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Danish Colonization Of The AmericasExplorers and settlers from Denmark took possession of the Danish Virgin Islands, which Denmark later sold to the United States. Beginning in 1721, they also founded colonies in Greenland, which is now a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Denmark started a colony on St Thomas in 1671, St John in 1718, and purchased Saint Croix from France in 1733. During the 18th century, the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea were divided into two territorial units, one British and the other Danish. Sugar cane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Although slavery was abolished in 1803 by the Danes, it continued in the Danish Virgin Island until 1848. They were also used as a base for pirates. In 1917 the US purchased the islands, which had been in economic decline since the abolition of slavery. See also
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