HAPPY LATE ALASKA DAY

[schweitzerdude]

To rjhowie the way I read the wkikipedia article:

I agree in a geographical sense, Alaska as part of Canada made more sense. The British in the 1860s apparently did not agree - think about the vast territory in what is now Canada that they already controlled. Gold and oil were in the future - in those days seal furs were the only reason anyone cared about Alaska, be they Russian, American, or British.

Here's a quote from the wikipedia article:

"The Russians therefore started to believe that in any future conflict with Britain, their hard-to-defend region might become a prime target, and would be easily captured. Therefore the Tsar Alexander II decided to sell the territory. Perhaps in hopes of starting a bidding war, both the British and the Americans were approached, however the British expressed little interest in buying Alaska"

So I conclude:

1. The British did not seem interested in a purchase.

2. The Russians were concerned about getting into a conflict with the British over Alaska. The Russians believed that in case of a conflict, the British would prevail and the Russians would lose Alaska to the British with no compensation. Of course, there could have been a peace treaty with some sort of compensation - who can say how this might have turned out.

3. The Russians, due to financial pressures, were determined to get what they could for Alaska and the sale to the USA seemed to be the only solution after the initial offer of sale to the British was rejected.

The Alaska Purchase was widely criticized in the USA at the time, even at 2 cents/acre. But history proved the critics wrong.

 

[rjhowie]

Thanks for that information.In hindsight it seems a really odd decision by Gt Britain not to buy it as geographically it is kind of stuck on the far end of Canada which was British territory? Anyway it's a fascinating place. and as I said there are still residue Russian parts to it.

 

[schweitzerdude]

To rjhowie: you are right re Russian influence in current day Alaska

I googled "Russian influence in Alaska" and there are enough links to keep anyone busy. I understand the Russian influence is particularly strong in remote communities in southwestern Alaska, as well as to a maybe lesser extent in southeastern Alaska.

But (at a risk of going off-topic), the Russians of the early 1800s established forts and trading posts in northern California USA as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ross,_California

California is where the Russians from the west met the Spanish from the east. Few Americans are aware that northern California was one of the most remote outposts of the Russian empire.