On October 1, 1878, Contract Day, a protest against these injustices erupted into a rebellion, led by the three women dubbed the "Four Queens": Mary Thomas, Axelene "Agnes" Salomon, and Mathilda Mcbean, Susana Abramsen.

[1] During this period, St. Croix was controlled by white Danish colonials, however, a large portion of the population consisted of both enslaved Indigenous people, who were descendants of Arawak and Carib Indians, and slaves imported from Africa by the settlers.

[2] The Indigenous population, though marginalized and displaced by colonial practices, played a crucial role in shaping the cultural landscape of St. Croix.

This is especially important to recognize due to the fact that the opposition towards fully adapting colonial ideals directly relates to also resisting the hierarchal makeup of the region.

These efforts culminated in then Governor-General Peter von Scholten announcing emancipation, declaring all people in the Danish West Indies as free.

[8] These contracts enforced the already present racial hierarchies put in place in the Virgin Islands, where the free people of color navigated a complex landscape that mitigated their ability to gain social and political standing.

In response, the government made it harder for workers to leave the island, such as charges fees for passports and demanded health certificates.

Unable to scale the gates to access the fort, the rioters turned their focus on the town and began looting it, using torches to burn many buildings and plantations.

[15] Prior to the revolt, Mary had controversial sentences for theft and child mistreatment which historians suggest were used by authorities as a sort of oppression for anyone that opposed their rule.

[18] The folk song titled "Queen Mary" is still popularly sung by schoolchildren and musicians across the Virgin Islands, encompassing the lyrics "don't ask me nothing at all, just pass me the match and oil".

[20] Many aspects of it come from her Afro-Crucian background, where the statues base was built from coral cuts made by enslaved people from St. Croix and her face being formed from facial scans of the artists.

[21] Angela Golden Bryan published a book in 2018 titled: Fireburn The Screenplay, which pays homage to the laborers who participated in the uprising as well as raises awareness of historical injustices.