On 4 August 1916, the United States and Denmark sign the Treaty of the Danish West Indies — the deal by which the US buys Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint Croix for $25 million in gold.

Motivated by Panama Canal security and fear of a German presence in the Caribbean in the First World War, the treaty transfers sovereignty over the future US Virgin Islands.

Ratified by the US Senate and the Danish parliament (after a referendum in Denmark), formal transfer takes place on 31 March 1917.

The document ends centuries of Danish colony in the Antilles and fixes the Virgin Islands’ status as a US territory.

For Caribbean history, 4 August 1916 marks the signing of the Danish West Indies cession to the US.

The text is documented in FRUS / US treaty collections.

The Treaty of 4 August 1916 remains the legal basis of the US Virgin Islands.

Image: Virgin Islands; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Treaty of the Danish West Indies. Treaty text: Treaty of the Danish West Indies (FRUS).