1.
British Virgin Islands
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The British Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands, are a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the islands constitute the US Virgin Islands. The 150-square-kilometre British Virgin Islands consist of the islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada. About 15 of the islands are inhabited, the capital, Road Town, is situated on Tortola, the largest island, which is about 20 km long and 5 km wide. The islands had a population of about 28,000 at the 2010 Census, of whom approximately 23,500 lived on Tortola, British Virgin Islanders are classed as British Overseas Territories citizens and since 2002 have had an entitlement to take up full UK citizenship. Although the territory is not part of the European Union and not directly subject to EU law, the official name of the territory is still simply the Virgin Islands, but the prefix British is often used. This is commonly believed to distinguish it from the neighbouring American territory which changed its name from the Danish West Indies to Virgin Islands of the United States in 1917. Moreover, the territorys Constitutional Commission has expressed the view that every effort should be made to encourage the use of the name Virgin Islands. In 1968 the British Government issued a memorandum requiring that the stamps in the territory should say British Virgin Islands. This was likely to prevent confusion following on from the adoption of US currency in the Territory in 1959, the Virgin Islands were first settled by the Arawak from South America around 100 BC. The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the more aggressive Caribs, the first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus gave them the fanciful name Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes, shortened to Las Vírgenes, there is no record of any native Amerindian population in the British Virgin Islands during this period, although the native population on nearby Saint Croix was decimated. The Dutch established a permanent settlement on the island of Tortola by 1648, in 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the English annexation of Anegada and Virgin Gorda followed in 1680. Meanwhile, over the period 1672–1733, the Danish gained control of the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John. The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession, but were planted when economic conditions were particularly favourable, the British introduced sugar cane which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and slaves were brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations. In 1917, the United States purchased St. John, St. Thomas, the British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the British Leeward Islands or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an administrator representing the British Government on the islands. The islands gained separate status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967. Since the 1960s, the islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services and they are located in the Virgin Islands archipelago, a few miles east of the US Virgin Islands
2.
House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands
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Sittings of the House of Assembly are divided into terms with each term following from a general election. The House of Assembly is presently sitting its third term, accordingly, in aggregate the legislature is sitting its eighteenth term since the restoration of democracy in the Territory. Each term is then broken down into different sittings, at the end of each sitting the House is either prorogued until the next sitting, or dissolved for a general election. The Hon. Ingrid Moses-Scatliffe was elected Speaker of the House on 14 September 2007, there was no attempt to impose any form of local legislature prior to the British taking control of the islands in 1672. But in 1735 the Governor of the Leeward Islands, William Matthew sought to establish executive councils and legislative assemblies in Virgin Gorda, the assemblies were to consist of nine member, elected by the free inhabitants of the islands. Following the elections, it was determined that the Governor had no such power. During the 18th and 19th centuries the British Virgin Islands a had a number of Legislative Councils, but these proved to be ineffective. Between 1747 and 1754 Lieutenant Governor James Purcell pressed for some form of government in the British Virgin Islands. On 30 November 1773 legislation was introduced which provided for, amongst other things, the assembly opened on 31 January 1774, but got off to an inauspicious start. Accordingly, the legislature refused to pass legislation to establish a court system, in around 1783 the legislature was reconstituted with 15 members and districts were redrawn, and a certain amount of detente emerged. By 1867, when the Territory was struck by a fierce hurricane all pretence to the operation of a Legislative Council in which there were elected representatives came to an end. Legislation was passed reconstituting the assembly again so that it consisted of three members and three appointed members, but with no elections. In 1871 a single colony consisting of all the Leeward Islands was created. In 1902 the Federal Council formally abolished the local Virgin Islands legislature and council and it was grimly noted that the legislature had practically nothing of any real importance. To legislate about and the functions of the executive was the maintenance of law and order, the first Legislative Council of modern times was formed in 1950 pursuant to the Constitution Act,1950. It had eight members, two members, two nominated members and four elected members. Requirements for standing for election included income, property, and a deposit, the four members were elected in the 1950 on a Territory-wide basis. In 1954 the existing provisions were replaced by the Constitution and Elections Ordinance,1954 which expanded the elected membership to six
3.
Unicameralism
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In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multicameralism, many multicameral legislatures were created to give separate voices to different sectors of society. Multiple chambers allowed for guaranteed representation of different social classes, ethnic or regional interests, where these factors are unimportant, in unitary states with limited regional autonomy, unicameralism often prevails. Unicameral legislatures are also common in official Communist states such as the Peoples Republic of China, similarly, many formerly Communist states, such as Ukraine, Moldova and Serbia, have retained their unicameral legislatures, though others, such as Romania and Poland, adopted bicameral legislatures. Both the former Russian SFSR and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were bicameral, the two chambers were the Soviet of Nationalities and the Soviet of the Union. The Russian Federation retained bicameralism after the dissolution of the USSR, the principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is much simpler and there is no possibility of deadlock. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it costs, even if the number of legislators stay the same, since there are fewer institutions to maintain. There is also the risk that important sectors of society may not be adequately represented, approximately half of the worlds sovereign states are currently unicameral, including both the most populous and the least populous. Many subnational entities have unicameral legislatures, and all of the Brazilian states. In the United Kingdom, the devolved Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Congress of Deputies of Second Spanish Republic was unicameral between 1931 and 1936. Dissolved at the end of Spanish Civil War, the actual Spanish Parliament is bicameral, Supreme Assembly of Uzbekistan was unicameral before being replaced in 2005 by the current, bicameral Supreme Assembly. National Assembly of Cameroon was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, chamber of Peoples Representative of Equatorial Guinea was unicameral before being replaced in 2013 by the current, bicameral Parliament of Equatorial Guinea. National Assembly of Kenya was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kenya in 2013. National Assembly of Ivory Coast was the unicameral legislature before becoming the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Ivory Coast in 2016. Nebraskas state legislature is also unique in the sense that it is the state legislature that is entirely nonpartisan. In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesota Legislature into a unicameral chamber. Although debated, the idea was never adopted, if those constitutional changes had been approved, Puerto Rico could have switched to a unicameral legislature as early as 2015
4.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
5.
Independent Citizens Movement
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The Independent Citizens Movement is a political party in the U. S. Virgin Islands that was founded by Virdin C. Brown and Steve OReilly in 1968. The party advocates for grassroots participation in politics, as well as more autonomy for the U. S. Virgin Islands, the party had its first political candidates in 1968, and it ran candidates again in 1970. An advertisement in The Virgin Islands Daily News on June 24,1970 listed Fabian Martinez as the partys president, the partys mission, according to a speech by Brown in 1969, is to give the government back to the people through good, responsive, and responsible leadership. The partys platform was published in The Virgin Islands Daily News on October 26,1974, the platform includes increasing the autonomy of the Virgin Islands and increased control over the territorys internal affairs, while still remaining a part of the United States. Party member Cyril E. King successfully ran for governor in 1974, King was succeeded as Governor in turn by his former ICM Lieutenant Governor Juan Francisco Luis who remained in office until 1987. From 1995 to 1997 Victor O. Frazer was Delegate from the U. S. Virgin Islands as the partys candidate, in the United States Virgin Islands general election,2014, the party won one out of 15 seats
6.
Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
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Charlotte Amalie, located on St. Thomas, is the capital and the largest city of the U. S. Virgin Islands, founded in 1666 as Taphus. In 1691, the town was renamed to Amalienborg after Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, protected by Hassel Island, the harbor has docking and fueling facilities, machine shops, and shipyards and was a U. S. submarine base until 1966. The town has been inhabited for centuries, when Christopher Columbus came here in 1493, the area was inhabited by Island Caribs and Taíno. It is on the shore at the head of Saint Thomas Harbor. In 2010 the city had a population of 18,481, hundreds of ferries and yachts pass through town each week, and at times the population more than doubles. The city is known for its Danish colonial architecture, building structure and history, the town has a long history of pirates, especially stories of Bluebeard and Blackbeard. In the 17th century, the Danes built both Blackbeards Castle and Bluebeards Castle attributed to the pirates, Blackbeards Castle is a U. S. National Historic Landmark. Another tourist attraction is Fort Christian, the oldest standing structure in the Virgin Islands Archipelago, a copy of the Liberty Bell is in Emancipation Park, which is a tourist attraction. Before the time of the Danish West Indies, the city was known as Taphus for its many beer halls, Taphus is Danish and directly translates to beer houses, beer halls, or taphouse. In 1691 the town received a respectable name by being named Amalienborg in honor of Danish king Christian V’s wife. In English, Charlotte Amalie is pronounced SHAR-lut uh-MAHL-yuh or AH-muh-leh, between 1921 and 1936, the city was named St. Thomas. In 1936 it was renamed Charlotte Amalie, on his second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus encountered Native Americans living in the present-day archipelago of the United States Virgin Islands. Archaeological records indicate that the islands have been home to Indian tribes, including the Taíno people, Arawak people, Kalinago people, several of them lived in present-day Charlotte Amalie in small fishing communities. As was the case in most of the Americas, the population died relatively quickly from disease when the Europeans settled. The Danish West India Company chartered Charlotte Amalie in 1671 after King Christian V decided to secure them for plantations, as early as in 1672, the Danish government began the construction of Fort Christian on Saint Thomas Harbor in Charlotte Amalie. In 1675, the Danes constructed four pubs near the edge on the western side of the fort. The Danish government supplied convicts to work the plantations but soon allowed colonists from neighboring islands to settle there, in 1680, there were more black African slaves than white European settlers. Adjacent Water and Buck Islands served as pasture lands for the city and it was the main port of the Virgin Islands Archipelago and was connected to about 50 plantations by one road, which remains the main highway today
7.
State legislature (United States)
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A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U. S. states. The formal name varies from state to state, in 25 states, the legislature is simply called the Legislature, or the State Legislature, while in 19 states, the legislature is called the General Assembly. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the legislature is called the General Court, while North Dakota, every state except Nebraska has a bicameral legislature, meaning that the legislature consists of two separate legislative chambers or houses. In each case the smaller chamber is called the Senate and is referred to as the upper house. This chamber typically, but not always, has the power to confirm appointments made by the governor. Members of the chamber represent more citizens and usually serve for longer terms than members of the larger chamber. In 41 states, the chamber is called the House of Representatives. Five states designate the larger chamber the Assembly and three states call it the House of Delegates, members of the larger chamber usually serve for terms of two years. The larger chamber customarily has the power to initiate taxing legislation. In 1964, the United States Supreme Court announced the one man, one vote standard, Nebraska originally had a bicameral legislature like the other states, but the lower house was abolished following a referendum, effective with the 1936 elections. The remaining unicameral legislature is called the Nebraska Legislature, but its members continue to be called senators, as a legislative branch of government, a legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at the national level. During a legislative session, the legislature considers matters introduced by its members or submitted by the governor, businesses and other special interest organizations often lobby the legislature to obtain beneficial legislation, defeat unfavorably perceived measures, or influence other legislative action. A legislature also approves the operating and capital budgets, which may begin as a legislative proposal or a submission by the governor. Under the terms of Article V of the U. S, under Article II, state legislatures choose the manner of appointing the states presidential electors. Formerly, state legislatures appointed the U. S, Senators from their respective states until the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913 required the direct election of Senators by the states voters. Generally, the bodies and their committees use either Masons Manual of Legislative Procedure or an amended form thereof. During official meetings, a parliamentarian is available to ensure that legislation. The lawmaking process begins with the introduction of a bill in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, bills may be introduced in either house, sometimes with the exception of bills increasing or decreasing revenue, which must originate in the House of Representatives
8.
United States Virgin Islands
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The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. The U. S. Virgin Islands consist of the islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas. The total land area of the territory is 133.73 square miles, the territorys capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas. Previously the Danish West Indies of the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916. They are classified by the U. N. as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, the U. S. Virgin Islands are organized under the 1954 Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands and have since held five constitutional conventions. The Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U. S. Virgin Islands met in October 2012 to address these concerns, in 2010 the population was 106,405, and mostly Afro-Caribbean. Tourism and related categories are the economic activity, employing a high percentage of the civilian non-farm labor force that totalled 42,752 persons in 2016. Private sector jobs made up 71 percent of the total workforce, the average private sector salary was $34,088 and the average public sector salary was $52,572. In a May 2016 report, some 11,000 people were categorized as being involved in some aspect of agriculture in the first half of 2016, at that time, there were approximately 607 manufacturing jobs and 1,487 natural resource and construction jobs. The single largest employer was the government, in mid February 2017, the USVI was facing a financial crisis due to a very high debt level of $2 billion and a structural budget deficit of $110 million. The U. S. Virgin Islands were originally inhabited by the Ciboney, Carib, the islands were named by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493 for Saint Ursula and her virgin followers. Over the next two hundred years, the islands were held by many European powers, including Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, and Denmark-Norway. The Danish West India Company settled on Saint Thomas in 1672, settled on Saint John in 1694, the islands became royal Danish colonies in 1754, named the Danish West Indian Islands. Sugarcane, produced by labor, drove the islands economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Danish West India and Guinea Company are also credited with naming the island St. John, the Danish crown took full control of Saint John in 1754 along with St. Thomas and St. Croix. Sugarcane plantations such as the famous Annaberg Sugar Plantation were established in great numbers on St. John because of the intense heat, the establishment of sugarcane plantations also led to the buying of more slaves from Africa. In 1733 St. John was the site of one of the first significant slave rebellions in the New World when Akwamu slaves from the Gold Coast took over the island for six months, the Danish were able to defeat the enslaved Africans with help from the French in Martinique
9.
Territories of the United States
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Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions directly overseen by the United States federal government. These territories are classified by whether they are incorporated and whether they have a government through an Organic Act passed by the U. S. Congress. Currently, the United States has sixteen territories, five of which are inhabited, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U. S. Virgin Islands. They are classified as unincorporated territories and they are organized, self-governing territories with locally elected governors and territorial legislatures. Each also elects a member to the U. S. House of Representatives. Eleven territories are small islands, atolls and reefs, spread across the Caribbean and Pacific, the status of some are disputed by Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and the Marshall Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the territory currently incorporated. Historically, territories were created to govern newly acquired land while the borders of the United States were still evolving, other territories administered by the United States went on to become independent countries, such as the Philippines, Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau. Many organized incorporated territories of the United States existed from 1789 to 1959, currently, the United States has sixteen territories, five of which are permanently inhabited, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, United States Virgin Islands and American Samoa. The 11 uninhabited territories administered by the Interior Department are Palmyra Atoll, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, while claimed by the US, Navassa Island, Wake Island, Serranilla Bank and Bajo Nuevo Bank are disputed. Territories have always been a part of the United States, by Act of Congress, the term United States, when used in a geographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands of the United States. Since political union with the Northern Mariana Islands in 1986, they too are treated as a part of the U. S, an Executive Order in 2007 includes American Samoa as U. S. geographical extent duly reflected in U. S. State Department documents. Approximately 4 million islanders are U. S. citizens, about 32,000 U. S. non-citizen nationals live in American Samoa, under current law among the territories, only persons born in American Samoa and Swains Island are non-citizen U. S. nationals. American Samoans are under the protection of the U. S. with freedom of U. S. travel without visas. The five inhabited U. S. territories have local voting rights and protections under U. S. courts, pay some U. S. taxes, depending on the congress, they may also vote on the floor in the House Committee of the Whole. S. Every four years, the Democratic and Republican political parties nominate their candidates at conventions which include delegates from the five major territories. The citizens there, however, do not vote in the election for U. S. President. S. Incorporated territories are considered a part of the United States
10.
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
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Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie. As of the 2010 census, the population of Saint Thomas was 51,634 about 48. 5% of the US Virgin Islands total, the district has a land area of 31.24 square miles. The island was settled around 1500 BC by the Ciboney people. They were later replaced by the Arawaks and then the Caribs, christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World. The Dutch West India Company established a post on Saint Thomas in 1657, the first congregation was the St. Thomas Reformed Church, which was established in 1660 and was associated with the Dutch Reformed Church. Denmark-Norway conquered the island in 1666, and by 1672 had established control over the island through the Danish West India. The land was divided into plantations and sugarcane became the primary economic activity. As a result, the economies of Saint Thomas and the islands of Saint John and Saint Croix became highly dependent on slave labor. In 1685, the Brandenburgisch-Africanische Compagnie took control of the trade on Saint Thomas. Saint Thomass fine natural harbor became known as Taphus for the establishments located nearby. In 1691, the settlement there was renamed Charlotte Amalie in honor of the wife of Denmarks King Christian V. It was later declared a port by Frederick V. In December 1732, the first two of many Moravian Brethren missionaries came from Herrnhut Saxony in present-day Germany to minister to them, distrusted at first by the white masters, they lived among the slaves and soon won their confidence. From 1796 a small Jewish community developed in Charlotte Amalie and it established a historic synagogue, Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasidim, the oldest synagogue in continuous anywhere in the United States or its external territories. The first British invasion and occupation of the Danish West Indies occurred at the end of March 1801 when a British fleet arrived at St Thomas, Denmark-Norway accepted the Articles of Capitulation the British proposed and the British occupied the islands without a shot being fired. The British occupation lasted until April 1802, when the British returned the islands to Denmark-Norway, the second British invasion of the Danish West Indies took place in December 1807 when a British fleet captured St Thomas on 22 December and Santa Cruz on 25 December. Denmark-Norway did not resist and the invasion was bloodless and this British occupation of the Danish West Indies lasted until 20 November 1815, when Britain returned the islands to Denmark. While the sugar trade had brought prosperity to the free citizens
11.
Danish colonial empire
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The Danish colonial empire and pre Dano-Norwegian empire denotes the colonies that Denmark-Norway possessed from 1536 until 1953. At its apex the colonial empire spanned four continents, the period of colonial expansion marked a rise in the status and power of Danes and Norwegians in the union. Much of the Norwegian population moved to work in Copenhagen, attend the University. After 1814, when Norway was granted to Sweden following the Napoleonic Wars, christian IV first initiated the policy of expanding Denmark-Norways overseas trade, as part of the mercantilist wave that was sweeping Europe. Denmark-Norways first colony was established at Tranquebar on Indias southern coast in 1620, admiral Ove Gjedde led the expedition that established the colony. They are now autonomous countries of the Kingdom of Denmark with home rule, Denmark maintained several tradings stations and four forts on the Gold Coast in west Africa, especially around modern day Ghana. Three trading stations were built, Fort Frederiksborg, Kpompo, Osu Castle by Accra in 1661, that was purchased from Sweden, the forts were Fort Prinsensten built in 1784, Fort Augustaborg from 1787, Fort Friedensborg and Fort Kongensten, several of which are ruins today. Of these, only one is used today, Fort Christiansborg. Plantations were established by Frederiksborg, but they failed, Fort Christiansborg became the base for Danish power in west Africa, and the centre for slave trade to the Danish West Indies. In 1807, Denmarks African business partners were suppressed by the Akan people subgroup-Ashanti, Denmark sold its forts to the United Kingdom in 1850. With the ratification of the Kalmar Union in 1397, Denmark-Norway inherited Greenland which was part of Norway since its settlement in the Viking Age. After Norway was ceded to Sweden in 1814 following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark-Norway acquired the island of St. Thomas in 1671 and St. Jan in 1718, and bought St. Croix from France in 1733. All of the economies were based primarily on sugar. These islands were known as the Danish West Indies and were sold to the United States in 1917 for 25 million dollars. Several Danish-American succession talks had made since 1870 due to a rising amount of riots. The Zahle Government held a heavily boycotted election for Danish mainland constituencies, the United States hoped to use them as naval bases. Since 1917, the islands have been known as the U. S. Virgin Islands, the most important economic aspect was spice trade and access to the east Asian area, including Imperial China situated farther to the east. The colony at Trankebar was kept for over 200 years, with a few interruptions, in 1755 Denmark acquired the Frederiksnagore, and later the towns of Achne and Pirapur
12.
Danish West Indies
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The Danish West India Guinea Company annexed the uninhabited island of Saint Thomas in 1672 and St. John in 1675. In 1733, Saint Croix was purchased from the French West India Company, when the Company went bankrupt in 1755, the King of Denmark-Norway assumed direct control of the three islands. The Danish West Indies was occupied by Britain in 1801–1802 and 1807–1815, the final stage of the triangle was the exportation of cargo of sugar and rum to Denmark. The economy of the Danish West Indies was dependent on slavery, after a rebellion, slavery was officially abolished in 1848, leading to the near economic collapse of the plantations. In 1852, the sale of the increasingly unprofitable colony was first debated in the Danish parliament, Denmark tried several times to sell or exchange the Danish West Indies in the late 19th and early 20th century, to the United States and the German Empire respectively. The islands were sold for 25 million dollars to the United States. Prince Frederick organized a mission to Barbados in 1647 under Gabriel Gomez and the de Casseres brothers, but it. It was not until Erik Smits private 1652 expedition aboard the Fortuna was successful that interest in the West Indies trade grew into an interest in the creation of a new Danish colony. Smits 1653 expedition and an expedition of five ships were quite successful. In August two years later, a Danish Flotilla was destroyed by a hurricane, Smit returned from his fourth expedition in 1663 and formally proposed the settlement of St. Thomas to the king in April 1665. After only three weeks deliberation, the scheme was approved and Smit was named governor, Smit died of illness, and a second band of privateers stole the ship and used it to trade with neighboring islands. The Danish formed a Board of Trade in 1668 and secured a treaty with Britain, providing for the unmolested settlement of uninhabited islands. The Danish West India Company was organized in December and formally chartered by King Christian V the next year on March 11,1671, den forgyldte Krone was ordered to run ahead and wait but ended up returning to Denmark after the Færøe under Capt. Bang was delayed for repairs in Bergen, the Færøe completed her mission alone, establishing a settlement on St. Thomas on May 25,1672. From an original contingent of 190 –12 officials,116 company employees, another 75 died within the first year, leaving only 29 to carry on the colony. Further instructions in 1688 to establish a settlement on St. John seem not to have acted on until Governor Bredal made an official establishment on March 25,1718. The islands quickly became a base for attacking ships in the vicinity. Possession of the island was disputed with the Scottish in 1698
13.
Viceroy
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A viceroy /ˈvaɪs. rɔɪ/ is a regal official who runs a country, colony, city, province, or sub-national state, in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning in the place of, a viceroys territory may be called a viceroyalty, though this term is not always applied. The adjectival form is viceregal, less often viceroyal, the term vicereine is sometimes used to indicate a female viceroy suo jure, although viceroy can serve as a gender-neutral term. Vicereine is more used to indicate a viceroys wife. The title was used by the Crown of Aragon, where beginning in the 14th century, it referred to the Spanish governors of Sardinia. In Europe, until the 18th century, the Habsburg crown appointed viceroys of Aragon, Valencia, Catalonia, Navarre, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily, with the ascension of the House of Bourbon to the Spanish throne, the historic Aragonese viceroyalties were replaced by new captaincies general. At the end of War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish monarchy was shorn of its Italian possessions and these Italian territories, however, continued to have viceroys under their new rulers for some time, Sardinia would have a viceroy until 1848. These large administrative territories became known as Viceroyalties, New viceroyalties were created for New Granada in 1717 and the Río de la Plata in 1776. These units gathered the local provinces which could be governed by either a crown official, audiencias primarily functioned as superior judicial tribunals, but unlike their European counterparts, the New World audiencias were granted by law both administrative and legislative powers. The Bourbon Reforms introduced the new office of the intendant, which was appointed directly by the crown and had broad fiscal and administrative powers in political and military issues. The government started six years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, in 1505, however the post was centered by governor Afonso de Albuquerque, who became plenipotentiary, and remained so. The duration in office was three years, possibly longer, given the power represented, of the thirty-four governors of India in the 16th century. After the end of the Iberian Union in 1640, the governors of Brazil that were members of the Portuguese high nobility started to use the title of Viceroy. Brazil became a permanent Viceroyalty in 1763, when the capital of the State of Brazil was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, the designation Viceroy, although it was most frequently used in ordinary parlance, had no statutory authority, and was never employed by Parliament. The Governor-General continued to be the representative of the Crown. The viceroys reported directly to the Secretary of State for India in London and were advised by the Council of India, alongside the Commander-in-Chief, India, the viceroy was the public face of the British presence in India, attending to many ceremonial functions as well as political affairs. During the offices history, the Governors-General of India were based in two cities, Calcutta during the 19th century and New Delhi during the 20th century, additionally, whilst Calcutta was the capital of British India, the viceroys spent the summer months at Simla. The two historic residences of the viceroys still stand, the Viceroys House in New Delhi and Government House in Calcutta and they are used today as the official residences of the President of India and the Governor of West Bengal, respectively
14.
King of Denmark
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The Monarchy of Denmark, colloquially known as the Danish Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes not only Denmark, but the regions of Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark were already consolidated in the late 8th century, originally an elective monarchy, it became hereditary only in the 17th century during the reign of Frederick III. A decisive transition to a constitutional monarchy occurred in 1849 with the writing of the first Constitution, the current Royal House is a branch of the princely family of Glücksburg, originally from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, the same royal house as the Norwegian and former Greek royal families. The Danish Monarchy is constitutional and as such, the role of the monarch is defined and limited by the Constitution of Denmark, the monarch is, in practice, limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, Queen Margrethe II ascended the throne on the death of her father, King Frederick IX, on 14 January 1972. On her accession, Queen Margrethe II became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margrethe I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375‒1412, during the Kalmar Union. Danish regnal names have traditionally alternated between Frederick and Christian, Margrethe has taken the place of a Christian, and accordingly her heir apparent is Crown Prince Frederik. The modern Kingdom of Denmark dates back to Harthacnuts son, Gorm the Old, the first King of a united Scotland was King Kenneth MacAlpin who died around 80 years before Gorm the Old was born. The Danes were united and officially Christianized in 965 CE by Harald Bluetooth, furthermore, the Jelling stones attests that Harald had also won Norway. The son of Harald, Sweyn Forkbeard, mounted a series of wars of conquest against England, the reign of Cnut represented the peak of the Danish Viking age, his North Sea Empire included Denmark, Norway, England and held strong influence over the north-eastern coast of Germany. The last monarch descended from Valdemar IV, Christopher III of Denmark, Count Christian of Oldenburg, descendant of Valdemar IVs aunt Richeza, was chosen as his successor and became the next monarch of Denmark, ruling under the name Christian I. Originally the Danish monarchy was elective, but in practice the eldest son of the monarch was elected. Later a Coronation Charter was signed by the king to restrict the powers of the Danish monarch, in 1657, during the Second Northern War, King Frederick III launched a war of revenge against Sweden which turned into a complete disaster. The war became a disaster for two reasons, Primarily, because Denmarks new powerful ally, the Netherlands, remained neutral as Denmark was the aggressor and Sweden the defender. Secondly, the Belts froze over in an occurrence during the winter of 1657-1658. In the following Treaty of Roskilde, Denmark–Norway capitulated and gave up all of Eastern Denmark, in addition to the counties of Bohuslän, but the Second Northern War was not yet over. Three months after the treaty was signed, Charles X Gustav held a council of war where he decided to simply wipe Denmark from the map
15.
Law
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Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior. Law as a system helps regulate and ensure that a community show respect, private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, the law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people. Islamic Sharia law is the worlds most widely used religious law, the adjudication of the law is generally divided into two main areas referred to as Criminal law and Civil law. Criminal law deals with conduct that is considered harmful to social order, Civil law deals with the resolution of lawsuits between individuals or organizations. Law provides a source of scholarly inquiry into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness, there is an old saying that all are equal before the law, although Jonathan Swift argued that Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. In 1894, the author Anatole France said sarcastically, In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread. Writing in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle declared, The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual, mikhail Bakunin said, All law has for its object to confirm and exalt into a system the exploitation of the workers by a ruling class. Cicero said more law, less justice, marxist doctrine asserts that law will not be required once the state has withered away. Regardless of ones view of the law, it today a completely central institution. Numerous definitions of law have been put forward over the centuries, at the same time, it plays only one part in the congeries of rules which influence behavior, for social and moral rules of a less institutionalized kind are also of great importance. There have been attempts to produce a universally acceptable definition of law. In 1972, one indicated that no such definition could be produced. McCoubrey and White said that the question what is law, glanville Williams said that the meaning of the word law depends on the context in which that word is used. He said that, for example, early customary law and municipal law were contexts where the law had two different and irreconcilable meanings. Thurman Arnold said that it is obvious that it is impossible to define the word law and it is possible to take the view that there is no need to define the word law. The history of law links closely to the development of civilization, Ancient Egyptian law, dating as far back as 3000 BC, contained a civil code that was probably broken into twelve books
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Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands
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Saint John is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States. At 50 km2 the smallest of the three main US Virgin Islands, Saint John is located four miles east of Saint Thomas. It is also four miles southwest of Tortola, part of the British Virgin Islands and its largest settlement is Cruz Bay with a population of 2,700. St. Johns nickname is Love City, since 1956, approximately 60% of the island is protected as Virgin Islands National Park, administered by the United States National Park Service. The economy is based on tourism, Saint John is 50.8 km² in area with a population of 4,170. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the population of the US Virgin Islands territory was 106,405. Saint John was first settled by the Taíno Indians who migrated north from coastal areas of present-day Colombia, the Arawak inhabited the island until around the year AD1300, when they were driven off by the more aggressive and warlike Carib. Extensive archaeological work started in 1996 at Cinnamon Bay, the artifacts from this dig are being studied and are expected to yield more detailed information on pre-Columbian civilization in the US Virgin Islands. Explorer Christopher Columbus, traveling on behalf of the Spanish Crown, is credited with being the first European to see the Virgin Islands in 1493, during his second voyage to the New World. A Catholic, he named the group of islands as Once Mil Virgenes, in honor of the feast day of Saint Ursula. The Danish West India and Guinea Company represented the first Europeans to settle the island in 1718 and they are also credited with naming the island Saint John. The Danish crown took control of this and nearby colonies in 1754, including those founded on the similarly named islands of Saint Thomas. Sugar cane plantations, such as the famous Annaberg Sugar Plantation, were established in great numbers on Saint John, the establishment of sugarcane plantations created a high demand for labor. The indigenous Carib and Arawak were initially used as slave labor, the planters imported many slaves from Africa in an established slave trade dominated by Portugal in the early years, but which Britain also entered. In 1733 Saint John was the site of one of the first significant slave rebellions in the New World, enslaved Akwamu from the Gold Coast rebelled and took control of the island for six months before being defeated by a combination of better armed forces. The Danish defeated the enslaved Africans with help from French colonists of Martinique, instead of submitting to captivity and slavery, more than a dozen men and women shot and killed themselves before the French forces reached them. It is estimated that by 1775, slaves outnumbered the Danish settlers on Saint John by a ratio of 5,1, denmark finally abolished slavery in Saint John and its other islands on July 3,1848. In 1917, during the First World War, the United States purchased the U. S. Virgin Islands for $25 million from the Danish government in order to establish a naval base and it was intended to prevent expansion of the German Empire into the Western Hemisphere
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Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
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Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States. With its 84 square miles, St. Croix is the largest of the islands in the territory, however, the territorys capital, Charlotte Amalie, is located on Saint Thomas. As of the 2010 United States Census, St. Croixs population was 50,600, its highest point is Mount Eagle, Dutch and English settlers occupied the island in 1625 along with some French refugees from St. Kitts. However, the English expelled the French and Dutch, before they in turn were expelled by a Spanish invasion in Aug.1650, the Spanish occupation was short lived as the French invaded with 166 men. By 1651, France had established a colony of 300 on St. Croix, from 1651 until 1664, the Knights of Malta ruled the island in the name of Louis XIV. The island then came under the rule of the French West India Company, however, the colony was evacuated in 1695 to San Domingo, while Louis fought the English and Dutch in the War of the Grand Alliance. The island then lay uninhabited and abandoned, in 1725, St. Thomas Governor Frederick Moth encouraged the companys directors to consider purchasing Ste. On 15 June 1733, France and Denmark-Norway concluded a treaty in Copenhagen in which the Danish West India Company bought St. Croix for 750,000 livres. Louis XV ratified the treaty on 28 June, and received half the payment in French coin, on 16 Nov.1733, Moth was named the first governor of St. Croix. The 1742 census listed 120 sugar plantations,122 cotton plantations, by 1754, the number of slaves had increased to 7566. That same year, King Frederick took direct control of the island from the company, in some of the first years of Alexander Hamiltons life, he and his brother lived with their mother Rachel, Faucette, on St. Croix after she returned to the island in 1765. They lived in the floor of a house located at 34 Company Street. The lower floor was used by Rachel as a shop carrying food items for the local population, within two years, Alexander lost his father, James Hamilton, through abandonment and saw the death of his mother. Official documents from the island, a 1768 probate court testimony from his uncle, by 1769, Alexanders cousin guardian, aunt, uncle, and grandmother had also died. His brother James became a carpenter, while Alexander became the ward of Thomas Stevens. Alexander was soon clerking in the business of Beekman and Cruger, located at the intersection of King. In 1772, local businessmen funded Alexanders further education in New York, the first British invasion and occupation of the Danish West Indies occurred at the end of March 1801 when a British fleet arrived at St Thomas. Denmark-Norway accepted the Articles of Capitulation the British proposed and the British occupied the islands without a shot being fired, the British occupation lasted until April 1802, when the British returned the islands to Denmark-Norway
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Politics of Denmark
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Denmark is described as a nation state. Danish politics and governance are characterized by a striving for broad consensus on important issues. Executive power is exercised by the cabinet of Denmark, presided over by the Prime Minister who is first among equals, legislative power is vested in both the executive and the national parliament. Members of the judiciary are nominated by the executive, formally appointed by the monarch, Denmark has a multi-party system, with two strong parties, and four or five other significant parties. No single party has held a majority in the Folketing since the beginning of the 20th century. Since only four coalition governments have enjoyed a majority, government bills rarely become law without negotiations. Hence the Folketing tends to be powerful than legislatures in other EU countries. The Constitution does not grant the power of judicial review of legislation. Since there are no constitutional or administrative courts, the Supreme Court deals with a constitutional dimension, on many issues the political parties tend to opt for co-operation, and the Danish state welfare model receives broad parliamentary support. This ensures a focus on efficiency and devolved responsibilities of local government on regional and municipal levels. Margrethe II has ruled as Queen Regnant and head of state since 14 January 1972, in accordance with the Danish Constitution the Danish monarch, as head of state, is the theoretical source of all executive and legislative power. However, since the introduction of parliamentary sovereignty in 1901, a de facto separation of powers has been in effect, the text of the Danish constitution dates back to 1849. Therefore, it has been interpreted by jurists to suit modern conditions, in a formal sense, the monarch retains the ability to deny giving a bill royal assent. In order for a bill to law, a royal signature. The monarch also chooses and dismisses the Prime Minister, although in modern times a dismissal would cause a constitutional crisis, on 28 March 1920, King Christian X was the last monarch to exercise the power of dismissal, sparking the 1920 Easter Crisis. When a new government is to be formed, the monarch calls the party leaders to a conference of deliberation, on the basis of the advice the monarch then appoints the party leader who commands a majority of recommendation to lead negotiations for forming a new government. However, the monarch does continue to exercise three rights, the right to be consulted, the right to advise, and the right to warn, pursuant to these ideals, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet attend the regular meeting of the Council of State. Nine parties are represented in parliament, the four oldest and in history most influential parties are the Conservative Peoples Party, the Social Democrats, Venstre and the Danish Social Liberal Party
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Suffrage
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Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections. The right to run for office is sometimes called candidate eligibility, in many languages, the right to vote is called the active right to vote and the right to run for office is called the passive right to vote. In English, these are called active suffrage and passive suffrage. Suffrage is often conceived in terms of elections for representatives, however, suffrage applies equally to referenda and initiatives. Suffrage describes not only the right to vote, but also the practical question of whether a question will be put to a vote. The utility of suffrage is reduced when important questions are decided unilaterally by elected or non-elected representatives, in most democracies, eligible voters can vote in elections of representatives. Voting on issues by referendum may also be available, for example, in Switzerland this is permitted at all levels of government. The United States federal government does not offer any initiatives at all, Suffrage is granted to qualifying citizens once they have reached the voting age. What constitutes a qualifying citizen depends on the governments decision, resident non-citizens can vote in some countries, which may be restricted to citizens of closely linked countries. The word suffrage comes from Latin suffragium, meaning vote, political support, and the right to vote. The etymology of the Latin word is uncertain, with sources citing Latin suffragari lend support, vote for someone, from sub under + fragor crash, din, shouts. Other sources say that attempts to connect suffragium with fragor cannot be taken seriously, some etymologists think the word may be related to suffrago and may have originally meant an ankle bone or knuckle bone. Universal suffrage consists of the right to vote without restriction due to sex, race, social status, education level, or wealth. It typically does not extend the right to vote to all residents of a region, distinctions are made in regard to citizenship, age. The short-lived Corsican Republic was the first country to grant limited universal suffrage to all citizens over the age of 25 and this was followed by other experiments in the Paris Commune of 1871 and the island republic of Franceville. The 1840 constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii granted universal suffrage to all male and female adults, so Finland was the first country in the world to give all citizens full suffrage, in other words the right to vote and to run for office. New Zealand was the first country in the world to grant all citizens the right to vote, Womens suffrage is, by definition, the right of women to vote. This was the goal of the suffragists in the United States, short-lived suffrage equity was drafted into provisions of the State of New Jerseys first,1776 Constitution, which extended the Right to Vote to unwed female landholders & black land owners
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Politics of the United States Virgin Islands
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The United States Virgin Islands are an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior. Executive power is exercised by the government of the Virgin Islands. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, Virgin Islands residents are U. S. citizens but cannot cast electoral votes for the president of the U. S. but they can participate in the presidential nominating processes. Citizens cannot elect voting members of Congress, however, in the U. S. House of Representatives, they are represented by a delegate, who can vote in congressional committees but not in the House itself. Such delegates can speak on the U. S. House floor, introduce bills and offer amendments, the USVI has been allowed to have non-voting representation since 1972. The current Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the U. S. Virgin Islands is Stacey Plaskett, Virgin Islands residents can vote fully in all elections if they become a resident of one of the 50 U. S. states. If residents of one of the 50 states become residents of the Virgin Islands, the federal case is Civil No. 3, 11-cv-110, Charles v. U. S. Federal Elections Commission, a similar case was filed in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands against the local Board of Elections. The cases allege it was racial discrimination present in an all-white, the local case is also pending a decision. It replaced the Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of 1936 and it was subsequently amended in 1958 to prohibit political or religious tests, but required a loyalty oath as qualification to any office or public trust. There have been attempts at a constitution. The most recent attempt was the Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U. S. Virgin Islands which passed a constitution in May 2009 but was rejected by Congress in June 2010. The governor and the lieutenant governor are elected on the ticket by popular vote for four-year terms. The Virgin Islandss territorial legislature is the 15-member Legislature of the Virgin Islands, the body is unicameral and comprises seven Senators from the district of Saint Croix, seven Senators from the district of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and one Senator at-large. They are elected for a term to the territorial legislature. There is no limit as to the number of terms they can serve, the U. S. Virgin Islands has a District Court, a Supreme Court and a Superior Court. Judges on the District Court are appointed by the President for ten year terms and they may serve more than one term. This is a court, established in 1936, with jurisdiction over the US Virgin Islands, with diversity jurisdiction
21.
United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government, Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure used by the thirteen States to ratify it. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, the majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures, Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages of the original U. S, according to the United States Senate, The Constitutions first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. From September 5,1774 to March 1,1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the government of the United States. The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in establishing a governing body. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States and it was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the governments power was quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers, implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was worthless, Congress could borrow money, but couldnt pay it back. No state paid all their U. S. taxes, some paid nothing, some few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their citizens, but no more. No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments, by 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due. Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little to enhance the United States ability to defend its sovereignty, most of the troops in the 625-man United States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British forts on American soil. They had not been paid, some were deserting and others threatening mutiny, spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, U. S. officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the Treasury had no funds to pay their ransom, if any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response. Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing to bring unity to the sentiments and interests of the various states
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Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands
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The Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands is a United States federal law that repealed and replaced the previous Organic Act of the Virgin Islands. It was passed on July 22,1954 by the U. S. Congress, like other organic acts it functions as a constitution for a territory of the United States. The Revised Organic Act provides for, An executive branch headed by an elected by a majority of registered voters. A unicameral legislature of 15 members, elected by the residents of the U. S. Virgin Islands
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Kenneth Mapp
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Kenneth E. Mapp is an American politician who is the 29th Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. He is a registered Republican, but ran as an independent, a former three term Virgin Islands Senator, Mapp served as the Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 1995 until 1999. Mapp was an independent candidate for Governor of the U. S. Virgin Islands in the 2010 gubernatorial election and he ran in the 2014 gubernatorial election for Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, defeating Donna Christian-Christensen, the longtime Delegate to Congress in a run-off. Mapp was born on November 2,1955 in Brooklyn, New York, to Al Mapp and he was one of four siblings. Mapp moved to Saint Croix in the U. S. Virgin Islands in 1961 and he graduated from St. Croix Central High School in 1973. Mapp has attended New York City Community College of City University of New York and the University of the Virgin Islands, Mapp also completed other fellowships at Harvard University and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Mapp has worked as a trainee in New York City. He joined the New York City Police Department soon after graduating high school in 1973 and was based in the 83rd Police Precinct in Brooklyn. He later became an officer in the Virgin Islands and was elected president of the Virgin Islands Police Benevolent Association. Mapp was elected as a Senator in the Virgin Islands Legislature in three separate elections, Mapp was elected to the 15th Legislature of the Virgin Islands in 1982, his first elected office. He would later be elected as a Senator in the 18th and 20th Legislatures as well and he Chaired the Committee on Public Safety and Judicial Affairs and was a standing Member on the Committee on Finance. Additionally, Mapp held other positions within the Virgin Islands government and he served as the assistant director of the Industrial Development Commission, which later became the Economic Development Authority. Mapp also became the director of the Consumer Services Administration, which is now the Department of Licensing, in 1994, gubernatorial candidate Roy L. Schneider chose Mapp as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor in the election. Schneider and Mapp jointly campaigned as independent candidates, Schneider and Mapp were elected Governor and Lt. Governor in a gubernatorial runoff election held on November 22,1994. They defeated the Democratic gubernatorial ticket, which consisted of then Lt. Gov. Derek M. Hodge and his running mate, Governor Kenneth Mapp were inaugurated to a four-year term on January 2,1995. However, Schneider and Mapp had a strained relationship while in office. Schneider and Mapp did not seek re-election in 1999, Governor as an independent, Mapp had changed his party affiliation from Republican by 2001
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Government of the United States Virgin Islands
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The United States Virgin Islands are an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior. Executive power is exercised by the government of the Virgin Islands. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, Virgin Islands residents are U. S. citizens but cannot cast electoral votes for the president of the U. S. but they can participate in the presidential nominating processes. Citizens cannot elect voting members of Congress, however, in the U. S. House of Representatives, they are represented by a delegate, who can vote in congressional committees but not in the House itself. Such delegates can speak on the U. S. House floor, introduce bills and offer amendments, the USVI has been allowed to have non-voting representation since 1972. The current Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the U. S. Virgin Islands is Stacey Plaskett, Virgin Islands residents can vote fully in all elections if they become a resident of one of the 50 U. S. states. If residents of one of the 50 states become residents of the Virgin Islands, the federal case is Civil No. 3, 11-cv-110, Charles v. U. S. Federal Elections Commission, a similar case was filed in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands against the local Board of Elections. The cases allege it was racial discrimination present in an all-white, the local case is also pending a decision. It replaced the Organic Act of the Virgin Islands of 1936 and it was subsequently amended in 1958 to prohibit political or religious tests, but required a loyalty oath as qualification to any office or public trust. There have been attempts at a constitution. The most recent attempt was the Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U. S. Virgin Islands which passed a constitution in May 2009 but was rejected by Congress in June 2010. The governor and the lieutenant governor are elected on the ticket by popular vote for four-year terms. The Virgin Islandss territorial legislature is the 15-member Legislature of the Virgin Islands, the body is unicameral and comprises seven Senators from the district of Saint Croix, seven Senators from the district of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and one Senator at-large. They are elected for a term to the territorial legislature. There is no limit as to the number of terms they can serve, the U. S. Virgin Islands has a District Court, a Supreme Court and a Superior Court. Judges on the District Court are appointed by the President for ten year terms and they may serve more than one term. This is a court, established in 1936, with jurisdiction over the US Virgin Islands, with diversity jurisdiction
25.
District Court of the Virgin Islands
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The court sits in both St. Croix and St. Thomas. Unlike United States district courts, judges on the District Court of the Virgin Islands do not have life tenure, instead, the court is an Article IV court, created pursuant to Congresss Article IV, Section 3 powers. Appeals of the decisions are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. The jurisdiction of the Territorial Court was expanded to all actions in 1990. In 2004 the Territorial Court was renamed the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, before the creation of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands in 2007, the Appellate Division of the District Court heard appeals from the Superior Court in three-judge panels. From 2007, the Supreme Court hears these appeals exclusively, with its decisions subject to review by the United States Supreme Court if that court decides to grant certiorari. The current Judges in the District Court of the Virgin Islands are, wilma A. Lewis Politics of the United States Virgin Islands Courts of the United States List of United States federal courthouses in the Virgin Islands District Court of the Virgin Islands
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Elections in the United States Virgin Islands
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The U. S. Virgin Islands are an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. Although U. S. citizens, Virgin Islanders cannot vote in U. S, at the national level, the U. S. Virgin Islands elects a delegate to the United States Congress. Since 1970, the U. S. Virgin Islands has elected a governor every four years. Previous governors were appointed by the President of the United States, the main political parties in the U. S. Virgin Islands are the Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands, the Independent Citizens Movement, and the Republican Party of the Virgin Islands. Gubernatorial elections were held on November 4,2014, the most recent legislative elections were held on November 8,2016 The current delegate to congress is Stacey Plaskett. She succeeded 9 time delegate Donna Christian-Christensen, Electoral calendar Electoral system Political party strength in the United States Virgin Islands Election System of the US Virgin Islands
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Republican Party of the Virgin Islands
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The Republican Party of the United States Virgin Islands is the a political party in the U. S. Virgin Islands, and is affiliated with the Republican Party at the national level. John Canegata is the party chairman, lilliana Belardo de ONeal, a former member territorial Legislature, and Jevon Williams serve on the Republican National Committee as national committeewoman and national committeeman respectively. Founded in 1948 as a committee under the leadership of Roy Gordon, melvin H. Evans, who was the territorys first elected governor, was a Republican. Incumbent Governor Kenneth Mapp had been a Republican member of the Virgin Islands Legislature, previously the lieutenant governor, he was the Republican nominee for Congress in 1996. Under national Republican Party rules, the Virgin Islands sends nine delegates to the Republican National Convention
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Federal government of the United States
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The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
29.
United States House of Representatives
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The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House
30.
Stacey Plaskett
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Stacey Plaskett /ˈplæskᵻt/ is an American politician who is currently the delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islandss at-large congressional district. Plaskett is an African-Caribbean attorney, commentator and politician and she has practiced law in New York City, Washington DC, and the US Virgin Islands. She is known for her understanding of Caribbean economic development and public-private partnerships for growing the economy of developing areas and she is an active community advocate in the Virgin Islands. Plaskett was born on May 13,1966 in Brooklyn, New York and her parents are both from Saint Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands, and moved to New York in the 1950s during the large migration of Virgin Islanders seeking economic opportunity. Plaskett grew up in the Bushwick New York housing projects and her father was a New York City police officer and her mother a clerk in the court system. Plaskett lived in the John F Kennedy housing community on St. Croix during her childhood as her family regularly returned to the Virgin Islands during her childhood. Her parents home in New York was often home for students, Plaskett attended Brooklyn Friends and Grace Lutheran for elementary school. She was recruited by A Better Chance, Inc. a non-profit organization recruiting minority students to selective secondary schools, Plaskett was a student at the boarding school, Choate Rosemary Hall, where she was a varsity athlete and served as class president for several years. Plaskett spent a term abroad during this time in France and she often states that Choate awakened her commitment to public service and a deep sense of responsibility to others through the biblical verse to whom much is given, much is required. She was one of the few black students while she attended the school and felt a responsibility to speak out for. She graduated with a degree in History and Diplomacy from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1988 where she was accepted under the early decision program. Plaskett ran for student government at Georgetown under a progressive student ticket and was active in the Anti-Apartheid Movement. As a student she spoke on behalf of universities in the DC area at the General Assembly of the United Nations and she graduated from American University Washington College of Law. Plaskett attended law school at night while she worked full-time during the day with the arm of the American Medical Association and then with the law firm. At the time of graduation she had 3 sons who were under the age of 5 and her oldest son was born during her senior year at Georgetown, her second in between law school, and the third son during her second year of law school. After graduating from law school, Plaskett was an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx and she prosecuted several hundred cases and was eventually in the Narcotics Bureau. She then worked as a consultant and legal counsel focused on internal corporate investigations and strategy for the Mitchel Madison Group, Plaskett moved to Washington, DC and worked as counsel on the US House of Representatives, Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, the Ethics Committee. Plaskett left the Committee when she was asked by mentor and fellow trustee at Choate and she served as Counsel for the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, and also as Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Torts Branch in the Civil Division
31.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
33.
German Empire
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The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence also helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, however, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, however, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
34.
Caribbean
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The Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays. These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea, in a wider sense, the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are often included due to their political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the Caribbean islands are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From December 15,1954, to October 10,2010, there was a known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five states. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations, the region takes its name from that of the Caribs, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest. The two most prevalent pronunciations of Caribbean are KARR-ə-BEE-ən, with the accent on the third syllable. The former pronunciation is the older of the two, although the variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer KARR-ə-BEE-ən while North American speakers more typically use kə-RIB-ee-ən, usage is split within Caribbean English itself. The word Caribbean has multiple uses and its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation, the United Nations geoscheme for the Americas accords the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas. Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea, to the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America, politically, the Caribbean may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example, the known as the Caribbean Community contains the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the Atlantic Ocean, are members of the Caribbean Community. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is also in the Atlantic and is a member of the Caribbean Community. According to the ACS, the population of its member states is 227 million people. The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies, Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin and these islands include Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, the Bahamas, and Antigua
35.
U.S. Virgin Islands
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The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. The U. S. Virgin Islands consist of the islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas. The total land area of the territory is 133.73 square miles, the territorys capital is Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas. Previously the Danish West Indies of the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916. They are classified by the U. N. as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, the U. S. Virgin Islands are organized under the 1954 Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands and have since held five constitutional conventions. The Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U. S. Virgin Islands met in October 2012 to address these concerns, in 2010 the population was 106,405, and mostly Afro-Caribbean. Tourism and related categories are the economic activity, employing a high percentage of the civilian non-farm labor force that totalled 42,752 persons in 2016. Private sector jobs made up 71 percent of the total workforce, the average private sector salary was $34,088 and the average public sector salary was $52,572. In a May 2016 report, some 11,000 people were categorized as being involved in some aspect of agriculture in the first half of 2016, at that time, there were approximately 607 manufacturing jobs and 1,487 natural resource and construction jobs. The single largest employer was the government, in mid February 2017, the USVI was facing a financial crisis due to a very high debt level of $2 billion and a structural budget deficit of $110 million. The U. S. Virgin Islands were originally inhabited by the Ciboney, Carib, the islands were named by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493 for Saint Ursula and her virgin followers. Over the next two hundred years, the islands were held by many European powers, including Spain, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, and Denmark-Norway. The Danish West India Company settled on Saint Thomas in 1672, settled on Saint John in 1694, the islands became royal Danish colonies in 1754, named the Danish West Indian Islands. Sugarcane, produced by labor, drove the islands economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The Danish West India and Guinea Company are also credited with naming the island St. John, the Danish crown took full control of Saint John in 1754 along with St. Thomas and St. Croix. Sugarcane plantations such as the famous Annaberg Sugar Plantation were established in great numbers on St. John because of the intense heat, the establishment of sugarcane plantations also led to the buying of more slaves from Africa. In 1733 St. John was the site of one of the first significant slave rebellions in the New World when Akwamu slaves from the Gold Coast took over the island for six months, the Danish were able to defeat the enslaved Africans with help from the French in Martinique
36.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
37.
Citizenship of the United States
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Citizenship in the United States is a status that entails specific rights, duties and benefits. State citizenship may affect tax decisions and eligibility for some state-provided benefits such as higher education, in Article One of the Constitution, the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization is granted explicitly to Congress. A citizen of another country naturalized as a U. S. citizen may retain their previous citizenship, a U. S. citizen retains U. S. citizenship when becoming the citizen of another country, should that countrys laws allow it. Citizenship can be renounced by American citizens who hold another citizenship via a formal procedure at a U. S. Embassy. United States citizens have the right to reside and work in the United States, certain non-citizens, such as permanent residents, have similar rights, however, non-citizens, unlike citizens, may have the right taken away. For example, they may be deported if convicted of a serious crime, freedom to enter and leave the United States. United States citizens have the right to enter and leave the United States freely, certain non-citizens, such as permanent residents, have similar rights. Unlike permanent residents, U. S. citizens do not have an obligation to maintain residence in the U. S. – they can leave for any length of time, voting for federal office in all fifty states and the District of Columbia is restricted to citizens only. States are not required to extend the franchise to all citizens, for example, several states bar citizen felons from voting, even after they have completed any custodial sentence. The United States Constitution bars states from restricting citizens from voting on grounds of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, failure to pay any tax, or age. Historically, many states and local jurisdictions have allowed non-citizens to vote, however, citizens are not compelled to vote. Freedom to stand for public office, most states have similar requirements, for example California requires that legislators have been citizens for three years, and the Governor have been a citizen for five years, upon taking office. Constitution requires that one be a natural born Citizen and a U. S. resident for fourteen years in order to be President of the United States, the Constitution also stipulates that otherwise eligible citizens must meet certain age requirements for these offices. Jury duty is imposed upon citizens. Johns Hopkins University political scientist Benjamin Ginsberg writes, The professional military has limited the need for citizen soldiers, in the United States today, everyone except those whose income is derived from tax-exempt revenue is required to file a federal income tax return. American citizens are subject to income tax on worldwide income regardless of their country of residence. Consular protection outside the United States, while traveling abroad, if a person is arrested or detained by foreign authorities, the person can request to speak to somebody from the U. S. Embassy or Consulate. Consular officials can provide resources for Americans incarcerated abroad, such as a list of attorneys who speak English
38.
United States Department of the Interior
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The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U. S. About 75% of federal land is managed by the department. The Department is administered by the United States Secretary of the Interior, the current Secretary is Ryan Zinke. The Inspector General position is vacant, with Mary Kendall serving as acting Inspector General. Despite its name, the Department of the Interior has a different role from that of the ministries of other nations. In the United States, national security and immigration functions are performed by the Department of Homeland Security primarily, the Department of the Interior has often been humorously called The Department of Everything Else because of its broad range of responsibilities. A department for domestic concern was first considered by the 1st United States Congress in 1789, the idea of a separate domestic department continued to percolate for a half-century and was supported by Presidents from James Madison to James Polk. The 1846–48 Mexican–American War gave the new steam as the responsibilities of federal government grew. Polks Secretary of the Treasury, Robert J. Walker, became a champion of creating the new department. In 1849, Walker stated in his report that several federal offices were placed in departments with which they had little to do. Walker argued that these and other bureaus should be together in a new Department of the Interior. A bill authorizing its creation of the Department passed the House of Representatives on February 15,1849, the Department was established on March 3,1849, the eve of President Zachary Taylors inauguration, when the Senate voted 31 to 25 to create the Department. Its passage was delayed by Democrats in Congress who were reluctant to create more patronage posts for the incoming Whig administration to fill, the first Secretary of the Interior was Thomas Ewing. Many of the concerns the Department originally dealt with were gradually transferred to other Departments. Other agencies became separate Departments, such as the Bureau of Agriculture, however, land and natural resource management, American Indian affairs, wildlife conservation, and territorial affairs remain the responsibilities of the Department of the Interior. As of mid-2004, the Department managed 507 million acres of surface land, energy projects on federally managed lands and offshore areas supply about 28% of the nations energy production. Within the Interior Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs handles some federal relations with Native Americans, the current acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs is Lawrence S. Roberts, an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin. Several cases have sought accounting of such funds from the departments of Interior, in addition, some Native American nations have sued the government over water-rights issues and their treaties with the US
39.
United States Congress
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The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, however, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can also refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith, Roberts, and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent
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History of the United States Virgin Islands
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The United States Virgin Islands, often abbreviated USVI, is a group of islands and cays in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. Consisting of three larger islands (Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas plus fifty smaller islets and cays, like many of its Caribbean neighbors, its history includes native Amerindian cultures, European exploration followed by subsequent colonization and exploitation, and the enslavement of Africans. The USVI is located in the Lesser Antilles of the Eastern Caribbean, the USVI are actually approximately 50 islands and cays, early inhabitants of the Virgin Islands included the Ciboney, Arawaks, and Island Caribs. The first documented Europeans to visit the islands arrived with Christopher Columbus, the islands were occupied by several nations over the next century, including England, the Dutch Republic, France, and Denmark. In 1733, the Danish West India Company purchased Saint Croix from the French and brought together Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, Danish trading posts were set up on the islands, trading in sugar, slaves and other goods. Sugar cane cultivation was an economic activity for many years. However, following increasing humanitarian awareness, laws against slavery and a rebellion in 1848. The islands were purchased from the Danish by the United States in 1917 under the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, although not much is known about the Guanahatabey people who inhabited the islands during the Stone Age, archaeological evidence seems to indicate that they were hunter-gatherers. They made tools of stone and flint but left few other artifacts behind, experts at canoe building and seamanship, the Arawaks migrated from the Amazon River Valley and Orinoco regions of Venezuela and Brazil, settling on the islands near coasts and rivers. These peaceful people excelled at fishing and farming and they grew cotton, tobacco, maize, yuca, and guava as well as a variety of other fruits and vegetables. The Arawaks developed intricate social and cultural lives, for recreation, they held organized sporting events. They also valued artistic endeavors, such as painting and rock carving. Religion played a role in their daily lives, and through ceremonial rituals they asked their gods for advice to help them through troubled times. Their civilization flourished for several hundred years until the Caribs invaded, while the Caribs came from the same area as the Arawaks and may have been distantly related, they did not share the Arawaks friendly nature. Not only were they fierce warriors, they feasted on their adversaries. Their bloodthirsty reputation spawned the English word cannibal, derived from the name the Spanish gave them, whether or not they actually ate their victims, the Caribs did destroy numerous Arawak villages. By the mid-15th century, the Caribs had slashed the Arawak population from several million to a few thousand, but even the Caribs were no match for the Europeans who came. Blown off course during his 1493–1496 voyage, Christopher Columbus landed on Saint Croix, then continued his explorations on Saint Thomas and he gave the islands their original Spanish names, focusing on religious themes
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