Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TheNickelGuy, post: 8307691, member: 20201&quot;]<b>1959 Alaska Statehood</b></p><p><b>.925 32mm So-called Half Dollar</b></p><p><b>Heraldic Art Medal</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470407[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470408[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>William Henry Seward and The Alaska Purchase</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1470409[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>US Senator &amp; Governor of New York, Nominee at the 1860 Republican National Convention for President but lost out to Lincoln. Worked closely with Lincoln during his presidency and served as Secretary of State.</p><p>All on the day that Lincoln was assassinated, an attempt on Seward also occurred but was unsuccessful. An assassination of the vice president Andrew Johnson was also planned but not carried out.</p><p><br /></p><p>He was a strong supporter for American expansion.</p><p>Seward had been interested in whaling as a senator; his interest in Russian America was a byproduct of this. In his speech prior to the 1860 convention, he predicted the territory would become part of the U.S.</p><p>When he learned in 1864 that it might be for sale, he pressed the Russians (then a U.S. ally) for negotiations.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Russian minister, Baron Eduard de Stoeckl, returned home on leave in 1866. Fearing that the territory might be overrun by American settlers and lost, he urged his government to sell it. He was given the authority to make the sale and when he returned in March 1867, negotiated with the Secretary of State.</p><p>Seward initially offered $5 million.</p><p><br /></p><p>The two men settled on $7 million and on March 15, Seward presented a draft treaty to the Cabinet.</p><p>Stoeckl&#039;s superiors raised several concerns. To induce him to waive them, the final purchase price was increased to $7.2 million.</p><p><br /></p><p>The treaty was signed in the early morning of March 30, 1867, and ratified by the Senate on April 10. Stevens sent the secretary a note of congratulations, predicting that the Alaska purchase would be seen as one of Seward&#039;s greatest accomplishments.</p><p><br /></p><p>Despite his being an ardent supporter of American expansionism during his time in the Cabinet, only Alaska was added to U.S. territory during Seward&#039;s service as Secretary of State. The land had the same latitude as Siberia and was very difficult to farm, neither gold nor oil nor any other important mineral was discovered there until years after Seward&#039;s death.</p><p><br /></p><p>His influence extended to later American acquisitions. One of his friends, Hamilton Fish, in 1875 signed the trade reciprocity treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaii that eventually led to American annexation of the islands. William Everts, another Seward friend, in 1877 signed a treaty of friendship with the Samoan Islands, laying the groundwork for another American acquisition.</p><p><br /></p><p>A young friend and protege of Seward, Lincoln&#039;s assistant private secretary, John Hay, served as a successor of Seward from 1898 to 1905, during which time the U.S. acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Philippines, and the Panama Canal Zone.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in