| Ruddy Cove | |
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| Nation: | Pirates (Nation) |
|---|---|
| Region: | Antilles |
| Info: | Conquerable Port
This port has a Deep Natural Harbor |
| Resources: | Fertile Soil Fertile Soil (Sugar) Zinc Deposits Natural Harbor Deep Natural Harbor |
| NPC Level: | Unknown |
History[]
Ruddy Cove is on the island of St. Croix. Saint Croix has flown seven different flags. It has been colonized by Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, the Knights of Malta, Denmark, and the United States.
Arawaks and Caribs inhabited Saint Croix prior to European colonization. Christopher Columbus visited there on November 14, 1493 at the Salt River. Columbus called the island Santa Cruz ("Holy Cross"). His initial visit led to a battle in which one Spaniard and one Carib were killed, the first recorded violent confrontation between Europeans and indigenous peoples in the Americas. This heralded warfare between the Spaniards and Caribs which lasted for over a century, until the Spanish abandoned the island. In the seventeenth century, Dutch and English settlers, who soon came in conflict with one another, settled the island. Eventually the Dutch abandoned their settlement. Next, the English settlement was destroyed by the Spanish, who retook the island in 1650. However, they in turn were immediately ousted by the French.
The island was owned by the Knights of Malta after being bequeathed by Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy, governor of the French colony of St. Kitts in 1660. However, they sold it to the French West India Company five years later. Under Governor Dubois, the colony became profitable with over 90 plantations established, growing such crops as tobacco, cotton, sugar cane, and indigo. After Dubois's death, the colony declined and Europeans abandoned the island until 1733 when it was sold to the Danish West India and Guinea Company. This company placed no national restrictions on colonists and soon attracted Spanish Sephardic Jews, Huguenots, and English settlers, the last of which came to dominate the island. Sugar cane became the major crop. Eventually, however, the development of the sugar beet in Europe undermined the economy of the colony.
Alternate History[]
Ruddy Cove was established on the site of the present Anna's Hope Village in southeastern St. Croix as the colony declined following the death of Governor Dubois. Originally the settlers were French buccaneers displaced from Saint-Domingue more through the efforts of France's taxman, Jean-Baptiste Colbert than through military action. It was he who said, "The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing." Well, there are no customs agents in Ruddy Cove and if any show up they are promptly hung.