History of the United States Virgin Islands
Encyclopedia
The United States Virgin Islands
, often abbreviated USVI, is a group of islands and cays in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. Consisting of four larger islands (Saint Croix, Saint John, Saint Thomas
, and Water Island
) plus fifty smaller islets and cays, it covers approximately 133 square miles (344.5 km²). Like many of its Caribbean neighbors, its history includes native Amerindian cultures, European exploration followed by subsequent colonization and exploitation, and the enslavement of Africans.
The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is a complex society with multiple diverse ethnic groups: Black Virgin Islanders, Eastern Caribbean islanders, Puerto Ricans, Spanish Dominicans, French Islanders, Americans (Continentals), Arabs and Asians. These ethnic differences as well as United States cultural imperialism have stymied any uniform Virgin Islands identity. Even though various ethnic groups share fundamental social characteristics, they nonetheless maintain their institutional and cultural differences. Continuous migration from the world over and out-migration of 'native' Virgin Islanders have led to ethnic particularism that undermines a contemporary common island identity.
Early inhabitants of the Virgin Islands included the Ciboney
, Arawak and Carib ethnic groups.
The first documented Europeans to visit the islands arrived with Christopher Columbus
. The islands were occupied by several nations over the next century, including England
, the Dutch Republic
, France
, and Denmark
. In 1733, the Danish West India Company
purchased Saint Croix from the French
and brought together Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, and Saint John as the Danish West Indies
.
Danish trading
posts were set up on the islands, trading in sugar, slaves and other goods. Sugar cane cultivation was a major economic activity for many years, with slaves used as one of the labor sources. However, following increasing humanitarian awareness, laws against slavery and a slave rebellion in 1848, the governor Peter von Scholten
officially freed the last slaves the same year.
The islands were purchased from the Danish by the United States
in 1917 under the Treaty of the Danish West Indies
.
people who inhabited the islands during the Stone Age
, archaeological evidence seems to indicate that they were hunter-gatherers. They made tools of stone and flint but left few other artifacts behind.
Valley and Orinoco
regions of Venezuela
and Brazil
, settling on the islands near coasts and rivers. These peaceful people excelled at fishing and farming. They grew cotton
, tobacco
, maize
, yuca
, and guava
as well as a variety of other fruits and vegetables.
The Arawaks developed intricate social and cultural lives. For recreation, they held organized sporting events. They also valued artistic endeavors, such as cave painting
and rock carving, some of which have survived to the present. Religion played a large role in their daily lives, and through ceremonial rituals they asked their gods for advice to help them through troubled times. Their civilization flourished for several hundred years until the Caribs invaded.
Whether or not they actually ate their victims, the Caribs did destroy numerous Arawak villages, murdering as many as they could. By the mid-15th century, the Caribs had slashed the Arawak population from several million to a few thousand. But even the Caribs were no match for the gold-hungry Europeans who were about to descend.
landed on Saint Croix, then continued his explorations on Saint Thomas and Saint John. He gave the islands their original Spanish
names (Santa Cruz, San Tomas, and San Juan), focusing on religious themes. The collection of tiny islets, cays, and rocks dotting the sea around them reminded Columbus of Saint Ursula
and her 11,000 virgin martyr
s, inspiring the name Las Once Mil Virgenes.
The first encounter Columbus had with the Caribs quickly erupted into a battle. When Columbus and his crew decided to move on to other islands, they kidnapped six Arawaks to guide them. Although Columbus left without founding a colony, many more battles between the Spanish and Caribs followed over the next century.
Other European
explorers finished the job the Spanish had begun. They tried to convert the Caribs and Arawaks to Catholicism
, which largely failed. They also enslaved the native populations to work on plantations. With tobacco
having already been cultivated on the islands, it made a good cash crop
. Later on, coffee
, sugar
, and cotton
also were grown.
rather than submit to foreign rule. By the late 17th century, the Arawaks had been completely exterminated and few Caribs remained.
With only a small population on the islands, there was a great demand for labor. The trans-Atlantic slave trade to the islands began in 1673. The difficult conditions and inhumane treatment slaves were subjected to bred discontent. Moravian Brethren missionaries from Herrnhut
, Saxony
, arrived in St. Thomas in December, 1732. Objects of great distrust from the slave holders, they lived with the slaves and won their confidence. In 1733, a long drought followed by a devastating hurricane pushed slaves in St. John to the breaking point. Members of the Akwamu
tribe from modern Ghana
staged a massive rebellion, seizing control of the island for six months. The Danish
, who controlled the island at that point, enlisted the help of French
authorities from Martinique
to regain control (see St. John Slave Revolt).
A non-violent slave revolt in 1848 proved more successful. The governor
at the time, Peter von Scholten
, faced with thousands of enslaved Africans with burning torches threatening to burn down the town of Frederiksted, freed the slaves, even though the Danish Crown decreed that slaves would be emancipated in 1859. Von Scholten would later be jailed in Denmark by the Danish Crown for this action.
, the United States
wanted to buy the islands due to fear that if Denmark were conquered by Germany
, Germany would attempt to take over Denmark's overseas dependencies. In 1917, a treaty was concluded in which the United States purchased the islands for $25,000,000 (about $390,000,000 in 2010 dollars). After the United States bought what is now known as the United States Virgin Islands from the Danish, the islands became an unincorporated U.S. territory. Most residents were granted U.S. citizenship in 1927, and an act of 1932 provided that all natives of the Virgin Islands who on the date of the act were residing in the continental United States or any of its insular possessions or territories were U.S. citizens. The islands remained under the direct control of the U.S. government until 1968, when Virgin Islanders were first allowed to elect their own Governor (previously, governors had been appointed first by the navy, then by the interior department). In 1972, Virgin Islanders elected their first non voting delegate to congress.
of the Virgin Islands.
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
, often abbreviated USVI, is a group of islands and cays in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. Consisting of four larger islands (Saint Croix, Saint John, Saint Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
, and Water Island
Water Island, U.S. Virgin Islands
Water Island was acquired by the USA in 1917 from Denmark but continued to be owned by a corporation until several decades later. Since 1996, it has formed part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, a United States territory located in the Caribbean Sea. The island is of volcanic origin and lies to the...
) plus fifty smaller islets and cays, it covers approximately 133 square miles (344.5 km²). Like many of its Caribbean neighbors, its history includes native Amerindian cultures, European exploration followed by subsequent colonization and exploitation, and the enslavement of Africans.
Overview
Located in the Lesser Antilles of the Eastern Caribbean (between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea), the USVI are actually approximately 50 islands and cays , the largest of which are St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John, respectively.The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is a complex society with multiple diverse ethnic groups: Black Virgin Islanders, Eastern Caribbean islanders, Puerto Ricans, Spanish Dominicans, French Islanders, Americans (Continentals), Arabs and Asians. These ethnic differences as well as United States cultural imperialism have stymied any uniform Virgin Islands identity. Even though various ethnic groups share fundamental social characteristics, they nonetheless maintain their institutional and cultural differences. Continuous migration from the world over and out-migration of 'native' Virgin Islanders have led to ethnic particularism that undermines a contemporary common island identity.
Early inhabitants of the Virgin Islands included the Ciboney
Ciboney
The Ciboney were pre-Columbian indigenous inhabitants of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The name Ciboney derives from the indigenous Taíno people which means Cave Dwellers; evidence has shown that a number of the Ciboney people have lived in caves at some time. Over the years, many...
, Arawak and Carib ethnic groups.
The first documented Europeans to visit the islands arrived with Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
. The islands were occupied by several nations over the next century, including England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. In 1733, the Danish West India Company
Danish West India Company
The Danish West India Company or Danish West India-Guinea Company was a Danish chartered company that exploited colonies in the Danish West Indies. It was founded as the Danish Africa Company in 1659 in Glückstadt by a German Hendrik Carloff and two Dutchmen Isaac Coymans and Nicolaes Pancras....
purchased Saint Croix from the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and brought together Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, and Saint John as the Danish West Indies
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles", were a colony of Denmark-Norway and later Denmark in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917...
.
Danish trading
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
posts were set up on the islands, trading in sugar, slaves and other goods. Sugar cane cultivation was a major economic activity for many years, with slaves used as one of the labor sources. However, following increasing humanitarian awareness, laws against slavery and a slave rebellion in 1848, the governor Peter von Scholten
Peter von Scholten
Peter Carl Frederik von Scholten was Governor-General of the Danish West Indies from 1827 to 1848. He was born in Vestervig, Thy, Denmark as the son of captain Casimir von Scholten and Catharina Elisabeth de Moldrup....
officially freed the last slaves the same year.
The islands were purchased from the Danish by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1917 under the Treaty of the Danish West Indies
Treaty of the Danish West Indies
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 transferring sovereignty of the Danish West Indies from Denmark to the United States, which were renamed as the United States Virgin...
.
The Ciboneys
Although not much is known about the CiboneyCiboney
The Ciboney were pre-Columbian indigenous inhabitants of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The name Ciboney derives from the indigenous Taíno people which means Cave Dwellers; evidence has shown that a number of the Ciboney people have lived in caves at some time. Over the years, many...
people who inhabited the islands during the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
, archaeological evidence seems to indicate that they were hunter-gatherers. They made tools of stone and flint but left few other artifacts behind.
The Arawaks
Experts at canoe building and seamanship, the Arawaks migrated from the Amazon RiverAmazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
Valley and Orinoco
Orinoco
The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3% of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia...
regions of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, settling on the islands near coasts and rivers. These peaceful people excelled at fishing and farming. They grew cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, yuca
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
, and guava
Guava
Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...
as well as a variety of other fruits and vegetables.
The Arawaks developed intricate social and cultural lives. For recreation, they held organized sporting events. They also valued artistic endeavors, such as cave painting
Cave painting
Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
and rock carving, some of which have survived to the present. Religion played a large role in their daily lives, and through ceremonial rituals they asked their gods for advice to help them through troubled times. Their civilization flourished for several hundred years until the Caribs invaded.
The Caribs
While the Caribs came from the same area as the Arawaks and may have been distantly related, they did not share the Arawaks' friendly nature. Not only were they fierce warriors, they supposedly feasted on their adversaries. Their bloodthirsty reputation spawned the English word cannibal, derived from the name the Spanish gave them, Caribal.Whether or not they actually ate their victims, the Caribs did destroy numerous Arawak villages, murdering as many as they could. By the mid-15th century, the Caribs had slashed the Arawak population from several million to a few thousand. But even the Caribs were no match for the gold-hungry Europeans who were about to descend.
Colonization
Blown off course during his 1493-1496 voyage, Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
landed on Saint Croix, then continued his explorations on Saint Thomas and Saint John. He gave the islands their original Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
names (Santa Cruz, San Tomas, and San Juan), focusing on religious themes. The collection of tiny islets, cays, and rocks dotting the sea around them reminded Columbus of Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula
Saint Ursula is a British Christian saint. Her feast day in the extraordinary form calendar of the Catholic Church is October 21...
and her 11,000 virgin martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s, inspiring the name Las Once Mil Virgenes.
The first encounter Columbus had with the Caribs quickly erupted into a battle. When Columbus and his crew decided to move on to other islands, they kidnapped six Arawaks to guide them. Although Columbus left without founding a colony, many more battles between the Spanish and Caribs followed over the next century.
Other European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
explorers finished the job the Spanish had begun. They tried to convert the Caribs and Arawaks to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, which largely failed. They also enslaved the native populations to work on plantations. With tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
having already been cultivated on the islands, it made a good cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
. Later on, coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, and cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
also were grown.
The Danish West Indies period
Diseases, coupled with murder and slavery, took a large toll on both the Arawaks and the Caribs. Several groups of Arawaks committed mass suicideMass suicide
- Examples :Mass suicide sometimes occurs in religious or cultic settings. Defeated groups may resort to mass suicide rather than being captured. Suicide pacts are a form of mass suicide unconnected to cults or war that are sometimes planned or carried out by small groups of frustrated people...
rather than submit to foreign rule. By the late 17th century, the Arawaks had been completely exterminated and few Caribs remained.
With only a small population on the islands, there was a great demand for labor. The trans-Atlantic slave trade to the islands began in 1673. The difficult conditions and inhumane treatment slaves were subjected to bred discontent. Moravian Brethren missionaries from Herrnhut
Herrnhut
Herrnhut is a municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.It has access to Bundesstraße 178 between Löbau and Zittau...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, arrived in St. Thomas in December, 1732. Objects of great distrust from the slave holders, they lived with the slaves and won their confidence. In 1733, a long drought followed by a devastating hurricane pushed slaves in St. John to the breaking point. Members of the Akwamu
Akwamu
The Akwamu was a state set up by the Akan people in Ghana which existed in the 17th century and 18th century. Originally immigrating from Bono state, the founders settled in Twifo-Heman. The Akwamu created an expansionist empire in the 16th and 17th century...
tribe from modern Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
staged a massive rebellion, seizing control of the island for six months. The Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, who controlled the island at that point, enlisted the help of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
authorities from Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
to regain control (see St. John Slave Revolt).
A non-violent slave revolt in 1848 proved more successful. The governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
at the time, Peter von Scholten
Peter von Scholten
Peter Carl Frederik von Scholten was Governor-General of the Danish West Indies from 1827 to 1848. He was born in Vestervig, Thy, Denmark as the son of captain Casimir von Scholten and Catharina Elisabeth de Moldrup....
, faced with thousands of enslaved Africans with burning torches threatening to burn down the town of Frederiksted, freed the slaves, even though the Danish Crown decreed that slaves would be emancipated in 1859. Von Scholten would later be jailed in Denmark by the Danish Crown for this action.
Transfer to American Rule
Before World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
wanted to buy the islands due to fear that if Denmark were conquered by Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Germany would attempt to take over Denmark's overseas dependencies. In 1917, a treaty was concluded in which the United States purchased the islands for $25,000,000 (about $390,000,000 in 2010 dollars). After the United States bought what is now known as the United States Virgin Islands from the Danish, the islands became an unincorporated U.S. territory. Most residents were granted U.S. citizenship in 1927, and an act of 1932 provided that all natives of the Virgin Islands who on the date of the act were residing in the continental United States or any of its insular possessions or territories were U.S. citizens. The islands remained under the direct control of the U.S. government until 1968, when Virgin Islanders were first allowed to elect their own Governor (previously, governors had been appointed first by the navy, then by the interior department). In 1972, Virgin Islanders elected their first non voting delegate to congress.
1917-1931: U.S. Navy control
Under Rear Admiral Kittell, a yeoman named Percival Wilson Sparks (married to St. Thomas native, Grace Itah Maria Joseph Sparks) was ordered to design a new flag for the territory, since Kittell knew of Sparks' interest in graphic design. Sparks designed the flag and had his wife and her sister, Blanche Joseph Sasso, sew the first flag for the U.S.V.I. as the professionally made flags had to be manufactured in the states and would take weeks to arrive by ship. The sisters from St. Thomas were then known as the Betsy RossesBetsy Ross
Betsy Ross is widely credited with making the first American flag. There is, however, no credible historical evidence that the story is true.-Early life:...
of the Virgin Islands.
1930s
The 1930s represented a watershed as the economy reversed itself because of two external stimuli: The repeal of prohibition in the U.S., which greatly increased the demand for plantation workers, and the wartime decision to construct a submarine base on the Islands of St. Thomas. Because of habitual out-migration to the U.S. and the historical absence of a peasant agricultural tradition, the indigenous labor supply was inadequate. This vacuum created the demand for West Indian Labor from the Eastern Caribbean for the first of several immigrant waves.1950s
The Virgin Islands Government set a new policy of export diversification via tourism and light industry. Aliens continued to immigrate in substantial numbers — some legally and others illegally. They benefited from a series of loose interpretations and favorable revisions of immigration law which reduced occupational restrictions and generally lax enforcement.See also
- History of the CaribbeanHistory of the CaribbeanThe history of the Caribbean reveals the significant role the region played in the colonial struggles of the European powers since the 15th century. In the 20th century the Caribbean was again important during World War II, in decolonization wave in the post-war period, and in the tension between...
- Danish West IndiesDanish West IndiesThe Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles", were a colony of Denmark-Norway and later Denmark in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917...