Seward's Folly

One-hundred thirty-nine years ago today, on March 30, 1867, Secretary of State William H. Seward finalized the purchase of the territory of Alaska from Russia. At the time, the American public scoffed at the seemingly-outrageous purchase; no one could see how Alaska was worth the two cents an acre that was paid, especially considering that the territory was too cold to populate heavily. The event became known as Seward's Folly and President Johnson's Polar Bear Garden.

William Henry Seward was born in 1801 in New York. He rose through the state legislature and appeared as a national political figure in 1849, when he was elected as a Senator, serving until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Seward was a staunch Whig, joining the Republican Party when the Whigs self-destructed in the late 1850s.

When the Civil War began, President Lincoln awarded his fellow Whig with an appointment as Secretary of State. Seward's activities during the war were questionable; he created a secret police force that arrested thousands of American citizens who Seward thought might instigate further rebellion in the Federal Union, especially in Maryland. It was through this police force that Lincoln gained criticism for suspending habeas corpus, or the right for a citizen to hear why he or she has been imprisoned and what the charges are.

On April 9, 1865, President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. That same night, a co-conspirator sneaked into Seward's house and stabbed him numerous times. Seward survived, and continued to serve as Secretary of State until 1869.

Seward died in 1872. If he had lived long enough, he would have had the last laugh about Alaska: Nearly a quarter century after his death, gold was discovered in Alaska, in 1896.

Sources: Wikipedia, Wikipedia