Qualla: Fortsberg https://qualla.com/fortsberg en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/e/3/b/fortsberg-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Fortsberg https://qualla.com/fortsberg Fortsberg: Introduction https://qualla.com/fortsberg/ Photo credit Heptazane, CC BY-SA 4.0. They smuggled the machetes inside bundles of firewood. On the morning of November 23, 1733, enslaved Akwamu people carried their loads up the steep hill to Fortsberg as they did every day -- except this time, when they reached the garrison, they drew the hidden blades and attacked. Five of the six Danish soldiers on duty were killed. A cannon was fired as a signal, and across St. John, enslaved people rose in coordinated revolt. Within hours, the Akwamu controlled the fort, the island's plantations, and the cannon that overlooked Coral Bay. The rebellion they launched from this hilltop would hold the island for six months.

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Image: Heptazane | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/e/3/b/fortsberg-wp/de3b-fortsberg-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Fortsberg: A Fort Built by the People Who Took It https://qualla.com/fortsberg/ Photo credit Heptazane, CC BY-SA 4.0. Fortsberg -- also called Frederiksvaern -- was built in 1717 when settlers from St. Thomas moved to the Coral Bay area of St. John. It sat 426 feet above sea level on a hill commanding views of the bay and the surrounding coastline, a defensive position meant to protect the Danis...

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Image: Heptazane | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/e/3/b/fortsberg-wp/de3b-fortsberg-a-fort-built-by-the-people-who-took-it.mp3 0:06 2 full Fortsberg: Six Months of Freedom https://qualla.com/fortsberg/ Photo credit Heptazane, CC BY-SA 4.0. The uprising was planned by leaders including King June, a foreman on the Sodtmann estate, and Breffu, an Akwamu woman who became known as the Queen of St. John. Their goal was not simply escape -- it was sovereignty. The Akwamu intended to seize the island, take control of its p...

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]]> Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/e/3/b/fortsberg-wp/de3b-fortsberg-six-months-of-freedom.mp3 0:06 3 full Fortsberg: The Suppression https://qualla.com/fortsberg/ Photo credit Heptazane, CC BY-SA 4.0. Denmark could not retake the island alone. In April 1734, several hundred French and Swiss soldiers arrived from Martinique, sent by the French colonial governor. They encamped near Fortsberg and launched a systematic campaign to crush the rebellion. Outgunned and outnumbered by ...

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]]> Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/e/3/b/fortsberg-wp/de3b-fortsberg-the-suppression.mp3 0:06 4 full Fortsberg: An Ironic Monument https://qualla.com/fortsberg/ Photo credit Heptazane, CC BY-SA 4.0. Fortsberg has been called an "ironic monument" to a traumatic chapter in St. John's history. The ruins that visitors can hike to today are the ruins of the replacement fort -- built by the colonizers who crushed the revolt, on the same ground where the revolt succeeded. But the s...

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]]> Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/e/3/b/fortsberg-wp/de3b-fortsberg-an-ironic-monument.mp3 0:06 5 full