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the Danish began to have interest in selling the islands, but the United States senate was disinterested in the deal because of the building of the Panama Canal which significantly affect global trade and specifically United States Trade. Years later, there was mutual interest due to the fact that
Denmark was struggling financially from war with Prussia and Austria, the United States had interest because Denmark was under threat of German invasion which caused fear that the Germans would then inhabit the Virgin Islands. In January 1917, the United States would agree to purchase the Virgin Islands for "$ 25 million ($ 295 per acre), then regarded as an exorbitant sum for land that amounted to hardly more than a tenth of the size of Rhode Island, the smallest state.". The first Transfer Day celebration/ceremony occurred on March 31, 1917.
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sides of the parade ground before red-walled Fort
Christian. Once the message had been delivered, at 4:48 p.m, the Danish honor guard presented arms, the Danish national anthem was played, and a cannon boomed 21 times as the red and white Danish flag was slowly lowered for the final time after 251 years of Danish rule. At 4:53 p.m. the American honor guard presented arms, a band played the "Star-Spangled Banner," and to the roar of the cannon the American flag was raised. As a last gesture, Admiral Henri Konow of Denmark and Admiral Edwin T. Pollock of the United States Navy drew their ceremonial swords.
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reenactment of the transfer will begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday on the lawns of the 1874 lime-green, white-shuttered
Legislature building. That's the precise time the event originally occurred on March 31, 1917". In addition to reenacting the transfer, the Danish also replicated their departure, "The 196-foot-long, three-masted, full-rigged Danish government training ship
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The Virgin
Islands were of long interest of the United States, "…but as far back as the Civil War the U.S. was aware of their value as a possible U.S. Naval depot, commanding as they do the most important sea approaches from the Atlantic to the Caribbean". Following the decline of the sugar industry,
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The news was immediately telegraphed to New York, then cabled to San Juan, Puerto Rico, flashed by wireless to the cruiser
Hancock in the harbor at Charlotte Amalie, and carried ashore to St. Thomas via rowboat. There, Danish and American honor guards in white uniforms stood in formation on opposite
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rejected negotiations. Following money shortages from war, and the potential German invasion of
Denmark, both sides saw the exchange as mutually beneficial. Transfer Day is now celebrated in a variety of ways on the various islands including parades, parties, and reenactment of the original Transfer
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The Virgin
Islands now have annual celebrations in honor of transfer day. According to a St. Croix website, "Transfer Day is commemorated annually with a military parade and various ceremonies and cultural events across all of the islands". The celebration varies by year, for example in 1987, "A
261:. Following payment, various telegraphs were sent to the islands in order to inform them of the sale. As mentioned previously, a final act of respect would be displayed by Admiral Henri Konow of Denmark and Admiral Edwin T. Pollock of the United States Navy.
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that took place in 1917. The islands were initially held by various
European countries, and were under the sole control of Denmark by 1754. Transfer Day could have taken place years earlier, but due to the construction and funding of the
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The first
Westerner to land in the Virgin Islands was Christopher Columbus in 1493. Several European countries subsequently held the Virgin Islands, including France, Britain, Spain and lastly Denmark.
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404:"Virgin Islands' Special Celebration : Transfer Day Marks 1917 U.S. Purchase from Denmark"
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which in 1917 carried back to
Denmark the last Danish governor and his official party".
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80 cadets and 18 officers will represent the officers and crew of the Danish cruiser
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being lowered at the Governor's Mansion for the last time (31 March 1917)
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After gaining full control of the islands via a 1754 purchase from the
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has sailed here from Copenhagen especially for the celebration. The
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1917 money transfer after the Treaty of the Danish West Indies
346:"Water Island History - the Military History of Water Island"
304:$ 25,000,000 receipt for the Treaty of the Danish West Indies
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The holiday is the subject of Sophie Schiller's 2012 novel
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on March 31. It marks the transfer of the islands from
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Public holidays in the United States Virgin Islands
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402:Hillinger, Charles. (29 March 1987).
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380:Ogden, Jennie (29 September 2018).
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329:"Virgin Islands Transfer Day"
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382:"A History of Transfer Day"
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204:East Asiatic Company
172:United States Senate
103:United States Portal
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194:At the time of the
155:U.S. Virgin Islands
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