Seward's Folly

Before the Civil War, Alaska was a Russian territory. Russia offered to sell it to the US, but the Civil War, and America needed to focus on that. When the war ended in 1865, US Secretary of State William Seward wanted to expand the US as much as possible. He wanted to go ahead with the purchase of Alaska from Russia, but he needed approval from the US Senate and Congress. They laughed and called the purchase "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox." They believed the land was useless, full of ice, snow, and frozen land.

Seward's purchase of Alaska was approved by one vote. Settlement was slow until 1898, when gold was discovered there. Since then, other Alaska has found to be a wealth of natural resources, such as oil.

Did you know that Alaska is closer to Russia than it is to the US? The Bering Strait, which separates the two countries, is only 2.5 miles wide! Alaska is about 500 miles away from Washington, it's closest American neighbor! Alaska's entire land border is next to Canada.

Alaska is also the largest state. Its land mass is about 1/5 the size of the rest of the United States. The second largest state is Texas, which is about half as big as Alaska.