Historyedit

Pre-European contactedit

The U.S. Virgin Islands were originally inhabited by the Ciboney and Arawaks, with some scholars thinking that the islands were inhabited from as early as 1000 BC. The Kalinago (Island Caribs) arrived around the mid-15th century AD.

Early European settlersedit

Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage in 1493, is thought to have been the first European to see the islands, giving them their current name. The Spanish later settled in 1555, with English and French settlers arriving on St. Croix from 1625. There followed a complex period in which the islands were disputed among Spain, France, Britain and the Netherlands.

Danish periodedit

Denmark–Norway also took an interest in the islands, and the Danish West India Company settled on St. Thomas in 1672 and St. John in 1694, later purchasing St. Croix from France in 1733. The islands became royal Danish colonies in 1754, named the Danish West Indian Islands (Danish: De dansk-vestindiske øer). Initially the currency was the Danish West Indian rigsdaler, replaced by the daler in 1849. The islands proved ideal for sugar plantations: sugarcane, produced by enslaved Africans, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Other plantation crops included cotton and indigo dye. During the 17th and 18th centuries, a sizable Jewish community also began to settle on the islands.

In 1733, St. John was the site of one of the first significant slave rebellions in the New World when Akan–Akwamu slaves from the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) took over the island for six months. The Danish were able to defeat the enslaved Africans with help from the French in Martinique. Instead of allowing themselves to be recaptured, more than a dozen of the ringleaders shot themselves before the French forces could capture them. It is estimated that by 1775, slaves outnumbered the Danish settlers by a ratio of 8:1.

After another slave rebellion occurred on St. Croix, slavery was abolished by Governor Peter von Scholten on July 3, 1848, now celebrated as Emancipation Day. Over the following years, strict labor laws were implemented several times, leading to the 1878 St. Croix labor riot.

With the plantations no longer as profitable, Danish settlers began to abandon their estates, causing a significant drop in population and the overall economy. Additionally, the 1867 hurricane and earthquake and tsunami further impacted the economy. For the remainder of the period of Danish rule, the islands were not economically viable and significant transfers had to be made from the Danish state budget to the authorities in the islands.

The United States began to take an interest in the islands, and in 1867 a treaty to sell St. Thomas and St. John to the U.S. was agreed but never effected. A number of reforms aimed at reviving the islands' economy were attempted, but none had great success. A second draft treaty to sell the islands to the United States was negotiated in 1902 but was defeated in the upper house of the Danish parliament in a tie vote (because the opposition carried a 97-year-old life member into the chamber).

The onset of World War I brought the reform period to a close and again left the islands isolated. During the submarine warfare phases of the war, the United States, fearing that the islands might be seized by Germany as a submarine base, again approached Denmark about buying them. After a few months of negotiations, a selling price of $25 million in United States gold coin was agreed, equivalent to $700 million in 2023 dollars. At the same time, the economics of continued possession weighed heavily on the minds of Danish decision makers, and a consensus in favor of selling emerged in the Danish parliament.

The Treaty of the Danish West Indies was signed on August 4, 1916, with a referendum on the sale held in Denmark in December 1916 in which voters approved the decision to sell. The deal was finalized on January 17, 1917, when the United States and Denmark exchanged their respective treaty ratifications.

American periodedit

The United States took possession of the islands on March 31, 1917, and the territory was renamed the Virgin Islands of the United States. Every year, Transfer Day is recognized as a holiday, to commemorate the acquisition of the islands by the United States. Rear Admiral James H. Oliver was the first American governor of the islands. Paul Martin Pearson, the first civilian governor, was appointed by Herbert Hoover and was inaugurated March 18, 1931.

U.S. citizenship was granted to many inhabitants of the islands in 1927 and 1932. The Danish West Indian daler was replaced by the U.S. dollar in 1934, and from 1935 to 1939 the islands were a part of the United States customs area. The 1936 Organic Act and the 1954 Revised Organic Act established the local government. Tourism began to develop following World War II, over time becoming the most important sector of the islands' economy. The Virgin Islands National Park was established in 1956 on St. John, and by 1959, after the embargo of Americans on travel to Cuba, the U.S. Virgin Islands became a popular tourist destination. In 1970, Virgin Islanders elected their first governor, Melvin H. Evans, and from 1976 the islands began work on creating their own constitution.

Water Island, a small island to the south of St. Thomas, was initially administered by the U.S. federal government and did not become a part of the U.S. Virgin Islands territory until 1996, when 50 acres (20 ha) of land was transferred to the territorial government. The remaining 200 acres (81 ha) of the island was purchased from the United States Department of the Interior in May 2005 for $10, a transaction that marked the official change in jurisdiction.

In 1966, Hess Oil began construction on an oil refinery. Until February 2012, the Hovensa plant, located on St. Croix, was one of the world's largest petroleum refineries, refining 494,000 bbl/d (78,500 m/d), and contributed about 20% of the territory's GDP. The refinery ceased operation in 2012, and the facility stopped exporting petroleum products in 2014. In the final year of full refinery operations, the value of exported petroleum products was $12.7 billion (2011 fiscal year). Since refining ended, the 34-million-barrel tank farm has operated as a crude oil and petrochemical storage facility for third-party customers. The refinery's closure provoked a local economic crisis. Following the acquisition of the 1,500-acre complex by ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC, in 2016, Limetree Bay Ventures, LLC, was formed, and is currently executing a project to refurbish and restart the refinery, with a processing capability of up to 200,000 bbl/d (32,000 m/d).

Hurricane Hugo struck the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1989, causing catastrophic physical and economic damage, particularly on the island of St. Croix. The territory was again struck by Hurricane Marilyn in 1995, killing eight people and causing more than $2 billion in damage. The islands were again struck by hurricanes Bertha, Georges, Lenny, and Omar in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2008, respectively, but damage was not as severe in those storms.

In September 2017, Category 5 Hurricane Irma caused catastrophic damage, particularly to St. John and St. Thomas. Just two weeks later, Category 5 Hurricane Maria ravaged all three islands. Sustained winds at the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge on St. Croix reached 99 to 104 mph (159 to 167 km/h) and gusted to 137 mph (220 km/h). Even stronger winds likely occurred somewhere across the island's west end. The British Virgin Islands and the other two U.S. Virgin Islands, St. John and St. Thomas, were far enough northeast to avoid the worst from Maria, but were still massively impacted, with great destruction everywhere. A wind gust to 86 mph (138 km/h) was reported at St. Thomas. Weather stations on St. Croix recorded 5 and 10 inches (130 and 250 mm) of rain from the hurricane, and estimates for St. John and St. Thomas were somewhat less. The hurricane killed two people, both in their homes: one person drowned and another was trapped by a mudslide. A third person had a fatal heart attack during the hurricane. The hurricane caused extensive and severe damage to St. Croix. After both hurricanes, the office of Virgin Islands congresswoman Stacey Plaskett stated that 90% of buildings in the Virgin Islands were damaged or destroyed and 13,000 of those buildings had lost their roofs. The Luis Hospital suffered roof damage and flooding, but remained operational.