11.6K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
1. Treaty-Based Sovereignty (The Alaska Purchase, 1867) The U. S. acquired Alaska from Russia through a formal international agreement commonly known as the Alaska Purchase.
2. Effective Occupation and Continuous Governance After the transfer in 1867, the United States exercised what international law calls effective control, which strongly reinforces sovereignty claims, including:
Continuous civil and military administration Enforcement of U. S. law Settlement and economic development Infrastructure, taxation, and courts
3. Statehood and International Recognition:
Alaska became a U. S. territory in 1912 Alaska became the 49th U. S. state in 1959 No nation has formally disputed U. S. sovereignty
There are several key strategic military bases in Alaska. It’s far more fortified than Greenland, and arguably better protected than most of Canada. It’s too rich in resources and strategic positioning to abandon it. That would be very dumb. Whatever your day job, don’t give it up for economic or military strategy.
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Anonymous
(18-24)
6 mo
The same basis that assert control over the other states. Alaska was bought off the Russians, just like the Louisiana purchase.
Because unfortunately at this time leader of the United States is a mentally ill criminal who has no respect for the sovereignty of other countries and no respect for our laws and we unfortunately have no method of getting rid of him for the next 3 years. Short of violence which nobody wants. There is nothing we can do to get rid of this guy in any reasonable period of time.
WHAT!!! What School did you go to. Make sure your history teacher leaves as they can't teach< Alaska was purchased from Russia and he was ridiculed about it. Sewards Folly. Funny, turn out he could smell the gold and oil plus a very beauticul place if you have total mosquito netting on. What is William Seward best known for? William Henry Seward was appointed Secretary of State by Abraham Lincoln on March 5, 1861, and served until March 4, 1869. Seward carefully managed international affairs during the Civil War and also negotiated the 1867 purchase of Alaska.
Nah, the Russians gave it up in one of the worst land deals in history back in 1867 for the sum of $7.2 million. That's about $132 million in 2024 dollars.
Russia fucked itself by walking away from a strategic location, gold, oil, gas, and a huge fishing industry.
You think medieval Tsarist Russia should have anticipated the potential mineral wealth that a rock in the the Arctic might have 160 years later... potential wealth that largely is still not yet economic to exploit... and some conceivable desire to influence geopolitics through nuclear ballistic missile submarines? This is a country that largely twiddled its thumbs and thought idle thoughts while its peonage absorbed wave after wave of famines every few years through the carefully thought through strategy of dying? Okay, I'm using some artistic liberty, but hopefully you understand my point.
At the time of the deal Russia and England was at war. With Canada slowly settling west and no military presence in alaska it was either sell it or get annex so better to get penny's then nothing.
@bddddd 1867 was hardly medieval times. Those years were 500 - 1500 AD. And no I don’t expect Tsarist Russia or anyone else of that 1867 period to possess the geology to know oil and gold was there in Alaska in abundance. But having territory in the New World? I’m sure they were that smart.
None of that changes the fact that Russia made a huge mistake. 30 years later the Alaska gold rush kicked off in 1896. 50 years later, the fossil fuel Industrial Revolution was underway in Europe and the US. Canada and the US both wanted the land.
Property values for that chunk of real estate would have skyrocketed.
It's political structure was still medieval... royalty and 90% of the population tied to land. I agree it is unfair to characterise the whole country as medieval. I said I was being artistic.
Mostly because the people living there want to be Americans. That's how it should be, like the Falkland Islands and some Caribbean islands. The people who live there get to choose.
The only exception to that is when a bad actor removes all the residents and floods the area with their people, like Russia's doing in Ukraine.
Alaska was, at one time, part of Russia, and Russia sold it to the US in order to pay for some of its war debts. Considering it's the largest US state in area, with valuable resources, the US is not going to give it up.
Ask the British, French. Spanish, Ottomans... Their "legal" authority was incentive and National interest. Ours is that we want and need Greenland. Throughout history, leaders took what they wanted. I hope Trump is not going to backpedal.
The Greenland issue is different. Greenland isn't "exactly" owned by Denmark in the same way Alaska was owned by Russia. So even if Denmark was amenable to give Greenland to the U. S., they don't really have that kind of power. They let the citizens of Greenland vote on staying with Denmark, becoming fully independent, or joining the U. S. They voted to remain with Denmark. So really Denmark is just honoring their choice.
No of course not the United States never consults the indigenous people in a territory before it annexes or just simply takes it. We either ignore them. If they're not going to give us trouble or if they do give us trouble we kill or enslave them.
You're conflating our country with Trump and his souless, spineless Republican cronies believe. Our country is very not nearly in favor of Trump's rhetoric about Greenland.
Agreed. It's something so many people do. Many Americans do this about other countries and ethnicities. We forget that when one person says something it doesn't represent all of us. Most people are just angry and can't think critically about who to blame.
You must be bored. Baiting actual MAGA is a waste of time as less than 50,000 people are MAGA. It would be like asking a fake q targeting a far left group. Most dems and reps are moderates
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