Secretary of State William Seward negotiated with Russia to acquire Alaska in 1867 for $ 7.2 million. Some ridiculed the purchase as “Seward’s Folly.” Russia had first settled there in the 18th Century, developing a fur empire. The fur trade was in decline by the mid-19th Century, Russia feared losing Alaska to others, and Russia had other overseas interests. A sale was useful to both sides. Alaska, in the long run, was no folly.
Original Inhabitants
Native Americans first settled in Alaska in the distant past.
We are talking more than fifteen thousand years ago. They came from Asia, which explains why Inuits look Asian. We talked about that before. Let’s jump ahead to the 18th Century.
Russia Looks East
The leader (tsar or czar) of Russia, Peter I, won the Great Northern War with Sweden. He was proclaimed “Peter the Great.” Russia had arrived and became a major European power.
European powers had empires. A potential gold mine (in furs) was nearby. Peter commissioned Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator and map maker, to explore Russia’s eastern boundary.
Bering discovered a way to navigate between the Arctic and Pacific Oceans (the Bering Strait). He explored and mapped the Aleutian Islands and the coastline of Alaska. Bering showed that it was possible for Russia to easily reach Alaska, establish trading posts, and settle there.
First Russian Settlements
The first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska began in 1784. A lucrative fur trade developed involving sea otters and other animals. Missionaries and merchants followed.
Russians clashed with natives. They also had to deal with frigid conditions and food scarcity, relying on often unreliable supplies from Russia. Starvation was a serious threat.
Russia’s American sojourn peaked in the early 19th Century. Russia expanded its reach into Spanish California, establishing Fort Ross in present-day Sonoma County.
Russia traded tools for wheat and other foodstuffs. The expanding United States was also a potential trading partner. Or was it a potential threat?
The Russian-American Company (RAC), the tsar-supported trading company, appeared to have a promising future. They even made attempts to colonize Hawaii. That didn’t work out.
Russia Has Some Problems
Trouble was brewing. Overhunting threatened the sea otter trade.
The fur trade was the linchpin of the Russian settlement. The exploration and development necessary to benefit from (exploit) other natural resources Alaska had to offer (gold, oil, timber) was in the future. Shades of French control of Louisiana.
Russia had a small footprint in Alaska. Only a few hundred Russians lived there at a time.
Other colonial powers threatened Russia’s control. Great Britain, a naval power with colonies worldwide, had beaten Russia in the Crimean War (1850s). They were a threat from the east.
The United States now controlled California and was interested in further expansion. Why not Alaska? The U.S. was a threat from the south.
Russia was deep in debt. The tsar’s brother said Alaska was a luxury it could not afford.
He suggested that Russia sell Alaska before it was seized by foreign powers. Better to act now and get something in return. The United States would likely eventually take control anyway.
Russia also looked elsewhere, including obtaining territory from China, for foreign opportunities. Alaska was old news. Time to cut bait.
William Seward Steps In
The United States and Russia were on friendly terms. Russia had no interest in selling Alaska to Great Britain, which both countries saw as a rival. The United States appeared to be the only likely alternative. Early negotiations were interrupted by the Civil War.
William Seward wanted to be president. Abraham Lincoln won instead. Seward became his Secretary of State, continuing as secretary after Lincoln was assassinated.
Seward was a big believer in Manifest Destiny and America’s potential for expansion. He had earlier declared that Alaska would “become the outposts of my own country.”
Once the Civil War was over, Seward brought up the issue with the Russian minister to America. Edouard de Stoeckl supported the move. Secret negotiations began.
Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was a major congressional supporter. He was the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sumner spoke of the interests of New England whalers and traders. Republicans also promoted the idea of ending monarchical rule and foreign dominance in America. America had celebrated the earlier Latin American revolutions.
The czar originally placed five million as the lowest he was willing to offer. Seward’s interest allowed Russia to raise the price to 7.2 million. A treaty was negotiated and approved in 1867.
The indigenous inhabitants did not play a role.
Seward’s Folly?
The impeachment of Andrew Johnson complicated things. Rep. Nathaniel Banks, a Union general and chair of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, helped to smooth things in the House of Representatives. Congress authorized the funding, but with serious accusations of bribery.
The United States expanded by 586,000 square miles, an area more than twice the size of Texas, at the cost of around two cents an acre. The press and Senate (the treaty was ratified 37-2) largely supported the deal. There were some scornful opponents, led by Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune. He argued Alaska was not worth it, even for free.
Seward visited Alaska a few months after retiring. He predicted a successful future for Alaska as a state and tourist attraction. Meanwhile, people ridiculed it as “Johnson’s Polar Bear Garden,” “Walrussia,” and “Russian Fairy Land.” The federal government mostly ignored Alaska.
People still ridiculed the purchase as “Seward’s Folly” in the 1880s. Seward had the last laugh though he died in 1872. A major gold deposit was discovered in the 1890s, resulting in a gold rush. Alaska became a strategic outpost of special significance during World War II.
Alaska became the 49th state in 1959. Its purchase, in the long run, was no folly.