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KF5JRV > TODAY 30.03.19 13:45l 27 Lines 1342 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 33607_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Mar 30
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<F1OYP<ON0AR<GB7CIP<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190330/1132Z 33607@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward signs a treaty with Russia for
the purchase of Alaska for $7 million. Despite the bargain price of
roughly two cents an acre, the Alaskan purchase was ridiculed in
Congress and in the press as “Seward’s Folly,ö “Seward’s icebox,ö and
President Andrew Johnson’s “polar bear garden.ö
The czarist government of Russia, which had established a presence in
Alaska in the mid-18th century, first approached the United States about
selling the territory during the administration of President James
Buchanan, but negotiations were stalled by the outbreak of the Civil
War. After 1865, Seward, a supporter of territorial expansion, was eager
to acquire the tremendous landmass of Alaska, an area roughly one-fifth
the size of the rest of the United States. He had some difficulty,
however, making the case for the purchase of Alaska before the Senate,
which ratified the treaty by a margin of just one vote on April 9, 1867.
Six months later, Alaska was formally handed over from Russia to the
United States. Despite a slow start in U.S. settlement, the discovery of
gold in 1898 brought a rapid influx of people to the territory, and
Alaska, rich in natural resources, has contributed to American
prosperity ever since.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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