US Purchase of Alaska
In 1867 William Seward (the Secretary of State) arranged for the United States to buy Alaska from Russia. But he had trouble persuading the House of Representatives to buy what they called “Seward’s Icebox” or “Seward’s Folly”. Because they thought that it would be a big waste of money.
William Seward pictured above
But it turns that they were WAY wrong. In 1959 Alaska became a state, and for only 2 cents an acre, it was a cheap buy because there was a load of timber, minerals, and last of all oil.
Oil Well pictured above
One of the reasons that Russia sold the territory was, they feared losing it through war to Great Britain, and they would get nothing from it.
I personally think that this was a great purchase, because it gave us more territory, and we found a plethora of natural resources in Alaska.
My source was the book
Comments
Overall, quite brief.