Danish referendum on the sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States
1916 Danish West Indian Islands sale referendum|
|
|
Choice
|
Votes
|
%
|
 Yes
|
283,670
|
64.20%
|
 No
|
158,157
|
35.80%
|
| Valid votes
|
441,827
|
98.38%
|
| Invalid or blank votes
|
7,267
|
1.62%
|
| Total votes
|
449,094
|
100.00%
|
| Registered voters/turnout
|
1,200,000
|
37.42%
| |
A referendum on the sale of the Danish West Indian Islands to the United States of America was held in Denmark on 14 December 1916.[1] The non-binding referendum saw 283,670 vote in favor of the sale of the Danish West Indian Islands and 158,157 against. The residents of the islands were not allowed to vote on the matter, but in an unofficial vote on Saint Croix arranged by David Hamilton Jackson, 4,027 voted in favor of the sale and only seven voted against. As a result of the referendum the islands were formally relinquished to the United States by the Treaty of the Danish West Indies on 31 March 1917 as the United States Virgin Islands for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold.
