South Alaska

Would South Alaska be smaller than Texas if, say, the 63rd Parallel were the border? Would Texas want North Alaska to remain a territory? Or am I off the wall (or the ceiling)?

tom said:

Would South Alaska be smaller than Texas if, say, the 63rd Parallel were the border? Would Texas want North Alaska to remain a territory? Or am I off the wall (or the ceiling)?

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I think the problem is the population requirement to petition to be a state ? When did Southern Alaska reach this ? It should also be noted that the constitution actually forbids states to sub divide ! West Virginia was an exception as it was wartime and one part of the state seceeded to, effectively, another country. But under the constitution once formed the state of Alaska could not sub divide. IIRC there was an exception made for Texas in its articles of incorporation into the Union, but for obvious reasons Texas does not want to break itself up

Grey Wolf

Divided Alaska

Grey Wolf said:

I think the problem is the population requirement to petition to be a state ? When did Southern Alaska reach this ? It should also be noted that the constitution actually forbids states to sub divide ! West Virginia was an exception as it was wartime and one part of the state seceeded to, effectively, another country. But under the constitution once formed the state of Alaska could not sub divide. IIRC there was an exception made for Texas in its articles of incorporation into the Union, but for obvious reasons Texas does not want to break itself up

Grey Wolf

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The constitution forbids a state from being divided without the consent of it's legislature, as well as the consent of the Congress.
There was also the case of California. California did not wait to be granted statehood. They just held a constitutional convention, then elections, and then sent two senators to Washington as a fait accompli. If California split on a north/south basis, I'm not certain how it would be recieved in Washington. I'd go for a sense of the Senate resolution to decide whether the Senate wanted to accept two more senators from Alta and Mesa California. There would be no change in the House.

Alaska is really too small to be a state without the oil. Not enough money from exports. They have or had gold, copper, molybdenum, fish, timber, trees, and a little oil in the south. Some coal. The lead/zinc/silver mine is in the north. Virtually all the oil and gas is, too. Take away the oil and the population is mostly native, and around 100,000 or so. There just isn't much there.

well I have alask opting for independence so you could get crazier....

This would have been before statehood. And most of the population was (and is) in the south, so at most you would delay the admission a few years. I figured a state of South Alaska and a North Alaska Territory.