History of the United States Virgin Islands
[1] Like many of their Caribbean neighbors, the history of the islands is characterized by native Amerindian settlement, European colonization, and the Atlantic slave trade.
An increase in the size of archeological sites dating to the Ostionoid period shows that the islands experienced population growth during this era.
[18] Remains of tools and everyday objects crafted from bone, shell, stone, cotton, grass, and hemp have also been discovered on the islands.
Spanish forces frequently raided the Virgin Islands, enslaving the Indigenous people to work the mines of the Greater Antilles.
Saint Croix's location, surrounded by possessions of the Spanish Empire meant that it was settled by "only the most desperate English, French or Dutch settlers."
Following the incident, the English colonists remained the sole political claimants to the island until 1650, when they were ambushed by Spanish forces from Puerto Rico.
[27] Following a drought in the late 1720s, the Danish West India Company sought to expand to the nearby island of St. Croix to acquire more arable land.
When the Danish acquired it, there were approximately 150 British inhabitants and 400–500 enslaved people on Saint Croix, who were allowed to remain if they swore allegiance to the king of Denmark.
[22] However, the Danish West India Company faced continued financial problems and shareholders began to consider drastic measures in order to preserve their assets.
[28] King Frederick V of Denmark–Norway assumed direct control of the former territories of the Danish West India Company in 1754, inheriting all of its assets and debts.
[32] In 1733 a long drought, a devastating hurricane, and the new slave codes enforced by Governor Philip Gardelin pushed enslaved people in St. John to a breaking point.
[36] Others escaped the nearby islands of Puerto Rico or Tortola by constructing makeshift boats, stealing ships, or hijacking vessels they had been forced to man.
The Governor General of the Danish West Indies, Peter von Scholten, traveled to Denmark to petition for the emancipation of enslaved peoples within the kingdom in 1833.
[44][45] Though his petition was unsuccessful, in 1834 von Scholten secured an ordinance which allowed an enslaved person to purchase their freedom without the expressed consent of the slaveholder.
General Buddhoe (Moses Gottlieb) and Admiral Martin King organized a rebellion, and on July 2, 1848, approximately 8,000 people gathered outside of Fort Frederik.
[49] As a result of his actions, von Scholten was denounced by slaveowners and members of the Danish government who stood to lose a large part of their wealth through emancipation.
[50] Despite repeated petitions made by plantation owners requesting compensation for the loss of their slave labor, the Danish government was reluctant to acknowledge their claims.
[53] To much of the freed population, this system was merely a new form of bondage, and their continued struggle eventually led to the 1878 St. Croix labor riot, in which most of Frederiksted and around 50 surrounding plantations were destroyed by fire.
Spurred on by fears that Prussia and Austria would annex the islands after defeating Denmark in the Second Schleswig War, William H. Seward entered into negotiations with Waldemar Raasløff in 1866.
As a result of their talks, a treaty was signed on October 24, 1867, in which the Americans would acquire St. Thomas and St. John in exchange for 7.5 million dollars in gold.
[61] The United States' first secretary in London, Henry White, attributed the failure to the influence of Wilhelm II, Kaiser of the ascendant German Empire.
[64] The population of the islands were largely dissatisfied with Danish colonial rule which they saw as negligent and ineffective, and anticipated a better relationship with the United States which had a vested interest in the region.
The United States officially took possession of the islands on March 31, 1917, when Danish ambassador Constantin Brun was presented with a warrant for the agreed $25 million in gold.
[4][57][75][59] The Danish West Indian daler remained the currency of the U.S. Virgin Islands until 1934, when the United States dollar became legal tender.
However, the navy sought to use this educational program to "Americanize" the Virgin Island population, suppressing the use of languages other than English and rejecting accommodations to the existing cultures.
Virgin Islanders left seeking work elsewhere in the Caribbean and the continental United States, causing the population to fall by approximately 16% despite improved mortality rates.
Voters likely believed that a governor appointed by the federal government would have more influence in Washington and be able to advocate more effectively on their behalf than a locally elected official.
[91] While the Danish West Indies had been purchased from Denmark in 1917, Water Island, off the coast of St. Thomas, remained under private administration by the East Asiatic Company.
[92] Archeological surveys conducted in 1998 identified several historical sites on the island, including the remains of pre-colonial shell middens, 18th- and 19th-century plantations, and a WWII fort.
The repeal of prohibition had increased demand for plantation workers and the construction of a submarine base on St. Thomas created new jobs while the islands were still faced with habitual out-migration.
