Virgin Islands Transfer Day
Virgin Islands Transfer Day, observed on March 31, marks the historical transition of the Virgin Islands from Danish to American control in 1917. This group of approximately 100 islands, located in the Caribbean and including notable islands like St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, is known for its rich colonial history that began with Christopher Columbus's discovery in 1493. Originally inhabited by the Caribs and Arawaks, the islands have undergone various phases of European colonial rule, notably by Spain, France, and Denmark, before the United States acquired them amidst World War I concerns over German military ambitions.
The transfer ceremony was a significant event, symbolizing the end of 251 years of Danish governance, as American and Danish flags were ceremoniously raised and lowered. Although initially purchased for strategic reasons, the islands transitioned from economic decline to becoming a popular tourist destination, particularly in the post-World War II era. Today, the Virgin Islands are celebrated for their scenic beauty and vibrant culture, attracting millions of visitors each year while retaining traces of their Danish heritage. This day serves as a reminder of the islands' complex history and evolving identity within the Caribbean region.
Virgin Islands Transfer Day
Virgin Islands Transfer Day
March 31 commemorates the date on which the Virgin Islands were formerly transferred from Danish to American control in 1917. The Virgin Islands are a group of about 100 small islands, islets, and cays in the Caribbean. Covering a total area of about 200 square miles, they are located about 34 miles east of Puerto Rico and extend for approximately 60 miles. They dominate the Anegada passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola are among the nine major islands in the group.
Christopher Columbus visited the Virgin Islands on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. He named them Las Virgines in honor of St. Ursula and her companions. The islands had previously been called Ay Ay by their inhabitants, the Caribs and Arawaks. Since in 1494 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were given a papal grant to all lands west of the 46th meridian of longitude, the Virgin Islands became Spanish territory. Their subsequent history was that of colonial expansion and exploitation by European powers: in the 16th century by Spain and during the 17th century by the English, Dutch, French, and Danes, who contested Spain's supremacy. In the 1650s, the French gained possession of St. Croix. In 1666 the British occupied Tortola, which had been controlled by the Dutch since 1648. The Danish West Indian Company settled St. Thomas in the early 1670s, giving the name Taphus to the first community, which later became known as Charlotte Amalie. The company claimed St. John a decade later, and purchased St. Croix from France in 1733. The Danish West Indian Company's control lasted until the Danish ruler King Frederick V purchased the islands in 1754. They remained a royal colony, known as the Danish West Indies, until 1917. Only twice during this long period did a foreign power, namely Great Britain, occupy the islands: once in 1801 and again from 1807 to 1815.
The Danes introduced slave labor to work the profitable sugar plantations. Even after the bottom had dropped out of the sugar market, the Danish West Indies continued throughout the 19th century to enjoy a commercial boom as a free port and as a coaling station in the days of sailing vessels and paddle steamers. However, long-haul steamships and the opening of the Panama Canal robbed the islands, especially St. Thomas with its fine harbor of Charlotte Amalie, of much of their economic value.
After the sugar boom ended, Denmark expressed interest in selling the colony. As early as 1865, the United States reacted favorably, but the Senate opposed the negotiations. Rising support for the Panama Canal project resulted in renewed American interest in the Virgin Islands in 1902, but this time the Danish legislature rejected the treaty of transfer. In the early stages of World War I, when Denmark expected a German invasion at any moment, the American government grew increasingly apprehensive that the Germans would seize the strategic Danish colony, which lay so close to one of the approaches to the Panama Canal. American officials assailed the Danes with a combination of pleas and threats, voiced in diplomatic language and implying that “certain circumstances” involving “another European power” could result in U.S. occupation of the Danish West Indies. Moreover, the argument went, the sale of the islands would remove one of the chief incentives for a German invasion of Denmark. As part of the agreement, the United States would recognize Danish rule over Greenland.
Denmark finally agreed to sell its possessions in the Virgin Islands, namely the three large islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, together with about 50 small islets and cays with a total area of 132 square miles, provided that the United States submit to terms that would “not lead to haggling” and that the islands would retain their free-port status forever. In 1917 the United States government offered $25 million ($295 per acre), then regarded as an exorbitant sum for land that amounted to hardly more than a tenth of the size of Rhode Island, the smallest state.
Once the terms were mutually acceptable, the formal transfer ceremony took place on March 31, 1917. In Washington, D.C., the Danish minister, Constantine Brun, accepted payment. The news was immediately telegraphed to New York, then cabled to San Juan, Puerto Rico, flashed by wireless to the cruiser Hancock in the harbor at Charlotte Amalie, and carried ashore to St. Thomas via rowboat. There, Danish and American honor guards in white uniforms stood in formation on opposite sides of the parade ground before red-walled Fort Christian. Once the message had been delivered, at 4:48 p.m, the Danish honor guard presented arms, the Danish national anthem was played, and a cannon boomed 21 times as the red and white Danish flag was slowly lowered for the final time after 251 years of Danish rule. At 4:53 p.m. the American honor guard presented arms, a band played the “Star-Spangled Banner,” and to the roar of the cannon the American flag was raised. As a last gesture, Admiral Henri Konow of Denmark and Admiral Edwin T. Pollock of the United States Navy drew their ceremonial swords.
After 1918, when the German threat subsided with the defeat of Germany in World War I, the Virgin Islands dropped into obscurity. Aside from the fact that the American flag flew over government buildings, the transfer of sovereignty resulted in little change. The islands retained their Danish flavor, and even the currency remained Danish until 1934. Originally under the supervision of the Department of the Navy, the Virgin Islands were transferred to the control of the Department of the Interior in 1931.
The United States had purchased the islands primarily for their strategic importance, and together with Culebra Island and Vieques (or Crab) Island, administered by Puerto Rico, they were considered one of the most vital keys to the defense of the Panama Canal Zone and the Caribbean. A more unexpected result, however, was the transformation of this poverty-stricken territory into a vacationers' paradise. Although Prohibition and the declining sugar trade had left the islands so destitute that Congress had had to appropriate over $400,000 in 1930 for relief work, decades later the Virgin Islands became a major tourist center of the Western Hemisphere. Post–World War II economic prosperity in the United States, expanding airline networks, the islands' free-port status, and their scenic and climatic assets all combined to boost the local economy. Today, millions of tourists visit the islands every year.
Palancia, Vincent. "Transfer Day 1917." St. Thomas Historical Trust, www.stthomashistoricaltrust.org/new-page-3. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"Transfer Day, a Significant Day in Virgin Islands History." Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands, 31 Mar. 2022, legvi.org/transfer-day-a-significant-day-in-virgin-islands-history/. Accessed 1 May 2024.