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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
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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
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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
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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
5.
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
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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
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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
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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
11.
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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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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