by T. Scott Randolph

Created on: August 09, 2009   Last Updated: February 08, 2012

Alaska was one of the last areas of the country to become a state. It is a large area, a very large area. Most of it is considered a wilderness. Many of the communities are small villages that are accessible by air or sometimes a special breed of truck driver known as an ice road trucker. Without this type of resupply, these towns would be cut off from the rest of the world. This is not to say that they couldn't exist, people have lived here since the beginning of time. Just like any state that is sparsely populated, there are large cities. These however are few in number.

Alaska is isolated from the lower 48 continuous states, much like Hawaii. It is generally accepted that people that live in Alaska are a very tough breed of people. Life can be very hard there. In the winter the weather can be deadly and in the summer it can be horrible with mosquitoes and other bugs that come our during the brief warm weather.

Alaska is so far north that part of the state is above the Arctic Circle. This means that during some of the year the sun doesn't set for months and at other times of the year, you will have perpetual darkness.

Alaska shares a relationship with the rest of the US that can best be described as mostly codependent. To be perfectly honest, Alaska probably needs to be part of the union than the US needs Alaska. This is not meant to disrespect Alaska in any way. Alaska has huge amounts of natural resources (most notably oil, natural gas, coal, gold, and crab and fish harvests) that the US needs, probably now more than ever.

The fact that Alaska has all of these resources is one of the reasons why Alaska should not secede from the US. America is not the only country that is experiencing and energy crunch. Without the backing of the US military, any number of other countries (even Canada) could possibly invade the area for the resources.

Not insulting the natives of the great state, the Alaska National Guard and any state raised militia would not stand much of a chance if the state was invaded by a modern country in a full scale war. We can not rule out the fact that the US might even be the one to do the invading.

The territory of Alaska was purchased from Russia by a man named William Seward who was then Secretary of State for the US. In 1867 the US paid $7,200,000 (or approximately $.02 an acre) for the territory of Alaska. It became a state in 1959.

Because of how remote most of the state is, and the rugged aspect of the land, most of the supplies needed to survive (especially in a modern lifestyle) has to be imported. If Alaska was a separate country, it would be even more expensive to live there than it is now. The fact that it is a state helps to keep the prices within reason.

On the other side of the coin, Alaska does have the huge amounts of natural resources. This is a commodity that they would be able to sell to the highest bidder as opposed to the national government of the US. These resources have made the purchase that was known as Seward's Folly able to repay itself thousands and thousands of times over.

Should Alaska secede from the United States of America? Absolutely not. I say this a resident of the lower 48 but the relationship between the state of Alaska and the rest of the US depends on one another too much. While it is possible that another government would pay large sums of money for the oil alone, in today's world, it is just as likely that someone would invade and take over the state.

Things may not be perfect and changes may need to be made but when it is all said and done, the unity of the US needs to remain in place. Neither side would be better off if Alaska broke away from the United States of America.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska

Learn more about this author, T. Scott Randolph.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.