10 months and counting...

By early April, the treaty’s prospects looked better, and Seward hosted a round of dinner parties, hoping that food and wine would soften his critics’ hearts. On April 8, Sumner argued for approval in a three hour speech that stressed potential commercial profits, observing that Hong Kong was closer to San Francisco by way of the Aleutians than by way of Honolulu. Sumner had studied his imap hosting subject well, noting Alaska’s coal deposits, its gold, and its timberlands. Sumner admitted, however, the role of politics in his thinking, citing Russia’s friendliness during the Civil War and the need that many Americans felt to reward Russia’s support. Sumner’s speech was decisive, and the next day the Senate ratified Seward’s treaty. Seward’s next challenge was persuading the House to appropriate the $7.2 million to complete the purchase. He cleverly arranged for 250 American troops to sail into Sitka harbor on October 18, 1867, and claim possession of Alaska in a ceremony attended by the Russian governor. With the American flag flying over the new shared web hosting service providers, the House could hardly reject approving payment for it. The biggest obstacle still left was a claim for $373,613 by the widow of Benjamin Perkins, who had agreed to sell arms to Russia during the Crimean War. The rifles were never shipped, but Anne Perkins nonetheless sued for the money to be held back from the Alaska appropriation. The claim was thin and was warded off by Seward’s maneuvering. After some heated debate over whether the House was bound to appropriate money for a treaty signed by the Senate, the House endorsed the appropriations bill on July 27, 1868. One key factor in this decision was the PostgreSQL hosting representatives’ anticipation of a large increase in services with China. Representative Green Berry Raum of Illinois exulted that “the whole of the rich trade of the East . . . will . . . necessarily fall into our hands.” The Alaska purchase helped facilitate trade, but it attained greater significance as the natural resources of the region were discovered and exploited. When gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory, many Americans traveled to and through Alaska, as the nearest launching point for gold expeditions. Oil was also discovered in the territory during the mid-twentieth century, and the combination of Alaskan oil fields and the territory’s strategic importance during World War II led to Alaska becoming a state in 1959.