1867

Purchase of Alaska from Russia. The United States, championed by Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State William H. Seward, paid Russia $7.2 million for the purchase of Alaska. Many scoffed at the purchase of an icebox and dubbed it Seward’s Folly.

 

IMAGES:

1. President Andrew Johnson’s proclamation regarding the Alaska Treaty, (Courtesy of the Alaska State Library, ASL-E669-U52-clip) 
2. Signing of Treaty of Cessation 3/30/1867 (Courtesy of the Alaska State Library – Alaska Purchase Centennial Collection, P20-181)
3. William H. Seward, Bureau of Engraving (Resurrection Bay Historical Society)