answers: 1917
context: during the 18th and early 19th centuries, until the abolition of slavery by Governor Peter von Scholten on July 3, 1848. The Danish West India and Guinea Company are also credited with naming the island St. John (Danish: Sankt Jan). The Danish crown took full control of St. 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 and fertile terrain that provided ideal growing conditions. The establishment of sugarcane plantations also led to the buying of more </s> St. Croix in March 1801 through the Napoleonic wars, but they restored them by the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802. They were then re-taken in December 1807, but were restored again by the Treaty of Paris of 1815. Thereafter, they would remain under Danish control until 1917 when they were sold to the U.S.A. for US$25 million, and were later renamed the "U.S. Virgin Islands". Relationships with the Danes were strained from the outset. The Danes continuously resorted to nearby islands for timber, clearly violating British sovereignty. British ships which foundered in St. Thomas was subject to extortionate levy </s> Saxony, arrived in St. Thomas in December 1732. Distrusted by the slave holders, they lived with the slaves and won their confidence. In 1733 a long drought followed by a devastating hurricane pushed slaves in St. John to the breaking point. Members of the Akwamu tribe from modern Ghana staged a massive rebellion, seizing control of the island for six months. The Danes, who controlled the island at that point, enlisted the help of French authorities from Martinique to regain control (see St. John Slave Revolt). A non-violent slave revolt in 1848 proved more successful. The governor at the time,
question: when did the virgin islands become part of the united states