The Real Reason why the US Bought Alaska from Russia

The purchase of Alaska is surrounded by one of the most persistent historical myths of our time. It was dubbed "Seward's Folly," after then Secretary of State William H. Seward, and was supposedly widely opposed by the public. But that... isn't true.

In this video, we're taking you through the events surrounding the Purchase of Alaska.

FULL TRANSCRIPT + SOURCES:

MAIN SOURCES:
There Are Two Versions of the Story of How the U.S. Purchased Alaska From Russia (Smithsonian):

Purchase of Alaska, 1867 (Office of the Historian):

Seward's Bargain: The Alaska Purchase from Russia (National Archives):

Timeline of Important Laws and Events Impacting Tribal Governments in Alaska (University of Alaska Fairbanks):

The Alaska Purchase (Library of Congress):

#PurchaseOfAlaska #USHistory

[nickwaah]

I appreciate how you didn’t kill us with “like & subscribe” crap but asked us to consider watching more videos. I thank you for the work done on this informative video.

[Buster]

The reason why it’s not Canadian is because back then Canada was the British colony and the Russians didn’t want the Brits to get stronger

[Skywatchryt]

This is not underrated this is educational and my favorite second channel to watch history and geography... Keep the good work man love your vids

[michaelsadams]

This is absolutely amazing! I knew before watching this that "Sewards FollIy" was not accurate but that most of our ancestors were for the purchase of Alaska. But that was just scratching the surface. In these 23 minutes, I have learned more about Russia and America and this purchase than I had ever learned before! Hindsight, I am hooked!

[LibertyMonk]

To be fair, $7 million was like a 20% of the annual revenue of the government at the time. It's a big number.

[augiegirl]

The first line from Scott O’Dell’s children's novel “Island of the Blue Dolphins” speaks of hunters from the Aleutian Islands arriving, & the setting of that book is the real-life island of San Nicholas, just off the coast of California from Los Angeles. The fact that the Aleutians could travel this 2500-mile distance speaks to how skilled they were as seaman.

[Real_Amphy]

9:00 that is some very chipper music for the subject being discussed and it's funny as hell because of it.

[ColoradoBirds]

Only 17k subs?? Well you’ve got mine. Great video. Thank you man.

[mindexplorer]

Congratulations! This is a exceptionally well done documentation!

[mora]

7.2 million dollars for a state bigger than a lot of countries sounds like a pretty good reason 😅

[NiX_aKi]

Alaska is big & rich enough to be a country on its own

[rosskardon]

Just imagine what the Cold War in the 1950's and 1960's would have been like if the 1867 purchase of Alaska was rejected and then Alaska was part of the Soviet Union in the 20th Century!

[dirklutz]

An amazing documentary. Your team’s passion for history comes through.

[Kudarat]

I like your voice and explanations, subscribed

[SeigeGoat]

Mark my words this guy will get a million views and subscribers in future

[kellensanna]

Great video. I think something people overlook when they talk about the purchase price of Alaska is with Russian America only having 800~ settlers the control they had on the area was still nebulous. The Russians basically converted a paper claim to cash in a time of need. People often think of modern strictly controlled border but the situation back then was much more flexible.

[te]

I highly enjoyed this Thank you for the obvious research and care in presenting what appears to be a historically accurate and unbiased account of this fascinating region. I will forever view this region in a different light !

[ianmatthews]

Thanks for vid, really high quality! Subscribed 🙂

[proveritate]

An absolutely great video with a happy outcome for the Natives of Alaska, and all the other Alaskan people ! What a good positive beautiful historical narrative ! Thank you so much !

[travisdeppe]

I've never heard the myth that Alaska was thought to be a bad purchase at some point. Everything I was taught in school during the 90s said the opposite.