why does america own alaska

does america own alaska so that is can be near russia.why and how did they possese it

The Russians were broke and stupid and sold it for a 'song.'

that song must have been very good then

Before gold was discovered there, we bought it from the Russian empire (about 100 years before the USSR) for a pittance. This was durring Americas land grab in the 1800s, with purchases like the Lousiana purchace and the like.

Whichever president bought it (I don't remember who) was widely criticized for buying it until gold was discovered about 10 years later. Then the Russians tried to renig on the deal, or at least get more money for it, but we told 'em nope, and at the time, Russia was a weaker power then we were.

Yea, we bought it for less than a billion (I think). They got scewed, its now worth so much its astronomical.



Mod Edit - No Profanity Please

[edit on 6-8-2008 by elevatedone]

Originally posted by Taxman
Yea, we bought it for less than a billion (I think). They got scewed, its now worth so much its astronomical.

Obviously someone who slept through history class in highschool.

At the time, it was considered a foolish purchase by some in the U.S. - Seward's Folly.

I was looking at it from hindsight. Yes I knew about the folly.

the way i remember it from high school, we paid them 1 cent per acre. cheap land.

Alaska was purchased for $7.2 million in gold :

college.hmco.com...

Alaska is a great country, well state actually,LOL- that has great stragetic importance to the rest of the country. And our natural resourses are varied- from the oil fields in the north, to the US Navy stragetic oil reserve that has not been brought into production ,yet- but Bush is pushing this issue - our timber reserves, as well as minerals, mainly copper and gold, and our seafood products.
Most people, when Alaska is mentioned, think of igloos- but there are none in the state.
Our economy is different, wages are higher (even the minimum wage is higher than the rest of the country) and there is so much oppurtunity here.....
I encourage anyone looking for something different to come here. What a great country, I mean state, that we have . Oppurtunity abounds in all directions.
The Russians were only looking at the furs from here (Sea Otter) and when they almost broght same into extinction was when we purchased Alaska from them. And they also basically enslaved the native population to procure these pelts, at a great loss to the local natives as far as life goes.
A great read is James Michener- Alaska.

There is a mystic connection with Alaska that is little known. There are some who believe that was the North Pole in the pervious age of earth.




Easter Island, the Nazca lines, Ollantaytambo , Tassili n'Ajjer and the Great Pyramid of Egypt, Perseopolis, the capital city of ancient Persia; Mohenjo Daro, the ancient capital city of the Indus Valley; Khajuraho, the temple city of the Chandela empire in central India; the Oracle of Zeus-Amon at Siwa; and the lost city of Petra. The Ancient Sumarian city of Ur and Angkor temples in Cambodia


If all of these places were on the equator, then the north pole was in Alaska very near HAARP.



home.hiwaay.net...

Just curious, when did the first searchs at lake Vostok began?

And we knew all of that in the mid-1800s, so that was why America got Alaska

sry im from england we havent done much about the little history america has

I think we should give alaska back to the animals. Let the animals rule alaska!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO IS WITH ME???


Lets go to congress and protest to give alaska back to the living creatures who should own it, the animals.

ALL HAIL ANIMALS, ALL HAIL ANIMALS!!!!!!! I think the animals should be allowed to deal with bush how they want to. He is destroying their land afterall.

Have you ever seen a Kodiak bear? I have...let me tell ya...they DO own it, hehe....

The Russians were broke and stupid and sold it for a 'song.'

That's the short and sweet of it, yeah, hehe...though at the time, we didn't know what a bargain it was... It was considered worth it more so that they didn't have a toehold on the continent I think, more than any economic reasons....

Originally posted by ilovepizza
I think we should give alaska back to the animals. Let the animals rule alaska!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO IS WITH ME???


Lets go to congress and protest to give alaska back to the living creatures who should own it, the animals.

ALL HAIL ANIMALS, ALL HAIL ANIMALS!!!!!!! I think the animals should be allowed to deal with bush how they want to. He is destroying their land afterall.

This is like saying we should give all of America back to the native Indians....

As Gazrok said, the animals do own it. And the animals are 'hailed " here- if you do not- you won't be around here long.

Plain and simple America bought Alaska from Russia.

Sewards Folley, or Ice box, was considered a screw up of magnitude proportions, until gold and oil was found. Then the ruskies were whining about how we stole the land.

Can you imagine how the cold war would have been afected if Russia had kept Alaska? They would have had a presence in North America, there would have been an overland border between the USSR and Canada. There would have been troops massed on both sides of the border, lotsa nukes on both sides, they could have more easily targeted the US with their nukes. With an overland border(other than the one in Europe and even closer to the US), tensions would have been worse. The cold war could have easily gone hot.

Its a good thing it was bought from them at the time

[Edited on 18-1-2004 by Ranger]