VERMONT is not the only area that harbours ideas of independence from the USA. Alaska is another State which harbours such an idea and it is espoused by the Alaskan Independence Party.  It is relevant to trace the history and the demographics of Alaska before talking about its future.

According to a 2005 survey conducted by the US Census Bureau, over 67% of the population of Alaska is made up of White Anglo Saxons [especially those who are Russian and German in blood] followed by the native Alaskan population and other groups such as the US Latins, African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders.

It must be remembered that the Native American population crossed into Alaska from Russia when the Bering Sea was a land mass [12,000 BC]. This is the first discovery of Alaska by the human race. Some Native Americans stayed put in Alaska while others moved on and populated the American continent.

The Russians, under the guidance of the Danish Explorer Vitus Bering, started the colonization process in 1741. With the Russian colonization, came the exploitation and robbing of land from the native Alaskan population and the introduction of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1867, Russia had other things on its mind and sold Alaska to the USA for a price of 7.2 million dollars. The US Secretary of State, called Seward, who engineered the purchase, was ridiculed and repudiated (disowned).  Seward was rehabilitated posthumously when gold and other minerals were discovered and people went to Alaska to get rich. Some stayed; others went back to where they came from.

During World War II, three of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska had been occupied by the Japanese forces until they were expelled by US forces.  After World War II, the USA and USSR faced each other in the Bering Straits and the Diomedes Islands. The Diomedes Islands were divided between Russia and USA, the two islands being 1.5 km from each other.

In 1959, Alaska became the 49th State of USA. Since then, oil has been discovered and the trans-Alaska pipeline constructed to carry oil to the USA.   With the end of the Cold War, Alaska has been divided between two tendencies. One tendency is independence from the USA; the other tendency is remaining in the USA but with a limited government [Libertarianism].

For the time being, Alaska is still governed by the Republican Party with the same arrangements as in other US States [Two four-year terms for Governor and Lieutenant Governor with constant re-elections for positions such as Mayor and Council].

Recently, the government of Alaska declared that it would continue the Denali Kid Care Program [Temporary Insurance for Children and Teens of Lower Income Families] in spite of Bush vetoing the National Children Health Insurance Policy.  Alaska’s history still remains to be written and only time can tell what will happen.