How does alaska benefit the united states

Defeat in the Crimean War further reduced Russian interest in this region. The looming U. The Senate approved the treaty of purchase on April 9; President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty on May 28, and Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, For three decades after its purchase the United States paid little attention to Alaska, which was governed under military, naval, or Treasury rule or, at times, no visible rule at all.

Seeking a way to impose U. Johnson, who was acquitted by one vote in his impeachment trial, failed to persuade Congress with his call to make provisions for "the occupation and government of the territory as part of the dominion of the United States. The Americans formally took possession of Alaska in October, after a memorable ceremony when the Russian flag was lowered. At that time the population of Alaska Natives was about 30,, many more than any non-Natives.

The American flag did get hung up on the pole that day, but its raising did not trigger any population boom in Alaska, for there was no economic motive to lure people north. Relatively few people came to Alaska because it was difficult and costly to travel, and the fish, timber and mining industries had yet to develop. And most American cititzens knew little if anything about Alaska. One example of the general lack of awareness was the discovery made by an Army captain making a journey on the Yukon River two years after the purchase.

He saw to it that the Stars and Stripes were raised instead, and the Hudson's Bay Company had to move to Canadian soil. Since the development of Alaska was not a pressing issue, Congress did not create a civilian government, leaving the new American possession in political limbo.

For the first 17 years following the sale of Russian America to the United States, there was no government in Alaska outside of that provided by the Army, customs collectors and the navy in coastal towns. For all intents and purposes, it was a military district with no civilian laws.

One of the few laws passed by Congress during the early days of the American rule was one to ban the importation of alcohol and its sale to Indians. It was a law widely broken. Since Congress had set up no rules for local government in Alaska, the new arrivals at Sitka took things into their own hands.

The town government levied taxes, started a school and some other facilities, but it didn't last long because some people refused to pay taxes to a government with no basis in the law. A bigger reason the town government failed was that many of the early speculators, in the words of an Army officer in , "came, looked and went away. The American flag flew over Sitka, but that meant nothing to most of Alaska's estimated 30, Native people.

Most remained unaware of the sale for a long time. As its strategic importance became obvious during World War II, in Alaska held a referendum asking Congress to consider it for statehood. The Democrats during the s favored Alaska as the 49th state, while the Republicans wanted Hawaii admitted by itself. The reason was that each new state gets two U. Toggle navigation. Read the treaty Seward negotiated the deal in an extended bargaining session with Russian minister to the United States Eduard de Stoeckl on March 30,