ONE LAND · 4 ATLASES
History of the United States Virgin Islands in maps
The United States Virgin Islands as it appears in 4 interactive history atlases, from 1789 to 2015: United States Virgin Islands. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
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What was the United States Virgin Islands before it was United States Virgin Islands? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History atlases — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.
United States Virgin Islands · Haiti and Kenya independence
The Danish West Indies, today’s US Virgin Islands, were sugar colonies of St Croix, St Thomas and St John. In July 1848 enslaved workers on St Croix rose and forced the governor to proclaim emancipation, an echo of Haiti’s revolution half a century later. Denmark sold the islands to the United States in 1917.
| Under colonial rule — the opening position |
HAITI AND KENYA INDEPENDENCE: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
United States Virgin Islands · WWI
United States Virgin Islands · Cold War
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
United States Virgin Islands · Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution
| Right won in law — the opening position | |
| No reform yet / outside this story | |
| Partial or unequal; treaty signed only; transition |
FEMINISM AND THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
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