The Purchase of Alaska shows an example of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was based on the idea of moving towards and dominating the West. Alaska is the most West you can get on the North American continent. America benefited from buying Alaska because it put America between Russia and British land.
The Klondike Gold Rush started in the years 1897 and 1898. The first gold to be reported was discovered by George Carmack along with his two Native friends. Carmack and run into a man who claimed to find gold along a creek nearby them. However, the man had disrespected Carmack’s friends so Carmack along with his peers hadn’t taken the man’s lead but later did and discovered gold. Along the way to record their gold, they had bragged about their find and word spread. However soon after winter came and communication with the rest of states was near impossible to accomplish so the following summer people began to come to Alaska to mine for gold.
100,000 left for the Yukon but only 30-40,000 people made it to Alaska. People who mined in the Gold Rush were called stampeders. Many took ships from Seattle, Washington but some ships sank along the way. Many people were unemployed due to the Panics of 1893 & 1896 and wanted to get rich quick. Gold was scarce in circulation at the time. Some people even left respectable professions as a doctor or a teacher. Most knew that finding large amounts of gold to make them rich would be nearly impossible but still made the journey. When people did get there the advertisements of “gold for the taking” were grossly exaggerated and most locals had already claimed gold bearing creeks. An upside of going to Alaska was that large companies bought out land, brought in drag lines, hydraulic equipment and hired people to mine for them which provided many jobs for people in that region. A fun fact is that people came from all over such as South Africa, the UK and Australia.
The Gold Rush provided Growth & Change for the United States because during this period many more people were beginning to settle in Alaska and Alaska’s population doubled.
The Gold Rush also provided Alaska with Diversity. The Gold Rush brought people from all walks of life to Alaska. Most people ended up staying in Alaska, rather then returning home. As already mentioned, the Gold Rush even attracted people from South Africa, the UK and Australia. The population in Alaska would’ve been very diverse ethnically wise.
In the development of Alaska, World War II had two important things happen during it, the attack and invasion of the Aleutian Islands and the Alcan or Alaska-Canada Highway. The Aleutian Islands are a chain of 300 islands extending 1,200 miles off of the Alaskan peninsula. A small Japanese force occupied two islands, Attu and Kiska. The force believed that if they had control over the Aleutian Islands that it would prevent the U.S. from attacking across the North Pacific. Due to weather and difficult terrain, America’s lack of availability of ships, troops and plans to recapture the islands, it took a year to eject the Japanese forces from Attu and Kiska. When Japan had invaded, the Aleut Natives showed very little resistance, most of them have been evacuated before the invasion and relocated to Alaska’s Panhandle. In late spring on 1943, America began its plan to fight against the Japanese forces. However they bypassed Kiska and landed on Attu and fought for 19 days before Japan announced their loss of the island. They later returned to Kiska but soon discovered that it had been secretly evacuated.
The Aleutian Islands Campaign shows an example of Conflict for America. American land was invaded by a Japanese force and had to fight to get their land back. This invasion caught America off guard and because of that, America was not ready to fight for its land. But in the end after the ‘battle’ was over, America prevailed in getting its land back.
The Alcan or Alaska-Canada Highway was built after the attack on Pearl Harbor. America began to fear that Japan would try to invade through Alaska, which they attempted to do through the Aleutian Islands. America had built military posts in Alaska but there was trouble getting supplies to such a remote area. Thus the idea of the Alcan or Alaska-Canada Highway was introduced. It was to be from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska. It was planned to connect it with pre-existing highways in Alaska and in Britsh Columbia, which it was. It was built in eight and a half months and it was built as a military supply route. It was the first direct connection between Alaska and the rest of America.
The Alcan Highway is an example of Growth & Change for Alaska. It was the first highway connecting Alaska and the rest of America so America began growing to expand its forms of transportation to the state. It was growing in a way that through this highway news, supplies and other things could be transported to Alaska quicker than before, potentially allowing Alaska to grow and expand itself.
In the development of Alaska, Alaska wasn’t a state until 92 years after it was bought. Alaska became an American Territory in 1912. It wasn’t made a state because Legislators argued that the population in Alaska was too small and that the economy was too unstable to be included within the rest of the states. However, some argued that Alaska has some strategic advantages as showed during World War II. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act into U.S. law in July 1958. The following year in January, 1959, Alaska was admitted into the Union.
