Theodore Roosevelt & The Alaska Boundary Dispute

Between the 1890s and early 1900s, the U.S.A., Britain and Canada were engaged in a territorial dispute over the southeastern Alaska border, commonly known as the Alaska boundary dispute. At the time, Canada was a British dominion, so the British government was responsible for negotiating the issue with their American counterpart. With the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 (for $7.2 million), the U.S. had inherited the border dispute which existed between Russia and Britain since 1825. Although the 1825 Saint Petersburg Treaty outlined where the boundary should run, its ambiguous wording led to different interpretations by the parties involved. Ultimately, it was the discovery of gold in the Klondike region in 1896 and the subsequent Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1898) that made the demarcation of the U.S.–Canada boundary imperative.

To settle the issue between the countries, a Joint High Commission was established, with representatives from both sides. Sessions were held during the last months of 1898, but ultimately the negotiations failed. On 20 February 1899, the commission adjourned (never to reconvene again), and in October of that same year the parties agreed to a provisional arrangement.

It wasn't until several years later, in October 1903, that the boundary dispute was finally settled by a six-member tribunal. John Hay, the U.S. Secretary of State, had negotiated the Hay–Herbert Treaty with the British ambassador, Sir Michael Herbert, and the dispute was then entrusted to the newly established Alaska Boundary Tribunal, whose members were three Americans, two Canadians and one Briton. Since the Hay–Herbert Treaty required a commission of "six impartial jurists of repute", the Canadians strongly protested to the British government against the appointed American delegates —all politicians— as being anything but impartial. Nevertheless, Britain accepted the American selection, despite Canadian objections. 

The man responsible for selecting the U.S. commissioners was President Theodore Roosevelt, who had inherited the boundary dispute from his predecessor William McKinley, following McKinley's assassination in 1901. Secretary of State Hay disagreed with the member selection but was overruled by the president, who found Hay's attitude cautious and indecisive. Roosevelt was quite eager to settle the case and was determined to act unilaterally should things end in a deadlock. On 25 July 1903, he wrote to Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. — with a clear message to England.

Let me add that I earnestly hope the English understand my purpose. I wish to make one last effort to bring about an agreement through the commission, which will enable the people of both countries to say that the result represents the feeling of the representatives of both countries. But if there is a disagreement, I wish it distinctly understood, not only that there will be no arbitration of the matter, but that in my message to Congress I shall take a position which will prevent any possibility of arbitration hereafter; a position, I am inclined to believe, which will render it necessary for Congress to give me the authority to run the line as we claim it, by our own people, without any further regard to the attitude of England and Canada. If I paid attention to mere abstract right, that is the position I ought to take anyhow. I have not taken it because I wish to exhaust every effort to have the affair settled peacefully and with due regard to England's dignity.

(For the full letter, in which Roosevelt goes into more detail regarding the case and the Canadian claims, go to the link at the bottom of the page.)

Roosevelt had authorised Holmes to share the contents of his letter with high British officials, and word about the president's "threat" eventually reached Lord Alverstone, the only Briton on the tribunal. Now that his Canadian colleagues were determined to vote for the Canadian position, the decision practically rested on Alverstone's shoulders. Feeling pressure from Roosevelt and his own government to secure an agreement, Alverstone voted with the Americans on every key issue. He later defended his decision, saying he had acted purely on judicial grounds. The Canadian delegates, along with their Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, felt angry and betrayed, believing that Britain had deliberately sacrificed Canada's interests for the sake of Anglo-American friendship. In the ensuing days, a wave of anti-British and anti-American sentiment swept throughout Canada, although the animosity was directed more at Britain than the U.S.. As the outrage gradually died down, Canada increasingly realised that it could no longer rely on Britain to protect its interests, and that it should handle its own foreign affairs in the future. This ultimately led to the creation of the country’s Department of External Affairs in 1909.

In conclusion, I'm sharing an excerpt from a letter written by Roosevelt to his son Theodore Jr. on 20 October 1903 — the day the tribunal decided largely in favour of the American position. In private letters, Roosevelt would often repeat his belief that his role had been instrumental in bringing about the American success. For example, to Judge Holmes he wrote on the same day: "I cannot help having a certain feeling that your showing that letter to Chamberlain and others was not without its indirect effect on the decision". 

Also in this letter to his son Ted, Roosevelt was quick to highlight his role in the dispute's outcome.

I am very much pleased over what has just been accomplished in the Alaska Boundary award. I hesitated sometime before I would consent to a commission to decide the case and I declined absolutely to allow any arbitration of the matter. Finally I made up my mind I would appoint three men of such ability and such firmness that I could be certain there would be no possible outcome disadvantageous to us as a nation; and would trust to the absolute justice of our case, as well as to a straight-out declaration to certain high British officials that I meant business, and that if this commission did not decide the case at issue, I would decline all further negotiations and would have the line run on my own hook. I think that both factors were of importance in bringing about the result. That is, I think that the British Commissioner who voted with our men was entitled to great credit, and I also think that the clear understanding the British Government had as to what would follow a disagreement was very important and probably decisive. Ever your loving father

Note: 

The Alaska Boundary Tribunal consisted of three members appointed by the U.S. President and three members appointed by the British King. The American members were Elihu Root, Secretary of War; Henry Cabot Lodge, senator from Massachusetts; and George Turner, ex-senator from Washington. On the British/Canadian side were two Canadians (Sir Louis A. Jette, Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and a former judge; and Allen B. Aylesworth, a lawyer and later Minister of Justice) and one Briton (Lord Alverstone, Chief Justice of England). Aylesworth had replaced John Armour (Chief Justice of Ontario), who died in July 1903 while working on the commission.

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For images of Roosevelt's full, typewritten letters, click on the links below.

Source excerpt from letter to Judge Holmes: Theodore Roosevelt Center

Source excerpt from letter to Theodore Roosevelt Jr.: Library of Congress

As the copies of the original letters are not always easy to read, you can also read the transcriptions via Internet Archive.

Image top: Theodore Roosevelt, painted by John Singer Sargent, 1903

Image bottom: Map outlining the claimed borders and the modern boundary. NB. The green line on the map shows a separate claim by the Canadian province British Columbia, which was not supported by the British or Canadian government.

Source images: Wikimedia Commons