America Tried to Buy Greenland for 150 Years (And Just Got Almost Everything for Free)

America has tried to buy Greenland for more than 150 years. In 1946 it secretly offered $100 million in gold. This year it threatened to take the island by force. And last month it got almost everything it wanted, without paying a cent. In this stick-figure history we follow Greenland from the Vikings to the deal signed in September 2026: Erik the Red, who named an icy island "Greenland" to attract settlers, and how Denmark came to rule it from 1721 Seward's interest after the Alaska purchase in 1867, a 1910 idea to swap it for an island in the Philippines, and the Virgin Islands deal 1941, when Denmark's ambassador in Washington let America take over Greenland's defence The 1946 offer of $100 million in gold, kept secret until 1991 The Thule air base and the Inuit families moved off their land in 1953, which a Danish court later ruled was a forced relocation The contraceptive coil campaign of the 1960s and 70s, for which Denmark's prime minister apologised in 2025 Camp Century, the base built inside the ice sheet, and Project Iceworm, the plan to hide nuclear missiles there The 1968 B-52 crash near Thule Home rule, self-government, and the right to independence Trump's 2019 offer, the January 2026 crisis inside NATO, and the security deal signed at the United Nations on 22 September 2026 Did Greenland keep its freedom, or did America get what it wanted without paying? Tell me what you think in the comments. 0:00 America's 150-year offer 0:37 The map 1:05 Erik the Red 1:39 Danish rule 2:10 America first looks: 1867 to 1917 2:48 The Second World War 3:30 The secret 1946 offer 3:50 Thule and the 1953 relocation 4:47 Camp Century: missiles under the ice 5:30 The 1968 B-52 crash 5:59 Home rule and independence 6:20 "A large real estate deal" 6:37 Why America wants Greenland 7:10 2025: Trump goes further 7:32 2026: the crisis inside NATO 8:45 The deal 9:37 Think back Sources: CBS News, the 2026 security deal: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-gr... White House release: https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2... AP, past US attempts to buy Greenland: https://www.wral.com/the-us-has-tried... AGU, Camp Century waste: https://news.agu.org/press-release/me... Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the 1968 B-52 crash: https://st.llnl.gov/news/look-back/op... Maps: Natural Earth (public domain). Routes, arrows and the Camp Century cut-away are drawn by hand and labelled on screen. Sound effects include AltSFX by ALEX11BR (CC BY 3.0) and CC0 recordings. #Greenland #Denmark #History #America #StickmanTimeMachine