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Swedish Culture in the West Indies
Before Sweden had lost all official interest in its
descendants on the Delaware a new interest had been
acquired elsewhere in the New World. St. Barthelemy,
a little island in the French West Indies, became
Swedish in 1784—85. It finally proved a source of loss
and was restored to France in 1878, negotiations with
the United States in 1868 and 1870 having come to
naught. The one city, which generally contained the
majority of the whole population, was named Gustavia
after Gustavus III. The colored outnumbered the whites
and the racial lines were strongly drawn. The whites
were of different nationalities, including a little handful
of Swedes, and generally spoke English, their trade
relations being English and American.
The Swedish government maintained a Lutheran
minister on the island from 1785 until some time before
1840, altho the Swedes seem to have been the only
Lutherans. Occasionally he preached in English.
Methodist missionaries sometimes worked on the island,
and an Anglican church was founded in 1851. At times
there was a Catholic priest, the majority of the natives
being Catholic. A weekly newspaper in English was
printed in the island print-shop. About 1819 it had
fallen into the unfit hands of a mulatto.
The natives were generally very ignorant, the majority
of the colored being slaves during the first part of
the Swedish administration. Little was done for their
benefit as long as the island remained under the direct
government of the king. Upon the assumption of
responsibility by the Swedish Diet, however, the slaves
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