All language subtitles for Abandoned.Engineering.S06E02.Forbidden.Island.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

(Dramatic music)

Tom ward (narrates): An
imposing building in england

with an extraordinary
medical past.

Inside it's like stepping
into another world,

above you have what's
clearly a medical facility

but down things change.

This clearly it was somewhere
that incredibly important.

A mighty rusting
complex in the usa

that found itself at the heart
of the civil rights movement.

It's like you've
been shrunk down

and put into the inside of a car

'cause you're just surrounded
by towering pipes and chimneys

and chambers.

(Dramatic music)

The Caribbean paradise
with a long-forgotten dark past.

This industry is going
to change the social

and economic fabric of the west.

(Dramatic music)

And the mediterranean
island with crumbling buildings

and a labyrinth of
underground tunnels.

This is a full-on ghost town

or probably more
accurately a ghost island.

(Dramatic music)

Decaying relics and
ruins of lost worlds.

They were shaped
by the passing years

and are now haunted by the past.

Their secrets are
waiting to be revealed.

(Dramatic music)

(Theme music)

On the shore of
the English channel

to the south of the United Kingdom
stands a grand old structure.

Looking at the style
of the architecture

it's clearly several
hundred years old

and from the scale a vast
amount of money went into this.

It appears to be grand
and palatial at first

but it seems to be disguising
something from its past.

When you enter
contrasting scenes appear.

Upstairs you have what's
clearly a medical facility

but then when you go down
to the basement of the building

things change, it's dark down
here, the rooms are small,

there are bars on the windows.

The contrast
between the upstairs

and the downstairs
is really incongruous.

When you find out
what was going on here,

you realise that this place
changed dramatically over time.

But the moment it really
shone was during the world war ii

when it was suddenly
called into action

and given an
incredible responsibility.

So, what was this place and
how did it come into its own

during the 20th century?

Beyond the wall

in the south west
corner of the grounds

is an empty area of grassland.

On the surface
it reveals little.

But it actually holds a clue
to the real nature of the place.

Eric birbeck a local historian

has spent years
researching the story here.

Beneath my feet there
lies thousands of bodies.

It is said that there's
over 20,000 bodies here.

An archaeological dig
in 2005 revealed details

of the burial practices
here centuries ago.

We can see that
some of them lost limbs,

some of them were
twisted by disease,

by syphilis, and some
of these people died

in ways we can only imagine.

The factor is that
they're not just one level

they're buried on
top of each other,

we actually found
a series of coffins

where there were five
bodies virtually collapsed

on top of each other.

(Dramatic music)

The human remains hold
the key to understanding

what these buildings once were.

Buried here were all
sorts, women and children,

even a number of Russian bodies

and that tells you
something but the real clue

is that the vast majority
of this mass of bodies

were British servicemen.

This is the royal
hospital haslar,

a naval facility which
was completed in 1762.

When it was built it was
absolutely enormous,

the largest brick building
anywhere in Europe.

And that scale gives you
an idea of the desperate need

for something
like this at the time.

Almost everything

in the royal Navy was
powered by humans.

If people were needed
to power the fleet

then there had to be
a place to fix people

when they were broken
or when they were sick.

But all around the place
are features that suggest it

wasn't an ordinary
hospital for ordinary patients.

It's the kind of place that

feels like it's a very
good defensive position

but actually that also
makes it incredibly useful

for keeping people in.

There's water on three sides
which stops people from leaving it,

there are also
watchtowers all round it.

The royal Navy
was filled with people

who were conscripted
and it wasn't a draft

that bought them
into the royal Navy,

it was five guys and some sticks

who would go out,
hit them over the head

and drag them on
to his majesty's ships.

It was known as press ganging

for those desperate
to escape life at sea,

the best opportunity was
to be found back onshore.

Escape attempts were common,
they'd crawl through the sewers,

climb the fences, try and
smuggle their way out,

every possible exit would
have been tested out

by those desperate
to escape this place.

And escape from the Navy.

But for most new arrivals
escape was a forlorn hope.

Survival was the priority.

There's even a
very famous phrase

that is supposed to have
come from this place.

The way people were
bought in is they were rowed

up a creek into the building
and if they didn't have a paddle

and they were the
ones being bought here

they were clearly in a bad way

they were up the
creek without a paddle.

Just a few decades
after the hospital opened,

the bloody battles of
the napoleonic wars

which included
trafalgar and Waterloo

came to stretch the
royal Navy to its limits.

Injured sailors were
no longer arriving here

slowly along the creek

but in their droves
directly from the docks.

When passengers
arrived in great numbers,

they would be bought into here
and they would just literally occupy

the space on the stone flags,

they would be propped
up against the wall,

some lying, and obviously
some in great pain and groaning,

in fact, we have written
evidence of the fact

that on one day alone
there was some 88 bodies

wanting burial as well as
the casualties who were here.

It must have been
absolute bedlam.

People are wounded by
cannonball that can take off a leg.

They were wounded
by huge razor-sharp

chunks of wood blown
off the side of ships.

There was blood, there
was sick, there were guts

and it was all a harsh
difficult place to be.

At the time there was
no triage system in place,

no matter how severe your injury

treatment was on a
first-come first-served basis.

And here we have
the receiving room

whereas a casualty
you would be lifted off

the flagstones and bought
in assessed by the surgeon,

hospital mate, treatment
here in those days

was quite brutal
actually, amputation,

treating major wounds,
fractures and such like,

no anaesthetic and
not even a tot of rum.

For those poor souls
who were taken to haslar

survival was far
from guaranteed.

Over the next century,

the sick and injured
continued to come here,

yet haslar was to go through
an extraordinary transformation

which would see it play a part
in one of the most ambitious

top-secret campaigns in history.

During the world war ii

staff at the royal hospital haslar
received a strange directive

from the authorities.

It said that every
patient had to leave.

All of a sudden the
wards became empty

and it had a strange atmosphere,

many of the staff report about
being sort of almost eerie,

that there was no
patients on the wards

and yet all the staff
were beginning to gather

for they did not know what.

To add to the
unnerving atmosphere,

in nearby Portsmouth harbour

huge numbers of ships
and troops were gathering.

An event like no other
was about to take place.

This was part of the build-up
for the normandy landings,

d day, operation overlord
the most important

military mission
of the world war ii.

On June 6, 1944,
more than 150,000 men

landed on the shores
of northern France.

Allied planners for
d day expected 50%

of the people who hit the
beach to be killed or wounded.

The ones who were wounded
would have to be pulled right back

across the channel to be
looked after and patched up.

For those fortunate
enough to survive that day,

many of them wound up passing
through the doors of haslar.

Thankfully, by that stage
the medical standards were

infinitely better than when
this place first opened.

This is the cellar area
that was designated for use

as operating theatres and
there were three tables here,

one here, one
there, and one there

so that they could undertake

three operations
all at the same time.

And therefore, clear
more casualties.

A second operating theatre
was established nearby

and the staff worked
around the clock

in eight-hour shifts
often in stifling conditions.

They were very
fortunate in having haslar

because of its design and build

with secure cellars like this
that are very thick-walled,

they were safe and the factor

is that they could
undertake the work

and the casualties were
operated on, treated, cared for,

and as soon as they
showed signs of recovery

they were moved on
by ambulance train.

(Dramatic music)

Letters of thanks poured in.

Militaries need to
look after their people

and this place was appreciated,
people wrote about it in letters,

people were impressed at
the quality of the treatment

that they received at a time
when it really mattered to them.

The hospital continued
serving the Navy

right through the 20th century

including taking in casualties
from the falklands war.

Then in the '90s, it opened
its doors to the injured

of the rest of the
military as well.

But most of what remains here
comes from hasler's final days

when it was in the care of the
UK's national health service.

In 2007, haslar hospital
was taken over by the nhs.

Ending 254 years

of continuous military service,

just two years later it
closed its doors for good.

(Dramatic music)

Today, the old hospital
site is being redeveloped

into a residential area

and those historic buildings
are at the centre of the project.

(Dramatic music)

I worked and served
here for over 55 years,

I have a great
love for this building

like many of my friends and
colleagues who worked here.

Haslar is still here, it is
haslar, always will be haslar,

it may be in a new guise in
the fact a new community.

I have every belief that
haslar will still be here in 100,

150 years' time.

(Dramatic music)

In the southern state of Alabama
in the modern city of Birmingham,

there's a collection
of rusting ruins.

One thing that just
strikes you immediately,

the thing that hits the
eye are these huge towers

that just sort of come
up out of the landscape.

As you move into the
site you start to be covered

by all of the metalwork,
it's like a giant set

that you're climbing
into and walking through.

It's a huge spiders
web of rusting metal,

you've got chimneys jutting up,

you've got pipes and
flywheels, your cogs, your hoists,

all kinds of beautiful machinery
and then you've got tunnels

and you've got water
towers, you've got trains,

you've got your locomotives,

this place was seriously
on the industrial scale.

Unlikely as it may seem
this extraordinary place

was at the heart
of both an industrial

and a social revolution.

When you sort of look down
from above you see this junction

for railways even today you
can imagine this is a real key

as to what made
this place successful.

This is an emblem of a
pivotal moment in history

and the birthplace
of a revolution.

Finding of this space
lies a groundwork

for the sort of
political mobilisation

that came out of
churches and schools.

This is impressive place
was basically reborn

out of the ashes
of a brutal conflict

and it comes to represent
the rebirth of a nation.

It all dates to a time
when america was clawing

itself back from the
horrors of the civil war.

William t sherman a
prominent union general

was a ruthless commander who
pursued a scorched earth policy.

That left a trail of
destruction in its wake.

(Dramatic music)

General sherman
marches through the south

destroying everything
agricultural, buildings,

but also the rudiments
of industrial buildings

that are starting to
appear in the south.

With its fledgling
industry totally crippled

the southern states
had to rebuild.

From the ashes of
the American civil war,

a new movement was born.

One that would rejuvenate
decimated states like Alabama.

Historian Tyler malugani has spent
many years investigating the story.

So, basically nothing was
here before the civil war

or even during the civil war.

Birmingham didn't
begin until 1871

and that's when we see the
growth of the new south movement,

bringing industry to the
south so the south never again

would have to rely on
northern goods coming down.

We can make our own stuff
right here in Birmingham.

(Dramatic music)

The area around Birmingham
offered something unique

and it was perfect
for making iron.

The location of this place
was just absolutely perfect

because of just how cheaply
they could make the iron.

Within a 30 mile radius,

you could get the three components
that you need to make iron.

So, you've got your iron ore,
your limestone, and your coal

and it's one of the
only places in the world

where you can find all
three so close together.

Natural resources were one
thing but what was also needed

was a method of transportation.

Now, of course, we can make

all the iron in the world

but if we couldn't transport
that iron it was useless

and that's why we're right next

to this rail road that's behind
me, without rail roads Birmingham

never would have been possible.

It's the first industrial city
built in the United States

not next to a body of water.

Just because of the rail roads.

(Dramatic music)

Colonel James wither
sloss was an important figure

in bringing the rail roads to
the area and that was not all.

In 1882, the sloss
furnaces were born.

What we're on right now
is called a blast furnace

this was really what we
used to make the iron,

the sloss furnace
company quickly became

one of the largest pig
iron-producing companies

in the world.

The process of making pig iron
is both complex and dangerous.

So, the cool thing
about this spot

is we can see a lot that goes
into actually making the iron,

it's a lot more than
just a blast furnace.

Huge towers created hot air
that was blasted into the furnace

to bring the temperature
up to 2000 degrees celsius.

Now, the water tower's also
really important without water

we couldn't cool the furnace to
help keep it from melting down

and make the steam
to help power the site.

(Dramatic music)

When in operation this place
would have dominated the skyline,

you've got this iron running off

and it is glowing it's so hot,

this entire network would
be glowing and it doesn't stop,

it is going 24 hours a
day, seven days a week.

To keep this powerhouse running
required many, many workers.

And one of the
buildings provides a clue

about the make
up of the workforce.

This building is the
old black bathhouse

so this is where
the black workers

would have to
shower after their shifts

because of course this was
in the middle of Birmingham

right in the middle of segregation
and sloss was no different.

Sloss could entice
workers, black workers

to work for very little
pay by providing housing.

By providing things that
supported communities, churches,

and other buildings,
other community centres,

education and so
it could do things

that sort of pulled people
into work for them for little pay

again in a landscape where
there aren't many options.

A lot of them were either
ex-slaves or children of ex-slaves

at the very beginning
so being able to provide

an education for their
children was a very,

very big part of why
they came to live here

and why they came to
work at a site like this.

Over 70% of the
workforce was black

and mainly housed in small
cottages in a community

that became known
as the sloss quarters.

But like much of america
at that time segregation

was heavily enforced.

The company operated a
strict hierarchy at the top

was an all-white group
of managers, chemists,

accountants, and engineers.

At the bottom an
all-black labour gang.

The segregation that's happening
at sloss is part of a larger fabric

in which so many
things are segregated

and you don't
necessarily need signs,

they're segregated by custom.

At sloss whites and blacks
bathed in separate bathhouses,

punched in separate time clocks,

and attended separate
company picnics.

It wasn't just the workplace that
was segregated but the entire city

and it was all coming to a head.

They had this police
commissioner Eugene bull Connor

who was very, very
repressive and was brutal

in a city that had a particularly
rigid regime of segregation.

That had a history of violence

so much so it was
known as bombingham.

The city became notorious
for its discrimination.

Yet ironically the policies
of companies like sloss

had an unintentional effect.

The funny thing is
because of the schools

and the churches
that were found all over

in these industrial
housing communities

these companies not
only trying to perpetuate

segregation but subconsciously
they were accidentally

giving people an outlet to rise
up and have a better opportunity

at life through
schooling and churches.

By providing schools,
churches, houses

that are proximate to
the facility that are spaces

where African American
people can commune

that's something
that is absolutely vital

for sort of building up
grass roots networks

and lays the groundwork

for the sort of
political mobilisation

that came out of
churches and schools.

In 1963 tensions finally
reached boiling point

and Birmingham became the
focus of international attention.

Martin Luther King went
to Birmingham in part

because segregation
was so rigid there

and the cities regime
was particularly vigilant

against blacks so king
goes there to draw attention

to also to desegregate
the city and it leads

to this children's crusade
against segregation

and racism in the city that
brings in thousands of children

who march and who are then
seized upon by dogs and water hoses

in a way that is incredibly
brutal that brings domestic

and international attention.

The seismic events in
Birmingham Alabama

helped bring about
desegregation in america

which in theory at least deeply
affected companies like sloss.

Once the workforce
becomes de-segregative

everyone has at least on
paper equal opportunity,

African Americans now
can apply for higher positions

where before they
weren't allowed to so

desegregation was a big part

of the history of
sloss in that sense.

In practice, however,

while mid-level
positions did open up,

black workers were largely
restricted to helper roles

and by the time major
changes in employment law

came in the 1970s
it was all too late.

The era of massive plant
shut downs had begun

and it was already
costing many jobs.

New environmental challenges
and a turn towards plastics

meant that in 1971
the end finally came.

(Serene music)

Today, the furnaces
lie abandoned

outdated and too
dangerous to be reused.

But overlooking Birmingham
the towers still stand

as lasting reminders of the
people who helped build sloss.

I think the
preservation of sloss

is important not
only as a record

to the way in which the south
rebuilt itself after the civil war

but also it's a really
important part of a fabric

of not only civil rights history

but the history of black
workers in the south.

(Dramatic music)

Of the coast of Albania,
there's a mysterious tiny island

with a fascinating history.

(Serene music)

As you approach this is
your typical mediterranean

adriatic island, it's covered
here and there with pines

and olive groves

and has nice little beaches
visible from a distance.

As you get closer
you start noticing

that the whole island is studded
by little concrete structures

and it's not just one or two
it's hundreds maybe thousands.

But in amongst these
little pockets of concrete

more serious and substantial
constructions emerge.

It's only once
you're on the island

that the extent of it
all becomes clear.

Old beds, discarded
kitchen utensils,

abandoned schools.

All in a real state of ruin and
decay and it makes you wonder

was it just a passage of time
that did for these buildings

or were they destroyed in
some kind of a military conflict.

This all suggests a significant
population once lived here

and they weren't just
passing through either.

This is a full-on ghost town.

Or probably more
accurately a ghost island.

There are also mysterious
underground tunnels.

Lying on the ground you
come across these gas masks

so it appears they might
have been preparing

for some kind of nuclear
or chemical attack

and some of these
gas masks are tiny

like they were
designed for children.

So, what is this place?

And who or what were
the islanders so afraid of?

(Dramatic music)

When you look at a map
you see why this island

was so strategically important,

at the southern end
of the adriatic sea

it narrows down to a narrow
strait that's kind of a choke point

from which you can
control the shipping

going in and out of that area.

So, whoever controlled this island
effectively controlled the adriatic.

Albania has a really
interesting history,

it was only created in 1913

and it was created by
diplomatic agreement

because the great powers

couldn't decide did
Serbia get Albania?

Does Austria,
Hungary get Albania?

Do the Turks keep Albania?

Nobody could agree

so they said we're going to
create this new country Albania.

The problem was that
neighbouring countries

never really accepted Albania
as an independent state.

So, the Italians begin encroaching
on this new state of Albania

already in 1914 in the
outbreak of world war I

and they expand their presence
in Albania during the war

and then after the war
in the inter war period

they take over
Albania altogether.

Some of the original buildings
still display an Italian influence

but the occupation
by the Italian fascists

was just the beginning.

From the peace that
came after world war ii

a new political force emerged
to take over this place.

Sazan island.

From a distance, it's a
mediterranean paradise.

Yet naim muho recalls a time

when living here was
a serious business.

(Speaks foreign language)

Translation: "At the
time they called the island

"the guardian of war and
protector of the country.

"They said that the island

"was not only responsible
for protecting itself

"with its inhabitants...

"But to report to Albania
the arrival of the enemy."

But who were the enemy?

After world war ii

Albania was controlled
by a communist dictatorship

that was very friendly
to the Soviet union.

The Soviets poured enormous
military resources into this island,

they built a port for
servicing submarines,

they built this extensive
array of tunnels,

thousands of bunkers,

and an airfield that
you can almost say

they converted it into something
like a stationary aircraft carrier.

At the heart of the
regime was enver hoxha

the Albanian dictator
and though he was an ally

of the communist superpowers,
he knew they could turn on him

and take over
Albania at any time.

Over time Albania asserted
more control over the island,

the Russians left but
the Albanian dictatorship

was extremely paranoid.

Enver hoxha fears
American aggression,

fears Soviet aggression,

fears Chinese
aggression as well.

And that paranoia is
rendered real and palpable

by all of these
pillboxes everywhere.

I mean, they are
all over this island,

hoxha saw enemies
around every corner.

So, they saw this island
as their first line of defence

from any future invasion.

Despite all this,
the island was home

and commander muho has
fond memories of living here

with his wife and
daughters at least for a time.

(Speaks foreign language)

Translation: "This
was an amazing villa,

"it's a pity to
see it ruined now.

"Here I also hosted
important and powerful people

"whom I respected
and who respected me.

"I keep very beautiful
memories of my home.

More than 3,000 soldiers

and their families
lived on the island

and a whole community was born.

(Speaks foreign language)

"The building
that is in front of us

"was the home of
the former soldiers.

"Where very beautiful
cultural and artistic activities

"were also carried out.

"At the top, there is a cinema

"that screened about
three films a week.

But the threat of
attack was ever-present

and the protection of the
people was Paramount.

(Speaks foreign language)

"A marvellous
work of fortification

"of this strategic
structure was done.

"All weapons equipment
and material resources

"had to be hidden underground

"so that in wartime
everything was tunnelled.

"I'm talking about kindergartens,
schools and the elderly

"who took care of
children during the war.

"This area you see now
was divided into rooms,

"there were the
dormitories, the kitchen,

"the canteen, the
warehouse, the classrooms,

"there was everything."

Some believe that the
tunnels had a darker purpose

that was born of dangers
much closer to home.

There are also allegations
that it was used as a location

to build chemical weapons.

Chemical weapons
being the weapon of choice

for a regime that's
facing extinction

it might use these
weapons to hold off that

final enemy offensive.

While the islanders
feared attack or invasion

there were also terrible
dangers closer to home.

Hoxha as so many
dictators before him had done

gradually became obsessed
strictly with preserving his own power

and knew that if
he loosened his grip

at all the public would
rise up against him

and he would probably be killed.

This paranoia came
to a head in the 1970s.

Hoxha fearing a coup from
within his own government

went on a killing spree
of leading officials.

Rob: You can still see the villa
of the communist defence minister

but he was executed as
a traitor by the ever more

paranoid dictator
enver hoxha in 1974.

As a close ally of
the defence minister

commander muho suddenly
found himself in great danger.

After the defence minister
was purged you can imagine

anyone close to him including
the commander of sazan

would be very understandably
paranoid that they might be next.

In 1985, commander
muho was arrested

and imprisoned accused of
being an enemy of the fatherland.

It was not until 1989 that
he tasted freedom once more.

He was freed just in
time to see the collapse

of the last communist
state in Europe.

(Upbeat music)

Much of the damage here is
from recent training exercises

involving British marines
and the Albanian Navy.

But the island is no longer
the soul preserve of the military.

Sazan is a really fascinating
place for tourists to visit

so they have opened
up the island to tourists,

to people who want to see

all of this military
history up close.

(Dramatic music)

Beautiful st John in
the us Virgin Islands.

On the north coast of this
lovely Caribbean haven

is a collection of
strange-looking remains.

(Serene music)

The beach is pristine,
it's a tropical paradise.

But then you go further inland

and you get to this
overgrown jungle.

Almost hidden
amongst the palm fronds

and the vines are a
series of stone walls

with windows and doorways.

This isn't just a
palatial house,

this is something
far more complex.

Given that there's this
chimney and there are channels

you then start to wonder
if it's an industrial building.

Was this once
an industrial site?

And what exactly is this
large flat circle of stone?

Such an exact round shape
suggests a specific process

but it's not clear
what that process is.

A short distance away
near the water's edge

another ruin towers
over the landscape.

There's a huge stone building
that's on the mountainside

and it doesn't seem
connected at all.

Both buildings are in
the same stone style

and with a specific design
but it's not quite clear

what the linkage
between the two sites was.

So, what were these used
for and is this damage a clue

as to why these buildings
have just been left

to crumble into the jungle?

The history of this small
island is rooted in an era

of exploration and a time

when European countries

were looking to
expand their empires.

In the 17th century

the Caribbean was being
divided up by European powers

eager to exploit its resources
and this particular area

was settled by the Danes.

(Dramatic music)

The Danish explores faced
a whole host of difficulties

and dangers.

There were hurricanes
and earthquakes,

there wasn't much
fresh water on the island.

Many lost their lives
upon arriving here

but the risk was
deemed worth it.

Here they could produce a commodity
that was more valuable than gold

and as addictive as a drug.

This industry is not just
going to produce a lot of wealth

for those who own it,

it is going to change the social
and economic fabric of the west.

Without the wealth generated
here in the Caribbean,

the industrial revolution
would have been impossible.

And so the money
poured into Europe

but for others in the Caribbean
the birth of the new industry

had dreadful consequences
as park ranger Ken wild

discovered through
his analysis of the ruins.

So, as you look
into this small space

we think it's probably
a place where

they may have been incarcerating
somebody in some dungeon.

But for some this was home.

Who were the people forced
to live in these conditions

and why were they here?

So, the Danes

didn't have any
indigenous labour force

and they couldn't convince
fellow Danes to come over.

So, instead, they turned to buying
enslaved peoples from Africa.

You would have people

being not only subject
to an incredibly arduous

long cramped deadly
voyage across the Atlantic

but then they would
be in a situation

where they would often
work 18 to 20 hour days

especially during harvest.

This is the cinnamon
bay plantation.

What was grown and
processed here was sugar cane.

The sugar industry
and the slave industry

were intimately interlinked

and you need a large labour
force to produce it economically.

Indeed one of the reasons
why there's such a high-level

export of enslaved labour

to the Caribbean is
that people die off,

it's deadly labour.

If you have 4,000 enslaved
people on this island,

it must have been just horrendous
and because of the punishments

for any infraction
were just so severe.

Sugar's a very delicate process
and you need to have workers

that are completely subsumed
to a heavy disciplinary system

so you can get them doing
what you want them to do

at the time you want it done.

The back-breaking work began

in the dense fields of
towering sugar cane.

Most people haven't
wheedled a machete

and tried to cut cane
but it's one of the most

difficult agricultural
tasks you can imagine.

From here, it was transported
to the processing site above

where the circular structure
still visible today did its work.

So, we're standing on
top of the animal mill

you've got your rollers here
and so you have your animals

going around in a circle,

we find these round
platforms all over the island.

Four people were needed
to run the horse mill,

one drove the animals,
two worked the rollers

feeding the store back and
forth and a fourth took away

the leftover sugar cane
pulp called bagasse.

The pulp was then turned into
highly lucrative brown sugar.

But trouble was
brewing on st John's.

(Suspenseful music)

So, in these terrible conditions

we shouldn't be surprised

that the slaves started to
hatch plans for rebellion.

The Danish west India company
only employed six soldiers

to watch over the entire island.

They were vastly outnumbered,
the revolt started on one plantation

coral bay and then
moved on to the fort.

This revolt was not
only long-lasting,

it was incredibly
deadly and destructive.

One-third of the white
inhabitants were perhaps killed

and up to one-half of
the plantations destroyed.

The Danish just didn't have
the manpower to fight back,

instead they enlisted
the help of French

and Swiss colonialists.

The insurgents held their
ground, fighting a guerrilla-style war

that lasted for ten weeks,

the last rebel was finally
captured on the 23, August 1734.

After the slave uprising
was finally crushed,

punishments and
cruelties only worsened.

It was all intended to
serve as a warning to others.

But the terror tactics,
in the end, didn't work.

The Caribbean sugar
industry would be plagued

by rebellions right up
until abolition of slavery

by the British empire in 1834.

With slavery at last outlawed
and with increased competition

from mainland Europe, the
sugar industry rapidly declined.

Before long the stone
buildings here were abandoned.

For decades the structures lay

at the mercy of the
ever-encroaching jungle

until the American government
purchased the island

from the Danish and preserved
much of it as a national park.

This site is incredibly
important, it's one of the few sites

in the Americas

especially something that's
now part of the United States

where we actually can go
to the site of a slave revolt,

one of the earliest,
one of the longest,

one of the largest.

(Dramatic music)

Now, they lie abandoned but once

they were at the cutting
edge of engineering,

there are echoes of history
in these decaying structures.

They remind us of terror and war

but also of great innovation
and human endeavour.

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