Did the US try to buy Greenland in 1867, 1910, and 1949?
Executive summary
The United States did indeed consider acquiring Greenland on more than one occasion: influential officials floated or investigated purchase plans in the late 1860s, diplomatic proposals surfaced around 1910, and a formal, high‑level offer was made in the immediate post–World War II period (1946–47). However, there was no distinct, successful U.S. attempt in the calendar year 1949; the decisive wartime and early‑Cold War dealings that shaped U.S.–Greenland relations occurred earlier and culminated in military agreements rather than a sale [1] [2] [3].
1. 1867: Seward’s survey and a floating idea, not a formal purchase
After the Alaska purchase in 1867, Secretary of State William H. Seward expressed interest in Greenland and ordered surveys to learn more about the island, and U.S. officials discussed the idea seriously enough that later histories treat 1867 as the genesis of American appetite for Greenland—yet there is no record of a formal purchase offer that year; rather, it was exploratory and speculative policy thinking in the Seward/Johnson era [2] [4] [5].
2. Circa 1910: proposals, exchanges and diplomatic flirtation
Around 1910 American and Danish diplomats entertained concrete trade schemes: U.S. envoys and officials discussed swapping overseas territories—most notably proposals that would have involved trading Philippines territory or other concessions for Greenland (accounts point to a 1910 proposal involving Ambassador Maurice Francis Egan and later Taft‑era diplomatic planning)—but these plans remained diplomatic drafts and were never consummated [6] [7] [8].
3. 1946–47 (often summarized as “postwar 1946”): the $100 million offer that Denmark rejected
The most clearly documented episode was after World War II when U.S. strategists, conscious of Greenland’s wartime role and Cold War value, pressed a purchase: U.S. officials proposed paying Denmark roughly $100 million in gold for Greenland, Secretary of State James Byrnes made a formal approach in December 1946, and declassified State Department and Joint Chiefs materials show Washington seriously considered acquisition in 1946–47; Denmark refused, and the result was continued U.S. military presence under different legal arrangements rather than a transfer of sovereignty [1] [2] [3] [4].
4. 1949: NATO, basing and recognition—no new purchase offer that year
The pivotal policy changes often associated with 1949 belonged to NATO’s founding and shifting defense arrangements, not to a fresh bid to buy Greenland; U.S. planners had already attempted purchase in 1946–47 and by 1951 formal defense arrangements recognized Danish sovereignty while allowing U.S. bases—so characterizing 1949 as a year the U.S. “tried to buy Greenland” is inaccurate in the documentary record provided [1] [9] [5].
5. Why sources differ and what to trust
Contemporary reporting, museum pages and retrospectives tend to compress episodes and sometimes write “1946 offer” as shorthand for post‑WWII U.S. efforts; popular timelines also thread in Seward’s 1867 interest and the 1910 transaction ideas to make the history seem continuous [3] [6]. Some outlets emphasize strategic motives (military basing, Arctic routes) while others highlight diplomacy and trade‑swap fantasies; readers should note that press pieces vary in precision and that declassified State Department records anchor the clearest, formal offer to late 1946—not 1949 [2] [3] [4].
Conclusion: direct answer
Yes, the United States seriously considered acquiring Greenland in the late 1860s (exploratory interest under Seward), again via diplomatic proposals around 1910, and most emphatically in 1946–47 when Washington offered Denmark $100 million in gold—Denmark rejected the offer and sovereignty remained Danish, with subsequent U.S. presence governed by military agreements rather than purchase; there is no clear evidence in the cited record of a distinct U.S. purchase attempt specifically in the year 1949 [2] [6] [1] [3] [9].