Check used to pay for Alaska

The Alaska purchase from Russia by the United States occurred in 1867 at the behest of Secretary of State William Seward. The territory purchased was about 600,000 square miles (1,600,000 km²) of the modern state of Alaska. Image File history File links Alaska_Purchase. ... Image File history File links Alaska_Purchase. ... Cunt BAg Twat Fuk suck my penis ring 0778851865!!!!!!Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Seal of the United States Department of State. ... William Henry Seward, Sr. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Area  Ranked 1st  - Total 663,267 sq mi (1,717,855 km²)  - Width 808 miles (1,300 km)  - Length 1,479 miles (2,380 km)  - % water 13. ...

Background

Jewish traders in San Francisco are said to have been the first to come up with the idea of purchasing Alaska from Russia.[1] Russia was in a difficult financial position and feared losing the Alaskan territory without compensation in some future conflict, especially to their rivals the British, who could easily capture the hard-to-defend region. Therefore the Tsar Alexander II decided to sell the territory to the US and instructed Russian minister to the United States, Eduard de Stoeckl, to enter into negotiations with Seward in the beginning of March 1867. For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Alexander (Aleksandr) II Nikolaevich (Russian: Александр II Николаевич) (born 29 April 1818 in Moscow; died 13 March 1881 in St. ... Eduard Andreevich Stoeckl (Эдуард Андреевич Стекль) (1804 – 1875) was a Russian diplomat best known today for having negotiated the American purchase of Alaska on behalf of the Russian government. ...

The negotiations concluded after an all-night session with the signing of the treaty at 9 o'clock in the morning of March 30, with the purchase price set at $7,200,000 (about 1.9¢ per acre). American public opinion was generally positive, but some newspaper writers and editors had negative feelings about the purchase of land. Notably, one of those men being Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune. An example of this is a quote: [Oberholtzer p 123] March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (90th in leap years). ... Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder of the Republican party, reformer and politician. ... The New York Tribune building - today the site of Pace Universitys building complex of One Pace Plaza in New York City The New York Tribune was established by Horace Greeley in 1841 and was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States. ...

Already, so it was said, we were burdened with territory we had no population to fill. The Indians within the present boundaries of the republic strained our power to govern aboriginal peoples. Could it be that we would now, with open eyes, seek to add to our difficulties by increasing the number of such peoples under our national care? The purchase price was small; the annual charges for administration, civil and military, would be yet greater, and continuing. The territory included in the proposed cession was not contiguous to the national domain. It lay away at an inconvenient and a dangerous distance. The treaty had been secretly prepared, and signed and foisted upon the country at one o'clock in the morning. It was a dark deed done in the night.... The New York World said that it was a "sucked orange." It contained nothing of value but furbearing animals, and these had been hunted until they were nearly extinct. Except for the Aleutian Islands and a narrow strip of land extending along the southern coast the country would be not worth taking as a gift.... Unless gold were found in the country much time would elapse before it would be blessed with Hoe printing presses, Methodist chapels and a metropolitan police. It was "a frozen wilderness," said the New York Tribune.

Washington's viewpoint

The purchase was at the time derided as Seward's folly, Seward's icebox, and Andrew Johnson's polar bear garden, because it was believed foolhardy to spend so much money on the remote region.^[1] Image File history File links Ak-locator. ... William Henry Seward, Sr. ... William Henry Seward, Sr. ... Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was the seventeenth President of the United States (1865–1869), succeeding to the presidency upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. ...

The treaty was promoted by Secretary of State William H. Seward, who had long favored expansion, and by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Charles Sumner. They argued that the nation's strategic interests favored the treaty. Russia had been a valuable ally of the Union position during the Civil War, while Britain had been a nearly open enemy. It seemed wise to help Russia while discomforting the British. Furthermore there was the matter of adjacent territory belonging to Britain (and now part of Canada). Nearly surrounded by the United States they were of little strategic value to Britain and might someday be purchased. The purchase, editorialized the New York Herald, was a "hint" from the Tsar to England and France that they had "no business on this continent." "It was in short a flank movement" upon Canada said the influential New York Tribune. Soon the world would see in the northwest "a hostile cockney with a watchful Yankee on each side of him," and John Bull would be led to understand that his only course was a sale of his interests there to Brother Jonathan. In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ... William Henry Seward, Sr. ... Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811 – March 11, 1874) was an American politician and statesman from Massachusetts. ... World War I recruiting poster John Bull is a national personification of the Kingdom of Great Britain created by Dr. John Arbuthnot in 1712, and popularized first by British print makers and then overseas by illustrators and writers such as American cartoonist Thomas Nast and Irish writer George Bernard Shaw... Brother Jonathan was a fictional character created to personify the entire United States, in the early days of the countrys existence. ...

The signing of the Alaska Treaty of Cessation on March 30, 1867. L-R: Robert S. Chew, William H. Seward, William Hunter, Mr. Bodisco, Eduard de Stoeckl, Charles Sumner and Frederick W. Seward.

On March 3 Sumner made a major speech advocating the treaty, and covering in depth the history, the climate, the natural configuration, the population, the resources—the forests, mines, furs, fisheries—of Alaska. A good scholar, he cited the testimony of geographers and navigators: Alexander von Humboldt, Joseph Billings, Yuri Lisiansky, Fyodor Petrovich Litke, Otto von Kotzebue, Portlock, James Cook, Meares, Ferdinand von Wrangel. When he had finished, he observed that he had "done little more than hold the scales." If these had inclined on either side, he continued, it was "because reason or testimony on that side was the weightier." Soon, said Sumner, "A practical race of intrepid navigators will swarm the coast ready for any enterprise of business or patriotism. Commerce will find new arms; the country new defenders; the national flag new hands to bear it aloft." Bestow American republicanism upon the territory, he urged, "and you will bestow what is better than all you can receive, whether quintals of fish, sands of gold, choicest fur or most beautiful ivory." "Our city," exclaimed Sumner, "can be nothing less than the North American continent with the gates on all the surrounding seas." He argued the treaty was "a visible step" in this direction. By its terms we should "dismiss one more monarch from this continent." One by one they had retired—" first France; then Spain; then France again, and now Russia, all giving way to that absorbing unity which is declared in the national motto —E pluribus unum." [Oberholtzer 1: 544-5] Image File history File links Alaska_Purchase. ... Image File history File links Alaska_Purchase. ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (90th in leap years). ... Cunt BAg Twat Fuk suck my penis ring 0778851865!!!!!!Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... William Henry Seward, Sr. ... William Hunter (1805–1886) was a politician and diplomat from Rhode Island. ... Eduard Andreevich Stoeckl (Эдуард Андреевич Стекль) (1804 – 1875) was a Russian diplomat best known today for having negotiated the American purchase of Alaska on behalf of the Russian government. ... Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811 – March 11, 1874) was an American politician and statesman from Massachusetts. ... Frederick William Seward (July 8, 1830 – April 25, 1915) was the Assistant Secretary of State during the American Civil War, serving in Abraham Lincolns administration. ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (63rd in leap years). ... An 1859 portrait of Alexander von Humboldt by the artist Julius Schrader, showing Mount Chimborazo in the background. ... Joseph Billings (c. ... Yuri Fyodorovich Lisyansky (also spelled as Urey Lisiansky) (Russian: , August 13, 1773—March 06, 1837) was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy and explorer. ... Count Fyodor Petrovich Litke (Russian: Граф Фёдор Петро́вич Ли́тке) (September 28 (September 17, O.S.), 1797 - August 28 (August 17, O.S.), 1882) was a Russian navigator, geographer, and Arctic explorer. ... Otto von Kotzebue ( December 30, 1787 - February 15, 1846), was a Russian navigator. ... James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, in Russian: Ferdinand Petrovich Vrangel (Фердинанд Петрович Врангель), (December 29, 1796 (January 9, 1797), Pskov, Russia — May 25 (June 6), 1870, Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia)), Baltic German navigator, admiral, Honorable Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. ...

Seward's Day, in honor of William H. Seward, is a holiday in Alaska on the last Monday of March which celebrates the United States' purchase of Alaska from Russia. Seward's Day is also an alcohol-free day in many cities such as Ketchikan, one of Alaska's major port cities - though the one-day alcohol ban is not observed in all cities. Sewards Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Alaska. ... William Henry Seward, Sr. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Area  Ranked 1st  - Total 663,267 sq mi (1,717,855 km²)  - Width 808 miles (1,300 km)  - Length 1,479 miles (2,380 km)  - % water 13. ... March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Area  Ranked 1st  - Total 663,267 sq mi (1,717,855 km²)  - Width 808 miles (1,300 km)  - Length 1,479 miles (2,380 km)  - % water 13. ...

Ratification and enactment

The United States Senate ratified the treaty on April 9, 1867, by a vote of 37 to 2. However, the appropriation of money needed to purchase Alaska was delayed by more than a year due to opposition in the House of Representatives. The House finally approved the appropriation in July 1868, by a vote of 113 to 48. [2] Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Politics Portal      The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the... April 9 is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Cunt BAg Twat Fuk suck my penis ring 0778851865!!!!!!Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ...

Sumner reported Russian estimates that Alaska contained about 2,500 Russians and those of mixed race, and 8,000 aborigines, in all about 10,000 people under the direct government of the Russian fur company, and possibly 50,000 Eskimos and Indians living outside its jurisdiction. The Russians were settled at 23 trading posts, placed conveniently on the islands and coasts. At smaller stations only four or five Russians were stationed to collect peltry from the Indians for storage and shipment when the company's boats arrived to take it away. There were two larger towns, New Archangel, now named Sitka, which had been established in 1804 to handle the valuable trade in the skins of the sea otter. It contained 116 small log cabins with 968 residents. The second town was St. Paul on Kodiak Island, with 100 cabins and 283 people. It was the center of the fur seal industry. Nickname: First City of Alaska Coordinates: Borough City and Borough of Sitka Founded 1799 Incorporated December 2, 1971 Mayor Marko Dapcevich Area    - City 12,461. ... Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. ...

An Aleut name, "Alaska" was chosen by the Americans. The transfer ceremony took place in Sitka on October 18, 1867. Russian and American soldiers paraded in front of the governor's house; the Russian flag was lowered and the American flag raised amid peals of artillery. Captain Alexis Pestchouroff said, " General Rousseau, by authority from His Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, I transfer to the United States the territory of Alaska." General Lovell Rousseau accepted the territory. A number of forts, blockhouses and timber buildings were made over to the Americans. The troops occupied the barracks; General Jefferson C. Davis established his residence in the governor's house, and most of the Russian citizens went home, leaving a few traders and priests who chose to remain. October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... Cunt BAg Twat Fuk suck my penis ring 0778851865!!!!!!Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Jefferson Columbus Davis (March 2, 1828 – November 30, 1879) was an officer in the United States Army who served in the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and the Modoc War. ...

Alaska Day celebrates the formal transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States, which took place on October 18, 1867. Currently, Alaska celebrates the purchase on Seward's Day, the last Monday of March. Alaska Day, October 18, is the anniversary of the formal transfer of Alaska from the ownership of Russia to the United States. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... Cunt BAg Twat Fuk suck my penis ring 0778851865!!!!!!Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Sewards Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Alaska. ...

(*October 18, 1867, was by the Gregorian calendar and a clock time 9:01:20 behind Greenwich, which came into effect the following day in Alaska to replace the Julian calendar and a clock time 14:58:40 ahead of Greenwich. For the Russians, the handover was on October 19, 1867.) The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world. ... The Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC by Julius Caesar and came into force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ...

See also

• Alaska Boundary Dispute
• Adams-Onís Treaty

The Alaska Boundary Dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States of America and Canada (then a British Dominion with its foreign affairs controlled from London), and at a subnational level between the territory of Alaska on the U.S. side and British Columbia and the Yukon on the... The Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 (formally titled the Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits Between the United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, and also known as the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819, and sometimes the Florida Purchase Treaty) was a historic agreement between the United States and...

References

• Ronald J Jensen. The Alaska Purchase and Russian-American Relations (1975)
• Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer; A History of the United States since the Civil War. Volume: 1. 1917.
• Alaska. Speech of William H. Seward at Sitka, August 12, 1869 (1869; Digitized page images & text), primary source

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Alaska Purchase

• Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska and related resources at the Library of Congress
• Text of Treaty with Russia (Alaska Purchase)
• The Alaska Purchase (Meeting of Frontiers, Library of Congress)
• Original Document of Check to Purchase Alaska
• [3] Purchase of Alaska
• [4] Alaskan Purchase