Download The definition for folly is "acting stupidly or rashly

The definition for folly is "acting stupidly or rashly." Many Americans
called the purchase of the Alaskan Territory in 1867 "Seward's Folly."
The Secretary of State at that time was William H. Seward. He
purchased the territory from Russia for the tidy sum of $7,200,000.
That may seem like a lot of money, but it bought an area twice the
size of Texas.
Seward was an expansionist. That means he believed America
should expand her holdings, especially in the west. The Civil War had
just ended. Russia was having financial problems. It was afraid it that
it could lose its North American holdings to the British. The Russian
czar thought if he offered the Alaskan territory up for sale, he could
start a bidding war between America and Great Britain, but Britain
wasn't interested. The treaty was signed at 4 o'clock in the morning
on March 30, 1867. For the sum of $7,200,000, which is about 1.9¢
per acre, America became the owner of the Alaskan Territory.
At the time, most Americans favored the purchase, but the
newspapers published criticism of the decision. It was called a
"frozen wilderness." Newspapers said it was too far away from the
United States to be regulated. The New York World called it a
"sucked orange." Editorials said it contained nothing of value except
fur-bearing animals. Horace Greeley wrote, "The country would be
not worth taking as a gift.... Unless gold were found in the country..."
The territory was called "Seward's folly," "Seward's icebox," and
"Andrew Johnson's polar bear garden" by the press. They believed
the region was too far away to be worth anything to the United States.
The United States Senate ratified the treaty on April 9, 1867. At that
time there were thirty-six states in the Union. The transfer ceremony
took place on October 18, 1867 in Sitka. The value of the Alaska
purchase turned out to be many times greater than what the United
States had paid for it. The land turned out to be rich in resources,
especially oil and natural gas. Prudhoe Bay, on the northern Alaskan
coast, is America's largest oil field.
Alaska became the forty-ninth state to join the Union on January 3,
1959. It is often referred to as "America's last frontier." Alaska Day is
observed statewide each year on October 18. Alaskan schools
release students early. Most businesses close for the day, and
parades and reenactments of the flag raising are held. Seward's Day
is also a legal holiday in Alaska. It falls on the last Monday in March.
It commemorates the signing of the Alaska Purchase treaty on March
30, 1867.