Over 10,000 years ago people left the Asian Continent and crossed over into North America. The migrants made this journey by traveling over a land bridge that connected Alaska to Russia. This bridge split the waters of the Bering Sea. This began the story of Alaskan History that has been handed down from generation to generation and can be found in many books.
Many early settlers passed through the exterior of this region as they searched for better areas to live. Some of the settlers stayed and made their living by living off the seas. There were the Aleuts who inhabited many of the islands that were formed when the water rose and covered over the land bridge. Many others moved down the coastline towards British Columbia.
Spaniards became world wide explorers in the middle ages and they decided to claim the North American territory as their own. Part of this claim included Alaska and its surrounding lands. They made this declaration a few hundred years before they even sent ships out to explore Bering Sea waters.
The Russians were the firs Europeans to arrive. They came to take part in the fur trade. These traders usually lived in peace with the natives that had been living there for many years. However, this changed when some traders appeared and figured these natives were a threat to them. The traders fought with the natives and enslaved many of them to do their hard work.
The Russian American Company was formed to control the trading. They were given special permission by the Czar of Russia at the time to operate. They had agreed that they would try to establishment settlements in the area to benefit the Czar. This lead to even more battles with the native peoples who had been living there for many generations. Eventually control of the area was handed over to the Imperial Russian Navy and the company was disbanded. A short time afterwards, the Czar decided to let people from other countries come to the region to conduct trade.
The British were allowed to conduct trade with the signing of the Anglo Russian Convention of 1825. They came and started setting up trading posts. This forever changed the amount of influence Russia held over the workings of the region. The boundary lines between countries were also established with this signing.
The United States decided to purchase this territory for themselves. They bought Alaska for a touch over seven million dollars. Many people thought that this was a foolish thing to do and called the purchase a waste of money. Little did they know that a few years later the gold rush was to begin. Later, the discovery of oil was another major development that has paid off handsomely for the United States.
In the Alaskan history are stories of men and women braving harsh elements to live their lives. They came from all areas to explore and take advantage of the bounty of the sea and forest. Then others came to take its mineral and oil to achieve their riches.
Many early settlers passed through the exterior of this region as they searched for better areas to live. Some of the settlers stayed and made their living by living off the seas. There were the Aleuts who inhabited many of the islands that were formed when the water rose and covered over the land bridge. Many others moved down the coastline towards British Columbia.
Spaniards became world wide explorers in the middle ages and they decided to claim the North American territory as their own. Part of this claim included Alaska and its surrounding lands. They made this declaration a few hundred years before they even sent ships out to explore Bering Sea waters.
The Russians were the firs Europeans to arrive. They came to take part in the fur trade. These traders usually lived in peace with the natives that had been living there for many years. However, this changed when some traders appeared and figured these natives were a threat to them. The traders fought with the natives and enslaved many of them to do their hard work.
The Russian American Company was formed to control the trading. They were given special permission by the Czar of Russia at the time to operate. They had agreed that they would try to establishment settlements in the area to benefit the Czar. This lead to even more battles with the native peoples who had been living there for many generations. Eventually control of the area was handed over to the Imperial Russian Navy and the company was disbanded. A short time afterwards, the Czar decided to let people from other countries come to the region to conduct trade.
The British were allowed to conduct trade with the signing of the Anglo Russian Convention of 1825. They came and started setting up trading posts. This forever changed the amount of influence Russia held over the workings of the region. The boundary lines between countries were also established with this signing.
The United States decided to purchase this territory for themselves. They bought Alaska for a touch over seven million dollars. Many people thought that this was a foolish thing to do and called the purchase a waste of money. Little did they know that a few years later the gold rush was to begin. Later, the discovery of oil was another major development that has paid off handsomely for the United States.
In the Alaskan history are stories of men and women braving harsh elements to live their lives. They came from all areas to explore and take advantage of the bounty of the sea and forest. Then others came to take its mineral and oil to achieve their riches.
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