STATEHOOD OF ALASKA (1867-1959)

         On March 30, 1867, Secretary of State William H. Seward signed an agreement with Baron Eduard Stoeckl, the Russian Minister to the United States. The agreement ceded posses­sion of the vast territory of Alaska to the United States for the sum of 7.2 million of dollars.

         The 40th Congress (1867-1869) passed a law, which made Alaska a customs district of the U. S. but made no other ef­forts to establish the civil infrastructure that President Johnson had hinted at. The relations between settlers and na­tives of Alaska were tense that was why the Navy forces were called upon to maintain order. From 1879-1884, the Navy go­verned Alaska, as most of its inhabitants were located in the coastal southeastern part of the state. In 1884 Alaska became a civil and judicial district and provided the territory with judges, clerks, and marshals.

          The Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-1898 was the first event to gain significant exposure for the great, white North. Du­ring the decade of 1890-1900, more than 30,000 people surged into the Yukon Territory and Alaska, when gold was discovered in Alaska.

         Mining, fishing, trapping, and mineral production flour­ished and a true «colonial economy» developed.

         Alaska had a population of about 58,000 in 1916, when Alaska’s first statehood bill was introduced. But it failed.

        And only on January 3, 1959, President Eisenhower signed the official declaration, which made Alaska the 49th state.

QUESTIONS:

1. When was Alaska ceded to the USA?
2. Who signed the agreement between Russia and the USA?
3. When did Alaska become a customs district of the USA?
4. What relations were between settlers and natives of Alas- ka in the beginning?
5. Why were the Navy forces called to Alaska?
6. When did Alaska become a civil and judicial district?
7. What was the first event to gain significant exposure for Alaska?
8. What was the reason for arriving of more than 30, 000 people into the Yukon Territory and Alaska in 1890-1900?
9. How many people lived in Alaska in 1916?
10. When did Alaska become the 49th state?
11. Who signed the declaration that made Alaska the 49th state?

VOCABULARY:

to sign an agreement — подписать соглашение

to cede — уступать

possession — владение, обладание

vast — обширный

customs — таможня

effort — усилие

to establish — устанавливать, учреждать

to hint at — намекать на что-либо

relations — отношения

settler — поселенец

native — местный житель

the Navy — Военно-морской флот

to maintain order — поддерживать порядок

judges — судьи

clerks — клерки

marshals — шерифы

inhabitant — житель

tense — напряженный

The Klondike Gold Rush — золотая лихорадка Клондайка

to surge into — наплывать, нахлынуть (о толпе)

to discover — обнаружить, найти

to flourish —  процветать, преуспевать     

bill — билль, законопроект