Myth of Seward's Folly.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Hill, Michael A
- Source
- Western Historical Quarterly. Spring2019, Vol. 50 Issue 1, p43-64. 22p. 2 Illustrations.
- Subject
- *IMPERIALISM
ALASKA Purchase, 1867
RUSSIA-United States relations
ALASKA state history, 1867-1959
RUSSIAN colonization of the Americas
- Language
- ISSN
- 0043-3810
The idea that the U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 was unpopular with the American public and was mockingly referred to as "Seward's Folly" continues to be taught from the primary to the college level. This myth has served not only to inculcate a type of Alaskan exceptionalism, but also to obscure the impulse for overseas empire that was growing in the United States decades before the Spanish American War. Appreciating the popularity of the Alaskan purchase allows historians to better interpret the spread of U.S. empire in the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]