When St. John was first settled by the Danes, a plantation economy was set up. Africans, forced into slavery, provided the labor for these plantations. Under such a system the slave owner had to to decide how the slaves would be fed.

Under ideal conditions (for the slave owner) food would be brought in from outside the plantation, giving the slave owner complete control of his captives. This was not practical on St. John plantations, which were, at best, only marginally successful. The cost would have been too high for the owners to bear.

Another possibility would be to produce food on the plantation itself, under the supervision and control of the slave owner. On St. John, however, cleared and terraced land came at too high a cost in time and labor to be devoted to food crops.

On the other hand St. John plantations did have a great deal of land on the periphery of the cultivated areas which, although not suitable for sugar cane production, was appropriate for food crop cultivation. This was the plantation owner’s solution for feeding their slaves.

Thus the slaves produced their own food, unsupervised by the slave masters, on garden plots called provision grounds located on the less productive areas of the plantation. The slaves tended these gardens when they were not working elsewhere on the estate.

The slaves were absolutely dependent on their ability to produce their own food. Statistics show that the slave population suffered significant declines after periods of prolonged drought. This indicates that many slaves must have died when they could not produce sufficient food.

Statistics also show an increase in marooning (slaves running away from their plantations) during prolonged dry spells. A severe drought in the early 1730’s which caused widespread starvation and mass maroonings was one of the causes of the St. John slave rebellion After a long drought in the 1770’s there were again reports of large population declines. Sixty slaves fled from Estate Carolina in 1779 in response to starvation caused by that drought.

Although a great hardship for the already overworked slaves, the provision ground system provided certain advantages and opportunities for the slaves to develop and maintain their own culture.

Because the provision grounds were unsupervised, the slaves were able to gather and interact out of the sight of their masters. Although often forbidden, slaves from different plantations could meet on the more remote provision grounds. On these occasions cultural traditions could be passed on, news could be disseminated and escape and resistance plans could be made.

Slaves often worked together on their plots and shared the harvest. The strong supported the old, weak or infirm. Those whose work schedules were increased during sugar harvest season were supported by those with more free time.

Often the slaves were able to produce a surplus of food, charcoal or crafts. A system of exchange developed along with an underground economy which not only enabled some slaves to earn enough money to buy their freedom, but also provided the know-how for the slaves to survive on St. John after emancipation and the failure of the sugar industry.

Thus provision ground farming became the foundation of St. John’s unique culture based on independence, extended family, sharing and cooperation.