On 8 October 1946, a referendum was held in Alaska, with 9,630 votes to 6,822 in favour of Alaska becoming the 49th state of the United States.

Alaska belonged to the United States from 30 March 1867. The Emperor of Russia Alexander II understood that the lack of a Russian population would sooner or later lead to territorial expropriation. In order not to lose the territory without compensation, an agreement to sell 1,519,000 square kilometres of land for $7.2 million in gold was signed on that day in Washington.

In 1884, President Chester Arthur signed the Alaska Organic Act, appointing a governor, a district attorney, and several judges. At the end of the 19th century, huge reserves of gold, coal, copper, iron, zinc, and natural gas were discovered in Alaska. In 1906, the territory won a seat in the United States House of Representatives, but without the right to vote.

The Alaskan population was slow to obtain recognition as a state - in the absence of a representative in Congress residents did not have to pay federal taxes, which entrepreneurs and gold miners benefited from. The second act on the territory's status was issued in 1912. It allowed for the formation of a government and legislative authority. Alaska officially became a territory of the United States.

During World War II the situation dramatically changed, when it became clear that Alaska was of strategic importance in the Pacific theatre of war. After the attack on Pearl Harbour, the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands. In early 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt approved a road development plan for the transportation of military supplies. By 1943 120,000 roads had been built, while only 500 existed in 1940. The population doubled, modernisation was well underway.

In these circumstances, Alaskans were interested in the full status of a state. President Harry Truman supported the statehood of Alaska in his message to Congress "On the state of the country". The referendum was a major step forward. However, Alaska only became a full-fledged state on 1 July 1959.

Source:

Alexey Okladnikov, Ruslan Vasilyevsky. For Alaska and the Aleutian Islands / Siberian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy. - Novosibirsk: Nauka, Siberian Branch, 1976.