11. No worker could collect wood, grass, vegetables and fruits
 from the plantation, or cut cane, or burn charcoal, without
 permission.

 12. The maintenance of the sick or aged person rested equally
 on that person's family and on the employer and was no
 longer the employer's sole responsibility as before.13

 The former slaves now termed laborers or workers did not like the
 provisions of the Labor Act of 1849. Many of its provisions, especially the yearly
 contract feature, were interpreted as means of keeping them on the plantations under
 near-like slavery conditions. In the beginning, however, most remained to work on the
 plantation as they saw no other viable options.

 The Crucian laborers did not misinterpret the objectives of the Labor Act. It
 was indeed the profound intent of the planter class on St. Croix to keep the former
 slaves in conditions as close to slavery as possible. They still hoped for huge profits
 from cheap labor. They could not bring themselves to make the necessary adjustment
 for changed times.

 The Labor Act of 1849 was a political document fraught with awful
 consequences for the people of the Danish West Indies, employers as well as workers,
 especially on the Island of St. Croix. It culminated in the destructive and famous
 workers' uprising know as the "Queen Mary Rebellion" or "Fireburn" on St. Croix late in
 1878.


 The Colonial Law of March 26, 1852

 The Historical Context

 There were profound political developments in the Danish West Indies
after emancipation. Some of these reflected a degree of democratic constitutional
change in Denmark itself. Others reflected the desire of the Islands' ruling classes.

 The June Constitution of 1848 ended absolutism in Denmark. The king
now had to share power with a legislative body known as the Riasdaa. It had a lower
house known as the Folketing and an upper house called the Landsting. The
White ruling class of planters and merchants in the Danish West Indies wanted a
similar local government relative to the power of the Governor-General.

 Additionally, however, the colonial ruling class wanted to obtain more
democratic rights for itself while denying them to the poorer classes, especially the
laborers. The merchant class on St. Thomas was most interested in questions of trade
and commerce, stimulation and regulation. The planter class on St. Croix, on the other