St. Eustacius Day Date: November 16, 2009
St. Eustacius Day is a public holiday in the Caribbean Islands.
St. Eustacius Day is a holiday that the Caribean Islands observe as part of their unforgotten history.
History of St. Eustacius Day
The Caribbean Islands is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, north of South America, and east of Central America. It is composed of the Caribbean Sea, surrounding coasts, and more than 7,000 islands. The official languages spoken in the Caribbean Islands are Spanish, English, French, and Dutch. There are some groups that speak Creole and other dialect languages, but the official languages are dominant. The largest religious groups in the region are Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Obeah, Rastafari, Santeria, and Voodoo, showing the extreme diversity that exists within these islands.
The population of the Islands has grown since the beginning. From 1500-1800, the population was estimated to be approximately 750,000 people. As slaves arrived in 1800, the Islands reached approximately 2.2 million. By 2000, the total regional population was estimated at 37.5 million.
Some of the islands of the Caribbean are Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Granada, Haiti, and Saint Eustacius.
Saint Eustacius is one of the islands that fell under direct command of the Dutch West India Company (along with the islands of Saint Marten and Saba) in 1678 due to it being colinized by the chamber of Zeeland of the Dutch West India Company. A commander, who was also responsible for governing over the islands Saint Marten and Saba, was stationed at Saint Eustatius.
A good relationship began between the United States and Saint Eustacius when the United States started smuggling weapons into the Saint Eustacius dutch port which became one of the few ways for the rebellious Thirteen colonies to obtain weapons. The relationship between Saint Eustatius and the United States strengthened and resulted in the famous “flag incident” of November 16, 1776, when the Commander of Saint Eustatius decided to return the salute fire of the visiting American brigantine Andrew Doria. The United States gave the answering salute great publicity because the eleven gun salute was the first international acknowledgment of the independence of the United States. Therefore, people in the Caribbean Islands observe this day in history as a public holiday called St. Eustacuis Day.
Caribbean Islands’ St. Eustacius Day Public Traditions, Customs, and Activities
St. Eustacius Day is observed on November 16th of every year. As a public holiday, most public facilities and schools are closed as they observe this day of Caribbean Islands history.
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