The Guano Islands Act was passed by the United States Congress on August 18, 1856. This still valid federal law states that an uninhabited and unclaimed island , on which there is a certain type of degradable bird droppings ( guano ), belongs to the national territory of the United States if it is discovered and taken possession of by a US citizen will. The discoverer himself and his legal successors obtain exclusive mining and sales rights to the guano deposits.
requirement is, that
the island is uninhabited,
does not belong to the territory of another nation and that
the American citizen takes possession of the island in a peaceful manner.
“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 [... ] ”
In the early 19th century, guano ( Quechua term for bird droppings) gained great importance as a fertilizer in agriculture . Around 1840 the American whaler Benjamin Morrel traveled to the penguin islands off the coast of Southwest Africa , but despite his book History of a Journey to the Southern and Western Coasts of Africa and the wealth of guano described therein, he could not find any investors for mining the guano there , despite his book History of a Journey to the Southern and Western Coasts of Africa , which was published in 1844 . In 1855 American agriculture learned of large reserves of guano in the Pacific Ocean . Shortly thereafter, the Guano Islands Act was enacted. However, this law also served to enlarge the American sphere of influence.
Map with all coordinates: