The Purchase of Alaska
There are many states in North America.
Formally known as the United States of America. From New York to California, you could find millions of different types of people, and cultures from around the world. But how about a state that is so isolated from them all, that many people forget it was even added as the 49th state to the country? The lone state of Alaska is to the north west of the major states and if laid on top of the other states, would cover about two-thirds of the land. And for a state that is so large, it is surely simply thought of as the coldest state.Alaska is much more then that, and has a lot of history behind just a land of snow and mountains. Alaska was discovered in 1741 by Russian settlers and had been colonized by them in 1784. With over 660 thousand square miles, Alaska was surely a big find by the Russian settler Vitus Jonassen.
Not much was done at the time with Alaska, for the living conditions were really rough and treacherous. It took about forty years for the first settlements to come about in Alaska. Grigorii Shelikhov and his wife Natalia came to the Kodiak Islands along the coasts of Alaska and made a settlement along with hundreds of their kind.This was the first settlement of Alaska. From then on, settlers from Russia, Britain, the Spanish, and even American explorers and adventurers all settled in Alaska. Russia was going through financial issues and did not have sufficient funds for their country. “In 1867 United States Secretary of State William H.
Seward offered Russia $7,200,000, or two cents per acre, for Alaska” (3). This was Seward’s most pronounced achievement as Secretary of State, and kept the British from taking over Alaska.This brought much more land into the United States at an extremely cheap price of 7. 2 million dollars. This purchase increased the value of America as a whole and offered many more revenues and resources. There were resources such as the huge line of seafood and fishing. Most of the seafood at the time and currently for America is brought out from the waters that surround Alaska.
Most of Alaska was not explored during the time of purchase and the full benefit of Alaska was not known. After many years of exploring and the tate becoming close to what it is today, there was a discovery of oil in 1968 and this would, “have the most recoverable oil of any field in the United States” (5). After such a find, the purchase of Alaska seemed like an amazing idea, even though Seward had no idea at the time of purchase. In 1977, a pipeline for the oil recovery was laid down, and is now able to draw over eighty thousand barrels within only one hour, and the pipeline runs eight hundred-eighty miles from the top of Alaska to the bottom, going straight thru mainly the middle of the state.Even though America was bought off of Russia back in 1867, it was not a state instantly. In fact, it wasn’t even close. The population was far to low for it to become a state and also needed proper governing to be taken into consideration of being a state, “…worried that Alaska’s population was too sparse, distant, and isolated…too unstable for it to be a worthwhile addition to the United States” (5).
Under president Eisenhower, Alaska was signed on as a state by the Alaska Statehood Act on July 7th, 1958.Overall, Alaska has brought many new and useful resources into America since it was bought and turned out to be more then just a beautiful place, but a place with plenty to offer. From food, to oil, Alaska has proved to the United States that it has helped tons with the nations economy.
Works Cited
- Library of Congress. “Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska” LOC. 4 August 2010.
- Web 16 Sept. 2010.http://www. loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alaska. html2. ) America’s Library. Purchase of Alaska: March 30, 1867” America’s Stories. 9 July 2004. Web 16 Sept. 2010.
- http://www. americaslibrary. gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_alaska_1. html3.
- ) 50 States. com. “Alaska Facts and Trivia” 2010. Web 24 Sept. 2010. http://www. 50states. com/facts/alaska. htm4. ) Thinkquest. “The first Settlement in Alaska” Web 26 Sept.
- 2010 http://library. thinkquest. org/22550/1784. html#5. ) Wikipedia. “Oil discovery, ANSCA, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline” 25 September 2010. Web 25 Sept.
- 2010. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_Alaska
