![Independence Square with fountain and Basseterre Co-Cathedral of Immaculate Conception](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Independence_Square_with_fountain_and_Basseterre_Co-Cathedral_of_Immaculate_Conception.JPG)
Independence Square is a square in
Basseterre
Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitt ...
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Saint George Basseterre Parish
Saint George Basseterre is one of 14 administrative parishes that make up Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is the largest parish on Saint Kitts and the second largest parish in Saint Kitts and Nevis (after Saint James Windward). It is by far the most ...
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Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...
. It was named on the occasion of
St. Kitts and Nevis achieving political independence on September 19, 1983. Originally called Pall Mall Square, The Government first acquired it in 1750 and it rapidly became the administrative, commercial and social centre of
Basseterre
Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitt ...
. The Square was the site of the market where men, women and children were sold, right where the fountain is now, there was a platform for selling men, women and children. Enslaved Africans were temporarily quartered in the basement of a building on the south side of the Square. This basement is still visible to today, it has bars on the Windows and would often flood, "Besseterre" means low level. This was probably the Auction House. The Men, women and children were also sold through the business place of slave traders, many of whom operated in the Square and Liverpool Row.
References
Geography of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Basseterre
Squares in the Caribbean
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