2 REPORT OF THE GOVERNOR OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
Company and began colonizing St. Thomas and St. John. St. Croiz
was purchased from France in 1733. Except for a brief period of
British occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, the Danes ruled these
islands until 1917.
 Blessed by the Danish policy of neutrality and liberal trading laws,
 the Virgin Islands enjoyed a Golden Age of commerce and peaceful
 development. The fine harbor at Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas
 became the hub of Caribbean shipping routes, and a booming trade
 with the New England States became the mainstay of the islands'
 economy.
 Sugar was king. Windmills for grinding cane dotted the plantation
 lands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. Many of the massive
 masonry towers that supported the sails of these mills remain as silent
 sentinels from this bygone era. Some have been used as the central
 architectural structures of modern homes.
 Wealth also attracted the greedy, and the area became the hunting
 ground of many pirates, including the notorious Captain Kidd. Tra-
 dition has it that the Virgin Islands were spared the depredations
 of these pirates, but had to pay "protection" in the form of sanctuary
 and commercial privileges.
 Although sugar brought prosperity to the islands, the flourishing
 plantations were developed through the exploitation of slaves intro-
 duced in the 1680's from Africa. Twice, the slaves revolted at their
 cruel lot. Once, after a bloody mutiny on St. John, the slaves held that
 island for 6 months, until French forces came from Martinique to help
 the Danish masters. The story goes that the last surviving mem-
 bers of this "freedom fighter" band died by mass suicide, either by
 plunging over a tall cliff or by shooting themselves on the rugged north
 shore of the island.
 An enlightened Denmark finally abolished slavery in 1848, fifteen
 years before this step was taken officially in the United States.
 With slave labor gone, sugar decreased in commercial importance
 for the Virgin Islands. It became a marginal crop as compared with
 cane operations under the more favorable conditions in Cuba and
 elsewhere.
 The United States cast an interested eye on the Danish Virgin
 Islands during the American Civil War. A purchase agreement
 was negotiated, but fell through when the Senate refused to ratify
 it in 1870.
 Sporadic bargaining for the islands continued through the years,
 but it wasn't until World War I that the United States acted in
earnest. German seizure could give the U-boats a base in the Carib-
bean, so the United States bought the Danish Virgins for $25 million
in 1917. On March 31, of that year, the U.S. Navy took over admin-