The Alaska Purchase: America’s Forgotten Bargain
In 1867, the United States quietly made one of history’s most remarkable land deals, buying Alaska from Russia—a move many Americans mocked at the time.
Few people today realize just how close North America came to looking very different. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, Russia faced daunting financial difficulties, fearing the remote colony of Alaska was vulnerable and not especially profitable. The Russian Empire, having suffered losses in the Crimean War and wary that Britain—whose powerful navy was stationed nearby in Canada—might seize the territory if war ever broke out, began to secretly court possible buyers for the vast, frosty region.
American interest in expansion was surging. Secretary of State William H. Seward, an ardent expansionist, saw opportunity when Russian envoy Eduard de Stoeckl quietly approached the United States with an offer. Negotiations took place mostly in secrecy, culminating on March 30, 1867, in an agreement to purchase the entire territory of Alaska—over 586,000 square miles—for $7.2 million. That amounts to about two cents an acre.
The deal was swiftly and publicly mocked, earning the derisive nicknames “Seward’s Folly,” “Seward’s Icebox,” and even “Andrew Johnson’s Polar Bear Garden.” Newspapers speculated the U.S. government had purchased an endless expanse of glaciers and barren wasteland. Many Americans, then recovering from the wounds of the Civil War, were skeptical about spending millions on distant, icy land that seemed to offer little in return.
Behind the headlines, the process was a diplomatic tightrope. Russia insisted on discretion, partly to avoid upsetting the British and to maximize the sale’s value. The American Congress debated the expenditure, with some members raising concerns about constitutional authority and the wisdom of buying what many believed to be frozen wilderness. Eventually, approval was won, and the formal transfer took place on October 18, 1867, in Sitka, Alaska—a chilly, symbolic ceremony during which Russian soldiers lowered their flag and American troops raised theirs.
Despite popular mockery, the purchase quietly delivered immense value. Alaska proved rich in resources, eventually yielding gold, oil, furs, fish, and timber that contributed billions to the American economy. Its immense size—the largest state in the U.S.—also guaranteed a strategic foothold for the nation in the North Pacific, playing a vital role during World War II and the Cold War due to its proximity to Russia.
Interestingly, the idea that most Americans mocked the acquisition is itself a bit of a myth; while the deal received criticism, many politicians and thoughtful citizens supported the purchase from the start, recognizing the vast untapped potential.
Had the U.S. passed up the deal, the result could have been drastically different. Scholars speculate that an unclaimed Alaska might have fallen under British control, further strengthening Canada, or returned to native hands with uncertain consequences.
For nearly a century, the annual celebration of Alaska Day on October 18 was mostly a local matter—few in the “Lower 48” reflected on the moment America doubled the size of its territory through strategic patience and a keen sense of opportunity.
Today, the Alaska Purchase is generally regarded as one of history’s great bargains, a transformative step that helped define the modern boundaries and resources of the United States and forever altered North America’s destiny.
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