What was the Alaskan Boundary Dispute about?

Answer 1

The Alaskan Boundary Dispute took place between Canada and The United States; it regarded the boundary of between Alaskan and the Panhandle running south from the coast of British Columbia.

When the US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, it perceived that it would control all of Russia's territory as attested on Russian Maps (land suirveyed during the time of 'Seward's folly'). The portion of land that Russia portrayed on the maps exceeded the boundary on the 141st Meridian that was agreed in the 1825 Anglo-Russian treaty.

The boundary established in 1835 between Egland and Imperial Russia was largely established by the following text; sadly, this text is extremely vague:

""...the said line shall ascend to the north along the channel called Portland Channel as far as the point of the continent where it strikes the 56th degree of north latitude; from this last-mentioned point, the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude."

The rather vague phrase "the mountains parallel to the coast" was further qualified thus:"Whenever the summit of the mountains shall be at a distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the limit shall be formed by a line parallel to the winding of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom."

Hence, the mountains and the coast line made it hard to define, putting the actual location in dispute.

As soon as Alaska was purchased, the Imperial Dominion of Canada requested that a survey be conducted by the United States; at this time, the United States was not concerned about the region because it was sparsely populated and remote.

With the spontaneous influx of settlers, gold seekers and ambitious entrepreneurs with the Klondike Gold Rush, thousands of people headed throughout the Yukon and Alaska in order to gain a fortune. This inflamed the issue, since thousands of US citizens were settling or prospecting on Canadian soil, and, likewise, some miners and prospectors could be found in Alaska. As a solution, several attempts at compromise were made, but each Government disagreed to the other's proposal. In 1898, a Joint High Commission was created to deal with the issue once and for all, but the Western States were outraged and the US Senate refused to ratify the convention.

Canada believed that the boundary should be moved so that the tops of the inlets were in Canada, making the booming gold town of Skagway part of Canada. The Americans wanted the boundary to stay where it was, as they believed that they were still being cheated of several hundred acres (which, in fact, the Russian agreement did set the borderline shy of the rightful border).

~ Teddy Roosevelt (the President at the time) applied his motto, "Speak softly and carry a big stick," towards solving the dispute. It is alleged that Americans began a series of harassment measures against Canada. Canadian miners in Alaska were denied certain legal rights, because of a loophole in the Alaskan Homestead act of 1899. The final harassment was policy unofficially adopted by U.S. shipping companies, which slowed Canadian shipments and sped up U.S. shipments. ~

Fnally, in 1903, a Joint Alaskan Boundary Commission was established to try and reach a settlement between Canada and The US. Three Americans (Henry Cabot Lodge, Elihu Root and George Turner), two Canadians (Sir Louis Jet and Allan B. Aylesworth) and Lord Alverstone, an English representative, were appointed to be the panel responsible for reaching a verdict.

It took three weeks, several tied votes and an approaching Christmas season for Lord Alverstone to side with the US representatives in order to achieve an agreement.

The final agreed demarcation line fell significantly short of the maximal U.S. claim (it was a compromise falling roughly between the maximal U.S. and maximal British/Canadian claim). The Panhandle (the Tatshenshini-Alsek region) was not quite exclaved from the rest of British Columbia. The Hay-Herbert Treaty consolidated the decision.

Another treaty in 1925 required the commission to maintain a 20-foot wide demarcated line along the border. The boundary is several thousand miles long and spread over mountains and through rivers, marshes, and forests.

Soon after the dispute the Canadian Government raised the duties to bring goods across the border, this hurt the economy of Skagway. Also, after gold was discovered in Atlin, B.C., the government restricted the ownership of claims to those holding Canadian citizenship. Both policies, the expensive duties and ownership rights, were directed at Americans, in revenge.

Canadians also sent Northwest Mounted Police to areas in the far North that

were in danger of a similar dispute, such as Hershal Island in the northern Yukon Territory.

There has been some speculation as to whether or not Alverstone was pressured by his Government and political favouritism (such as the Arms Race in England) when he made his decision, but there is no indication as to whether this is true or myth.

Answer 2

In 1903, the US and Britain set up a tribunal to make a decision. This consisted of six officials, three from the US and three from Britain. The three people from the US were known to oppose a compromise with Canada. There were two Canadians on the tribunal, and the third was Lord Alverstone, from Britain. He had the deciding vote, and chose to bring the boundary closer to the coastline, but not close enough so Canada would have control over the Lynn Canal. As a result, Canadians were furious.

Answer 3

The United States had bought Alaska from Russia. This included a thin strip of land running down the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and bordered British Columbia. It was unclear how far inland the Panhandle extended. In 1897, the border issue came back to light due to the huge gold deposits in the Klondike region.