page_title: United States Virgin Islands
section_title: American colonial period
hierarchical_section_title: United States Virgin Islands / History / American colonial period
caption_attribution_description: English: Hurricane Marilyn, VI, September 25, 1995 - An aerial view of the devastation caused by the hurricane. Eight people died and more than $2 billion in property damage was caused by Hurricane Marilyn. FEMA News Photo
context_page_description: The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory 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 to the east of Puerto Rico and west of the British Virgin Islands.
  The U.S. Virgin Islands consists of the main islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas, and many other surrounding minor islands. The total land area of the territory is 133.73 square miles. The territory's capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas.
  Previously known as the Danish West Indies of the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway and the independent Kingdom of Denmark, they and their populations were sold to the United States by Denmark for $25,000,000 in the 1917 Treaty of the Danish West Indies. They are classified by the United Nations as a non-self-governing territory, and are currently an organized, unincorporated United States territory. The U.S.
context_section_description: 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 $587.39 million in 2019 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 in August 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. 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.
  U.S. citizenship was granted to many inhabitants of the islands in 1927 and 1932. The U.S. dollar was adopted in the territory 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. In 1970 Virgin Islanders elected their first governor, Melvin H. Evans, and from 1976 the islands began work on creating their own constitution. Tourism began to develop, over time becoming the most important sector of the Islands' economy.
  Water Island, a small island to the south of St. Thomas, was initially administered by the US federal government and did not become a part of the United States 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 were 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 m³/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 m³/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 stor
caption: The aftermath of Hurricane Marilyn on the island of St. Thomas, 1995. In recent decades the U.S. Virgin Islands have been devastated by a series of hurricanes
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