The Alaska Debate
Controversy over Purchase

Alaska Debate

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Alaskan Landscape The Debated Land
     The purchase of Alaska was a huge debate in American history. Many Americans did not believe that buying Alaska, such a remote and barren land, would have any value. The Congress referred to the Alaska as an "inhospitable and barren waste" and also" utterly worthless". The Congress thought that buying Alaska wouldn't add any value to the United States. People referred to the Alaska Purchase as "Seward's Folly" because William Seward was the man that negotiated the deal for Alaska. Seward really liked Alaska and wanted to buy it while he was serving as Secretary of State. Russia considered Alaska an economic liability so they sold it and Seward thought it was a bargain. Most Americans looked at the Alaska Purchase as a waste of millions of dollars. This is why the debate of Alaska came up between the people of America and William H. Seward.