Seward’s Folly?

“Seward’s Folly” (or one of Russia’s biggest mistakes)?

According the DNA studies, the first humans migrated across the Bering “land bridge” from the European continent into what is now known as the U.S. State of Alaska in the North American continent about 10,000 years.  The Bering “land bridge” might be more accurately called the Bering “ice bridge” as it was formed during the last “Ice Age” and has since melted along with the ice and snow which covered much of the northern part of North America during the “Ice Age”.  These original inhabitants are the origin of the many Indigenous Alaskan people (20 Indigenous languages are spoken in Alaska).

Given it’s close proximity, Russia was an early non-Indigenous entry into Alaska.  It is thought that Russian explorers and fur traders may have entered Alaska sometime in the 1600s.  However, the first permanent Russian settlements were not established until the late 1700s.  These early Russian settlements were engaged primary in the animal fur trade, that involved harvesting fur from animals (e.g., seals, beaver) in Alaska and other parts of North American and shipping the furs to Europe for processing and sale as clothing items.

For about 100 years, Russian settlements and economic activities did not expand much in Alaska.  In the late 1800s, Russian leaders began to worry that Great Britain and the United States, who were both expanding their presence and operations in North America (e.g., Great Britain in Canada and the U.S. on the West Coast), may attempt to take over or annex the Alaskan territory with no compensation.   Thus, Russia approached the U.S. with the possibility of “selling Alaska” to the U.S. – that is, giving up any “rights” to the territory and turning it over to U.S. control (note: from the Indigenous peoples’ perspective, Russia didn’t really “own” the Alaskan territory so actually had no “standing” to sell it).

U.S. leaders were receptive to the prospect of “buying” Alaska as it would expand the U.S. holdings in North America consistent with “Manifest Destiny.”  At the time, U.S. leaders were also hopeful the U.S. might also be able to annex or otherwise obtain control of the British Columbia territory resulting in U.S. holdings along the West Coast stretching contiguously from California to Alaska.  Although the U.S. eventually did “purchase” and and gain control of Alaska, British Columbia became part of Canada soon after the Alaska purchase (perhaps to prevent the U.S. from having a contiguous connection to Alaska).  Thus, although part of the North American U.S., the State of Alaska (along with the State of Hawaii and various U.S. Territories) is not part of the contiguous U.S.

When the U.S. was negotiating the purchase of the Alaska from Russia, the sitting U.S. Secretary State was a man by the name of William H. Seward.  Seward, along with several U.S. Senator, championed the purchase of Alaska as a strategic holding against European country rivals and as an economic investment.  Contrary to historical “story telling”, support among U.S. leader and citizens for the purchase of Alaska was relatively strong – particularly with respect to the strategic holding argument.  Detractors tended to view Alaska as a “frozen wilderness” which would never amount to much in terms of commercial value.  This viewpoint led some to call the potential and eventual purchase of Alaska as “Seward’s Folly.”

So, what the purchase of Alaska a folly or fool’s errand on the part of U.S. leaders or was it one of Russia’s biggest mistakes, especially from an economic perspective?  Stay tuned.