what language do they speak in st croix
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands English is the dominant language on St. Croix and has been the official language since 1917, when the Danish West Indies were purchased by the United States. Previously, the official language was Danish, although it was not widely spoken. Other languages throughout St. Croix's colonial history included Irish, Scots, Spanish and French, as well as a Dutch Creole spoken by St. Thomas and St. John-born persons living in St. Croix, as well as the local creole English, which still exists today.[11]
History of the United States Virgin Islands Early inhabitants of the Virgin Islands included the Ciboney, Arawaks, and Island Caribs. The first documented Europeans to visit the islands arrived with Christopher Columbus. The islands were occupied by several nations over the next century, including England, the Dutch Republic, France, and Denmark.[citation needed] In 1733, the Danish West India Company purchased Saint Croix from the French and brought together Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, and Saint John as the Danish West Indies. Danish trading posts were set up on the islands, trading in sugar, slaves and other goods. Sugar cane cultivation was a major economic activity for many years, with slaves used as one of the labor sources. However, following increasing humanitarian awareness, laws against slavery and a slave rebellion in 1848, the governor Peter von Scholten officially freed the last slaves the same year. The islands were purchased from the Danish by the United States in 1917 under the Treaty of the Danish West Indies.