Alaska Statehood Act

The Alaska Statehood Act was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 7, 1958, allowing Alaska to become the 49th U.S. state on January 3, 1959.

History: The Road to Statehood

Alaska's struggle for statehood was a long and difficult one. From 1867 to 1884 Alaska was considered to be a military district of the United States of America under the control of the federal government. Alaskans had sought statehood since as early as the 1920s though this vision was never really brought to light until decades later after World War II.

The First Organic Act

In 1884, the government passed the Organic Act which allowed for Alaska to become a judicial district as well as a civil one, with judges, clerks, marshals, and limited government officials appointed by the federal government to run the state. Furthermore, during the Gold Rush Era (1890-1900), over 30,000 people travelled north into the Yukon Territory and Alaska in search of gold. Several industries flourished as a result, such as the fishing, trapping, mining and mineral production. Alaska's many resources were exploited to the extent that it came to be considered a "colonial economy." Alaska was still just a district, though, and the local government had little control over local affairs.

The Second Organic Act

Several issues arose that made it much more difficult for Alaska to push towards self-government. One of which was the forming of the "Alaska Syndicate" in 1906 by the two famous robber barons J.P. Morgan and Simon Guggenheim. Their influence spread and they came to control the Kennecott copper mine, steamship and railroad companies, and salmon packing. The influence of the Syndicate in Washington, D.C. opposed any further movement towards Alaskan home rule. James Wickersham, however, grew increasingly concerned over the exploitation of Alaska for personal and corporate interests and took it upon himself to fight for Alaskan self-rule. He used the Ballinger-Pinchot Affair in order to help achieve this. As a result of the affair, Alaska was on the national headlines, and President Taft was forced to send a message to Congress on February 2, 1912, insisting that they listen to Wickersham. In April of 1912 Congress passed the Second Organic Act which turned Alaska into a US territory with an elected legislature. Though this was a huge step forward, the federal government still retained much of the control over laws regarding fishing, gaming, and natural resources. The governor was also still appointed by the President. In 1916, Wickersham, who was now a delegate to Congress, proposed the first bill for Alaskan statehood. The bill, however, failed, partly due to domestic disinterest among Alaskans in gaining statehood.

National and Congressional discrimination

Discrimination against the Alaskan Territory made it difficult for Congress to get much done. Discussion of revising the Second Organic Act took up much time but came to no avail. Instead Congress passed the Jones Act (also known as the U.S. Maritime Act of 1920) and the White Act of 1924 both of which made the fishing problem worse for Alaskans rather than better. Alaskans were angered by these two acts and felt they were discriminatory. Matters were made worse by regional conflicts which drew attention away from the issue of statehood. In the 1930s Alaska was plagued by the Depression. During this time, FDR did two significant things for Alaska. First he allowed for 1,000 selected farmers hurt by the depression to move to Alaska and colonize the Matanuska-Susitna region, being given a second chance at agricultural success. Second and more importantly, Roosevelt appointed Ernest Gruening as governor of Alaska in 1939. Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett, who was one of Alaska's territorial delegates to Congress from 1944 to 1958 when he became a US senator representing Alaska, would become one of Gtuening's most important allies in supporting the cause for Alaskan statehood.

Breaking down the barriers toward Statehood

Alaska's situation was much aided by the amount of attention it received during WWII and the Cold War years. As it became an important strategic military base and a key to the Pacific, its population increased with the amount of soldiers sent there and its situation gained nation-wide attention. Yet even so, many barriers stood between Alaska and statehood. Many Alaskans like Jay Hammond and Austin E. "Cap" Lathrop, who benefited largely from Alaska's small tax base did not want themselves or their businesses to be hurt financially by the increase in taxes that would result from statehood. Other Alaskans feared that statehood would result in a flood of more people coming to Alaska, which they didn't want. There was enough of a majority, though, that did want statehood so as to be able to pass a Referendum for statehood in Alaska in 1946 by a 3:2 vote.

Republican opposition

With the help of the Referendum, Bartlett was able to introduce a bill to Congress. The bill, however, was immediately shot down by the Republicans in Congress who feared that the addition of the Democratic delegates from Alaska to Congress (two senators and one Representative to the House) would make the Democrats more powerful. To retaliate, Gruening established the "Alaska Statehood Committee" in 1949. He encouraged journalists, newspaper editors, politicians, and members of national and labor organizations to help use their positions and power to make the issue of Alaskan statehood more known. He gathered a group of 100 prominent figures, including Eleanor Roosevelt, actor James Cagney, Pearl Buck, John Gunther, historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Reinhold Niebuhr, who all stood for the Alaskan cause. Another bill was introduced to Congress in 1949 and passed in the House by a 186 to 146 vote in 1950. However, the bill was then shot down in the Senate, again for fear of adding more Democrats to Congress.

Things begin to turn around

Six Senators from the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, including Senator Butler went to Alaska in order to hold public hearings and see for themselves what the public sentiment was in Alaska. In response to the visit, Alaskans would not let Americans forget the cause. Citizens sent Christmas cards reading "Make [Alaskans] future bright/Ask your Senator for statehood/And start the New Year right." Women made bouquets of Alaska's flower, the Forget-Me-Not and sent them to members of Congress. Movements such as "Operation Statehood" also put increasing pressure on Congress. "Lack of public interest" could no longer be used as a feasible excuse to prevent statehood.

Admission of Hawaii as a State

In 1954, during Eisenhower's State of the Union address, Ike proposed the immediate admission of Hawaii into the Union but did not mention Alaska. Eisenhower who had been backing the Republicans in Congress was hoping that Hawaii would be a Republican state. Congress as a result put together a bill that would admit first Hawaii into the Union, then Alaska. However this was undermined by the Senate's effort to propose that Hawaii and Alaska be admitted as "commonwealths" instead of states which was still not satisfactory to the Alaskans.

Gruening and the Continental Congress

In interest of the growing fervor and enthusiasm towards the cause, a Constitutional Convention was held at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1955. During this convention, Gruening gave a very powerful speech which compared Alaska's situation to the American struggle for independence. The famous speech was entitled "Let Us End American Colonialism" and had a very influential impact. The Convention was highly praised and very emotional. The Constitution for Alaska was written up and Alaskans voted and passed the Alaska Constitution in 1956 with overwhelming approval. The Constitution was named "one of the best, if not the best, state constitutions ever written" by the National Municipal League.

The Tennessee Plan

Another step forward for the cause was taken by the Alaskan adoption of the "Tennessee Plan" which allowed them to elect their delegates to Congress without having to wait for an official act from Congress. Alaskans therefore elected to Congress Senators Ernest Gruening and William Egan and Representative to the House Ralph J. Rivers. Gruening, Egan, and Rivers attended Congress and were politely received, though they were not officially seated or recognized in any way. The Alaskan delegation did not give up, however, and worked hard with Bartlett to pressure the Congress into action.

Members of Congress finally change their minds

Eventually, with the help of Bartlett's influence, the Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, who up until 1957 had been an ardent opponent of the Alaskan statehood cause, changed his mind and when Congress reconvened in January 1958, President Eisenhower fully endorsed the bill for the first time. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson promised his commitment to the bill but others still stood in the way, such as Representative Howard W. Smith of Virginia, Chairman to the powerful Rules Committee, and Thomas Pelly of Washington State who wanted the Alaskan waters to be open to use by Washingtonians. Eventually, though, such resistance was able to be bypassed and the House passed the statehood bill. The senate, which had had its own version of the bill as well as the House's version, finally managed to pass the House's bill through the fervent urging of Bartlett by a 64-20 vote. On January 3, 1959, after much struggle and through the efforts of many, Alaska finally became the 49th state of the United States of America after President Eisenhower's signing of the official declaration.

Opponents of Alaska Statehood

* Alaskan Independence Party
* Hugh A. Butler — Senator from Nebraska (1941–1954)
* Austin E. Lathrop — American industrialist
* John E. Manders — Mayor of Anchorage (1945–1946) and tax protester
* John R. Pillion — Representative from New York (1953–1965)
* Joe Vogler — founder of the Alaskan Independence Party

Proponents of Alaska Statehood

* Wayne N. Aspinall — Representative from Colorado (1949–1973)
* Robert Atwood — editor and publisher of the "Anchorage Times"
* Bob Bartlett — delegate to the US House of Representatives from the Alaska Territory (1945–1959) and Senator from Alaska (1959–1968)
* Frank Church — Senator from Idaho (1957–1981)
* Anthony Dimond — delegate to the US House of Representatives from the Alaska Territory (1933–1945)
* William Allen Egan — Governor of Alaska (1959–1966, 1970–1974)
* Edna Ferber — novelist, author and playwright
* Ernest Gruening — Governor of the Alaska Territory (1939–1953) and Senator from Alaska (1959–1969)
* Benjamin Franklin Heintzleman — Governor of the Alaska Territory (1953–1957)
* Walter Joseph Hickel — Governor of Alaska (1966–1969, 1990–1994) and Secretary of the Interior (1969–1970)
* Henry M. Jackson — Representative from Washington (1941–1953) and Senator from Washington (1953–1983)
* William F. Knowland — Senator from California (1945–1959)
* Richard L. Neuberger — Senator from Oregon (1955–1960)
* Elmer E. Rasmuson — Alaskan banker and philanthropist and Mayor of Anchorage (1964–1967)
* Ralph Julian Rivers — Representative from Alaska (1959–1966)
* Fred Andrew Seaton — Senator from Nebraska (1951–1952) and Secretary of the Interior (1956–1961)
* Michael Anthony Stepovich — Governor of the Alaska Territory (1957–1958)
* Nathan Farragut Twining — Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force (1953–1957) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1957–1960)
* James Wickersham — district judge and delegate to the US House of Representatives from the Alaska Territory (1909–1917, 1919, 1921, 1931–1933)

See also

* Admission Act of Hawai'i
* Enabling Act (United States)
* Legal status of Alaska‎

External links

* [http://www.lbblawyers.com/statetoc.htm The Alaska Statehood Act] the actual text of the Alaska Statehood Act
* [http://www.alaska.edu/creatingalaska/ Creating Alaska: The Origins of the 49th State — Alaska's University Celebrates the Milestones of Alaska Statehood.] Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
** [http://www.alaska.edu/creatingalaska/StatehoodFiles/whoswho/ Who's Who in the Alaska Statehood Movement.] Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
* [http://www.uaf.edu/kuac/49thstar/ The 49th Star: Creating Alaska.] Fairbanks, AK: KUAC-TV, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
* [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/BARTLETT/49state.html The History of Alaskan Statehood]
** [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/BARTLETT/bartbio.html Bob Bartlett Biography: The "Architect of Alaska Statehood"] The "Unveiling" of Senator Bartlett's statue and commemorating his outstanding achievements and influence
** [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/BARTLETT/colonial.html Senator Ernest Gruening's Speech: "Let Us Now End American Colonialism"] Gruening's famous speech regarding Alaskan statehood