Alaska History

The one hundred years between "Seward's Folly" (1867) and statehood (1959) comprise an intriguing though often ignored narrative about the importance of the "great land" to United States history.

The following brief history of Alaska statehood considers the region in the political and imaginative contexts of (contiguous) United States history and emphasizes certain themes revealed in this effort.

First, throughout the late-19th and early 20th century, Alaska serves as an advertisement for American colonialism.

A colonial economy developed in which much of the territory's natural wealth (minerals, furs, salmon, timber) was extracted from the region and used elsewhere for the profit of absentee business interests.

Second, Alaska served as an extension of the American frontier, a "great northern and western citadel," in the words of one observer.

This notion received a new resonance in the Cold War Years when Alaska represented the edge of American interests menaced by the Soviet Union. Read more about Alaska here!

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