Once Claimed for the USA | For UNESCO World Heritage Travellers

Once Claimed for the USA

Connected Sites

Site	Rationale	Link
Ogasawara Islands	"Commodore Perry's flagship USS Susquehanna (1850) anchored for three days in Chichijima's harbor on June 15, 1853 on the way to his historic visit to Tokyo Bay to open up the country to western trade. Perry also laid claim to the island for the United States for a coaling station for steamships, appointing Nathaniel Savory as an official agent of the US Navy and formed a governing council with Savory as the leader. On behalf of the US government, Perry "purchased" 50 acres (200,000 m2) from Savory" (Wiki). The US appears to have simply acquiesced in Japan's 1862 formal claim over all the Bonin Islands
Phoenix Islands	Claimed by US under the Guano Islands Act of 1856 ("federal legislation passed by the U.S. Congress that 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" - Wiki). UK also claimed them as part of Gilbert and Ellis. Situation not fully resolved until Treaty of Tarawa between US and Kiribati in 1979 when some (but not all) islands were "given up" by the US.
Wrangel Island	"A party from the USRC Corwin landed on Wrangel Island on August 12, 1881, claimed the island for the United States and named it "New Columbia". The expedition, under the command of Calvin L. Hooper, was seeking the Jeannette and two missing whalers in addition to conducting general exploration. It included naturalist John Muir, who published the first description of Wrangel Island." In 1916 Tsarist Russia claimed the island and in 1924 the USSR established a base there.

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