USA HISTORY

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM(1890 1919)

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM

[SOURCES]
What area is known as “Seward’s Folly”?

(A) Hawaii

(B) Cuba

(C) ** Alaska

(D) Puerto Rico

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. Critics attacked Seward for the secrecy surrounding the deal, which came to be known as “Seward’s folly.” The press mocked his willingness to spend so much on “Seward’s icebox” and Andrew Johnson’s “polar bear garden.”

Concept note-2: -Today marks the anniversary of one of the most controversial land deals in American history: the Alaska Purchase or Seward’s Folly. On October 18, 1867, the United States took possession of Alaska from Russia under the terms of a formal land transfer, in a ceremony in the town of Sitka.

Concept note-3: -It’s been called “Seward’s Folly, ” but it could just as well be known as “Sumner’s Project.” As history books tell the story, in 1867 Secretary of State William Seward secretly negotiated with Russian officials to purchase the Alaskan territory for $7.2 million, putting Alaska on the road toward statehood in 1959.

Concept note-4: -Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million on March 30, 1867.

Concept note-5: -Russia wanted to sell its Alaska territory, which was remote and difficult to defend, to the U.S. rather than risk losing it in battle with a rival such as Great Britain. Negotiations between Seward (1801-1872) and the Russian minister to the U.S., Eduard de Stoeckl, began in March 1867.