Imagine buying land for about two cents an acre. Now imagine buying more than half a million square miles of it at once. That's what the United States did in 1867, when it purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire. It sounds like the bargain of the century. So why did Russia agree to sell?
The short answer: Russia needed money and feared losing Alaska anyway. After a crushing defeat in the Crimean War, the Russian emperor worried that his far-off colony would be easy for Britain to seize from neighboring Canada in a future war. Selling it to the United States for $7.2 million, or about 2 cents per acre, kept it out of British hands.
Why Russia Wanted Out
Russia had colonies in parts of North America in the early 1800s, but few Russians ever settled in Alaska. The colony's main business was fur, especially sea otter pelts. By the 1850s, a sea otter population that had once numbered around 300,000 was almost wiped out.
There was another worry. The California gold rush showed what could happen if gold turned up in Alaska: Americans and Canadians might simply pour in and overwhelm the small Russian presence. But the main reason, historians say, was defense. Emperor Alexander II didn't want his archrival Britain sitting right across the Bering Sea.
Russia first offered to sell in the late 1850s, but no deal was made because Washington was focused on the threat of civil war.
An All-Night Deal
After the Civil War ended, the Tsar told his diplomat Eduard de Stoeckl to reopen talks with Secretary of State William H. Seward in March 1867. President Andrew Johnson was bogged down in Reconstruction, and Seward had angered fellow Republicans, so both men hoped the deal would divert attention from troubles at home. The negotiations wrapped up after an all-night session, and the treaty was signed at 4 a.m. on March 30, 1867.
The Senate approved the treaty by a vote of 37 to 2. The price of $7.2 million is roughly $132 million in today's money. In return, the country grew by about 586,000 square miles.
Was It Really Seward's Folly?
You may have heard that Americans mocked the deal as Seward's Folly. Some critics did. They also called it Seward's Icebox, Walrussia, and a polar bear garden, and claimed taxpayer money had been wasted on useless land.
But that wasn't the majority view. A review of newspapers from the time found general support for the purchase, especially in California. Most editors expected big benefits, such as mineral riches, more trade with Asia, and friendship with Russia. Senator Charles Sumner, who sponsored the Senate bill, believed the land was rich in valuable animals and forests.
Raising the Flag at Sitka
The handover ceremony took place on October 18, 1867, in Sitka, then called New Archangel. Russian and American soldiers paraded in front of the governor's house as the Russian flag came down and the American flag went up, with artillery booming.
Alaskans even switched calendars. The Russians used the Julian calendar, which was 12 days behind, and the Gregorian calendar took effect the day after the transfer. Today, October 18 is celebrated as Alaska Day, a holiday for state workers.
Alaska stayed sparsely populated for decades, until the Klondike Gold Rush began in 1896. It became a state in 1959. Not bad for a place some once dismissed as an icebox.
