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The demand for guano led the United States to pass the Guano Islands Act in 1856, which gave U.S. citizens discovering a source of guano on an unclaimed island exclusive rights to the deposits. [23] In 1857, the U.S. began annexing uninhabited islands in the Pacific and Caribbean, totaling nearly 100, though some islands claimed under the Act ...
The Guano Islands Act (11 Stat. 119, enacted August 18, 1856, codified at 48 U.S.C. ch. 8 §§ 1411-1419) is a United States federal law passed by the Congress that enables citizens of the United States to take possession of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits in the name of the United States. The islands can be located anywhere, so ...
The guano actually came from free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis, which eat insects. Martin collected a sample from 7 ft (2m) below the surface of the guano, which yielded a radiocarbon date of 12,900 ± 1,500 years ago. The miners reported finding "bat graveyards," some with mummified free-tail bats. No giant meat-eating bats were discovered.
A number of islands were claimed as insular areas on behalf of the United States under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. These claims were made by private individuals to the U.S. Department of State and were not accepted by the United States unless certain conditions were met.
The United States officially took possession of Baker Island in 1857 under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. [14] The island's guano deposits were mined by the American Guano Company from 1859 until 1878. Workers from various parts of the Pacific, including Hawaiʻi, were brought in for the mining operations.
Pacific Guano Company (also known as Pacific Guano Company of Boston; 1861–1889) was an American company chartered by the State of Massachusetts, with a capital of US$1,000,000. Its business office was located in Boston .
An 1868 newspaper advertisement for Alta Vela phosphate fertilizer. The initial claim on the island, located some 15 nautical miles (28 km) south of Hispaniola, was established on March 19, 1860, by Captain R. Daubley of the brig Delta, who landed on the island, loaded the ship with guano, and departed after noting some 15,000 short tons (14,000 t) of guano deposits.
Both islands had been obtained through the Guano Islands Act of 1856, although Palmyra was void of guano. The lack of guano caused Palmyra to pass through the ownership of many different groups throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Johnston and Palmyra were placed under US Navy control in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt. Both islands ...