11/05/2012

The Role The Colonialists Played In The Alaskan History

By Tameka Ware


Alaskan history shows that it is the 49th State of the United States of America after it was admitted to the union in 1959. It was formerly colonized by the Russians up to 1867 when the Seward purchase was initiated by the Americans to claim back the state and make it one of their own. The purchase was led by William Seward who was then the secretary of the State and it cost America approximately $7,200,000, which translates to about 2 cents per acre of land.

Though it is strongly believed immigrants from the coast of Asia were the first to cross the Bering Land Bridge, many choose to settle in what is currently known as Canada. Like every other state in what is now known as the USA, the great land was at first colonized by the Russians. Around 1700s, there was a peaceful co-existence between the locals and these colonialists but violence broke out which led to slavering of the locals in their own land but some were however wise enough to flee the area to avoid the skirmishes and torture, which constantly took place.

The times gone by of the State are also characterized by its colonial period, which saw an invasion by the Russians and Spaniards. The Spaniards claimed that they were the first and that Pope Alexander had granted them the papal bull of 1493, a charter gave them the privilege to rule and govern the region as they wish. However, they only tried to enforce it after the Russians had descended into this region and were reaping the benefits of it.

The Russians first visited the state around 1784; the first commandant was Grigory Ivanovich Shelikov who arrived at Three Saints Bay and first three years of his stay was gruesome for the inhabitants of state. He ordered for massacre killings of the people in the area, but it was targeted to those who did not wish to be colonized and enslaved. His intention was to create settlement schemes for his troops, Russian businesspersons and those of Russian descent who wished to settle in the area.

By 1788, he had already achieved the mission of killing those that opposed him and drove out the rest. This allowed him to easily capture the coastal strip and hunt down sea otters for their fur. These mammals are probably the reason as to why the Russians were so interested in the area because there is no other reason given as to why they choose to colonize the state.

The colonial era is also denoted by the invasion of Spain who came to the region to claim back their land after rumors went round that the Russians and the British were interested in it. They defended their actions by saying that they had all the rights to colonize the region, which was awarded to them by the 1493 Inter Caetera. The Inter Caetera is a charter issued by the Pope of the Catholic Church to Catholic Monarchs and the heirs the right to own the land on the west and south.

The British were also in the picture. However, there is no enough statistics to prove their interest on the region. They were just settlers trying to win a piece of the cake posed by the economic thrive at the time where trading was prominent.

Alaskan history shows that scuffles continued between the Russians and the USA. Nevertheless, there was a negotiation led by William Seward in 1867 Russia agreed to sell State to USA. In 1959, the state was admitted to the union and it became the 49th State in the USA.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment