| Convention between the United States and Denmark for cession of the Danish West Indies | |
|---|---|
| Signed | 4 August 1916 (1916-08-04) |
| Location | New York |
| Signatories | |
| Citations | 39 Stat. 1706;TS 629; 7Bevans56 |
| Languages | English, Danish |
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TheTreaty of the Danish West Indies (Danish:Vestindiens traktat), officially theConvention between the United States and Denmark for cession of the Danish West Indies (Danish:Konventionen mellem USA og Danmark), was a 1916treaty transferringsovereignty of theDanish West Indies fromDenmark to theUnited States in exchange for a sum ofUS$25,000,000 in gold ($722 million in 2024). It is one of the most recent permanentexpansions of United States territory.[note 1]
Two of the islands had beenin Danish possession since the 17th century andSt. Croix since 1733. The glory days of the colony had been from around 1750 to 1850 based on transit trade and the production ofrum andsugar using Africanslaves as labor.[2] By the second half of the 19th century the sugar production was embattled by the cultivation ofsugar beets, 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 theTreaty of Vienna after the defeat in theSecond Schleswig War in 1864, Denmark had offered to trade the islands forSouth Jutland (Schleswig), but the Prussian Government was not interested.[2]
On the eve of theAmerican Civil War, the United States became interested in the islands as the possible location of aCaribbean naval base. After the war ended, 24 October 1867, the Danish parliament, theRigsdag, ratified a treaty on the sale of two of the islands —St. Thomas andSt. John — for a sum of US$7,500,000.[3][4] However, theUnited 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 PresidentAndrew Johnson that eventually led tohis impeachment.[3]
Negotiations resumed in 1899 following the unofficial diplomacy ofWalter Christmas.[5] On 24 January 1902, Washington signed a convention on the transfer of the islands for a sum of US$5,000,000.[6][7] The treaty was not approved in theLandsting, one chamber of the Danish legislature, within the allotted time due to obstruction by the opposition.[8] A new treaty was concluded in June 1902, extending the time limit of ratification by one year.[8] One chamber of the Danish parliament — theFolketing — passed the proposal, but in the other chamber — theLandsting — it failed with 32 votes against 32 (with one abstention) on 22 October.[8][9][10] In particular the conservative partyHøjre 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 themUS citizenship or freedom fromcustoms duty on the export of sugar to the United States.[2][7] According to historian Povl Engelstoft, there is no doubt thatCouncil PresidentJohan Henrik Deuntzer was privately against the sale even though his party, theVenstre 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 thecabinet to step down, nor would he dissolve the Landsting or assume responsibility for any further work related to the sale.[7] This brought the process to a halt.
D. Hamilton Jackson, a labor union leader and social activist in the islands, visited Denmark in May 1915. He spoke to Danish leaders about the growing social desperation on the islands and the need to enter thecustoms territory of the United States for economic survival.[citation needed] After his visit, a majority of the Folketing was convinced that the Danish supremacy of the islands had to end.[11]World War I had created a new situation: the relations betweenGermany and the United States were becoming worse as a consequence of Germany'sunrestricted submarine warfare, and the Americans were concerned that after an invasion of DenmarkGermany might take control of the islands.[12] This would be unacceptable to the Americans as stated in theMonroe Doctrine.
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 Danishneutrality.[6][11] During May 1915,Foreign Minister of DenmarkErik Scavenius 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."[13]
On 29 October 1915,United States Secretary of StateRobert Lansing managed to reopen the negotiations.[12][14] The negotiations, which lasted until August 1916, were kept absolutely secret in order to maintain Danish neutrality.[12][15] Although rumors of the future sale did leak to the press, they were denied categorically by both Scavenius andMinister of FinanceEdvard Brandes.[16] 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.[17]
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 ofGreenland".[12][18] Although it had a claim on northern Greenland based on explorations byCharles Francis Hall[19] andRobert Peary, the United States decided that the purchase was more important, especially because of the nearbyPanama Canal.[20] HistorianBo Lidegaard questions the utility of such a declaration, as the country had never disputed Danish sovereignty.[12]
At the time of the purchase, the colony did not includeWater Island, which had been sold by the Danish state to theEast Asiatic Company, a private shipping company, in 1905. The company eventually sold the island to the United States in 1944, during theGerman occupation of Denmark.[21]
The treaty was signed on 4 August 1916, at theBiltmore Hotel inNew York City by Danish Minister Constantin Brun and Secretary of StateRobert Lansing.[22] The U.S. Senate approved the treaty on 7 September 1916. ADanish referendum was held on 14 December 1916, and on 22 December the Danish parliament ratified the treaty.[23] U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson ratified the treaty on 16 January 1917. Ratifications of the treaty were formally exchanged in Washington, D.C., on 17 January 1917. On 25 January, President Wilson issued a proclamation on the treaty, and on 9 March, KingChristian X of Denmark also issued a proclamation.
On 31 March 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.[24]
David R. Barker of theUniversity of Iowa stated that the acquisition of the Virgin Islands "is the clearest example of a negative net presentvalue purchase" among US territorial acquisitions. "Expenses are high, and net revenues have been non-existent", he wrote; because of theNaval Appropriations Act For 1922, all tax revenue goes to the local government.[25]
