USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -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, ” “Seward’s icebox, ” and President Andrew Johnson’s “polar bear garden.”

Detailed explanation-2: -The acquisition of Alaska by the United States on March 30, 1867, was dubbed “Seward’s Folly” or ridiculed as “Seward’s Icebox” by critics at the time.

Detailed explanation-3: -Seward’s Folly is a term that refers to Secretary of State William Seward’s purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. Because the land was located so far north, it was considered virtually unusable and uninhabitable.

Detailed explanation-4: -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.

Detailed explanation-5: -Some opponents labeled the purchase as “Seward’s Folly", or “Seward’s Icebox", as they contended that the United States had acquired useless land. Nearly all Russian settlers left Alaska in the aftermath of the purchase; Alaska would remain sparsely populated until the Klondike Gold Rush began in 1896.