colony · Scandinavia and the Baltic
Danish West Indies
Origins
The Danish West India Company settled St Thomas in 1672 and St John in 1718, and bought St Croix from France in 1733. Charlotte Amalie on St Thomas, with its excellent harbour, became the capital and a busy free port.
Rule and society
Sugar and cotton plantations worked by enslaved Africans made the islands profitable; at their peak most of the population was enslaved. An uprising on St John in 1733 was crushed with French help. In 1848, facing a revolt on St Croix, Governor-General Peter von Scholten declared emancipation. Charlotte Amalie thrived as a trading and coaling port where English and Dutch creole were widely spoken.
Decline and legacy
After sugar declined, Denmark sought to sell the islands. During the First World War the United States, worried about German naval bases, bought them for 25 million dollars, and they were transferred in 1917, becoming the United States Virgin Islands.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Danish West Indies was a colony of Denmark-Norway1672 CE – 1814 CE
- Danish West Indies was a colony of Kingdom of Denmark1814 CE – 1917 CE
More states of Scandinavia and the Baltic →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Danish West Indies. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/danish-west-indies
- MLA
- “Danish West Indies.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/danish-west-indies. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Danish West Indies.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/danish-west-indies.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Danish West Indies’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/danish-west-indies (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻