Personal blog about states
Alaska
Alaska Alax̂sxax̂ (Aleut) Alaasikaq (Inupiaq) Anáaski (Tlingit) Alas’kaaq (Pacific Gulf Yupik) | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Before statehood | Territory of Alaska |
Admitted to the Union | January 3, 1959 (49th) |
Capital | Juneau |
The purchase of Alaska in 1867 marked the end of Russian efforts to expand trade and settlements to the Pacific coast of North America , and became an important step in the United States rise as a great power in the Asia-Pacific region.
Russia controlled most of the area that is now Alaska from the late 1700s until 1867, when it was purchased by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward for $7.2 million, or about two cents an acre. During World War II, the Japanese occupied two Alaskan islands, Attu and Kiska, for 15 months.
On March 30, 1867, Secretary of State William H. Seward signed a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting the territory of Alaska into the Union as the 49th state.
There are two main reasons. First, Canada wasn’t its own country in 1867. Second, Great Britain controlled the Canadian colonies. Russia did not want to sell Alaska to its rival.
The narrowest distance between mainland Russia and mainland Alaska is approximately 55 miles. The stretch of water between these two islands is only about 2.5 miles wide and actually freezes over during the winter so you could technically walk from the US to Russia on this seasonal sea ice.
20 Things Everyone In Alaska Should Avoid At All Costs Farmed seafood. Flickr – Judi Knight. Or buying fish in general. Flickr – Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Even feeding your dogs farmed fish. Eating hot dogs. Camping without a view. Snacking on chips from the lower 48. Shopping at big corporate box stores. Drinking wine that isn’t from Alaska .
While both countries are in the list of top ten economies in the world in 2018, the US is the largest economy in the world, with US$20.4 trillion, with Canada ranking tenth at US$1.8 trillion. The United States on “health outcomes, education levels and other such metrics” scores lower than other rich nations.
If Russia hadn’t sold Alaska to the US in 1867 It would have passed into American hands in 1906 or 1907. After getting whooped by Japan in 1905, Russia was revealed as a waning power, and it was unable to reinforce any units in the Pacific.
ALASKA was a Russian colony from 1744 until the USA bought it in 1867 for $7,200,000. It was made a state in 1959. Hawaii was a kingdom until 1893 and became a republic in 1894. It then ceded itself to the USA in 1898 and became a state in 1959.
On March 30, 1867, the United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million. The Treaty with Russia was negotiated and signed by Secretary of State William Seward and Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl.
1867: Alaska territory purchased from Russia for $7 million. 1898: Hawaii annexed as a United States territory. 1959: Alaska and Hawaii admitted, respectively, as the 49th and 50th states of the Union.
The Bering Strait tunnel was estimated to cost between $10 billion and $12 billion, while the entire project was estimated to cost $65 billion. Shortly after, the Russian government approved the construction of the $65 billion Siberia- Alaska rail and tunnel across the Bering Strait.
The treaty — setting the price at $7.2 million , or about $125 million today — was negotiated and signed by Eduard de Stoeckl, Russia’s minister to the United States, and William H. Seward, the American secretary of state.
Its capital was Novo-Arkhangelsk (New Arkhangelsk), which is now Sitka, Alaska , United States. Settlements spanned parts of what are now the U.S. states of California, Alaska and three forts in Hawaii. Russian America.
Russian America Русская Америка Russkaya Amyerika | |
---|---|
• Alaska Purchase | 18 October 1867 |