UNITED STATES 
Area of Claim. None 
Date of Claim. None 
Remarks. The United States Government has made no formal claims 
to Antarctic territory, but reserves all rights accruing from United States 
explorations and discoveries. It does not recognize claims made by other 
nations. The present United States position is discussed briefly by Dr. 
Gould (pp. 12-16). 
Relevant documents. Refusal by Secretary of State Hughes to admit 
that rights of sovereignty over polar areas may be based upon the formality 
of taking possession after discovery. Letter in reply to the Norwegian 
Minister concerning the United States attitude with respect to claims to 
- newly discovered lands. 
The Secretary of State to the Norwegian Minister (Bryn) 
Washington, April 2, 1924 
Sir: With reference to your note of February 25, 1924, concerning an alleged 
agreement of Roald Amundsen to allow the United States to claim all lands he 
might discover on his projected aeroplane expedition to the North Polar regions, 
I beg to inform you that I am in receipt of a communication from the Acting 
Secretary of the Navy stating that a search of the files of the Navy Department 
shows that the article which appeared in the Rochester Herald was incorrect in 
its statement that any offer made by Mr. Hammer was acknowledged by the 
Secretary of the Navy. The basis for the rumor contained in the clipping from 
the Rochester Herald of January 7, 1924, is, however, to be found in a signed 
statement, dated October 26, 1923, made by H. H. Hammer, the American rep- 
resentative of Captain Amundsen, to Captain Johnson, Assistant Chief of the 
Bureau of Aeronautics, of the Navy Department, setting forth the plans for the 
transpolar flight. 
In the concluding sentence Mr. Hammer states “although Captain Amundsen 
is Norwegian, he would not lay claim to any new lands discovered on behalf of 
his government, and an American officer could if so desired claim it for his 
government.” The Navy Department did not reply to this offer in any manner. 
Furthermore, the Acting Secretary of the Navy states that while Lieutenant 
Davison was granted permission to volunteer to accompany the expedition, 
“The Navy has no official connection with the expedition and no control over 
the plans made by Captain Amundsen to carry it forward.” 
In the penultimate paragraph of your letter you state that, in order to avoid 
any misunderstanding, you would add that possession of all the land which 
Mr. Amundsen may discover will, of course, be taken in the name of His Majesty, 
the King of Norway. In my opinion rights similar to those which in earlier 
centuries were based upon the acts of a discoverer, followed by occupation or 
settlement consummated at long and uncertain periods thereafter, are not 
capable of being acquired at the present time. Today, if an explorer is able to 
ascertain the existence of lands still unknown to civilization, his act of so-called 
discovery, coupled with a formal taking of possession, would have no significance, 
save as he might herald the advent of the settler; and where for climatic or 
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