My family moved to Douglas Island, across the bay from Juneau on my 2nd birthday. That was in 1955. A lot of people are surprised when I tell them that I lived in Alaska when it was a territory, before becoming a state. I was 6 when Alaska gained statehood and I still remember the first 4th of July parade in Juneau that year, with Tlingit Indians wearing their bright yellow, blue and black chilkat robes. I have had a love for the art of the Pacific Northwest tribes ever since. Unfortunately, my family moved to Missouri when i was 8 years old, and I've missed the forest and beaches of Douglas Island. My fondest memories have always been those early years in Alaska.
My great grandfather known as “Alaska Bill” in the family, traveled from the east in NY to the Black Hills gold rush and later to Alaska. I have some pictures of him prospecting in Alaska. It was pretty rough and raw there. He got his gold but instead of staying went back home to his family and farm. He was a strict Baptist and I think looked for the calmer life back home. Thank you for a great story on Alaska!
@@TheChilKat Wilderness can really open us up if we let it. I live in eastern mountains of WV near thousands of acres of national forest. The woods are really something. Got to get to Alaska soon.
My grand father also traveled to alsaska from Pittsburgh to prospect gold..he did it as a hobby as he was the head of bell atlantic telephone before it split into at&t..he retired in Nevada..I believe my grandmother has a little bit of gold he had found..idk if your name is actually Dave but that was also my grandpa's name.
This presentation is the best I've seen in relation to the US, Canada, Great Britain and Russia. None of this is taught in Canadian schools and I learned more in this half hour video than in all over my 50+ years. This is a work of excellence that really cleared up a lot of questions and mysteries I've had for most of my life. Thank you!
It might have been what your local school board wanted you to learn, I'm in south west Ontario, and I learned about manifest destiny in the 4th grade(1984)
I too learned more about this history. I have traveled to tourist spots on a cruise and was so very impressed and inspired by the people, beauty of the areas, and became much more grateful for the fact that the USA has it as a part of US. What if congress had not approved the funds and Russian had moved to "gift" the territory? Woulda, Shoulda, Couda!!
Well assembled history lesson, but you did not answer your own question, the real reason the United States bought Alaska from Russia. This drives me crazy, a video title makes a supposition, or statement, or presents an idea to be answered and it does not answer the darn question. If this was a university thesis or white paper, it would be rejected! You present all the facts, then you drop the ball and walk away...
They did answer the question several times throughout the beginning and middle of the video. The United States thought that it would eventually somehow acquire all of Canada from England. The video even showed you how Alberta (don't remember which Canadian providence it was) wanted to concede from Canada which would have been great since that was the Canadian territory that was on the west coast of the pacific. The U.S. wanted to have control and own all of North America except Mexico. They had already gotten what they were going to get from Mexico. I don't know how you missed all that especially since they said it many times. So you no longer have to feel like you are being driven crazy because the content did match the title. I wonder how often you do or miss things in real life and don't realize it and get mad at people for it????? Just a thought. Not saying that happens. I don't know you. Have a good day
At a cost of 1 and a half Cents per Acre, it was a really good deal at the time. At an equivalent value of 150 million dollars for 452.8 million acres, it's still a good deal. Where else can you buy land at 33.3 cents per acre?
Fun Fact: Sarah Palin never said that she could see Russia from her backyard. That was from a SNL skit by Tina Fey. But if you repeat a lie enough times, people begin to believe it.
I know hindsight is 20/20 but I love the irony of Russia opting to sell Alaska to the US instead of Britain because the British were their main geopolitical enemies at the time, only for the US to become their main geopolitical enemies a hundred years later and Alaska then turns out to be an immensely valuable piece of land 😂
@@Cam4Cameron in a similar way, Napoleon sold the Louisiana territories to the US to fund his invasion of Britain and because he thought it would give Britain a “maritime rival that sooner or later will humble her pride”. Since WWII the french have often complained about US hegemony and tried to position Europe as counterweight when the British are very much aligned to the US led alliance and are seen as US lackeys by the french.
Just knowing Alaska is there, a genuine wilderness frontier available to any American, will always make it a special place to our country! This was a very good video.
This is the problem with Americans laziness. Youre content knowing it’s there but you don’t even need a passport to go. Why wouldn’t you go visit a palace you have such interest in?
The British actually owned Victoria Island in Hong Kong, but leased Kowloon and the New Territories sections. They realized that keeping Victoria Island was untenable without a water supply. Singapore had similar problems in the past. A curious, but no longer existent anomaly was the former Chinese military fort (I've also read that it was salt-shipping yard), the Walled City of Kowloon, over which China had jurisdiction, but couldn't send in any police. The British couldn't/wouldn't either, because it (sort of) wasn't under Hong Kong's jurisdiction. It became a center for gangs, vice, crime, and illegal businesses. It was off-limits for US military personnel when Hong Kong was a port of call.
A very thorough and interesting presentation. It’s a little surprising, however, that omitted was the attempted assassination of Seward on the night Lincoln was shot. Seward barely recovered from the attack which occurred at his home in Washington, DC.
I came to comment exactly the same. It seems silly saying Alaska is 16% of the US's area while showing a graphic where it's 40%. Honestly, I think any projection would work as long as it was centered appropriately. But I'm always a fan of the Peirce quincuncial.
Wow, top job. A group of professionals in a workshop would be challenged to produce something this good. Theirs would be functional, but not the stylish finish you come up with. You continue to inspire 😊. Greetings from Christchurch New Zealand
This is professional lying, not the truth but the propaganda and paid psychological nonsense. Googled the following to know the truth about Alaska and Hawaii: “Alaska is an Apartheid State” and “Notice of Fraud to USA and the Holy See on the maladministration of Alaska and Hawaii Indigenous Nations” The deception of the racist regime United States of America and its racist political subdivisions Alaska and Hawaii are laid bare in the historical truth.
I had a 49-star United States flag at one time. It may still be under piles of family history. Note that, although Hawaii became a state also in 1959, it was after July 4th, and thus the 50th star did not get placed on the flag til 1960. I remember both events, and many of my younger coworkers and friends are amazed that when I was a boy, the flag had but 48 stars. (Nowadays many young people don't even know how many stars are on the flag, sadly)
@@KristopherNoronha Little Diomede is, currently by fewer than 100 residents, though it has been about double that in the past. Big Diomede used to be, by effectively the same tribe, but the USSR moved them to the mainland to make way for a military base. Shortly after the relocation, some residents of Little Diomede went across to visit their relatives, only to be taken into custody. They weren't treated particularly well, but were released just over a month and a half later and told never to return. I can't recall it the original residents of Big Diomede or their families have been allowed to return yet or not.
@@KristopherNoronhaI worked for a company that maintained the communications link from Little Diomede for their phones and internet. I have also met people that live there. Big Diomede is an Russian Military base. They land on an ice airstrip in the winter and use a helicopter in the summer to travel to and from there.
There are two islands at about the middle of the Bering Strait, called Big Diomede and Little Diomede, separated by 2.4 miles. Big Diomede is owned by Russia and Little Diomede by the US. It is very easy to see one from the other. And they are also separated by the international date line.
Mexico and Canada are foreign to the US and share land borders. The US Virgin Islands are well under a mile from the British Virgin Islands. Yeah, Russia is close, but not the closest.
Was watching on TV app, had to find this video on my phone (account) because I wanted you to know as a an old, old lol, history buff, this is THE best Alaska Purchase video I've seen. The information you provided in barely over 1/2 hour is astounding. Very well done, I enjoyed learning a few nuances I had not known. Thank you
and in a few years there'll be another video with contradicting views and then you can like that one even better. We all believe that which we wish to be true.
@user-fg7bo5bf4s Not all of us, only fanatics, like Humpers believe the election was stolen and Socialists believe its the "fairest" economic system. Opinions are arbitrary Facts are not. Great thing about the WWW is that you can verify anything anyone says, you don't have to take anything at face value, which is why I wonder why so many believe stupid crap so easily disproved
That was the best history of Alaska I’ve ever seen! This video should be the basis for a semester long college course! Very very good! I learned so much in 35 minutes! 👍
@@MapPack Lol I not only enjoyed it, I’m mind blown by how much historically important information you packed into such a short presentation. Whether you realize it or not, if you’re video were presented as a single class lecture, the students would leave amazed and grateful to have learned so much. Many kudos!
I most say that it's the first time I can enjoy a RUclips video with a really smart use of stock video. You did a great job by placing them well on time and making sense of what you were explaining.
The purchase of ALASKA was the greatest buy since the LOUISIANA PURCHASE. I have never been there but I read it has wonderful wildlife and oil. THE SIZE AND MAJESTY AMAZES ME! AND WE BOUGHT IT FOR CHUMP CHANGE!
Yea spoken like someone who clearly does not live in Alaska. That's all true but nobody out here talks like that bud, this is why Alaska is very different from any other state. Also super tight relations with Canada is why its still succeeding, the rest of America treats Alaska as a resources bin or a place to run away, nothing more. So no not that great a deal for any one except Washington DC with the money they make off it. Alaska is gonna be an Industrial hellhole as time goes on, don't believe me? Its already happening as I type this.
Jefferson Davis was supposed to be court-martialed for killing Nelson but, because he was a general, the court-martial board had to consist of other generals. In the middle of a war there was a lack of generals who weren't involved in fighting, so Davis's court-martial was postponed and eventually never happened. Davis literally got away with murder.
I have just started reading James A Michener's, Alaska ( only into 300 pages ) Awesome read and covers exactly the names, places & events as mentioned in story form of families coming and going in Alaska over the times. Really good read only 750 pages to go
James Michener's wife did much of the research for him while they were in Sitka in the 1980s, which I heard about from friends when I'd get to town. She spent quite a bit of time at Old Harbor Books, and I'm sure at the Sheldon Jackson College Museum. John Muir's writings of his travels in Alaska are also a worthy read, as Glacier Bay was filled at the time of his canoe trips.
This is professional lying, not the truth but the propaganda and paid psychological nonsense. Googled the following to know the truth about Alaska and Hawaii: “Alaska is an Apartheid State” and “Notice of Fraud to USA and the Holy See on the maladministration of Alaska and Hawaii Indigenous Nations” The deception of the racist regime United States of America and its racist political subdivisions Alaska and Hawaii are laid bare in the historical truth.
Last I knew, the Yupik in southern Alaska objected to being called Inuit, whereas the Iñupiat in Northern Alaska are generally fine with it. Canadian and Greenland Inuit definitely object to being called Eskimo, but I’m not sure if the Iñupiat do. So I think the video is in error referring to the Yupik people as Inuit. I don’t think there’s any one broadly accepted catch-all phrase to refer to all of North America’s Northern peoples, actually.
Great video; thank you for making it. Couple of things, though, the pronunciation of Aleutian, Cossack, and Yukon are a bit off. Also, in the second World War Alaska was the site of a US battle with Japan, the battle of Attu, which is also not taught in history classes very much; my father was part of the Navy forces defending the US against this attack.
Nobody in lesser 48 even recognizes Alaska as a state. Most can't tell you where we are at. They think we're down off the coast of Mexico along with Hawaii next to us! Go ask ten people and see what you get.
Second time. The Louisiana Purchase was a very good purchase as well. Actually third time. The Interstate system is possibly the single most successful infrastructure purchase of all time.
I love the story of an Alaskan senator and Texas senator getting into an argument. The Alaskan senator threatened, "You better watch out. Or we'll split Alaska in two and make you the THIRD largest state."
Does Alaska have any world class universities? Or research institutes? Does Alaska contribute anything to American industrial might? Can you get a good bowl of chili in Alaska? Just asking.
But but....everything's bigger in Texas (except manhood of course). Guns, waistlines, middle class taxes, property taxes, privatized prisons and roads..............
Wonderfully done! I know US history well - and remember teachers’ references to “Seward’s Folly” - but much of this was new information for me. Thank you!
My Great, Great Uncle was part of the Klondike gold rush. Civilians I met while stationed on the DEW Line in Alaska had made small fortunes working on the Alaska Pipeline. It is definitely a land of rugged and isolated beauty and a place a well skilled man can still live a true wilderness life.
Life of a cabin boy, in a cabin with wood heat and running water.my hydro bill was too high ! At 2 a.m., the wood stove goes out! You wake up put on your cold shoes and use pine bows to start the fire.You have to go out and cut wood with only 6 hours of daylight way below the 60th parallel,otherwise you better have 20 cords of wood stacked up right at the door! Before the dark comes in the Arctic! Water,to have running water,I ran to the well and smashed through the ice with a steel bar and dropped in my 5 gal pail! That's running water, and the water receded all winter till it was gone,them just snow melt for food and water By 6 in the morning my 5 Gallons of water was frozen,so where's my hammer to smash up the ice for morning coffee? Also the town was 16 miles away,don't buy a propane fueled vehicle,it freezes the propane at -25 f and I had no car to get to town all winter. I stayed up too late on the computer,so I had just enough daylight if I woke up at noon and a lot if times 3 pm,to gather firewood. Life of a cabin boy, I had dog he climbed in bed and went to my feet,nice and warm feet till I had to get out of bed! Ya know these cartoons where a big ol moose goes by and the ground vibrates and everything goes" doing doing doing!" It's true,one night the ground outside my door had a puddle frozen solid and a big ol moose went by the cabin,and it went doing doing doing! As he went past! One morning the radio reported it was minus 42.3 below 0 farenheight! I went to go to town,put on work gloves,then the big sheep skin mits,the cold bit through them in 5 minutes I went back inside! and starved for 3 days till It warmed up! So,if you want to be a cabin boy,be prepared for a rough existence! And get a dog,no pocket pooches ,a husky or lab shepherd mix!
Narrative of the Crimean War (minute 14.25), supported by a map showing the borders of Russia post 1992. According to this map, Crimea in 1853 was not even part of Russia.
And your map at 5 minutes is wrong - you show Crimea as green, Russian. Its not - its Ukrainian. We must these things right, otherwise you are validating Putins aggression.
Excellent video! I subscribed! There are still a number of surviving 18/19th century Russian orthodox churches in Alaska with their iconic onion domes. Some as far south as Northern California of what I presume were RAC outposts. The only 2 things I would've added was an approximate value for how much $7 Million was during the civil war period. Turns out it's roughly $150 million in today's money. Still a bargain even by today's standards, but that was A LOT of money back then. The other being that Russia at that time in the 1860s was fighting another war against the Ottoman's which they won allowing Greece and Bulgaria (both Orthodox) to gain independence from the Islam ruled Ottoman empire. So it was money they wanted for the war effort and reconstruction in Crimea. The Russian empire saw the Ottoman empire as an occupying nation of the former Byzantine (Medieval Greece) empire's city of Constantinople (today's Istanbul), the holy capital of Orthodox Christianity. What the Vatican symbolizes to Catholics or Mecca to Muslims in essence. It was from Byzantine Constantinople that missionaries spread Christian orthodoxy to the Slavic world and to ancient Kievan Rus. Since the Ottoman empire only disappeared in the early 20th century, Russia for all intents and purposes basically inherited the custodial role for the eastern orthodox nations especially its centuries long close ally of Serbia until the Russian revolution when Lenin outlawed religion for a century.
Promyshleniki [Промышленники] means Industrialists. Verbatim it means “those who develop” or “those who industrialize” which is the same word in Russia.
At that time "promysel" (промысел) meant "[commercial] hunting & fishing" (охота и рыболовcтво), so "promyslovik" or "promyshlennik" (промысловик, промышленник) is just a commercial hunter/trapper/fisherman. Industrialization came there much later. Of course, it has nothing with "your orphan", idk where the author of the video could get this translation, it is just silly. There are many other mistakes in the video, e.g. kossaks were not from Carpatian mountains, but from Pontic-Caspian steppes (the area between the Black sea and the Caspian sea, etc
You must have used European sources for the distance between Russia and the U. S.-they usually say they are 55 km apart. In fact, the Russian isaland of Big Diomede and the Alaskan island of Little Diomede are only 3.8 km/2-1/4mi apart. Aside from the contiguous countries of Canada and Mexico, Russia is the closest foreign country to the U. S.
Very interesting, thank you, i learned a lot. I recall another motivation for tge purchase was to remove a foreign piwer from North America, which is probably less important than the reasons you listed.
Interestingly, when Alexander the II liberated the serfs (who were de facto slaves, or close to it) it took longer then expected to formalize and execute the decree because Alexander wanted to make sure that when the serfs were freed the same thing that happened in America would not happen in Russia. Meaning that many skill-less serfs would be terminated and the once that happened they would be nothing more then impoverished share-croppers. Russian liberation included the forfeiture of 1/2 of all the land worked by the serfs TO THE SERFS, to be owned collectively by small groups of up to several hundred families of serfs. The working of the rest of the arid-able land would have to be negotiated between the landlords and former serfs themselves.
@@WorshipinIdols Admittedly the peasantry weren't responsible for the revolution in 1917. The revolution was the result of communist agitation of the industrial proletariat through the creation of soviets in the cities of the north like St. Petersburg and Moscow. But the resentment of land and wealth inequality within the rural population drove the dekulakization and class warfare beginning in the late 20s in the Stalin Regime. Of course this was orchestrated by the Kremlin and ultimately much of the blame falls squarely on the architects of the first five year plan, but often people were denounced because of petty envy rather than any political action or belief.
Alaska's greatest value may still lie ahead. As a foothold in the Artic, it gives the US rights to a changing environment where the opening of a Northwest passage may change the nature of global trade as we know it.
When you specify the distance between Russia and the United States it is 2.6 miles. That is the distance between the two Diomede islands. The channel between Big Diomede (Russia) and Little Diomede (United States).
Wow, lots of tortuous pronunciations of place names, but the biggest howler was a map indicating "Rabbit Creek" just south of Anchorage as a major gold producing area in the Yukon (which is part of Canada). add to that the fact that the Rabbit creek area of the Anchorage bowl is nowhere near the area depicted on the map. Would be nice to consult with locals before releasing a 34 minute historical video.
My family moved to Alaska in 1941 just before the war started. I grew p there and had a great boyhood and career there while enjoying hunting fishing mountain climbing sking and the great out doors. A magnificent country but you put up with a lot of bad weather.
Why is Alaska like the Wall in Game of Thrones? Because half of the year it's too cold to go beyond, and there's always the chance you'll run into a polar bear who thinks he's the Night King!
In an video that seems to be setting the story straight to say that Hong Kong was leased by the British for 100 years is an own goal. Hong Kong was a British colony of the British Empire since 1841 that was expanded a couple of times including when Britain leased the New Territories for 99 years. So it was only the extension that was leased, not Hong Kong.
Thank you for this interesting and informative video! As an Austrian from Europe I've had no idea when Alaska got to the US and what the backgrounds were and why there are still Russian speaking people in this state. It's a shame that I never learned this in history class at school.
Correct pronunciation for Valdez is Valdeese. Local pronunciation rules and it morphed into the local slangese. There was a movie called Valdez is Comming and that would be correct in Spanish but not in Alaska.
As a Terminal Radio, Inc. board member for 14 years, we still like the old T-shirt. "KCHU The Sneeze from Valdez." The opposite side read "Gesundheit" printed three times. "Providing Public Radio Broadcast Service to Prince William Sound and the Copper River Basin."
54 degree latitude does not cut through the centre of Alaska as shown. That would be the Arctic Circle, which is 66 degrees north . 54 degrees north corresponds more closely with 5e southern tip of the Alaskan panhandle
At 32:10 talking about rabbit creek in the Klondike, it's incorrectly shown on the map. It's actually highlighting the Chugach Mountains close to what would be Anchorage, Alaska. The correct location would be in Dawson City in the Yukon territory.
Really? The British fought several wars to preserve Canada from the clutches of the territory-greedy Yanks - including the War of Independence and the war of 1812. They turned on Mexico instead, (and Cuba and the Philippines)..
Canada, of course, was never annexed by the United States. In the west, what was left of the Hudson Bay Company's territories were transferred to Canadian control in 1870 becoming the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia joined Canada as its sixth province in 1871.
Didn’t President Polk make a grab for boarder land in BC? I visited Kingston once in August as they have a great jazz festival there, I think in Ontario and during those early times the Canadians set up artillery positions in a crossfire to disable any American warship that decided to venture down the St. Lawrence seaway. Vestiges of them are still there. Anyone with better or corrective details, jump in here.
As a footnote, I have experienced that Canadians know more about our history than we do theirs. Need to teach more Canadian history in our schools along with US history. There is a rich history too of the contributions and sacrifices made by Canadians during WWII also. We would not have fighter capability fighters with fly-by-wire if not for development of the AVRO Arrow too. Sadly Canada discontinued it but not before they shared technical expertise.
@@UncaDaveyea we are becoming third world now.. was nice while it lasted. Kinda partly wishing those early BC citizens were successful in their bid to join the US
History not taught or touched upon in British or European? classrooms.. At 78 years of age I'm learning more history of mankind than ever thanks to erudite and patient people like you. Thank you so much 💐
I love history , this kind of stuff is really mindbending , people lay claim to land that is not theirs , then have the audacity to sell it. Kind of a racket really.
Good video but there is a major error in yr map of Russia at the time of the Crimean war where the Russian border is shown too far to East & doesn't include Crimea muchless the port of Odessa both of which had been Russia since the 1700's
Yeah, and there’s millions of natural resources there that are worth a lot more than it was purchased for too. It’s no wonder Russia regretted selling it to us and wants it back now.
I was a teen when the Berlin wall came down. I think the world be a very different place if the Russians would have kept Alaska through the cold war. Imagine the Soviets building up a massive land and air force in Alaska. Scary!!!
At the 13:10 mark, reference is made to an 1824 boundary at 54 degrees north (actually 54 degrees 40 minutes), but the white line on the map is around 64-65 degrees north! At 13:30, reference is made to the 1842 boundary between the United States and “New England”. New England is part of the U.S.: the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut! The reference at 13:30 should be between the United States and British North America, which would become Canada from 1867 to 1871. The 1842 boundary solely applies to Maine’s final borders with Canada East (future Quebec) and New Brunswick, while in 1818 a boundary was set west of the Lake of the Woods, and in 1783 a boundary was set between Maine and the Lake of the Woods. At 25:18, reference is made that Alaska was separated from the rest of the U.S. by “Canada”, but Canada did not control all of that until 1871 - it was British territory, much of it controlled by a private company until 1870. At 32:09, the image zooms in on the Anchorage area, while talking about something OUTSIDE Alaska: the 1896 Rabbit Creek gold discovery in the vicinity of Dawson City far, far to the northeast of Anchorage and east of the longitudinal boundary line between Alaska and Canada's North-West Territories! These things pointed out, the video remains useful in telling about Russian and American motivations for Alaska's acquisition by the U.S.
Anyone into history should know, the only real money is gold, everything is measured in gold, the world economy has and continues to depend and revolve around gold. in 1990 a gallon of gas was $1.15 (1/336 oz of gold). Today a gallon of gas is $3.52 (1/558 oz of gold). in 1990 a car cost 18 oz of gold, today a car cost 18 oz of gold
Промышленники (promyshlenniki) does not mean "your orphan." It means industrialists. The root noun, промышленность/promyshlennost', means industry and comes from the root word idea (мысль/mysl'). Nothing to do with orphans. "Those who think" with the pro- prefix added on to the noun/verb forms to specify industry or mining/harvesting resources. I have no doubt the author of the video's text found that citation somewhere about it meaning orphan, but just FYI for those watching this that its meaning is different.
at 22:25 it was stated that Alaska was bought by the US for $7,200,000 for 140,000,000 acres of land. If you use a calculator it comes to 5 cents an acre not 2 cents an acre.
How Russia must rue the day it sold out Alaska to the USA ! Not only due to it’s abundance of natural resources , but due to its strategic location, giving Russia a foothold in North America! THIS sale would Have been the bargain of the century!!
My family moved to Douglas Island, across the bay from Juneau on my 2nd birthday. That was in 1955. A lot of people are surprised when I tell them that I lived in Alaska when it was a territory, before becoming a state. I was 6 when Alaska gained statehood and I still remember the first 4th of July parade in Juneau that year, with Tlingit Indians wearing their bright yellow, blue and black chilkat robes. I have had a love for the art of the Pacific Northwest tribes ever since.
Unfortunately, my family moved to Missouri when i was 8 years old, and I've missed the forest and beaches of Douglas Island. My fondest memories have always been those early years in Alaska.
That's a nice anecdote
Interesting and informative!
Juneau more than I do about Alaska! :)
Hope you get back some day soon!
Damn, more fond than your first kiss, high school times etc?
@@jm4236 people are fond of highschool and their first kiss???
My great grandfather known as “Alaska Bill” in the family, traveled from the east in NY to the Black Hills gold rush and later to Alaska. I have some pictures of him prospecting in Alaska. It was pretty rough and raw there. He got his gold but instead of staying went back home to his family and farm. He was a strict Baptist and I think looked for the calmer life back home. Thank you for a great story on Alaska!
how to make this about you
Thank you for sharing your story.
I live on the SE coast of Alaska.
I love to hear family stories.
👍
@@elspoocho4637 It just that this history reminds me of family history and all of us have a story, so why not share.
@@TheChilKat Wilderness can really open us up if we let it. I live in eastern mountains of WV near thousands of acres of national forest. The woods are really something. Got to get to Alaska soon.
My grand father also traveled to alsaska from Pittsburgh to prospect gold..he did it as a hobby as he was the head of bell atlantic telephone before it split into at&t..he retired in Nevada..I believe my grandmother has a little bit of gold he had found..idk if your name is actually Dave but that was also my grandpa's name.
This presentation is the best I've seen in relation to the US, Canada, Great Britain and Russia. None of this is taught in Canadian schools and I learned more in this half hour video than in all over my 50+ years. This is a work of excellence that really cleared up a lot of questions and mysteries I've had for most of my life. Thank you!
It might have been what your local school board wanted you to learn, I'm in south west Ontario, and I learned about manifest destiny in the 4th grade(1984)
@@Schnick74 I grew up around the falls around niagara, over 50 years ago. Good to hear they're teaching more now, than then.
😳 you’ve lived quite a sheltered existence eh? Yikes! Better late than never I suppose! 🤯
@@jessehachey2732 dunno about that, but our school curriculums at the time were obviously different.
I too learned more about this history. I have traveled to tourist spots on a cruise and was so very impressed and inspired by the people, beauty of the areas, and became much more grateful for the fact that the USA has it as a part of US.
What if congress had not approved the funds and Russian had moved to "gift" the territory? Woulda, Shoulda, Couda!!
This is one hell of a historical documentary. Impressive.
Well assembled history lesson, but you did not answer your own question, the real reason the United States bought Alaska from Russia. This drives me crazy, a video title makes a supposition, or statement, or presents an idea to be answered and it does not answer the darn question. If this was a university thesis or white paper, it would be rejected! You present all the facts, then you drop the ball and walk away...
They did answer the question several times throughout the beginning and middle of the video. The United States thought that it would eventually somehow acquire all of Canada from England. The video even showed you how Alberta (don't remember which Canadian providence it was) wanted to concede from Canada which would have been great since that was the Canadian territory that was on the west coast of the pacific. The U.S. wanted to have control and own all of North America except Mexico. They had already gotten what they were going to get from Mexico. I don't know how you missed all that especially since they said it many times. So you no longer have to feel like you are being driven crazy because the content did match the title. I wonder how often you do or miss things in real life and don't realize it and get mad at people for it????? Just a thought. Not saying that happens. I don't know you. Have a good day
@@katiekat4457 Are you sure your name is not Lucy???
Er hatt zum Kauf nix gesagt. Weil er nicht wusste. Daß der Zar Geld brauchte, und 8.000 000. Mille waren damals eine Stange Geld 😉
At a cost of 1 and a half Cents per Acre, it was a really good deal at the time. At an equivalent value of 150 million dollars for 452.8 million acres, it's still a good deal. Where else can you buy land at 33.3 cents per acre?
Back then, 1 and a half cents was worth a lot more than today. Probably still a good deal.
@@matthewnord9713 I think 1.5 cents back then is worth more today.
@@treyhelms1917yes. It's worth 33.3 cents today. Still very inexpensive
@@matthewnord9713 ...still cheap
@treyhelms1917 @matthewnord9713 this conversation sounded like a couple of bots in an echo chamber. RUclips isn't real.
Fun Fact: Sarah Palin never said that she could see Russia from her backyard. That was from a SNL skit by Tina Fey. But if you repeat a lie enough times, people begin to believe it.
Even if she did say it, that would obviously have been said figuratively.
Correct. Sarah said you can see Russia from Alaska, which of course is absolutely true. Fey twisted it and for some reason it confuses people.
To make her look unintelligent. The left is bad about doing that.
Fun fact: Sarah Palin slept with Glen Rice.
@@bobtrzcinski840
I, for one, am not envious.
I know hindsight is 20/20 but I love the irony of Russia opting to sell Alaska to the US instead of Britain because the British were their main geopolitical enemies at the time, only for the US to become their main geopolitical enemies a hundred years later and Alaska then turns out to be an immensely valuable piece of land 😂
It shows the never-ending foolishness of Russia. They will never learn...
@@Cam4Cameron in a similar way, Napoleon sold the Louisiana territories to the US to fund his invasion of Britain and because he thought it would give Britain a “maritime rival that sooner or later will humble her pride”. Since WWII the french have often complained about US hegemony and tried to position Europe as counterweight when the British are very much aligned to the US led alliance and are seen as US lackeys by the french.
They also knew that the US was going to take it anyway, unless British Canada did first.
@@cejannuzi yeah for sure, the French wouldn’t have held on. More likely the British in my view.
Britain is still their enemy, the only reason they aren't more of an enemy than the U.S. is because the U.S. is bigger and scarier.
Its crazy the USA bought Alaska for only 150 million dollars when people pay more for a damn house.
😂
Just knowing Alaska is there, a genuine wilderness frontier available to any American, will always make it a special place to our country! This was a very good video.
Probably the only place where you can go far enough out where you can be free and no government goons will ever bother you.
This is the problem with Americans laziness. Youre content knowing it’s there but you don’t even need a passport to go. Why wouldn’t you go visit a palace you have such interest in?
My 3 weeks there on vacation was some of the best time and money I ever spent in my life!
The British actually owned Victoria Island in Hong Kong, but leased Kowloon and the New Territories sections. They realized that keeping Victoria Island was untenable without a water supply. Singapore had similar problems in the past. A curious, but no longer existent anomaly was the former Chinese military fort (I've also read that it was salt-shipping yard), the Walled City of Kowloon, over which China had jurisdiction, but couldn't send in any police. The British couldn't/wouldn't either, because it (sort of) wasn't under Hong Kong's jurisdiction. It became a center for gangs, vice, crime, and illegal businesses. It was off-limits for US military personnel when Hong Kong was a port of call.
Many thanks for the correction.
In school we were taught that the "99 year lease" was only the new territories.
A very thorough and interesting presentation. It’s a little surprising, however, that omitted was the attempted assassination of Seward on the night Lincoln was shot. Seward barely recovered from the attack which occurred at his home in Washington, DC.
Thanks, man. As a Canadian, I've never been so well informed in such a short time.
Mercator may not be the best projection to use if you're gonna deal with high latitude territories...
I came to comment exactly the same. It seems silly saying Alaska is 16% of the US's area while showing a graphic where it's 40%.
Honestly, I think any projection would work as long as it was centered appropriately. But I'm always a fan of the Peirce quincuncial.
Ah yes JonOsterman59 from RUclips, noted cartographer
I wanna get in the drama.
The software he's using for the graphic probably doesn't have any other maps. It's not really that big of a deal.
Wow, top job. A group of professionals in a workshop would be challenged to produce something this good. Theirs would be functional, but not the stylish finish you come up with. You continue to inspire 😊. Greetings from Christchurch New Zealand
This is professional lying, not the truth but the propaganda and paid psychological nonsense. Googled the following to know the truth about Alaska and Hawaii: “Alaska is an Apartheid State” and “Notice of Fraud to USA and the Holy See on the maladministration of Alaska and Hawaii Indigenous Nations” The deception of the racist regime United States of America and its racist political subdivisions Alaska and Hawaii are laid bare in the historical truth.
I had a 49-star United States flag at one time. It may still be under piles of family history. Note that, although Hawaii became a state also in 1959, it was after July 4th, and thus the 50th star did not get placed on the flag til 1960. I remember both events, and many of my younger coworkers and friends are amazed that when I was a boy, the flag had but 48 stars. (Nowadays many young people don't even know how many stars are on the flag, sadly)
Did the canton have a 7 x 7 field of the 49 stars?
Yes, with alternate rows offset. The 48 star flag had six rows of 8 stars arranged evenly.
Buddy, most Americans don't even know what the stars are or how many
@@goylanddefree80 Absolutely, as I said. Which president said he visited 54 states?
@@ColonelMarcellusObama. And, Biden has visited all 57 of them.
Technically, the US & Russia are closer due to the Diomede Islands. Big Diomede (Russia) and little Diomede (US) are just 1.2 miles apart.
but they aren't permanently inhabited I think.
@@KristopherNoronha I just watched a video on the US side and it is inhabited. IDK about Russia’s island.
@@KristopherNoronha
Little Diomede is, currently by fewer than 100 residents, though it has been about double that in the past. Big Diomede used to be, by effectively the same tribe, but the USSR moved them to the mainland to make way for a military base.
Shortly after the relocation, some residents of Little Diomede went across to visit their relatives, only to be taken into custody. They weren't treated particularly well, but were released just over a month and a half later and told never to return.
I can't recall it the original residents of Big Diomede or their families have been allowed to return yet or not.
Nearly close enough to throw rocks at each other. I didn't know that.
@@KristopherNoronhaI worked for a company that maintained the communications link from Little Diomede for their phones and internet. I have also met people that live there. Big Diomede is an Russian Military base. They land on an ice airstrip in the winter and use a helicopter in the summer to travel to and from there.
There are two islands at about the middle of the Bering Strait, called Big Diomede and Little Diomede, separated by 2.4 miles. Big Diomede is owned by Russia and Little Diomede by the US. It is very easy to see one from the other. And they are also separated by the international date line.
Yup, as I said in another comment, Russia is the closest foreign country to the U. S.
Mexico and Canada are foreign to the US and share land borders. The US Virgin Islands are well under a mile from the British Virgin Islands. Yeah, Russia is close, but not the closest.
Because the last of the alluetions cross the date line it makes Alaska the furthest Eastern, western and Northern state in the US
Was watching on TV app, had to find this video on my phone (account) because I wanted you to know as a an old, old lol, history buff, this is THE best Alaska Purchase video I've seen. The information you provided in barely over 1/2 hour is astounding. Very well done, I enjoyed learning a few nuances I had not known. Thank you
and in a few years there'll be another video with contradicting views and then you can like that one even better. We all believe that which we wish to be true.
@user-fg7bo5bf4s Not all of us, only fanatics, like Humpers believe the election was stolen and Socialists believe its the "fairest" economic system.
Opinions are arbitrary
Facts are not. Great thing about the WWW is that you can verify anything anyone says, you don't have to take anything at face value, which is why I wonder why so many believe stupid crap so easily disproved
@@61RdlyKryk79 whatever
Learned more in 35 min than several semesters of college history, economics and politics.
That was the best history of Alaska I’ve ever seen! This video should be the basis for a semester long college course!
Very very good! I learned so much in 35 minutes! 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@MapPack
Lol I not only enjoyed it, I’m mind blown by how much historically important information you packed into such a short presentation.
Whether you realize it or not, if you’re video were presented as a single class lecture, the students would leave amazed and grateful to have learned so much.
Many kudos!
I most say that it's the first time I can enjoy a RUclips video with a really smart use of stock video.
You did a great job by placing them well on time and making sense of what you were explaining.
The purchase of ALASKA was the greatest buy since the LOUISIANA PURCHASE. I have never been there but I read it has wonderful wildlife and oil. THE SIZE AND MAJESTY AMAZES ME! AND WE BOUGHT IT FOR CHUMP CHANGE!
Yea spoken like someone who clearly does not live in Alaska.
That's all true but nobody out here talks like that bud, this is why Alaska is very different from any other state.
Also super tight relations with Canada is why its still succeeding, the rest of America treats Alaska as a resources bin or a place to run away, nothing more.
So no not that great a deal for any one except Washington DC with the money they make off it.
Alaska is gonna be an Industrial hellhole as time goes on, don't believe me?
Its already happening as I type this.
Who’s we ? Why do you refer yourself as one of them ? You aren’t them … wtf
@@DROK278 yesssss!!! I one hundred percent agree with you !!! Perfectly spoken !!!!
As a Canadian, I would absolutely love to visit Alaska in both summer and winter.
Thanks very interesting hadn't heard some of this history. Well done presentation
Jefferson Davis was supposed to be court-martialed for killing Nelson but, because he was a general, the court-martial board had to consist of other generals. In the middle of a war there was a lack of generals who weren't involved in fighting, so Davis's court-martial was postponed and eventually never happened. Davis literally got away with murder.
I like turtles.
Wow, so today's corruption in government isn't unique.
This was incredibly informative! Thank u for posting 🙏🏽
So good. The animation style, the voiceover, the writing…this is an amazing channel! Definitely subbed!
I have just started reading James A Michener's, Alaska ( only into 300 pages ) Awesome read and covers exactly the names, places & events as mentioned in story form of families coming and going in Alaska over the times. Really good read only 750 pages to go
James Michener's wife did much of the research for him while they were in Sitka in the 1980s, which I heard about from friends when I'd get to town. She spent quite a bit of time at Old Harbor Books, and I'm sure at the Sheldon Jackson College Museum. John Muir's writings of his travels in Alaska are also a worthy read, as Glacier Bay was filled at the time of his canoe trips.
An amazing take over history. A sober video, with concise and direct content, thanks.
This is professional lying, not the truth but the propaganda and paid psychological nonsense. Googled the following to know the truth about Alaska and Hawaii: “Alaska is an Apartheid State” and “Notice of Fraud to USA and the Holy See on the maladministration of Alaska and Hawaii Indigenous Nations” The deception of the racist regime United States of America and its racist political subdivisions Alaska and Hawaii are laid bare in the historical truth.
Last I knew, the Yupik in southern Alaska objected to being called Inuit, whereas the Iñupiat in Northern Alaska are generally fine with it. Canadian and Greenland Inuit definitely object to being called Eskimo, but I’m not sure if the Iñupiat do. So I think the video is in error referring to the Yupik people as Inuit. I don’t think there’s any one broadly accepted catch-all phrase to refer to all of North America’s Northern peoples, actually.
I learned more about this history than i did when i was in school! Nice job!
Great video; thank you for making it. Couple of things, though, the pronunciation of Aleutian, Cossack, and Yukon are a bit off. Also, in the second World War Alaska was the site of a US battle with Japan, the battle of Attu, which is also not taught in history classes very much; my father was part of the Navy forces defending the US against this attack.
Thanks for the very detailled presentation! No way to imagine today's US without Alaska!
Nobody in lesser 48 even recognizes Alaska as a state. Most can't tell you where we are at. They think we're down off the coast of Mexico along with Hawaii next to us! Go ask ten people and see what you get.
@@neildewitt2869its ok buying with Alaskan address has 0 tax
The only time a government purchase wasn't horrendously overpriced for the taxpayer 👏
The Louisiana purchase aswell
There are many examples of what you said all over the world? What are you basing this on? Doesn't line up with history nor reality?
Second time. The Louisiana Purchase was a very good purchase as well.
Actually third time. The Interstate system is possibly the single most successful infrastructure purchase of all time.
@@2x2is22 True, but the interstates were an Eisenhower project in the late 50s.
Mexico got it bad, but the price was comparable in the west
Very interesting. Thank you! Liked the Willie Nelson visual!
I love the story of an Alaskan senator and Texas senator getting into an argument. The Alaskan senator threatened, "You better watch out. Or we'll split Alaska in two and make you the THIRD largest state."
Does Alaska have any world class universities? Or research institutes? Does Alaska contribute anything to American industrial might? Can you get a good bowl of chili in Alaska? Just asking.
@@bradleymosman8325 Does Alaska annoy the fuck out of everyone?
Alaska > Texas
@@JF-vw9lv They're both fine. It's just some from Texas are unbearable. 🙂
But but....everything's bigger in Texas (except manhood of course). Guns, waistlines, middle class taxes, property taxes, privatized prisons and roads..............
Great documentary! Thanks for posting this!
A Real person narrating. You can right away. Thank you so very much - really! 🌷🌱
The german version is a catastrophe: Translator AND speaker both robots..
Wonderfully done! I know US history well - and remember teachers’ references to “Seward’s Folly” - but much of this was new information for me. Thank you!
My Great, Great Uncle was part of the Klondike gold rush. Civilians I met while stationed on the DEW Line in Alaska had made small fortunes working on the Alaska Pipeline. It is definitely a land of rugged and isolated beauty and a place a well skilled man can still live a true wilderness life.
Life of a cabin boy, in a cabin with wood heat and running water.my hydro bill was too high !
At 2 a.m., the wood stove goes out! You wake up put on your cold shoes and use pine bows to start the fire.You have to go out and cut wood with only 6 hours of daylight way below the 60th parallel,otherwise you better have 20 cords of wood stacked up right at the door! Before the dark comes in the Arctic!
Water,to have running water,I ran to the well and smashed through the ice with a steel bar and dropped in my 5 gal pail!
That's running water, and the water receded all winter till it was gone,them just snow melt for food and water By
6 in the morning my 5 Gallons of water was frozen,so where's my hammer to smash up the ice for morning coffee?
Also the town was 16 miles away,don't buy a propane fueled vehicle,it freezes the propane at -25 f and I had no car to get to town all winter.
I stayed up too late on the computer,so I had just enough daylight if I woke up at noon and a lot if times 3 pm,to gather firewood.
Life of a cabin boy, I had dog he climbed in bed and went to my feet,nice and warm feet till I had to get out of bed!
Ya know these cartoons where a big ol moose goes by and the ground vibrates and everything goes" doing doing doing!"
It's true,one night the ground outside my door had a puddle frozen solid and a big ol moose went by the cabin,and it went doing doing doing! As he went past!
One morning the radio reported it was minus 42.3 below 0 farenheight!
I went to go to town,put on work gloves,then the big sheep skin mits,the cold bit through them in 5 minutes I went back inside! and starved for 3 days till It warmed up!
So,if you want to be a cabin boy,be prepared for a rough existence!
And get a dog,no pocket pooches ,a husky or lab shepherd mix!
@@davidrussell8795have fun.
Ha most Americans scared to leave their home town and state. Amazing they have no life experience
Very Good!!!! Thank You!!!!
Great show! Thank you for it
Narrative of the Crimean War (minute 14.25), supported by a map showing the borders of Russia post 1992. According to this map, Crimea in 1853 was not even part of Russia.
And your map at 5 minutes is wrong - you show Crimea as green, Russian. Its not - its Ukrainian. We must these things right, otherwise you are validating Putins aggression.
@@DrivermanO100%! Crimea is Ukraine!
All of Ukraine was part of the Russian empire in the 19th century
Did you get this map from russians? Only they draw maps where crimea is not part of Ukraine
I said the same thing earlier.
Excellent video! I subscribed! There are still a number of surviving 18/19th century Russian orthodox churches in Alaska with their iconic onion domes. Some as far south as Northern California of what I presume were RAC outposts. The only 2 things I would've added was an approximate value for how much $7 Million was during the civil war period. Turns out it's roughly $150 million in today's money. Still a bargain even by today's standards, but that was A LOT of money back then. The other being that Russia at that time in the 1860s was fighting another war against the Ottoman's which they won allowing Greece and Bulgaria (both Orthodox) to gain independence from the Islam ruled Ottoman empire. So it was money they wanted for the war effort and reconstruction in Crimea. The Russian empire saw the Ottoman empire as an occupying nation of the former Byzantine (Medieval Greece) empire's city of Constantinople (today's Istanbul), the holy capital of Orthodox Christianity. What the Vatican symbolizes to Catholics or Mecca to Muslims in essence. It was from Byzantine Constantinople that missionaries spread Christian orthodoxy to the Slavic world and to ancient Kievan Rus. Since the Ottoman empire only disappeared in the early 20th century, Russia for all intents and purposes basically inherited the custodial role for the eastern orthodox nations especially its centuries long close ally of Serbia until the Russian revolution when Lenin outlawed religion for a century.
Explains why Russia still has an interest in Serbia.
Interesting, thanks.
Promyshleniki [Промышленники] means Industrialists. Verbatim it means “those who develop” or “those who industrialize” which is the same word in Russia.
At that time "promysel" (промысел) meant "[commercial] hunting & fishing" (охота и рыболовcтво), so "promyslovik" or "promyshlennik" (промысловик, промышленник) is just a commercial hunter/trapper/fisherman. Industrialization came there much later.
Of course, it has nothing with "your orphan", idk where the author of the video could get this translation, it is just silly. There are many other mistakes in the video, e.g. kossaks were not from Carpatian mountains, but from Pontic-Caspian steppes (the area between the Black sea and the Caspian sea, etc
Very interesting information. Lot of which I had no idea! Thank you!
Great video, thanks
Keep making these amazing videos. I can see that you are underrated now but your channel will grow very fast in the near future. 🔥❤
You must have used European sources for the distance between Russia and the U. S.-they usually say they are 55 km apart. In fact, the Russian isaland of Big Diomede and the Alaskan island of Little Diomede are only 3.8 km/2-1/4mi apart. Aside from the contiguous countries of Canada and Mexico, Russia is the closest foreign country to the U. S.
Very interesting, thank you, i learned a lot. I recall another motivation for tge purchase was to remove a foreign piwer from North America, which is probably less important than the reasons you listed.
Alexander II supported the Union during ACW and even sent Russian fleet in New York and San Francisco.
I knew that he sent a fleet to the Atlantic coast. I didn't know he sent a fleet to San Francisco. Thanks.
Russia sent her fleet to US waters to keep their ships from the Royal Navy. Relations between Russia and Britain were not good.
Interestingly, when Alexander the II liberated the serfs (who were de facto slaves, or close to it) it took longer then expected to formalize and execute the decree because Alexander wanted to make sure that when the serfs were freed the same thing that happened in America would not happen in Russia. Meaning that many skill-less serfs would be terminated and the once that happened they would be nothing more then impoverished share-croppers. Russian liberation included the forfeiture of 1/2 of all the land worked by the serfs TO THE SERFS, to be owned collectively by small groups of up to several hundred families of serfs. The working of the rest of the arid-able land would have to be negotiated between the landlords and former serfs themselves.
That only works until the serfs, now landed peasants, come back and say “Now it’s time for the other half.”
@@richardhighsmith but that didn’t happen.
@@WorshipinIdols Admittedly the peasantry weren't responsible for the revolution in 1917. The revolution was the result of communist agitation of the industrial proletariat through the creation of soviets in the cities of the north like St. Petersburg and Moscow. But the resentment of land and wealth inequality within the rural population drove the dekulakization and class warfare beginning in the late 20s in the Stalin Regime. Of course this was orchestrated by the Kremlin and ultimately much of the blame falls squarely on the architects of the first five year plan, but often people were denounced because of petty envy rather than any political action or belief.
@@richardhighsmith indeed.
Romantic fairy tale. Collective ownership is no ownership at all for the individuals under the collectivity
Alaska's greatest value may still lie ahead. As a foothold in the Artic, it gives the US rights to a changing environment where the opening of a Northwest passage may change the nature of global trade as we know it.
Great video on very interesting and rarely explored topics. You earned my subscription!
When you specify the distance between Russia and the United States it is 2.6 miles. That is the distance between the two Diomede islands. The channel between Big Diomede (Russia) and Little Diomede (United States).
Wow, lots of tortuous pronunciations of place names, but the biggest howler was a map indicating "Rabbit Creek" just south of Anchorage as a major gold producing area in the Yukon (which is part of Canada). add to that the fact that the Rabbit creek area of the Anchorage bowl is nowhere near the area depicted on the map. Would be nice to consult with locals before releasing a 34 minute historical video.
Very well done. Cogent. Information dense. Thank you.
*“Natives protested the sale of Alaska as illegitimate”* 😂🤣😂👌.. good one! 😂🥲
Moral of the story is to buy real estate even when you don't think you have the money.
My family moved to Alaska in 1941 just before the war started. I grew p there and had a great boyhood and career there while enjoying hunting fishing mountain climbing sking and the great out doors. A magnificent country but you put up with a lot of bad weather.
Why is Alaska like the Wall in Game of Thrones?
Because half of the year it's too cold to go beyond, and there's always the chance you'll run into a polar bear who thinks he's the Night King!
In an video that seems to be setting the story straight to say that Hong Kong was leased by the British for 100 years is an own goal. Hong Kong was a British colony of the British Empire since 1841 that was expanded a couple of times including when Britain leased the New Territories for 99 years. So it was only the extension that was leased, not Hong Kong.
Thank you for this interesting and informative video! As an Austrian from Europe I've had no idea when Alaska got to the US and what the backgrounds were and why there are still Russian speaking people in this state. It's a shame that I never learned this in history class at school.
Correct pronunciation for Valdez is Valdeese. Local pronunciation rules and it morphed into the local slangese. There was a movie called Valdez is Comming and that would be correct in Spanish but not in Alaska.
As a Terminal Radio, Inc. board member for 14 years, we still like the old T-shirt. "KCHU The Sneeze from Valdez." The opposite side read "Gesundheit" printed three times. "Providing Public Radio Broadcast Service to Prince William Sound and the Copper River Basin."
Then there is the pronunciation of Crimea and Yukon.
Most excellent video!
You never see yourself as a piece of living history but Alaska was not a state when I was born. Until today I never thought of it that way.
I saw Alaska and Hawaii become states.
My dad used to work for Trident Seafoods in Sand Point Alaska, basically we grew up in Philippines seeing him 2mos every year since we were toddlers.
Great narrative thanks.
Does fracking have anything to do with water seeping into underground lakes?
New subscriber, thumbs up and the bell is rung. 👍👍 I really enjoyed this. ✌from Alberta 🇨🇦
54 degree latitude does not cut through the centre of Alaska as shown. That would be the Arctic Circle, which is 66 degrees north . 54 degrees north corresponds more closely with 5e southern tip of the Alaskan panhandle
LoL
I always appreciate the comment section of videos like this.
Canadian border is the 49th parallel.
Imagine a Cold War where Alaska is Soviet Territory
Funny, France sold US the Louisiana purchase to pay for the war and Russia sold US Alaska to pay for their side of the same war.
So the Napoleonic Wars took place in 1867 ?
@@paulcarfantan6688 no, paying the debt lasted that long.
Interesting and thank you for video
At 32:10 talking about rabbit creek in the Klondike, it's incorrectly shown on the map. It's actually highlighting the Chugach Mountains close to what would be Anchorage, Alaska. The correct location would be in Dawson City in the Yukon territory.
absolutely true.
Great video!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Popular at the time" Yeah sure politicians and MSM are not doing that any longer...
I didn't know that Canada was ever considered being annexed by the US. That would be crazy if it ever happened.
90% of Canadians live within 30 miles of the US border. We could invade and conquer Canada in a matter of months if we really wanted to.
Really? The British fought several wars to preserve Canada from the clutches of the territory-greedy Yanks - including the War of Independence and the war of 1812. They turned on Mexico instead, (and Cuba and the Philippines)..
Great piece. I was good until 29:30 when you said that Alaska was put under the Navy, then appointed Army personnel to run the place.
Exept for the wrong map of Russia of that time (this is the map of the Federation,not the Empire) ,excellent video,keep the good work ! Thumbs up!
Crimea is not a part of Russia.
Canada, of course, was never annexed by the United States. In the west, what was left of the Hudson Bay Company's territories were transferred to Canadian control in 1870 becoming the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia joined Canada as its sixth province in 1871.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC minus the socialist weirdos in Vancouver and Victoria would make a great new independent country.
America could buy Canada...but why bother when we own the Canadian government and Economy. Wait, that's China.
Didn’t President Polk make a grab for boarder land in BC? I visited Kingston once in August as they have a great jazz festival there, I think in Ontario and during those early times the Canadians set up artillery positions in a crossfire to disable any American warship that decided to venture down the St. Lawrence seaway. Vestiges of them are still there. Anyone with better or corrective details, jump in here.
As a footnote, I have experienced that Canadians know more about our history than we do theirs. Need to teach more Canadian history in our schools along with US history. There is a rich history too of the contributions and sacrifices made by Canadians during WWII also. We would not have fighter capability fighters with fly-by-wire if not for development of the AVRO Arrow too. Sadly Canada discontinued it but not before they shared technical expertise.
@@UncaDaveyea we are becoming third world now.. was nice while it lasted. Kinda partly wishing those early BC citizens were successful in their bid to join the US
History not taught or touched upon in British or European? classrooms.. At 78 years of age I'm learning more history of mankind than ever thanks to erudite and patient people like you. Thank you so much 💐
AND …. Thanks to the Internet…. Available to anyone who wants to expand his knowledge
I love history , this kind of stuff is really mindbending , people lay claim to land that is not theirs , then have the audacity to sell it.
Kind of a racket really.
Sadly, this system has been functioning for centuries
Good video but there is a major error in yr map of Russia at the time of the Crimean war where the Russian border is shown too far to East & doesn't include Crimea muchless the port of Odessa both of which had been Russia since the 1700's
It looks like they've used a Russian-supplied map. I'm surprised it doesn't include the Baltic states and all of Poland as well.
Today there are houses that costs more than our biggest state was purchased for, that's pretty insane isn't it?
Yeah, and there’s millions of natural resources there that are worth a lot more than it was purchased for too. It’s no wonder Russia regretted selling it to us and wants it back now.
Map at 4:42 is incorrect, those weren't Russia's borders at that time, and in fact they aren't Russia's borders now either.
Fantastic video, and extremely polished. 🙂
I was a teen when the Berlin wall came down. I think the world be a very different place if the Russians would have kept Alaska through the cold war. Imagine the Soviets building up a massive land and air force in Alaska. Scary!!!
At the 13:10 mark, reference is made to an 1824 boundary at 54 degrees north (actually 54 degrees 40 minutes), but the white line on the map is around 64-65 degrees north!
At 13:30, reference is made to the 1842 boundary between the United States and “New England”. New England is part of the U.S.: the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut!
The reference at 13:30 should be between the United States and British North America, which would become Canada from 1867 to 1871. The 1842 boundary solely applies to Maine’s final borders with Canada East (future Quebec) and New Brunswick, while in 1818 a boundary was set west of the Lake of the Woods, and in 1783 a boundary was set between Maine and the Lake of the Woods.
At 25:18, reference is made that Alaska was separated from the rest of the U.S. by “Canada”, but Canada did not control all of that until 1871 - it was British territory, much of it controlled by a private company until 1870.
At 32:09, the image zooms in on the Anchorage area, while talking about something OUTSIDE Alaska: the 1896 Rabbit Creek gold discovery in the vicinity of Dawson City far, far to the northeast of Anchorage and east of the longitudinal boundary line between Alaska and Canada's North-West Territories!
These things pointed out, the video remains useful in telling about Russian and American motivations for Alaska's acquisition by the U.S.
For the record! The actual price of $7.1M in 1867 is equal today to $747,000,000
Payable in 374,000 ounces of gold. At a time when the federal budget was $367.8M (18.4M ounces of gold)
Anyone into history should know, the only real money is gold, everything is measured in gold, the world economy has and continues to depend and revolve around gold. in 1990 a gallon of gas was $1.15 (1/336 oz of gold). Today a gallon of gas is $3.52 (1/558 oz of gold). in 1990 a car cost 18 oz of gold, today a car cost 18 oz of gold
Yeah, I don`t know where he got the $ 150 mil. figure from, cause it`s wrong.
@@paulcarfantan6688 Adjusted for inflation since 1867, $7.1 million is now approximately $150 million so he is right!
@@travislogan302 and ship with all this gold never made to Russia and conveniently got sunk in the sea 😂
Excellent presentation.🍎
Промышленники (promyshlenniki) does not mean "your orphan." It means industrialists. The root noun, промышленность/promyshlennost', means industry and comes from the root word idea (мысль/mysl'). Nothing to do with orphans. "Those who think" with the pro- prefix added on to the noun/verb forms to specify industry or mining/harvesting resources. I have no doubt the author of the video's text found that citation somewhere about it meaning orphan, but just FYI for those watching this that its meaning is different.
Hello, you accidentally added Crimea to the wrong country. Please be more careful. 5:38
Crimea is Ukraine!
👌
Who cares
Donbass is Russia
at 22:25 it was stated that Alaska was bought by the US for $7,200,000 for 140,000,000 acres of land. If you use a calculator it comes to 5 cents an acre not 2 cents an acre.
So interesting and fun to see the history of my state, too bad there are so many mispronunciations.
How Russia must rue the day it sold out Alaska to the USA ! Not only due to it’s abundance of natural resources , but due to its strategic location, giving Russia a foothold in North America! THIS sale would Have been the bargain of the century!!
It’s absolutely bonkers to me that there are actually more people in Delaware than there are in Alaska!
Not surprising, the East Coast was established in original colonization, vs Alaska, which only had a few gold miners to settle it in the 1800s.
Actually there are more people in Rhode Island, our smallest state, than Alaska.
Canada "enhanced capacity of self governance" -tell me thats not another word soup for colony...
This was wonderfully informative and offered a broad international context! Great job!!