The Statehood Debate

In his 1946 State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman said that statehood should be granted as soon as the government knew where the people of Alaska stood on the issue. He had an answer soon enough. In an advisory vote that fall, Alaskans voted 9,630 to 6,822 in favor of joining the union. 

Many Alaskans sought more support from the Truman administration and Congress after the vote, but resistance remained. E.L. "Bob" Bartlett, who served as Alaska's non-voting delegate to Congress for the 14 years before statehood, introduced a statehood bill to Congress in 1947. While the bill failed, it was useful in bringing the issue to national attention.

The 1947 debate framed the arguments over statehood that would continue for more than a decade. Supporters said statehood was a matter of justice for Americans who lived in Alaska and were denied their rights. They argued that Alaskans were ruled by an absentee government and absentee industries. Opponents said Alaska could not afford statehood and should remain a territory until economic conditions changed. 

The pro-statehood forces responded that conditions would never change until Alaska gained control over its own destiny, which could only happen with admission to the union. In response to critics' claim that Alaska could not afford statehood, Mildred Hermann, a Juneau attorney, argued Alaskans could do whatever it took because there were enough creative people and resources in Alaska to solve any problems. "If we cannot buy steak, we will eat beans... we are perfectly willing to pull in our belts and do without some things for the purpose of statehood," she said at a 1950 Senate hearing.

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