The Treaty of the Danish West Indies, officially the Convention between the United States and Denmark for cession of the Danish West Indies, was a 1916
treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...
transferring
sovereignty of the
Virgin Islands in the Danish West Indies from
Denmark to the
United States in exchange for a sum of
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
25,000,000 in gold ($ million in ). It is one of the most recent permanent expansions of United States territory.
History
Background
Two of the islands had been
in Danish possession since the 17th century and
St. Croix
Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...
since 1733. The glory days of the colony had been from around 1750 to 1850 based on transit trade and the production of
rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phi ...
and
sugar using African
slaves as labor.
By the second half of the 19th century the sugar production was embattled by the cultivation of
sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together w ...
s, and although the slaves had been emancipated in 1848, the agricultural land and the trade was still controlled by the white population, and the living conditions of the descendants of the slaves were poor. By the early 1850s the islands had become increasingly unprofitable and expensive to govern from Denmark.
At the negotiations for the
Treaty of Vienna after the defeat in the
Second Schleswig War
The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...
in 1864, Denmark had tried to use the islands as a trade-in for
South Jutland (Schleswig), but the Prussian Government was not interested.
On the eve of the
American Civil War, the United States became interested in the islands as the possible location of a
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean S ...
naval base. After the war ended, October 24, 1867, the Danish parliament, the
Rigsdag
Rigsdagen () was the name of the national legislature of Denmark from 1849 to 1953.
''Rigsdagen'' was Denmark's first parliament, and it was incorporated in the Constitution of 1849. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, the ...
, ratified a treaty on the sale of two of the islands —
St. Thomas and
St. John — for a sum of US$7,500,000.
However, the
United States Senate did not ratify the treaty due to concerns over a number of natural disasters that had struck the islands and a political feud with President
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
that eventually led to
his impeachment.
Negotiations resumed in 1899 following the unofficial diplomacy of
Walter Christmas
Walter Christmas-Dirckinck-Holmfeld (10 February 1861–18 March 1924), commonly known as Walter Christmas, was a Danish author, naval officer, diplomat, and spy for MI6. Today, he is best known for his children's books. He also wrote novels, no ...
. On January 24, 1902, Washington signed a convention on the transfer of the islands for a sum of US$5,000,000.
The treaty was not approved in the
Landsting, one chamber of the Danish legislature, within the allotted time due to obstruction by the opposition.
A new treaty was concluded in June 1902, extending the time limit of ratification by one year.
One chamber of the Danish parliament — the
Folketing — passed the proposal, but in the other chamber — the
Landsting — it failed with 32 votes against 32 (with one abstention) on October 22.
In particular the conservative party
Højre
Højre (, ''Right'') was the name of two Danish political parties of Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The c ...
opposed it on the grounds that the treaty did not ensure the local population a vote on the matter, and that it did not grant them
US citizenship
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
or freedom from
customs duty
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...
on the export of sugar to the United States.
According to historian Povl Engelstoft, there is no doubt that
Council President Johan Henrik Deuntzer
Johan Henrik Deuntzer (20 May 1845 – 16 November 1918) was a Danish professor and politician who served as a member of the Liberal '' Venstre'' party until 1905 where he joined the Danish Social Liberal Party. He was Council President ...
was privately against the sale even though his party, the
Venstre Reform Party, supported it, and when the Landsting failed to pass the proposal, he made a statement that neither did he see a reason for the
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
to step down, nor would he dissolve the Landsting or assume responsibility for any further work related to the sale.
This brought the process to a halt.
1915–16 negotiations
Labor leader
David Hamilton Jackson made a visit to
Copenhagen in May 1915. He successfully raised awareness of the growing social desperation on the islands and the need to enter the
customs territory A customs territory is a geographic territory with uniform customs regulations and there are no internal customs or similar taxes within the territory. Customs territories may fall into several types:
* A sovereign state, including a federation
* A ...
of the United States in order for the islands to be able to cope with their economic crisis. After his visit, a majority of the Folketing was convinced that the Danish supremacy of the islands had to end.
The
First World War had created a new situation: the relations between
Germany and the United States were becoming worse as a consequence of Germany's
unrestricted submarine warfare, and the Americans were concerned that after an invasion of Denmark the
Germans might take control of the islands.
This would be unacceptable to the Americans as stated in the
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act ...
.
The Danish government was convinced that the islands had to be sold for the sake of both the residents and Danish security, and that a transfer would have to be realized before the United States entered the war, so that the transfer would not become a violation of the Danish
neutrality.
During May 1915,
Foreign Minister of Denmark
The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( da, Udenrigsminister, fo, Uttanríkisráðharra, kl, Nunanut Allanut Ministeri) is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The officeholder is in charge of Danish (Denmark proper,), " metropolit ...
Erik Scavenius
Erik Julius Christian Scavenius (; 13 July 1877 – 29 November 1962) was the Danish foreign minister from 1909 to 1910, 1913 to 1920 and 1940 to 1943, and prime minister from 1942 to 1943, during the occupation of Denmark until the Danish elect ...
contacted the American government with the message that he believed that the islands ought to be sold to the United States and that although he would not make an official proposal, "if the United States gave any encouragement to the consideration of the possibility of such a sale, it might be possible."
On October 29, 1915,
United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing
Robert Lansing (; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as Counselor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I, and then as United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wi ...
managed to reopen the negotiations.
The negotiations, which lasted until August 1916, were kept absolutely secret in order to maintain Danish neutrality.
Although rumors of the future sale did leak to the press, they were denied categorically by both Scavenius and
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
Edvard Brandes
Carl Edvard Cohen Brandes (21 October 1847, in Copenhagen – 20 December 1931, in Copenhagen) was a Danish politician, critic and author, and the younger brother of Georg Brandes and Ernst Brandes. He had a Ph.D. in eastern philology.
Biogra ...
. Archive materials show that, during these talks, Lansing implied that if an agreement on the sale of the islands was not reached, the U.S. military might occupy the islands to prevent their seizure by Germany.
During 1916, the two sides agreed to a sale price of $25,000,000, and the United States accepted a Danish demand for a declaration stating that they would "not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of
Greenland".
Although it had a claim on northern Greenland based on explorations by
Charles Francis Hall
Charles Francis Hall ( – November 8, 1871) was an American Arctic explorer, best known for his collection of Inuit testimony regarding the 1845 Franklin Expedition and the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death while leading th ...
and
Robert Peary, the United States decided that the purchase was more important, especially because of the nearby
Panama Canal.
Historian
Bo Lidegaard
Bo Lidegaard (born 23 January 1958 in Godthåb) is a Danish historian, dr.phil. public intellectual and former responsible editor-in-chief for ''Politiken''. Bo Lidegaard worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1984-2005), was Ministerial Cou ...
questions the utility of such a declaration, as the country had never disputed Danish sovereignty.
At the time of the purchase, the colony did not include
Water Island, which had been sold by the Danish state to the
East Asiatic Company
The EAC Invest A/S, formerly known as the Santa Fe Group and East Asiatic Company ( da, italic=yes, Det Østasiatiske Kompagni or ''ØK'') is a multinational holding and investment company, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
History
The East Asiat ...
, a private shipping company, in 1905. The company eventually sold the island to the United States in 1944, during the
German occupation of Denmark
At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 Decemb ...
.
Ratification
The treaty was signed on August 4, 1916, at the
Biltmore Hotel in
New York City by Danish Minister Constantin Brun and Secretary of State
Robert Lansing
Robert Lansing (; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as Counselor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I, and then as United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wi ...
.
[; 7 Bevans 56.] The U.S. Senate approved the treaty on September 7, 1916. A
Danish referendum was held on December 14, 1916, and on December 22 the Danish parliament ratified the treaty.
U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
ratified the treaty on January 16, 1917. Ratifications of the treaty were formally exchanged in Washington, D.C. on January 17, 1917. On January 25, President Wilson issued a proclamation on the treaty, and on March 9, King
Christian X of Denmark
Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, in the form of a personal union rather ...
also issued a proclamation.
On March 31, 1917, in Washington, D.C. a warrant for twenty five million dollars in gold was presented to Danish Minister Constatine Brun by Secretary of State Robert Lansing. Little reaction to the sale occurred among Danes, who saw the West Indies as an investment despite more than two centuries of possession.
Cost
David R. Barker
David R. Barker (born May 7, 1961) is an American author, academic, businessman, and politician, who began serving as a regent on the Board of Regents of the State of Iowa on May 1, 2019. A former economist for the Federal Reserve, Barker operate ...
of the
University of Iowa stated that the acquisition of the Virgin Islands "is the clearest example of a negative net present
value purchase" among US territorial acquisitions. "Expenses are high, and net revenues have been non-existent", he wrote; because of the
Naval Appropriations Act For 1922
The Naval Appropriations Act For 1922 was passed by the 67th US Congress on July 12, 1921. The bill's purpose was to allocate funds for the US Navy. The money was for the fiscal year ending June 20, 1922.
Details
The act did several things:
:a ...
, all tax revenue goes to the local government.
Notes
References
External links
Convention between the United States and Denmark for cession of the Danish West Indies,
{{Denmark topics
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The i ...
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The i ...
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The i ...
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The i ...
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The i ...
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The i ...
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The i ...
1916 in international relations
1916 in the Caribbean
1916 in the Danish colonial empire
1916 in the United States
1916 in the United States Virgin Islands
20th century in the Danish West Indies
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The i ...
History of the United States Virgin Islands
History of United States expansionism
Danish West Indies
Politics of the United States Virgin Islands
Presidency of Woodrow Wilson
Denmark–United States relations
August 1916 events