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Navassa Island

A 5 km² island of cliffs between Haiti and Jamaica. An American captain claimed it for its guano in 1857, and the United States has held it ever since; today it is an uninhabited wildlife refuge. Haiti’s constitution lists it among Haiti’s islands, and Haitian fishermen still work its waters.

Written from cited sourcesLast checked 28 September 2026Suggest a correction

HAITIJAMAICACUBACARIBBEAN SEANavassa Island
Navassa IslandNavassa, too small to see at this scale, lies in the channel between Jamaica and Haiti’s southwest tip.

See it on the globe:United States →Haiti →

A claim for guano

Guano, the built-up droppings of seabirds, was valued as farm fertiliser. The Guano Islands Act of 18 August 1856 let American citizens claim guano islands “not within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government”, and let the President treat them as belonging to the United States.[4][5]

An American sea captain, Peter Duncan, reported that he had found guano on Navassa on 1 July 1857 and taken possession of it in the name of the United States on 19 September 1857. He described an island about two miles long, ringed by cliffs, with guano up to six feet deep.[4] On 8 December 1859 Secretary of State Lewis Cass issued a proclamation recognising the claim.[4] The historian Ken Lawrence writes that Cass acted to head off a Haitian attempt to take the island, and that when a Haitian naval party tried to take control, President James Buchanan sent a warship.[5]

Mining and the 1889 revolt

American companies based in Baltimore and New York mined the guano from 1857 to 1898, with Black labourers under white managers.[5] In 1889 the Navassa Phosphate Company had 137 labourers and 11 white superintendents on the island, digging and blasting phosphate and hauling it to ships.[4]

On 14 September 1889 the workers rose against their supervisors, and five white men died.[5] Forty-three were charged in Baltimore, and three were sentenced to death for murder. Their lawyers challenged the Guano Act and American authority over the island, and Haiti’s claim was among the issues.[5] On 24 November 1890, in Jones v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the convictions. It ruled that the President, acting through the State Department, had decided that Navassa appertained to the United States, and that the courts were bound by that decision.[4] President Benjamin Harrison later commuted the death sentences, citing the conditions the workers had lived under.[5]

Lighthouse and refuge

With the Panama Canal about to open, Congress authorised a lighthouse on Navassa in 1913. On 17 January 1916 President Woodrow Wilson set the island aside for it, “under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States”.[5] The light was built in 1917 and was the first to guide ships towards the canal; it was automated in 1929.[1][5]

The Fish and Wildlife Service made Navassa a national wildlife refuge in 1999, to protect its coral reefs and marine life.[1] Nobody lives there, and entry needs a permit from the Service.[2] Haitian fishermen have fished around the island since at least the 1970s, camping there on trips; a NOAA report in 2008 described the refuge’s fisheries as effectively unmanaged.[2]

Haiti’s claim

Haiti’s constitution lists La Navase among the islands that make up its territory, and says that territory may not be given up by any treaty.[3] Lawrence writes that every Haitian constitution since 1801 has claimed the coastal islands, Navassa included, and that Haiti has never dropped its claim.[5]

In 1956 a US congressman, William L. Dawson, introduced a bill to give up any American rights to the island; it got no further. In 1981 members of the Radio Club d’Haiti flew to Navassa by helicopter, raised the Haitian flag and sang their national anthem. Asked for their permit, they said they needed none to travel in their own country, and the American officer let them camp.[5]

Timeline

  1. 185618 August 1856

    Guano Islands Act

    Congress lets citizens claim unowned guano islands for the United States.[4]

  2. 185719 September 1857

    Duncan’s claim

    Peter Duncan takes possession of Navassa in the name of the United States.[4]

  3. 18598 December 1859

    Cass proclamation

    The State Department recognises the claim.[4]

  4. 188914 September 1889

    Revolt

    Guano workers rise against their supervisors; five white men die.[5]

  5. 189024 November 1890

    Jones v. United States

    The Supreme Court upholds US jurisdiction over the island.[4]

  6. 1898

    Mining ends

    American companies stop mining guano on Navassa.[5]

  7. 1917

    Lighthouse

    A lighthouse is built to guide ships to the Panama Canal.[1]

  8. 1981

    Haitian flag

    Haitian radio amateurs land and raise their flag.[5]

  9. 1999

    Wildlife refuge

    The Fish and Wildlife Service takes charge of the island as a refuge.[1]

More disputed places

Sources

  1. [1]
    Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge: About Us · U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  2. [2]
    The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of Navassa Island · NOAA (Margaret W. Miller and others) · 2008
  3. [3]
  4. [4]
    Jones v. United States, 137 U.S. 202 · Supreme Court of the United States (via Justia) · 24 November 1890

    Includes Duncan’s 1857 memorial and Cass’s 1859 proclamation.

  5. [5]
    Both the U.S. and Haiti Claim Navassa Island. Here’s Why Its History Matters · Time / History News Network (Ken Lawrence) · 28 May 2019
  6. [6]
    Admin 0 – Countries, 1:10m · Natural Earth (via the world-atlas package)

    The island’s outline.

Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.

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