Hello Sophia,

Anything interesting - everything about the Virgin Islands is interesting. LOL. Not sure what you mean by this statement - the history is interesting, the culture is unique. Might want to be more specific in what you want to know.

What type of movies... we have several movies filmed here but not related to the islands in a documentary type way... however there have been special features on the travel, discovery channels concerning factors directly related to the islands history, marine life, culture, beaches ect.

Animals - they only animal that is said to be original to the island is the fruit bat. But there are other animals here that have become part of the fauna of the islands. Iguanas, bats, turtles, birds, mongoose, deer... you might want to visit

http://216.65.4.180/general_usvi/flora_fauna/

For information on issues concerning our status, you might look into topics around voting - we can not vote for president. Look at

Article about the case presented in court:
http://www.law.yale.edu/outside/html/Public_Affairs/227/yls_article.htm

To read an article about the man who began the case by sueing the gov't go to
http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2003/vol7n01/ManIslandsVoice-en.shtml

Read this one for history of USVI legislature system
http://www.senate.gov.vi/25thLegislature/historyinfo/vileghistory.html

What other issues were you thinking of exploring? And are you having to debate as to whether its good or not good that we are territories or whether the locals like or dislike it being such?? or none of the above?

--Islander

Hello!

Thanks for the info. I'm sorry for not making myself very clear though. I was doing an intro presentation to help my classmates get to know the island. By "interesting or unique" I meant something other then boring facts. Something that doesn't really matter in debate, but helps to understand the islands better.
Could you name some of the movies made there?

In debate we're going to be arguing whether or not to keep the USVI as a US territory, or if it would be in our best interest to sell them. I was just wondering about how a local feels on the matter.

Thanks for taking time to answer my confusing questions. 🙂

~Sophia~

Sophia,

Intro information that is unique and interesting: Well I think the history is particularly interesting - however it could be seen by another as boring facts depending on how they are presented. In a nut shell; there used to be Indians here, Carib, Arawak, then the Spanish - Christopher Columbus came through - made a landing on St. Croix the only documented landing spot for Columbus' group under the US flag. Spanish weren't particularly interested in settling. The Dutch, French, English, Danish all gave it a go, the latter being the mother country the longest and from whom the US bought it. The USVI was a haven for pirates at one point. The islands were quite central in the slave trade until it was abolished. Slave through a revolt sucessfully took over St. John for some 6 months. Water Island is unique in the sense that it had black/mulatto plantation owners who owned slaves. On St. Thomas in the colonial time there was a farily large amount of inter-racial relationships between white plantation owners and their favorite slaves... resulting in a large number of "mulatto" children; these children were said to be treated very well, often educated in Denmark. They became a social class of their own; the Danish government passed a law that allowed the governor through legal documents to reclass a mulatto person as being white depending on their upbringing and education. St. Croix developed differently then St. Thomas. The Danish had some of the first public education facilities for all children. In the early 1900s the US bought the islands, the islands were under Navy rule. Residents at the time credit the people from the US with brining in racist attitudes as the community in the islands although having their own issues did not have the large racial issues that the mainland had that resulted in the Civil Rights Movement.

You need to pick what factors seem different and unique from what one who is unfamiliar with the islands would expect. Do some research on the islands and feel free to ask questions here based on what you find out...

I don't think the people here would like being sold, we like being Americans and are happy and proud of it.

--Islander

Islander: I didn't know that about Water Island! You ARE an amazement!

Movies: Weekend At Bernie's 2!! Academy Award winner!!