<P> In 1903, a boundary dispute with Canada was finally resolved . </P> <P> By the turn of the 20th century, commercial fishing was gaining a foothold in the Aleutian Islands . Packing houses salted cod and herring, and salmon canneries were opened . Another commercial occupation, whaling, continued with no regard for over-hunting . They pushed the bowhead whales to the edge of extinction for the oil in their tissue . The Aleuts soon suffered severe problems due to the depletion of fur seals and sea otters which they needed for survival . As well as requiring the flesh for food, they also used the skins to cover their boats, without which they could not hunt . The Americans also expanded into the Interior and Arctic Alaska, exploiting the furbearers, fish, and other game on which Natives depended . </P> <P> When Congress passed the Second Organic Act in 1912, Alaska was reorganized, and renamed the Territory of Alaska . By 1916, its population was about 58,000 . James Wickersham, a Delegate to Congress, introduced Alaska's first statehood bill, but it failed due to the small population and lack of interest from Alaskans . Even President Warren G. Harding's visit in 1923 could not create widespread interest in statehood . Under the conditions of the Second Organic Act, Alaska had been split into four divisions . The most populous of the divisions, whose capital was Juneau, wondered if it could become a separate state from the other three . Government control was a primary concern, with the territory having 52 federal agencies governing it . </P> <P> Then, in 1920, the Jones Act required U.S. - flagged vessels to be built in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and documented under the laws of the United States . All goods entering or leaving Alaska had to be transported by American carriers and shipped to Seattle prior to further shipment, making Alaska dependent on Washington . The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the provision of the Constitution saying one state should not hold sway over another's commerce did not apply because Alaska was only a territory . The prices Seattle shipping businesses charged began to rise to take advantage of the situation . This situation created an atmosphere of enmity among Alaskans who watched the wealth being generated by their labors flowing into the hands of Seattle business holdings . </P>

What was alaska before it became a state