When Danes Become Americans: A True Story

What happens when tens of thousands of inhabitants are transferred from Danish sovereignty to the US? Well, I am glad you asked, because history has just such an example. In 1917, the Danish Virgin Islands were sold to the United States.

It was not, in fact, the first time the ownership of the islands was transferred. The islands of St. Thomas and St. John in the Caribbean had been uninhabited for hundreds of years and were annexed by the Danish East India Company in 1672 and 1718, respectively. A third and larger island, St. Croix, was bought from France in 1733. The previous inhabitants had fought off Columbus but were soon exterminated.

The Danes took to populating the islands, mostly with African slaves. These were made to produce sugar and rum for the home market, which again sold guns and industrial products to West Africa (the Danes had a colony there called the Gold Coast, now Ghana) in exchange for slaves, which were in turn brought to the Caribbean. A slave revolt in 1733 on St. John was one of the first in the Americas but was eventually put down.

The Danish West India Company went bankrupt in 1754, and the colonies were taken over by the Danish king. The slave trade was abolished within the Danish realm in 1803 but those already in bondage would remain so and along with their descendants. In 1848, the slaves revolted again, this time successfully. They surrounded the governors’ house and threatened to burn it down unless they were given freedom. Governor van Scholten had previously advocated emancipation and agreed, even without permission from Copenhagen. This led to some grumbling in the capital but eventually he was exonerated from wrongdoing and each former slave was paid 50 dollars in compensation for their life-long bondage.

A people bought and sold

Still, the lives of the inhabitants did not improve very much, they continued working the fields and could only change employment on a particular day of the year, a system known in Iceland, also then in the Danish realm, called “fardagar.” A riot in 1878 led to conditions improving somewhat but there was less profit and the Danes repeatedly tried to sell the islands, either to Germany or the United States. The latter party did eventually buy the islands in 1916, ratified a year later, for the equivalent of half a billion dollars at today’s rates.

Perhaps surprisingly, referenda were held both in Denmark and the Caribbean, the latter being unofficial. 99 percent of islanders and 64 percent of Danes wanted the sale to go forward, which it did. The results of Danish control in the Caribbean were less than stellar, but then again, the history of slavery in the US is hardly better, it only being abolished 17 years later than in Denmark and after a Civil War.

Becoming American

The now US Virgin Islanders did receive United States citizenship in 1927, though the delay frustrated many. The islands were first administered by the US Navy but in 1936 a civilian government took over. This act was updated in 1954, and the islands now have a legislature of 15 members, although ultimately they are subservient to the laws enacted in the US Congress where they don’t have representation. Several attempts have been made to ratify a constitution, but the latest was voted down by the US Congress in 2010. As of 1968, they have, however, been able to elect their own governor.

Initially, most residents still worked on the plantations, rum again being a major export after the repeal of prohibition. Many chose to emigrate to the US with immigrants from another US territory, Puerto Rico, taking their place. The embargo against Cuba in the 1960s led to many American tourists choosing to holiday on other Caribbean Islands instead. It remains the major industry to this day of the USVI, which has a population of 86.000 but over two million cruise ship visitors a year.

So, would the islanders have been better off under the Danes? Initially, probably not. A US naval base and a large market for sugar produce provided opportunities for revenue but under the Danes at least there would have been no prohibition. People may have been more reluctant to leave for Denmark than the US, which would have limited opportunities for individuals but perhaps benefitted society in the long run. Similarly, Puerto Ricans would not have shared citizenship and would have been less likely to immigrate to the Virgin Islands, with unfortunate economic consequences. But as the 20th century progressed, things would have improved rapidly under Danish rule. As the welfare state came into being, this was exported to other parts of the kingdom.

Another major difference would be political. The Faroe Islands received Home Rule in 1948 and Greenland in 1979, so one could imagine the DVI having done the same at some point. A sovereign Virgin Islands under the Danish crown would certainly have been an interesting addition to the Nordic family.