Guano Islands Act
Encyclopedia
The Guano Islands Act is federal legislation passed by the U.S. Congress
, on August 18, 1856. It enables citizens of the U.S.
to take possession of islands containing guano
deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of other governments. It also empowers the President of the United States
to use the military to protect such interests, and establishes the criminal jurisdiction of the United States.
came to be prized as an agricultural fertilizer and as a source of saltpeter
for gunpowder. In 1855, the U.S. learned of rich guano deposits on islands in the Pacific Ocean
. Congress passed the Guano Islands Act to take advantage of these deposits.
The act specifically allows the islands to be considered a possession of the U.S., but it also provided that the U.S. was not obliged to retain possession after the guano was exhausted. However, it did not specify what the status of the territory was after it was abandoned by private U.S. interests.
The implication is that it would return to its former status as terra nullius
.
This is the beginning of the concept of insular area
s in U.S. territories. Up to this time, any territory acquired by the U.S. was considered to have become an integral part of the country unless changed by treaty, and to eventually have the opportunity to become a state of the Union. With insular areas, land could be held by the federal government without the prospect of it ever becoming a state in the Union.
The provision of the Act establishing U.S. criminal jurisdiction over such islands was considered and ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Jones v. United States, .
Most are no longer considered United States territory
; those remaining under U.S. claim are:
Unlike some of the other Islands claimed under the Guano Act of 1856, but whose ownership was also disputed, a series of events cemented Navassa Island becoming part of the United States. Because of the actions of Haiti due to its own claim to Navassa Island, President James Buchanan
issued Executive Orders establishing United States territorial jurisdiction beyond just the Guano Act. The United States Supreme Court in 1890 ruled the Guano Act of 1856 constitutional; and, citing the actions of the Executive Branch, amongst other points in Law, determined Navassa Island as pertaining to the United States. See: “Jones v. United States, 137 U. S. 202 (1890)” Control of Navassa Island was transferred by the Department of the Interior to the Director of the Office of Insular Affairs under Order No. 3205 on January 16, 1997, both the Department of the Interior, and Insular Affairs, would later grant administration responsibilities to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under Order No. 3210 on December 3, 1999. Order No 3210 also established a 12 nautical mile territorial sea boundary for the United States around Navassa Island.
There are complicated case deals with Serranilla Bank
and the Bajo Nuevo Bank
, where multiple countries claim ownership. In 1899, a claim was even made on Fox Island, Quebec
.
In 1964, Leicester Hemingway
, brother of author Ernest Hemingway
, attempted to establish a country (or more appropriately, a micronation
) dubbed the Republic of New Atlantis, on an 8 x 30 foot bamboo raft anchored with an engine block outside the territorial waters of Jamaica
, using the Guano Islands Act as part of a claim to sovereignty. His apparent intention was to use the new country as the headquarters for his own International Marine Research Society, with which he planned to further marine research, as well as to protect Jamaican fishing. His claim was never recognized by either the USA or Jamaica, and the raft was destroyed in a storm in 1966.
In 1971, the U.S. and Honduras
signed a treaty recognizing Honduran sovereignty over the Swan Islands
.
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, on August 18, 1856. It enables citizens of the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to take possession of islands containing guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of other governments. It also empowers the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
to use the military to protect such interests, and establishes the criminal jurisdiction of the United States.
Background
In the 1840s, guanoGuano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
came to be prized as an agricultural fertilizer and as a source of saltpeter
Sodium nitrate
Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3. This salt, also known as Chile saltpeter or Peru saltpeter to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate, is a white solid which is very soluble in water...
for gunpowder. In 1855, the U.S. learned of rich guano deposits on islands in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Congress passed the Guano Islands Act to take advantage of these deposits.
The act specifically allows the islands to be considered a possession of the U.S., but it also provided that the U.S. was not obliged to retain possession after the guano was exhausted. However, it did not specify what the status of the territory was after it was abandoned by private U.S. interests.
The implication is that it would return to its former status as terra nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
.
This is the beginning of the concept of insular area
Insular area
An insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. states nor the District of Columbia, the federal district of the United States...
s in U.S. territories. Up to this time, any territory acquired by the U.S. was considered to have become an integral part of the country unless changed by treaty, and to eventually have the opportunity to become a state of the Union. With insular areas, land could be held by the federal government without the prospect of it ever becoming a state in the Union.
The provision of the Act establishing U.S. criminal jurisdiction over such islands was considered and ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in Jones v. United States, .
Claims
More than 100 islands have been claimed for the U.S. under the Guano Islands Act.Most are no longer considered United States territory
United States territory
United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters including all U.S. Naval carriers. The United States has traditionally proclaimed the sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its...
; those remaining under U.S. claim are:
- Baker IslandBaker IslandBaker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is a possession of the United States. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north.Located at...
- French Frigate ShoalsFrench Frigate ShoalsThe French Frigate Shoals is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the shoals...
(part of HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
) - Howland IslandHowland IslandHowland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Geographically, it is part...
- Jarvis IslandJarvis IslandJarvis Island is an uninhabited 4.5 square kilometer coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean at , about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands...
- Johnston AtollJohnston AtollJohnston Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean about west of Hawaii. There are four islands located on the coral reef platform, two natural islands, Johnston Island and Sand Island, which have been expanded by coral dredging, as well as North Island and East Island , an additional two...
- Kingman ReefKingman ReefKingman Reef is a largely submerged, uninhabited triangular shaped reef, east-west and north-south, located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at...
/Danger Rock - Midway AtollMidway AtollMidway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
- Navassa IslandNavassa IslandNavassa Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, claimed as an unorganized unincorporated territory of the United States, which administers it through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Haiti, which claims to have had sovereignty over Navassa since 1801, also claims the island...
(claimed by Haiti) - Palmyra AtollPalmyra AtollPalmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...
- Bajo Nuevo BankBajo Nuevo BankBajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands , is a small, uninhabited reef with some small islets, covered with grass, located in the western Caribbean Sea at , with a lighthouse on Low Cay at . The closest neighbouring land feature is Serranilla Bank, located to the west.The reef was first...
(disputed with ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
) - Serranilla BankSerranilla BankSerranilla Bank is a partially submerged reef, with small uninhabited islets, in the western Caribbean Sea. It is situated about northeast of Punta Gorda, Nicaragua, and roughly southwest of Jamaica. The closest neighbouring land feature is Bajo Nuevo Bank, located 110 km to the east.Serranilla...
(disputed with Colombia) - Swains IslandSwains IslandSwains Island is an atoll in the Tokelau chain. Culturally a part of Tokelau, it is an unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States administered by American Samoa. Swains Island has also been known at various times as Olosenga Island, Olohega Island, Quiros Island, Gente Hermosa...
(part of American SamoaAmerican SamoaAmerican Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
; no evidence that guano was mined)
Unlike some of the other Islands claimed under the Guano Act of 1856, but whose ownership was also disputed, a series of events cemented Navassa Island becoming part of the United States. Because of the actions of Haiti due to its own claim to Navassa Island, President James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
issued Executive Orders establishing United States territorial jurisdiction beyond just the Guano Act. The United States Supreme Court in 1890 ruled the Guano Act of 1856 constitutional; and, citing the actions of the Executive Branch, amongst other points in Law, determined Navassa Island as pertaining to the United States. See: “Jones v. United States, 137 U. S. 202 (1890)” Control of Navassa Island was transferred by the Department of the Interior to the Director of the Office of Insular Affairs under Order No. 3205 on January 16, 1997, both the Department of the Interior, and Insular Affairs, would later grant administration responsibilities to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under Order No. 3210 on December 3, 1999. Order No 3210 also established a 12 nautical mile territorial sea boundary for the United States around Navassa Island.
There are complicated case deals with Serranilla Bank
Serranilla Bank
Serranilla Bank is a partially submerged reef, with small uninhabited islets, in the western Caribbean Sea. It is situated about northeast of Punta Gorda, Nicaragua, and roughly southwest of Jamaica. The closest neighbouring land feature is Bajo Nuevo Bank, located 110 km to the east.Serranilla...
and the Bajo Nuevo Bank
Bajo Nuevo Bank
Bajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands , is a small, uninhabited reef with some small islets, covered with grass, located in the western Caribbean Sea at , with a lighthouse on Low Cay at . The closest neighbouring land feature is Serranilla Bank, located to the west.The reef was first...
, where multiple countries claim ownership. In 1899, a claim was even made on Fox Island, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
In 1964, Leicester Hemingway
Leicester Hemingway
Leicester C. Hemingway , was an American writer. He was the younger brother of writer Ernest Hemingway, and authored six books, including a first novel entitled The Sound of the Trumpet , which was based on Leicester's experiences in France and Germany during World War II...
, brother of author Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, attempted to establish a country (or more appropriately, a micronation
Micronation
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are entities that claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations...
) dubbed the Republic of New Atlantis, on an 8 x 30 foot bamboo raft anchored with an engine block outside the territorial waters of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, using the Guano Islands Act as part of a claim to sovereignty. His apparent intention was to use the new country as the headquarters for his own International Marine Research Society, with which he planned to further marine research, as well as to protect Jamaican fishing. His claim was never recognized by either the USA or Jamaica, and the raft was destroyed in a storm in 1966.
In 1971, the U.S. and Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
signed a treaty recognizing Honduran sovereignty over the Swan Islands
Swan Islands, Honduras
The Swan Islands, or Islas Santanilla, are a chain of three islands located in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, approximately ninety miles off the coastline of Honduras, with a land area of .-Detailed location and features:...
.
See also
- List of Guano Island claims
- United States Miscellaneous Pacific IslandsUnited States Miscellaneous Pacific IslandsThe United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands is an obsolete term used to collectively describe Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, and Palmyra Atoll, all of them territories controlled by the United States by the Guano Islands Act in the Pacific Ocean.The islands were...
- United States Minor Outlying IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsThe United States Minor Outlying Islands, a statistical designation defined by the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166-1 code, consists of nine United States insular areas in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll,...