How Alaska Became Part of the United States

In the late 1800s, the world was a different place. Different countries of power traded land and made treaties to solve problems and avoid further wars. Despite Alaska being physically connected to North America, Canada, it was politically controlled by Russia from the 1700s until the 1800s, when it was traded to the United States of America.

There are many reasons for this trade. The primary reason is that Russia was not willing to give any more land or territory to Great Britain or nations under its rule. Russia was afraid of Great Britain becoming an even larger power house in the political world.

Though Canada would likely have wished for the land back, they was not in a position to gain it from Russia. Since Great Britain controlled all of Canada’s territories and land, the Canadians were not free to make such choices or political moves.

It took almost 100 years for the United States, however, to make Alaska an official state, making it the 49th state. President Eisenhower started to feel threatened and worried about Great Britain’s growing power, and worried that she would put leaders in Alaska. The United States was reasonably content to keep Alaska as a simple territory until Great Britain (real or imaginary) threatened to take the land away. Choosing to mark Alaska as a state made a statement to the entire world that this particular piece of land was property of the United States alone.

Understanding the politics of this situation can be a little tricky. Let’s look at this in a different scenario:

Jason, Bobby, and Michael are playing with marbles. Jason has all the blue marbles, Bobby has all the red marbles, and Michael has all the yellow marbles. Michael and Bobby are not getting along, so Michael does not want to share his marbles with Bobby. However, when Jason asks to trade with Michael, Michael is more willing. He likes Jason and doesn’t mind doing a trade.

Now Jason has all blue marbles and one yellow marble. Michael has all yellow marbles and one blue marble. When it’s time for lunch, Michael and Jason get up to go eat while Bobby stays, playing with the marbles. While eating lunch, Jason sees Bobby eyeing his blue marble and looks as if he might steal it. Jason quickly took his marble and kept it in his pocket, out of Bobby’s reach. Thus, he saved his new marble from being stolen.

Each color marble represents a different country owned by different political powers at the time, while each boy represents a country. This is a simplified version to explain how the United States came to claim the land currently known as Alaska and how Alaska went from a territory to a state.

Let’s try another example:

Narrator: Janet, Jane, and Jordan are playing Monopoly. Janet owns all the green and blue properties. Jane owns all the orange and pink properties, while Jordan owns everything else.

Jordan: Janet, can I please trade you my trains for the blue properties?

Janet: No, I don’t want to trade with you. You already have too much land. You are taking over the whole game.

Jane: Janet, can I please trade you my orange properties for your blue properties?

Janet: Okay, but it will also cost $500 in addition to the properties.

Narrator: Janet and Jane agree and switch properties. Jane also gives Janet $500 in Monopoly money. Now Janet owns the orange and green properties while Jane owns the blue and pink properties. Jane tucks the cards to the side, and the three keep playing. Later, Jane notices that Jordan is trying to sneak the card over to her side of the board.

Jane: Hey! That’s not fair, Jordan. You can’t take my properties, I traded them.

Jordan: I’m sorry, Jane.

Jane takes all her property cards and puts them in her pocket instead. Now Jane and Janet are skeptical of Jordan. The girls all keep playing, but Janet and Jane don’t trust Jordan anymore and guard their lands carefully.

Political powers control how the world runs and who owns what. Which countries are in power always change, along with who owns what land. This was especially true before the 1900s. Between 1600-1800, the United States did a lot of work to become a political power and did a lot of this kind of trading. They traded a lot of land and expanded their borders. That is how the United States went from 13 colonies to 50 states! The United States made a lot of smart moves during this time, and some would say, unset a lot of different nations in the process of becoming a great and powerful nation.