According to our traditions, the land of the homeland is sacred and can only be given or received with blood. In fact, this is the case for many ancient nations, but recently the Russians broke this tradition and sold a large piece of land, Alaska, to the United States. You read it right; no war, no treaty, the Russians sold Alaska to the USA for cash you know.
Actually, Alaska is not the homeland of the Russians, they came and exploited it later. As a result of the events involving the Ottoman Empire, they thought it looked useless and sold it to the USA. Good, but still strange because if you say that there is nothing in Alaska, you would be wrong, because that land is much richer than the top. Let’s go on a historical journey, let’s look at the answer to the question of how the USA bought Alaska from Russia.
For those who don’t know, let’s get to know the region first; Where is Alaska?
Today, a state of the United States of America, Alaska is at the western tip of Canada and the Bering Strait serves as a border with Russia. It also has a coast on the Pacific Ocean. This region, which is a glacier, is the largest state in the USA with a surface area of close to 2 million square meters. Its population is less than 1 million. The name Alaska is derived from the Russian word aleut, meaning big land.
Let’s come to the history of Alaska, in fact, the Russians are not native to the region either:
It is estimated that the first people in Alaska settled in the region about 15,000 years ago. At that time there was a frozen land bridge called Beringia between Siberia and eastern Alaska. People crossed this bridge with their herds of animals and came to what we call Alaska today.
The first settlers who came to the area were divided into two groups. One group remained in Alaska, while the other continued their migration to North and South America. So yes, we’re talking about the Indians. About 4,000 years ago, settled life began in the Alaska region. While those living in the coastal part hunted whales and similar aquatic creatures, those in the interior hunted reindeer called caribou.
The Russians also said, why don’t we exploit this place:
In 1735, nearly two centuries after America was discovered, Russian explorer Mikhail Gvozdev mapped the North American coast, including Alaska, but could not get to the area. In 1741, Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering set out with the support of the Russian Tsar Peter the Great of the time, and they stepped into the region as the first Europeans to discover Alaska.
The first Russian settlement in the area was established on Kodiak Island in 1784 by Grigorii Shelikhov. In 1794, the Russian Tsarina Catherine of the time sent Orthodox missionaries to the island. Of course, the aim here was to seize commercial activities as well as a cultural change, because the fur of the creatures in the region was unique.
In 1799, the Russian Tsar Paul I established the first Russian – American joint company. Furs processed on Sitka Island were sold to the Chinese at high prices. On the other hand, trade was done with the Spaniards. The arrival of James Cook had already greatly increased the number of British and American traders in Alaska. So many traps were set at that time that some animal species went extinct.
We are on every table: Well, but why did the Russians decide to sell Alaska to the USA?
Russia did very profitable business in Alaska throughout the 18th century and into the mid-19th century. However, the number of British and American traders was increasing in the region. On the one hand, there were external issues. The Crimean War, which started in 1853 and ended in 1856, turned all plans upside down. Because the Ottoman Empire, England and France were against the Russian Tsardom.
Russia was defeated in this war and the British wanted to expand the British colony in the region that is now Canada by rubbing their hands. The Russians looked at Alaska getting out of hand, they started looking for a solution. Because they did not want to give the area to the British, their solution was to sell Alaska to the United States.
‘Mr. Minister, are you crazy?’
- William Seward
At that time, the United States had just emerged from the civil war and was barely licking its wounds. The proposal of the then Secretary of State, William Seward, to acquire Alaska was met with reaction from everyone. After bilateral negotiations, the USA finally bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 by paying 7.2 million dollars. This figure is equivalent to two cents per acre, a rather ridiculous figure today.
Secretary Seward has neither stupidity nor madness. When the country was in such a state, why did you buy a piece of land from the glacier when you left, it was subjected to great criticism. They were right, but a few years later news from Alaskan soil revealed that Seward was actually a real genius.
It turns out that the land of Alaska was full of gold:
In 1872, the news was heard, there is gold near Sitka Island, Alaska! This was such news that in 1888 the population of Alaska exceeded 60 thousand. The news that there was also gold in the Yukon region further intensified things. According to author Jack London, who was a journalist at the time, more than 100,000 more miners flocked to the area. By 1897, more than 50 mines had been opened in the area and major cities were built that still exist today. Alaska was accepted as the 49th state of the country on January 3, 1959 by the then US President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
All this happened to the Alaska Natives who were through the process:
The ordeal of Alaska Natives actually began with the arrival of the Russians in the 18th century. Orthodox missionaries forcibly converted the natives into Orthodox. The natives were forced to marry Russians and have children of the Russian race. Moreover, the local people, who were hunters, were used almost like slaves and forced to hunt for food.
The arrival of the Americans added salt to all this. The Indian population was only 19 percent when we arrived in 1959, due to the Americans bringing in new diseases to which the Indians were not accustomed. The effect of Alaskan women on the USA is the kind that will be a lesson to the world besides all these experiences.
Alaska’s native women were as educated and involved in trade as their wives. Even after they were sold to the USA, there were women who ran mines, hotels and banks in the region. Alaskan women were so powerful that they gained the right to vote before US women. In fact, exactly ten years before the US Civil Rights Act, Alaska Natives gained equal rights with whites.
We told the story of how the Russians sold a huge land like Alaska to the USA. Maybe we have a small role, but one cannot help but think; Isn’t there a single event where the Turks are not at the table?
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