The Original US Attempt to Purchase Greenland

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Believe it or not, the US has been considering the purchase of Greenland as far back as 1867.
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Music used: “Water Prelude” by Kevin MacLeod

Sources:
– A Report on the Resources of Iceland and Greenland. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1868.
– Dyer, Brainerd. “Robert J. Walker on Acquiring Greenland and Iceland.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 27, no. 2 (September 1940): 263–66. https://doi.org/10.2307/1896815.
– Emmerson, Charles. The Future History of the Arctic. Ukraine: PublicAffairs, 2010.
– Gissurarson, Hannes H. “Ráðstefna í Félagsvísindum XVI,” 1–7. Reykjavík: þjóðarspegillinn, 2015.

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43 thoughts on “The Original US Attempt to Purchase Greenland”

  1. Trump's strategy with this is quite smart.
    If Trump WOULD'VE start with saying,

    "Hey Greenland" ~ Trump
    "Yes?" ~ Greenland
    "Wanna leave Denmark by declaring independence & become an independent country. Then we make a deal, that we control your territorial waters and mine your country." ~ Trump
    "Go colonize somebody else!" ~ Greenland
    "Stay out of internal Denmark/Greenland affairs, who do you think you are?" ~ Denmark

    Instead he started;
    "Hey Greenland & Denmark" ~ Trump

    "Yes?" ~ Greenland & Denmark
    "We need Greenland for USA security, we need to buy it." ~ Trump
    "Go colonize somebody else! Greenland isn't for sale." ~ Denmark
    "ACTUALLY we don't want the USA to buy us or you Denmark either. We want independence." ~ Greenland
    Actually we don't even need to pay a dime to Denmark if we buy it. It's up to Greenland anyway ~ Trump

    Here is how it will probably continue;

    "We plan on holding a referendum for INDEPENDENCE" ~ Greenland
    "But as a sovereign nation we value the USA as a strategic partner, we would love to negotiate with USA" ~ Greenland
    "Amazing" ~ Trump
    "Can we patrol YOUR territorial waters to keep other nations away?" Trump
    "Sure" ~ Greenland
    "Let's negotiate no taxes to ship goods from Greenland into the USA & vice versa. ~ Trump
    "Amazing" ~ Greenland
    "Do you know anybody who can help us mine?" Greenland
    "Of course, here are their names, if you need any help with anything give me a call" ~ Trump
    "Let me know if you have any other issues" ~ Trump

    It's all about the framing.

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  7. As someone who's been to Greenland recently there's actually quite a few people over there that are pro with the idea of becoming part of the United States even quite a few maga supporters over there

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  8. Something I think would have been interesting for an alt hist scenario is Quebec being having a nationalist revolution in the 19th century that results in more US expansion into Canada. Like Cascadia being a US state , a smaller confederation based around the Maritime provinces, maybe Ontario becomes this bastion of what we think of as being Canadian with a super strong identity that is deeply tied to Englishness. Lots of super interesting ways I believe this one could go.

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  9. I'm pretty sure only the Senate, but 2/3 of it, need to agree to any treaty, and it's even allowed to violate the US Constitution (i.e. make a one-time exception to say raising money for a purchase without the House's consent)

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  16. The last good presidents were pre-WWI, ever since its been bad or just okay. Also Trump's "Art of the Deal" would indicate he's actually trying to get Greenland independent so it can be secured under American influence rather than EU influence via being under Denmark. As for Canada . . . they are the nearest thing to being part of the US without actually being so, and the only real pushback to the concept of American annexation of Canada comes from the dying off element of Canadian society which actually remembers what Canadian Nationalism was. Most don't.

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  19. I'll second, or third, forth or fifth. Greenland was much warmer than it is today during the Medieval and Roman warm periods. Contrary to attempts to trigger hysteria, climate oscillates naturally over time.Thats how they grew Barley in Greenland, and wine in Scotland during the Middle Ages.

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  20. Chances are even if the Danish government was open to the idea, they would still likely insist that any purchase had to be approved by the people actually living in Greenland and I don't see that happening. My understanding from afar is that their "perfect world" goal is full independence, and becoming part of a far larger country with an established strategic interest in the island would represent a substantial step backwards.

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  25. Trump wants to make another offer 2025, I think this will be the 4th time the US has tried to buy greenland.

    Its an insanly strategic mineral rich area, i dont really blame them.

    It would also set the US as the 2nd largest country by territory, roughly 700,000 square miles larger then Canada.

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  26. It is crazy that Trump talked about doing this before he left office and is now picking up where he left off.
    I do think it's kind of weird that he's talking about annexing territory that, if it did become a state, would undoubtedly be a hardcore blue state. Greenland's politics are very much in line with Scandinavian Social Democracy.

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  33. You could do an alternative history on United States, Canada and Mexico signing a free trade agreement in the 90s, working ever closer together, and becoming a borderless, economically and politically aligned entity like much of Europe is.

    Reply

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