On this day in 1867, United States Secretary of State William Seward signed a deal acquiring Alaska, an agreement that was ridiculed by some as “Seward’s Folly” and opposed in the House. In today’s popular culture, Seward is best known for his association with Abraham Lincoln. But his name is also forever linked to a decision back that brought Alaska into the fold as a United States territory, at a bargain price: The cost for Alaska in 1867 was $7.2 million, which is about $113 million in 2017 dollars. Read the treaty Seward negotiated the deal in an extended bargaining session with Russian minister to the United States Eduard de Stoeckl on March 30, 1867. The Senate passed the treaty a few days later, but the House held up funding the purchase for more than a year, as the public debate raged over the purchase price and soundness of Seward’s decision. On October 18, 1867, the United States took possession of Alaska from Russia under the terms of a formal land transfer, in a ceremony in the town of Sitka. The Alaska Purchase gave the United States a land mass of 586,412 square miles, an area about twice the size of Texas. But it came at a time when the United States had just ended the Civil War, and it had an abundance of underpopulated land. Prior to World War II, Alaska suffered from a bit of an inferiority complex and its own internal politics. In the wake of "Seward’s Folly,” Alaska avoided national attention until its Gold Rush began in the 1890s. It became a territory in 1912 and started making noise about becoming a state four years later. As its strategic importance became obvious during World War II, in 1946 Alaska held a referendum asking Congress to consider it for statehood. The Democrats during the 1950s favored Alaska as the 49th state, while the Republicans wanted Hawaii admitted by itself. The reason was that each new state gets two U.S. senators and at least one new House member, and the admission of a new state can swing votes in Congress. Alaska became the 49th state in January 1959 after a compromise was reached in Congress. In 1866 the Russian government offered to sell the territory of Alaska to the United States. Secretary of State William H. Seward, enthusiastic about the prospects of American Expansion, negotiated the deal for the Americans. Edouard de Stoeckl, Russian minister to the United States, negotiated for the Russians. On March 30, 1867, the two parties agreed that the United States would pay Russia $7.2 million for the territory of Alaska. For less that 2 cents an acre, the United States acquired nearly 600,000 square miles. Opponents of the Alaska Purchase persisted in calling it “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox” until 1896, when the great Klondike Gold Strike convinced even the harshest critics that Alaska was a valuable addition to American territory. The check for $7.2 million was made payable to the Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl, who negotiated the deal for the Russians. The transcript included below is for the Treaty of Cession, signed by Tzar Alexander II, which formally concluded the agreement for the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The treaty enlarged the United States by 586,000 square miles, an area more than twice the size of Texas, all for the bargain price of around two cents an acre. Yet because some politicians and journalists considered Alaska a barren wasteland— and inherently opposed anything supported by President Andrew Johnson—it became popularly known as “Seward’s Folly.” That label has stuck, never mind that Seward was economically vindicated long ago by the discovery of gold and oil, not to mention the throngs of tourists that visit the state each summer. Alaska has been populated longer than any other location in the Americas, with the first people crossing over from Asia no later than 15,000 years ago. However, it remained unknown to most of the world until 1741, when explorer Vitus Bering arrived at the head of a scurvy-racked Russian expedition and claimed the land for the czar. Russian fur traders soon began doing business there, but few stayed longer than necessary. In fact, no permanent colonial settlement would pop up until 1784, and there were never more than a few hundred Russians living in Alaska at any one time. Far from self sufficient, the colony depended on native tribes, the British and the Americans for supplies, the later two of which (along with the Spanish and French) had been exploring the area since the late 1700s. Eventually, Russian officials began to worry that U.S. settlers would one day overrun Alaska, much as they had in Texas. These officials also feared losing the nearly defenseless colony to Great Britain, a naval power that had defeated Russia in the Crimean War (1853-1856) and left it ravaged by debt. When, to top it off, the fur trade declined, even the czar’s own brother called Alaska a luxury that Russia could ill afford. By the late 1850s, Russia and the United States had entered into preliminary negotiations over the sale of the territory. The talks were cut short by the outbreak of the American Civil War, but not before Senator William H. Seward, an ardent expansionist who would serve as secretary of state during both the Lincoln and Johnson administrations, declared that the towns and forts of Alaska would “yet become the outposts of my own country.” Russian and American diplomats during the treaty signing ceremony of the Treaty of Cession whereby the United States bought Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867. Within months of the Civil War’s end, Seward brought up the issue of Alaska with Edouard de Stoeckl, the Russian minister to the United States, who subsequently received authorization from the czar to sell it. Secret negotiations between Seward and Stoeckl began around March 11, 1867, and, after working throughout the night, the pair signed a treaty on March 30 stipulating that the United States would purchase Alaska for $7.2 million in gold. (As was typical for the time, Alaska’s vast indigenous population was never consulted.) Seward hoped the Senate would ratify the treaty that same day. But the matter instead remained pending for a week and a half, during which time Seward hosted several luxurious dinner parties aimed at swaying the senators in attendance. The press, meanwhile, was having a field day. Most newspapers supported the deal. But a vocal minority, largely associated with the Radical Republican faction of the Republican Party, mercilessly lambasted it, referring to Alaska by such names as “Johnson’s Polar Bear Garden,” “Walrussia” and “Russian Fairy Land.” (Incidentally, the phrase by which it is now best known, “Seward’s Folly,” was not uttered until years later.) Scroll to Continue Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, led the opposition, writing, among other things, that most of Alaska was a “burden…not worth taking as a gift.” Some senators were equally skeptical, with one joking to his colleagues that he would support taking possession of the land only if Seward “be compelled to live there.” Yet that same senator failed in an attempt to delay the proceedings, and the treaty ended up being approved on April 9 by a 37-2 vote. Image of the $7,200,000 check from the United States to Russia for purchasing Alaska. Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Getty Images President Johnson next appointed General Lovell H. Rousseau to facilitate the transfer of power. Sailing out of New York on August 31, Rousseau made his way across Panama and up to San Francisco, where ships laden with troops and supplies were waiting for him. From there, he endured seasickness and chills on the slow voyage north to Sitka, the only sizeable Russian town in Alaska, arriving on October 18. Later that day, the Russian flag was taken down and the U.S. flag was raised in a ceremony attended by Russian and American troops and a few indigenous leaders. All interactions between the Russians and Americans “were of the friendliest character,” reported Rousseau, who would go on to describe the climate (“rains a great deal”), the people (“quiet, orderly and law-abiding”), the fisheries (“very fine”) and even the potatoes (“small…but of the finest flavor”). The Russian troops departed, and all Russian civilians were given the option of becoming U.S. citizens. The saga, however, did not end there. Intent on embarrassing President Johnson, who was impeached in February 1868 (but who survived removal from office by one vote), House Republicans refused to appropriate any cash for the purchase. Moreover, a prominent Massachusetts family claimed it should receive some of the $7.2 million as repayment for arms it allegedly provided Russia during the Crimean War. Finally, in July 1868, after Johnson lost the Democratic presidential nomination, the House of Representatives voted 113-43 to hand over the money to Russia. A congressional investigation later determined that Stoeckl, the Russian minister, bribed lobbyists and journalists during this time period. Private notes written by Johnson and another U.S. official suggest that Stoeckl—with Seward’s knowledge— likewise made tens of thousands of dollars in illicit payments to members of Congress. Scandal notwithstanding, Seward wasted no time in enjoying the fruits of his labor, heading to Alaska within months of retiring from government in 1869. In Sitka, he toured a brewery and sawmill, attended church, met with the city council, viewed a military parade and walked the streets. “There was a curious medley of population and costume,” his son would later write. “Russians in their national dress; United States soldiers in their blue uniforms; Indians in blankets and feathers, and traders and travelers clad in the latest style of Montgomery Street, San Francisco.” Seward also journeyed further north to the camp of a government scientist and accurately predicted that Alaska would become both a state and a tourist attraction. Today, an Alaskan city, highway and peninsula are all named for him, as is a state holiday that commemorates his once-ridiculed purchase. How did the purchase of Alaska benefit the US?The Senate approved the treaty of purchase on April 9; President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty on May 28, and Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867. This purchase ended Russia's presence in North America and ensured U.S. access to the Pacific northern rim.
Was the purchase of Alaska a good deal?Though mocked by some at the time, the 1867 purchase of Alaska came to be regarded as a masterful deal. The treaty enlarged the United States by 586,000 square miles, an area more than twice the size of Texas, all for the bargain price of around two cents an acre.
Why was the purchase of Alaska in 1867 important to the development of the United States economy?Why was the purchase of Alaska in 1867 important to the development of the US economy? The land was rich in timber, gold, and oil. How did the Federal Reserve's higher interest rates in the 1930's complicate the Great Depression? People saved money rather than spending it.
Why did we purchase Alaska?Russia wanted to sell its Alaska territory, which was remote and difficult to defend, to the U.S. rather than risk losing it in battle with a rival such as Great Britain. Negotiations between Seward (1801-1872) and the Russian minister to the U.S., Eduard de Stoeckl, began in March 1867.
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What were some of the benefits the United States received in its purchase of Alaska?
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