipation and present condition of the labouring classes, 1852. New York, C. Scribner, side 120-121.
In St. Croix, the life of not a single white person was sacrificed to their fury or revenge; and the plunder and destruction of property were, comparatively speaking, but limited in extent. We can only account for this and take pleasure in recording it as our deliberate opinion, that it was mainly through that power which Christianity had exerted through the labours of the Morovian1, Episcopal, and Lutheran clergymen, aided by many pious and energetic inhabitants of both sexes in behalf of the slaves, imbuing their minds with the great principles of the Gospel, and leading planters and other owners to treat their slaves with greater kindness than in any other of the West India Islands. Nor is it to be overlooked, as an additional reason for this forbearance on the part of the rebellious slaves, that the Government of Denmark had now for years watched over the slaves of its colonies with the most paternal solicitude, and was at the very time taking steps for their emancipation.
Tekst 44 | Oversigten over kildetekster | Tekst 46
