The US Guano Islands Act of 1856

(Your ticket to riches!)

How’d you like to have your own island? Note that I didn’t say, “your own country” like Sealand. You will still be subject to US laws.

On the plus side, though, the US Navy will protect your island. The Guano Islands Act of 1856 is still on the books. Even though slavery was tearing the country apart, a Civil War was looming, and a US Senator was beaten with a cane on the floor of the Senate for his anti-slavery views, the Congress still found the time to concern itself with bird poop

Section 1411 of US Code 48 says:

Whenever any citizen of the United States discovers a deposit of guano on any island, rock, or key, not within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, and not occupied by the citizens of any other government, and takes peaceable possession thereof, and occupies the same, such island, rock, or key may, at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to the United States.

The price you’re allowed to charge for “your” guano is fixed by law and not indexed for inflation:

The discoverer, or his assigns, being citizens of the United States, may be allowed, at the pleasure of Congress, the exclusive right of occupying such island, rocks, or keys, for the purpose of obtaining guano, and of selling and delivering the same to citizens of the United States, to be used therein, and may be allowed to charge and receive for every ton thereof delivered alongside a vessel, in proper tubs, within reach of ship’s tackle, a sum not exceeding $8 per ton for the best quality, or $4 for every ton taken while in its native place of deposit.

Just for giggles, I investigated what bird guano actually costs nowadays. You can find sources online that advocate using it instead of synthetic fertilizer for environmental reasons, like this one:

Environmentally Friendly

Opting for guano is a step towards environmentally conscious gardening. Unlike the production of chemical fertilizers, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, guano is naturally occurring and requires minimal processing. Additionally, its use prevents wastage and pollution associated with the over-application of synthetic options.

The New York Times tells us that worldwide demand for guano is soaring again. Now it’s a niche fertilizer. You can buy a pallet (2300 pounds) at Eden Blue Gold for $5,175.00. So for $4 a ton you might find plenty of buyers willing to come to your island and dig it out.

What’s the Catch Here?

You’re probably wondering if this Act has ever actually been used. Yes, it has. And why is it still on the statute books? After all, guano is not all that strategic anymore, now that we have synthetic fertilizer.

One of the things you’ll learn in the excellent book 1493 is the world importance of guano in the 1800’s. Nowadays, “fertilizer” is something you buy in a bag at the garden store,

but back then, there was no such thing. The Habor-Bosch process for synthesizing ammonia wasn’t developed until 1913. Modern agriculture couldn’t exist without it.

Until then, there was animal manure, and starting with Sir Humphry Davy’s book Elements of Agricultural Chemistry (yes, you can buy it on Amazon) in 1813, a huge bestseller in Europe, seabird guano was suddenly a strategic necessity. It was very high in nitrogen, and since there no synthetic fertilizers, it was the best way to really improve agricultural productivity. Wars were fought over it. It was the petroleum of its day, and like oil, countries were willing to fight to preserve their supply.

The Guano Trade

The Chincha Islands off Peru

were a gold mine, as it were, of seabird guano. Supposedly, the islands stunk so badly that ships wouldn’t even approach them. However, there was big money to be made from that stuff, so the Peruvian government waded in.

1493 is especially good at giving the gruesome details of how this worked. Many Chinese men were recruited to work in the American West, supposedly on the railroads or gold mines, and after they were on the ship, were told, “Surprise, surprise! You’re going to the Chincas!” This was a fate worse than death, and indeed many of them did commit suicide. Imagine working on an island that is literally a mound of bird shit, which isn’t particularly healthy to breathe in, with no possibility of escape.

Monopoly

The British government cut an exclusive deal with Peru to buy its guano (remember, at that time Britain was the most powerful nation in the world). That meant that the United States could only get its bird shit secondhand at exorbitant prices. President Millard Fillmore (when was the last time you read anything that he said?)

devoted a vaguely threatening paragraph to it in his first inaugural address:

Peruvian guano has become so desirable an article to the agricultural interest of the United States that it is the duty of the Government to employ all the means properly in its power for the purpose of causing that article to be imported into the country at a reasonable price. Nothing will be omitted on my part toward accomplishing this desirable end. I am persuaded that in removing any restraints on this traffic the Peruvian Government will promote its own best interests, while it will afford a proof of a friendly disposition toward this country, which will be duly appreciated.

1856

If you read a history of the United States, 1856 is most likely dominated by political events. A civil war seemed unavoidable, and the Presidents (Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan) were doing nothing whatever to settle matters; in fact, they may have made them worse.

In 1856 news:

• The first national meeting of the Republican party was held.

• Kansas was suffering from fighting between pro- and anti-slavery forces. John Brown and his followers killed five pro-slavery settlers.

• On the floor of the Senate, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner was beaten with a cane by South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks.

Nonetheless, in the midst of all this drama, Congress found the time to secure the US’s supply of guano! The Guano Islands Act was passed and President Pierce signed it into law.

Seizing Those Islands

I said earlier that the Guano Islands Act has been used; not by private citizens but by the US government. You’ve actually heard of some of those islands.

Howland Island

If this name sounds familiar, it’s because that’s where Amelia Earhart’s plane was headed in 1936, although she never made it. It’s extremely remote, and you can see why she needed to stop there to refuel on the way to Hawaii

that’s 1,650 miles from Honolulu and 2,575 miles miles from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It was claimed by the US for its guano, which was soon exhausted. In 1890 guano mining stopped. It’s still officially a “US Minor Outlying Island” and is a wildlife refuge. It has no freshwater resources and is nowhere close to anything at all, so you probably don’t want to holiday there. (Unless you really need to be on dry land for some reason, e.g. the surgery scene in Master and Commander.)

Since it has no inhabitants, it has no designated timezone.

Midway Atoll

Midway is most famous for the pivotal World War II naval battle fought nearby. The Japanese were planning to invade the island, but after all their carriers were sunk, they abandoned the plan. It’s not part of the state of Hawaii. It was seized under the Guano Islands Act, although no guano was ever mined.

There is no tourism on Midway. Unless you have government business, you can’t go there.

Navassa Island

The guano islands are not all in the Pacific. Navassa Island is a place where the US could, theoretically, go to war with Haiti since both nations claim it. Peter Duncan, an American sea captain, claimed it for the US under the Guano Islands Act in 1857, and President Buchanan signed off on it. Haiti protested, but their claims were not especially persuasive since they had paid no attention at all to the island up to then.

Although getting to the island was difficult, some reefs blocking access were dynamited and guano was mined there. The island was profitable. Since guano mining is not a desirable career choice (see the discussion above), and slavery was by then illegal, the work was done by “freed” Haitian slaves supervised by white managers.

In 1889, the black laborers revolted and killed five white supervisors. 43 insurgents were captured and tried in the US. Three were convicted of murder, and amid endless disputes over jurisdiction, the Supreme Court upheld the convictions. President Benjamin Harrison commuted their sentences to life imprisonment.

The US has ignored Navassa since then, despite Fidel Castro and an array of leftist Latin American leaders supporting Haiti’s claims. Even in the world wars, it had no major role to play.

Can you visit there now? It’s a National Wildlife Refuge, so if you have a valid scientific reason, you might be able to get a permit. But then you have to figure out how to get a boat in and out, since it has no facilities and no one lives there.

Other Guano Stories

This article is focused on the US’s Guano Islands Act. The history of guano goes far beyond that, and you’re encouraged to explore it. There’s Nauru, for example, strip-mined to exhaustion:

So Here’s Your Business Plan

This reads like something out of South Park, but here goes:

1. Find an uninhabited island, claimed by no country, with a deposit of guano (the law doesn’t specify how big a deposit). How you do this is left as an exercise for the reader. Maybe you get the island first and then attract a big population of seabirds or bats. This plan will take a few thousand years to mature, unfortunately.

2. Get the State Department to approve your claim. You may need a lawyer’s help with this part.

3. Found another US company to market the guano, or better yet, a chain of shell companies that shield you from liability. Since the guano’s wholesale price will be only $8 a ton and it retails for over $5,000, there’s plenty of margin for everyone.

4. PROFIT!!!!