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St. John
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History
St. John had much the same early development as other Caribbean islands. The first inhabitants were several early Indian tribes of the Americas. The nomadic Ciboneys of the Stone Age were followed by the Arawaks. These peaceful people were then replaced by the aggressive Caribs. Columbus sighted and claimed the Virgin Islands for Spain on his second voyage in 1493, however, it was the Danes that brought radical change in the early 1700's when Danish settlers imported slaves and began developing sugar plantations. The emancipation of slaves by Danish Decree in 1848 and competition in the sugar industry caused a rapid decline in the sugar plantations. For the next hundred or so years, the island reverted back to its natural state. Then in 1917, the U.S. purchased the island from Denmark. In 1952, Lawrence S. Rockefeller developed the Caneel Bay Resort. The nonprofit Jackson Hole Preserve founded by the Rockefellers purchased 5,000 acres and donated them to the U.S. Government.
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