The Caribbean Plantation - When the Slaves Were Freed

Major Joseph Plaskett had built an empire in the Danish West Indies. His rum and sugar plantation on St. Croix made him wealthy. He held the rank of Major in the Island Militia.

Then emancipation came.

The plantation could no longer be operated profitably without enslaved labor. Joseph Plaskett, who had built his fortune on human bondage, “lost everything and died of a broken heart.”

Some of the enslaved people took their master’s name. Their descendants — the African American Plasketts of the Virgin Islands — would eventually include Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, who today represents the U.S. Virgin Islands in Congress.

Two branches of one name: one that owned, one that was owned. Both now carry the Plaskett surname into the American future.