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Brief look on Alaska Purchase
On March 30th, 1867, the United States purchased Alaska(586,412 square miles of land at the northwestern tip of the North American continent) from Russia. Secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson, William Henry Seward, proposed the US acquisition of Alaska in 1860. Because the Russians considered Alaska to be a a wasteful territory, in 1866, Baron Eduard de Stoeckl(minister to the US) was approved to open negotiations with Seward for Alaska’s sale. On March 29, 1867, Stoeckl and Seward completed the draft of a treaty ceding Russian North America to the United States. The treaty was signed on the next day and the treaty said that the whole territory was amounted $7,200,000, which accounts for about two cents per acre. The agreement and funding for the purchase by Congress seemed impossible due to the well publicized public outrage. And it was on March 30th that the treat was submitted for ratification. At last, the Republican Party Senator Charles Sumner ratified the treaty, therefore passing it on April 9, 1867. However, the money needed to purchase Alaska was delayed by more than a year because of the opposition in the House of Representatives. Finally in July, 1868, the House endorsed the appropriation.

Closer look at William Seward

William Seward was born in NY in 1801 he was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. he was a authoritative figure in the Republican Party and was viewed as the most significant person for the party's presidential nomination in 1860. In 1867, he worked the Purchase of Alaska. During this time of period Americans thought that purchasing Alaska was a vacuous idea. People mocked the idea as " Steward's Folly," "Seward's Icebox," and "Andrew's Polar bear garden." Now, Alaska celebrates the purchase on "Seward's day."

Imovie (just somethin' for you guys!)
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 * This video talks only in Geo-political terms.

(We will discuss about economic terms later)

Impact on the inhabitants of the territory (in specific: changes after Gold Rush)
Gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896. Therefore, many people crowded into Alaska resulting with doubling in population between 1890 and 1900, reaching 63,592. This increase pressured the government system to expand in Alaska. Because the governmental system was inadequate since its adoption in 1884, the Congress tried to correct some of the problems in the laws about Alaska. Civil codes allowed any community of 300 or more to incorporate with seven-member city councils and three member school boards.

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Effects this expansion had on the U.S.
Alaska is very rich in natural resources: gold, fish, and fur are well known. It is true that these three resources worth many times the cost the United States paid Russia for its territory. And as time passed, Alaska is beginning to look at other resources, such as oil and petroleum. Alaska is also very rich in vegetation resources. Because there are two kinds of forests in the state, the interior forest and the coastal forest, most of the timber harvested is predominantly willow and aspen. The coastal forests produce cedar and spruce trees. There also is a wide variety of animal life in Alaska. The most common ones include deer, mountain goats, moose, and black bears, which are found in southeastern Alaska. More exotic animals found in this region include reindeer, elk, musk oxen and bison.

The anticipation of riches from the gold discoveries in Alaska got the Americans excited. They then decided to set up an Alaskan government, therefore, the residents of Junea (it is the first new town developed after the Alaska purchase) joined with people from other Southeast settlers to demand action by Congress in 1881. They then elected a former Confederate officer, Mottrom Ball, as their unauthenticated Alaska delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Conclusion: WAS ALASKA PURCHASE A GOOD DEAL??
Was Alaska Purchase a good deal? This question can be answered in two ways: financially and non-financially speaking. Some say that the U.S. might have bought Alaska for its Geo-political reasons, because it did not give the U.S. much economic help. With its natural resources and for 1.7 cents per acre, the purchase was intelligent. However, Alaska injured federal government financially, therefore, some conclude that it was a mistake to purchase Alaska. Alaska was uncertain of its economy at the time of the purchase. After the purchase, the return to citizens of the U.S. has been much less than the gross product of the Alaskan economy. Without giving much return to the citizens, Alaska grew dependent on the federal government.

Considering all these, the U.S. thinks back to its history and wonders if they should have obtained Canada, Greenland, Iceland, or the Dominican Republic instead because they all show better economic outlooks.

fun facts (read only if you have time left!)
1. how many times could Rhode island fit into Alaska? 425

2. What is the lowest recorded temperature for Alaska? -80 degrees Farenheit.

3. True or False? Alaska contains the largest national forest in the United States True. The name of this forest is the Tongass National Forest

4. What is Alaska’s official state gemstone? Jade.

5. What is Alaska’s largest city in population? Anchorage.

6. What is Alaska’s official state sport? dog mushing. The alaska Legislature adopted this in 1972.

7. If you ordered muktuk, what would you be served? Raw whale blubber

8. Alaska is known for the great Alaskan pipe line. What runs through it? Oil. The great Alaskan Pipeline carried oil from the north slope to Valdez. This is a distance of about 800 miles.