(A) He saw England in North America as a strategic threat.
(B) He saw France in North America as a strategic threat.
(C) ** He saw Russia in North America as a strategic threat.
(D) He saw Germany in North America as a strategic threat.
EXPLANATIONS BELOW
Concept note-1: -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.
Concept note-2: -Seward had a broad vision of commercial expansion of the United States, particularly in China and the Pacific, and as early as 1864 he had suggested to the Russian government that talks about Alaska “would be beneficial to us, and by no means unprofitable to Russia."
Concept note-3: -Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million on March 30, 1867.
Concept note-4: -On March 30, 1867, the two parties agreed that the United States would pay Russia $7.2 million for the territory of Alaska. For less that 2 cents an acre, the United States acquired nearly 600, 000 square miles.
Concept note-5: -Although some of his expansionist initiatives were unsuccessful, Seward appropriated the Midway Islands and, most important, in early 1867 negotiated with the Russian minister in Washington for the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million.