The first residents of the present United States Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.) were the Ciboney, Caribs, and Arawaks. In 1493, Christopher Columbus visited these islands. He had been searching for a route to India and so he called the people Indians. Columbus named the beautiful islands ‘The Virgins’ in reference to the legendary beauty of St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgins.<\/p>\n
Columbus’ visit would prove to be the demise of the indigenous ‘Indians’. They had no immunity to European diseases that the explorers brought with them. Nor were the ‘Indians’ prepared to deal with the harsh work the explorers forced them to do. Within several decades following Columbus’ visit the ‘Indian’ populations had plummeted. Today they no longer exist in the U.S.V.I.<\/p>\n
The islands went through a period of sleep after Columbus’ visit. They awakened to have Holland, France, England, Spain, Denmark and the Knights of Malta seeking to settle in the islands. Between the attempted settlements, pirates and buccaneers also showed a great interest in the islands. The Danish West India Company successfully established a settlement on St. Thomas in 1672 and on St. John in 1694.<\/p>\n
The Danish had claimed St. John as early as the 1680’s. However, hostility from the neighboring British on Tortola prevented the Danes from establishing a settlement in Coral Bay. The British in order to maintain hospitable relations with Denmark eventually ceased their opposition. After the Danes settled St. John, plantation agriculture developed rapidly on the little island.<\/p>\n
In 1685, the Danish government signed a treaty with the Dutch of Brandenburg. This treaty allowed the Brandenburg American Company to establish a slave-trading post on St. Thomas. Early governors also approved of St. Thomas becoming a pirates’ safe haven. The governors realized an influx of pirates would benefit local merchants. But while piracy ceased to be a factor in the island’s economy in the early 19th century, slave trade continued.<\/p>\n
From 1700 to 1750, when piracy was on the decline, legitimate trade was on the upswing and prosperous merchants replaced buccaneers on Dronningens Gade (Main Street) in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. It was around this time St. Croix would be purchased. St. Croix, until 1733, was a French colony and in that year the Danish company bought the island from France. The three islands, St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John, were then known as the Danish West Indies.<\/p>\n
In following years, the islands became major sugar producers relying on slavery to keep the economy strong. Market Square in Charlotte Amalie was the location of some of the largest slave auctions in the New World. St. John and St. Croix were the sites of many sugar plantations. Slavery was abolished by Denmark in 1848. Thereafter, planters began to abandon their estates. The population and economy in the islands declined.<\/p>\n
The islands remained Danish colonies until 1917, when the United States purchased them for $25 million in gold.<\/p>\n
The islands were purchased to improve military positioning during critical times of World War I. The Virgin Islands were used as a defense center during World War II. In the years after the end of World War II, the U.S.V.I moved into a new position as a tourist destination.<\/p>\n
The Military and the Interior Departments managed the territory until the passage of the Organic Act in 1936. Today the U.S.V.I is a U.S. territory, run by an elected governor. The territory is under the jurisdiction of the president of the United States of America. People born in the U.S.V.I are American citizens.<\/p>\n
In 1956 Laurance Rockefeller gave the National Park Service a generous gift of 5,000 acres of land. This gift along with subsequent additions have increased the holdings. Today almost two thirds of St. John’s beautiful forest, shorelines and underwater lands are protected by the Park.<\/p>\n
In 1996 Water Island, located in St. Thomas’ Charlotte Amalie harbor, was officially returned to the U.S.V.I from the Department of the Interior. Today Water Island is the fourth United States Virgin Island.<\/p>\n
The islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island entered the new millennium as one of the premiere destinations for tourist visiting the Caribbean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The first residents of the present United States Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.) were the Ciboney, Caribs, and Arawaks. In 1493, Christopher Columbus visited these islands. He had been searching for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"iawp_total_views":22,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-71","page","type-page","status-publish","czr-hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P3cvCB-19","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":83,"url":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/history-of-st-croix\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":0},"title":"History of St. Croix","author":"carlos","date":"22\/02\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The last of the Native Indian people to inhabit St. Croix were the Carib. Originally from the Guiana region of South America, the Carib people were not the first Indians on St. Croix. They had gained presence of the islands from the Tainos or Arawaks in the early 1400's. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59,"url":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/every-day-counts-old\/united-states-virgin-islands\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":1},"title":"United States Virgin Islands","author":"carlos","date":"22\/02\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Virgin Islands (USVI) is a group of islands in the Caribbean made up of over 50 small islands. The USVI are an insular area of the United States. The islands are\u00a0geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. There are\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"virgin-islands-flag","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prltap.org\/esp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/virgin-islands-transparent.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8455,"url":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/2023-ustpe\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":2},"title":"2023 United States Territorial Peer Exchange (USTPE)","author":"Irmali Franco","date":"04\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Program, Speakers' Bios and Participants List Gallery Day 1 Welcome Remarks David Ambuehl, Chief Deputy District Director, Caltrans (video) Gloria Shepherd, FHWA Leadership (video) White House Office for Puerto Rico and Territories Coordination Territories Presentation American Samoa Guam Commonwealth Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Puerto Rico United States Virgin Islands (USVI)\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/USTPE-2023-Banner.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/USTPE-2023-Banner.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/USTPE-2023-Banner.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98,"url":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/history-of-water-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":3},"title":"History of Water Island","author":"carlos","date":"22\/02\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The first recorded inhabitants of Water Island were the Taino or Arawak Indians, around the early 1400's. Four Indian campsites have been uncovered on the island. None of these sites were large. Pottery, tools and human remains indicate their presence. In the days of piracy, Water Island was used by\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7126,"url":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/us-territorial-peer-exchange\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":4},"title":"1st US Territorial Peer Exchange","author":"Irmali Franco","date":"16\/08\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"August 20-28, 2018 Final Agenda Gallery Day 1: August 20, 2018 Territories Presentations: American Samoa Commonwealth Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Guam Puerto Rico United States Virgin Islands (USVI) Federal Aid and Grant Management Overview -\u00a0Robert Eatmon Day 2: August 21, 2018 Introduction to Risk Management\u00a0-\u00a0Leslie Lahndt Strenght Development Inventory (SDI)\u00a0-\u00a0Sharon\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/logo-final-150x150.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":82,"url":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/history-of-st-thomas\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":5},"title":"History of St. Thomas","author":"carlos","date":"22\/02\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Evidence suggests that St. Thomas was once home to natives of the Ciboney tribes. It is believed that they occupied the island around 1500 BC. Two other tribes lived on the island; the Taino or Arawaks and the Caribs. Although evidence can be found of the presence of these tribes,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3321,"href":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/71\/revisions\/3321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prltap.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}