The United States Virgin Islands are a group of around 90 islands, islets, and cays in the Caribbean region in which inhabitants were claimed by Spain in 1493. No permanent settlements occurred in the Spanish period and the islands were colonized by Denmark in 1671. The inhabitants remained Danish nationals until 1917. From that date, islanders have derived their nationality from the United States. Nationality is the legal means in which inhabitants acquire formal membership in a nation without regard to its governance type. In addition to being United States' nationals, Virgin Islanders are both citizens of the United States and [local] citizens of the Virgin Islands.
History of nationality in the Virgin Islands Background and Danish period (1493–1917)
Spain began exploration and mining activities in the Virgin Islands in 1493, but failed to establish permanent settlements in the area. In 1555, Charles V of Spain ordered the extermination of the native inhabitants. Having found no precious metals, Spain abandoned the islands, which became a pirate base and smuggling center for other Europeans. From 1625, Danish merchants began to take advantage of trade concessions made by the Spanish to allow European nations to do business in the West Indies. In 1670, the Danish West India Company was chartered by Christian V to establish a colony in St. Thomas and any other uninhabited island in the region. The company colonized St. Thomas in 1671, St. John in 1717, and purchased St. Croix from France in 1733. The lack of a native population at the time of colonization led to the introduction of slavery to the Danish West Indies. Instruments of Government, allowed the Danish West India Company to administer the colonies. Their governance evolved into a typical plantation society. Each planter was responsible for the maintenance and obligations of his children, slaves, and wife. There was no single code concerning the status of slaves; rather the administration passed various types of legislation as needed for local conditions. In theory, Danish laws as promulgated by the king were in force, but the company was given wide latitude in administering the colonies. Its charter said that neither Danish subjects nor foreigners could receive passports or permission to trade in the West Indies from any source other than the company.
Nationality was varied in the colonies, as settlement was based upon commercial ventures. The success of trade, being able to pay dividends and attract investors, was the primary focus of the company and there was little regard for civil or moral concerns. Official business in the colonies was conducted in English and the local population spoke Negerhollands, a creole language which was an amalgamation of African, Danish, Dutch, English, and Papiamento, with Portuguese and Spanish influences. In 1754, the crown took over the administration of the colonies and holdings of the company, establishing a special Accounts Registry Office () within the Treasury Department (:da:Rentekammeret) for colonial affairs. In 1775, a law was passed granting freedmen equal civil rights in the islands, but it was not enforced, as Afro-Caribbean freedmen wrote to the king to complain of unequal conditions in the Danish West Indies in 1816. Governance on St. Thomas and St. John was jointly overseen by a General Council and by a separate council on St. Croix. The authority of the Governor-General was dependent upon the Danish crown and government, but members of the Burgher Councils had the authority to make proposals to him for improving the governance in the colonies. In 1760, the Accounts Registry Office was replaced by the West Indian and Guinea General Finance and Customs Office (:da:Generaltoldkammeret). In the late 18th century, free people of color made up 55% of the population and a special law was passed in 1776 allowed freedmen residing in the Danish West Indies to obtain documents () confirming their free status and granting them rights as citizens. Free Afro-Caribbean persons could not operate some types of businesses, particularly pubs or cotton plantations, were required to wear special clothing, and faced restrictions on their residence. They could however participate in civic life and duties.
Trading in slaves was abolished in 1792, but with a ten-year implementation for the ban on importation. In 1827 reforms were attempted by Governor-General Peter von Scholten to improve the conditions for freedmen. Scholten was aware that free Afro-Caribbean people were obligated to perform state duties equal to other citizens but did not have the same civil rights. Changes in the status of Afro-Caribbean people, with the recent independence of Haiti, prompted the reform efforts. Under Scholten's plan, freedmen would be divided into two groups, those who carried freedom papers curtailing their civil rights and those who carried citizenship papers allowing them equal status with other Danish citizens. Under his plan, all free Afro-Caribbean persons with th-African ancestry (fusti) would automatically qualify for full and equal status as other citizens. Fully African (sort), biracial (mulat), th-African (musti), or th-African (casti) persons would remain both free and Danish, but would continue to have fewer rights. The proposal was submitted to the king in 1830, containing provisions for women and children and emancipation of slaves, as well. A married woman was required to hold the same status as her husband, an unmarried woman's civil status was to be determined by the Governor-General based upon her social and educational position, and children derived their status from their mother. Slaves were encouraged to work for their own manumission and if they paid their own fees, the cost of freedom was significantly lower. The plan was approved by the king in 1830 and went into effect when it was published in the Danish West Indies in 1831.
Scholten's Plan was immediately met with resistance by the islanders and was modified in 1834 to grant all free people of color equal status with whites, except newly released freedmen. Within the first three years of freedom, this transition class would be on probation and gradually earn civil rights. At the end of three years, the police superintendent or a priest, would determine if adequate progression had been made for full civil rights. That year he also proposed an emancipation plan, spurred because of Britain's abolition plan in the British West Indies. Under this plan, slaves received Sunday and an additional day off per week, which they could use to earn an independent livelihood, were given some property and inheritance rights, and were allowed to marry. Slavery was allowed to continue in the colonies until 1847, when a new law gave newborns immediate freedom, but required other slaves to work for their masters for twelve years to gain their freedom. The following year, after a protest by 8,000 slaves at the government headquarters, full emancipation was granted. Emancipation of the slaves necessitated new legislation to address new social conditions. Few inhabitants in the islands were Danish citizens or spoke Danish and there was little desire to give them representation in the Rigsdag, the first Danish legislature, created in 1849. Limited suffrage in the colonies for male citizens aged 25 years or more who met property qualifications was established in 1849. Danish law at that time did not define who were citizens, but since 1776, those entitled to certain rights were assumed to be indfødsret (indigenous, entitled to birthrights), either born in the territory or born abroad to native-born parents. The Colonial Law of 1852, extended all the laws of Denmark to the West Indies possessions and provided the authority for the two Councils to advise on ordinances for local conditions, subject to approval of the Danish crown and legislature.
In 1863 a new Colonial Law was created, requiring that in addition to meeting property requirements, male inhabitants were eligible to have franchise if they had Danish birthrights. In 1871, Act No. 54 provided that Danish persons could lose their birthrights if they took another nationality. To repatriate, they could reestablish residence in Denmark and if that was insufficient to release them from the other nationality, after a two-year residency could notify the Minister of the Interior that they chose to be released from foreign nationality and to be reinstated as Danish. At that time, there was no specific naturalization scheme in Denmark, but establishing a permanent residence entitled them to be considered Danish subjects, without birthrights. The confusion regarding status, as well as the need for international cooperation, necessitated the passage in 1898 of Act No. 42, Acquisition and Loss of Birthright. The law established that legitimate children of Danish fathers and illegitimate children of Danish mothers acquired birthright nationality. Children born in Denmark to non-Danish parents acquired nationality upon reaching majority at the age of nineteen, if they had no other nationality and had not made a declaration that they did not want to be Danish. A married woman was required to derive her nationality from their husband. If a couple had children together prior to marriage, later married, and the husband was a foreigner, the children lost their nationality along with their mother upon marriage. The Colonial Law was revised in 1906, but changed little from the earlier version. Those entitled to vote were males of good character, born in the Danish West Indies or having resided there for five years, who were at a minimum 25 years old and met property requirements. It also reiterated that the common law and statutory laws of Denmark were applicable in the colonies.
United States period (1917–present) Establishing nationality for the Virgin Islands (1917–1952)
In 1917, the United States, purchased the islands to establish a naval safety net for the Panama Canal and prevent German acquisition of the islands. Under terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, island residents were given the option to retain their Danish nationality by declaring within one year their desire to keep it. Failure to make such declaration would be interpreted as an acceptance of US nationality. Language in the treaty reserved the right for the US Congress to determine the civil and political rights of the inhabitants. In 1920, a letter clarifying the status of Virgin Islanders written by the Acting US Secretary of State, Frank L. Polk, confirmed that they were non-citizen nationals, under the protection of the United States. In 1922, the Cable Act was passed, partially repealing provisions for married women to derive nationality from a husband, if the husband was eligible for US nationality. Ineligible husbands included those that were racially excluded, anarchists, or practitioners of polygamy and wives were still excluded from individual nationality, if the husband was barred for any reason.