Danish West Indian Islands sale referendum, 1916

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The Danish referendum on the sale of the Danish West Indian Islands to the United States of America was a non-binding referendum held on 14 December 1916. 283,670 of the Danish voters voted in favor of the sale and 158,157 voted against. The residents of the islands were not allowed to vote on the matter, but in an unofficial vote on St. Croix arranged by David Hamilton Jackson, 4,027 voted in favor of the sale and only seven voted against. As a result of the referendum the islands were formally relinquished to the United States on the 31 March 1917 as the United States Virgin Islands for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold.

Contents

[edit] Background

See also: History of the United States Virgin Islands

Two of the islands had been in Danish possession since the 17th century and St. Croix since 1733. The glory days of the colony had been from around 1750 to 1850 based on transit trade and the production of rum and sugar using African slaves as labor.[1] By the second half of the 19th century the sugar production was embattled by the cultivation of sugar 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.

At the negotiations for the Treaty of Vienna after the defeat in the Second Schleswig War in 1864, Denmark had tried to use the islands as a trade-in for South Jutland, but the Germans were not interested.[1]

At the eve of the American Civil War, the United States became interested in the islands as the possible location of a Caribbean naval base. On 24 October 1867 the Danish parliament, the Rigsdag, ratified a treaty on the sale of two of the islands — St. Thomas and St. John — for a sum of US$7,500,000.[2][3] However, the United 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 and the possible impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.[2]

Negotiations resumed in 1899, and on 24 January 1902 Washington signed a convention on the transfer of the islands for a sum of US$5,000,000.[4][5] One chamber of the Danish parliament — the Folketing — passed the proposal, but in the other chamber — the Landsting — it failed with 32 votes against 32. In particular the conservative party Højre 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 them US citizenship or freedom from customs duty on the export of sugar to the United States.[5][1] According to historian Povl Engelstoft, there is no doubt that Council President Johan Henrik Deuntzer was privately against the sale even though his party, the Venstre 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 the cabinet to step down, nor would he dissolve the Landsting or assume responsibility for any further work related to the sale.[5] This brought the process to a halt.

[edit] Negotiations

Famous labor leader David Hamilton Jackson, made a visit to Copenhagen in May 1915. He successfully raised awareness of the growing social desperation on the islands and the need for to enter the customs territory of the United States in order for the islands to be able to cope with their economic crisis. After his visit a majority of the Folketing, was convinced that the Danish supremacy of the islands had to end.[6] The First World War had created a new situation: The relations between Germany and the United States were becoming worse as a consequence of the German submarine warfare, and the Americans were concerned that after an invasion of Denmark the Germans might take control of the islands.[7] This would be unacceptable to the Americans as stated in the Monroe 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 the Danish neutrality.[6][4] During May 1915, Foreign Minister of Denmark Erik 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."[8]

On 29 October 1915 United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing managed to reopen the negotiations.[9][7] The negotiations, which lasted until August 1916, were kept absolutely secret in order to maintain the Danish neutrality.[10][7] Although rumours of the future sale did leak to the press, they were denied categorically by both Scavenius and Minister of Finance Edvard Brandes.[11] 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 of Greenland."[7][12] Historian Bo Lidegaard questions the utility of such a declaration, however, as the United States had never disputed Danish sovereignty.[7]

[edit] Government crisis

The government informed the parliament of the negotiations and their result in August 1916, and the message arouse bitter feelings in particular among the conservatives and to some degree within Venstre. The outrage was partially based on the fact the government was ready to hand off a part of the kingdom for money and partially on the secrecy regarding all the preparations and the fact that the denials by the two ministers had been completely contrary to facts.[13] Those who opposed the sale now demanded that the treaty should be reviewed by a new parliament, with the intend to trigger a new election and hoping that the government would thereby lose its majority in the Folketing.[14] In response, the government proposed a referendum on the issue as had recently become possible with the Constitution of 1915. The Landsting rejected this proposal, triggering a government crisis.[14]

The prospect of forming a broad-based government of national unity proved to be extremely difficult due to the poisoned atmosphere, and after Scavenius 6 September had rejected an offer from Christian X of Denmark to form a new government, the parties finally managed to find a compromise 30 September: each of the three opposition parties would appoint one of their members to enter the cabinet as Ministers without Portfolio, a commission to document the negotiations on the sale would be established and a referendum would be held.[15][16][17] The referendum would include the Faroe Islands, but neither Iceland nor Greenland,[17] nor would it include the West Indian Islands, and it would be non-binding in the sense that in the case of a majority in favour of the sale the parliament would still have the right to reject it.[18] The commission published its report on 2 December with the recommendation to approve the sale.[19]

[edit] Results

The referendum was held on 14 December 1916. As the election act of 1915, which significantly increased the number of eligible voters, was used for the referendum even though it did not otherwise take effect until 1918, the exact number of eligible voters is unknown but estimated at 1,200,000.[18] 283,670 votes (64.2% of the votes cast and 24.0% of the eligible voters) were in favour of the sale and 158,157 (35.8% of the votes cast and 13.4% of the eligible voters) were against,[20][21] and in an unofficial vote on St. Croix arranged by Hamilton Jackson 4,027 voted in favour of the sale and only seven voted against.[1] On 21 December the Danish parliament ratified the treaty, and on 9 March 1917 Christian X of Denmark officially said goodbye to the islands in an open letter.[22] On 1 April the formal transfer of the islands took place, only five days before the United States declared war on Germany.[22]

In an attempt to create national reconciliation, a majority of the 25 million dollars were spent in South Jutland after the Schleswig Plebiscites and the return of the region to Danish rule in 1920.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Schepelern, Otto (2007-04-03). Dansk Vestindien: En bittersød historie (Danish). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
  2. ^ a b Transfer Day. Royal Danish Consulate - United States Virgin Islands. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  3. ^ Wendt, Frantz (1951). "Rigsdagen 1915-40", in Bomholt, Jul.; Fabricius, Knud; Hjelholt, Holger; Mackeprang, M.; Møller, Andr. (eds.): Den danske rigsdag 1849-1949 bind II - Rigsdagens historie 1866-1949 (in Danish). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag, p. 292. 
  4. ^ a b Scavenius, Erik (1959). Dansk udenrigspolitik under den første verdenskrig (in Danish). Copenhagen: Forlaget Fremad, p. 92. 
  5. ^ a b c Engelstoft, Povl (1951). "Under grundloven af 1866", in Bomholt, Jul.; Fabricius, Knud; Hjelholt, Holger; Mackeprang, M.; Møller, Andr. (eds.): Den danske rigsdag 1849-1949 bind II - Rigsdagens historie 1866-1949 (in Danish). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag, pp. 197-199. 
  6. ^ a b Lidegaard, Bo [2003] (2006). Dansk udenrigspolitiks historie 4: Overleveren 1914-1945, 2nd edition (in Danish), Copenhagen: Gyldendal, p. 80. ISBN 87-02-04976-7. 
  7. ^ a b c d e Lidegaard, p. 81.
  8. ^ Tansill, Charles Callan [1932] (1966). The Purchase of the Danish West Indies, The Albert Shaw lectures on diplomatic history. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Peter Smith, p. 468. 
  9. ^ Scavenius, p. 93
  10. ^ Wendt, p. 293
  11. ^ Wendt, pp. 293-4
  12. ^ Tansill, p. 537.
  13. ^ Wendt, p. 294.
  14. ^ a b Lidegaard, p. 84.
  15. ^ Lidegaard, pp. 84-5.
  16. ^ Wendt, pp. 310-2.
  17. ^ a b Tansill, pp. 511-2
  18. ^ a b Statistisk Årbog 2007. Befolkning og valg.PDF (Danish) Statistics Denmark, p. 65. Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
  19. ^ Wendt, p. 312.
  20. ^ Wendt, p. 313.
  21. ^ Skou, Kaare R. (2005). Dansk politik A-Å (in Danish). Aschehoug, p. 768. ISBN 87-11-11652-8. 
  22. ^ a b Wendt, p. 314.

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