American Spirit
The American Spirit can defined by many people and by many events. The Alaska Purchase may not be an example of all the definitions of the American Spirit but it does cover a few. The Alaska Purchase at the time seemed like a great waste to the American people. It was given nicknames such as Seward's icebox and Seward's Folly. What Americans didn't know was how valuable it would become in the years to come. The Alaska Purchase is a good example of the American Spirit through intuition and perseverance.
Almost everyone but William Seward, secretary of the state at the time, believed that Alaska was nothing but a barren ice block. However Seward knew what the new American frontier was actually like, mountain ranges, dazzling bays, lush forests and only in the upper quarter of Alaska was the barren frozen wasteland everyone expected. Seward knew that in this territory twice the size of France there had to be some useful resources from it (Gold 80). Seward was right, the territory already had an abundance of timber, a wealth of fisheries and fur, that could, when properly executed, could produce a healthy profit (Russell 45). Whales, more specifically, whale oil was a very important resource up until electricity and light bulbs lit up our world. Whale oil was used in virtually every oil lit lamp on the planet so when the whales would migrate north to Alaska, the valuable whale oil would be collected. These so far are only the resources Seward knew about and his intuition, or gut feeling, told him there was more to be discovered. He was correct, Alaska would soon be discovered holding oil and gold. A little more than a century later the infamous black gold would be found at Prudhoe Bay in 1968. Nine years later in 1977, after oil companies shelled out more than 900 million dollars to build the Alaskan pipeline. It’s first shipment of oil was valued at 7.2 million dollars, exactly what William Seward had paid for all of Alaska (Gold 115). Therefore Seward’s intuitive predictions were correct as the land would pay for itself many times over, just from oil. Although much sooner Alaska would pay for itself. By the end of the 1800’s prospectors found gold, triggering the Klondike gold rush; all the gold mined out during that gold rush would, in today’s dollars, be valued at roughly twenty four billion dollars (Bennett 407). Which proved everyone who doubted Seward wrong, and that Alaska was more than Seward’s polarbear garden. It was a valuable addition to America.
Also being aware the U.S had minimal coal refueling stations and ports closer to Asia, Seward saw the opportunity to open up more trade in Asia. Intuitively Seward sought this advantage, unlike those who opposed the purchase. Seward had already be looking for more territory to expand to but his “efforts to acquire island footholds in the Pacific and Caribbean were unsuccessful” (Russell 43). However Seward was able to claim the Midway Islands west of Hawaii and the soon to be glorious prize of Alaska. Alaska has a chain of islands on the southwest corner which stretches fairly close to Japan and the rest of Asia. With Seward gaining this land much more trade with Asian countries, providing a significant boost for each economies. Intuitively Seward was able to see past the fact that Alaska is a cold and remote place, and see that, with the future advances of technology the remoteness of Alaska would no longer matter; and that even with the technology of the time the pit stops Alaska provides helps boost trade.
However living in this new frontier wasn't easy. Especially in the northern part of Alaska where the coldest temperature recorded in Prudhoe Bay was negative sixty one degrees fahrenheit. For many new settlers, like those from the Klondike gold rush, the cold was more than they expected. Not many settlers came at first, resulting in very few small villages because of that most people lived off the land. they almost had to as the time between shipments of basic supplies could and would sometimes be extremely long (Snell 188). Especially during the winter months when a majority of bays would freeze over, effectively making resupply impossible. Therefore living off the land was almost mandatory. To learn how to do so effectively many assimilated into Aleut’s, native Alaskans, villages. Others just worked with the Aleuts in an effort to stay alive. What they would learn from the natives would lead to the settlers own perseverance. The Aleuts would teach how to make canoes from trees, how to properly catch seals, how to skin animals and how to use every bit of a resource usefully (Snell 172). Then what the first settlers learned would be passed on to the next ones until the population could no longer be supported by living off the land. For the amount of seals and other animals to hunt would dwindle as the demand increased. Then to be able to live off a constant resupply they would have to live in the southern most regions of Alaska because to the north all of the sea and land routes freeze over. For the Northerners to persevere over the harsh conditions planning trips and stocking up was very necessary. Even the miners during the Klondike gold rush lived this way. There wasn’t a town them to rely on. All they had was what the brought, each other and what they could find (Bennett 407).
Secondly in perseverance is the continuation of American’s desire to expand or Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny is a large part of what defines America in the 1800’s. Its the mind set that it is their destiny to expand west to California and to then persevere in this frontier. However after the Civil War the mind set of Manifest Destiny disappeared. Most people were focused on rebuilding the south, William Seward however was still very much stuck in the mind set of Manifest Destiny. He still believed, even after expanding all the way to the Pacific, that America was destined to keep expanding. Then no matter the harsh condition or enemies they’d still prevail. Eventually by sticking by the thought of Manifest Destiny William Seward persevered and claimed Alaska (Gold 94). Eventually Americans would buy into the idea of Manifest Destiny again and settle Alaska. Although this time around it isn’t as easy. The journey is much longer and much more harsh. Hardly any people going to Alaska could afford the boat ride there so most took the long walk through Canada (Bennett 408). Therefore this round of Manifest Destiny would be much more difficult. Eventually, through the years, the desire for Manifest Destiny would fade but those that did make it to Alaska will have persevered and continued that mind set of Manifest Destiny for a little bit longer.
Finally through the perseverance of William Seward in the negotiations of the treaty America obtained Alaska. When Russia offered to sell Alaska "Seward singlehandedly negotiated the agreement for its purchase at the price of 7.2 million dollars" (Dulles 157). Although it wasn't that easy, Seward also had to gain two thirds majority of congress and the president’s favor. By law Seward had to meet those requirements gaining, two thirds majority of congress would be the hard part; for President Johnson was already on Seward’s side (Dulles 157). Even worse was the fact that would be adjourned for a recess at the end of the week and they would resume after a week. Seward had a very limited amount of time to get all of his political influences together and begin gain supporters (Gold 101). The following night, after Seward and Edouard de Stoeckl, Russian minister to the U.S, had settled on the price, Seward suggested they get working on the treaty that night. So that night they got to work and wrote up the treaty (Russell 43). “The next morning Seward had a treaty drawn and ready to go to the Senate” (Russell 45). After some political strings were quickly pulled the Senate quickly ratified the treaty however the House was not as quick. At first the House Republicans refused to pay out the sum of 7.2 million. This caused a small delay but eventually the House would ratify the treaty too (Russell 45). Through the short amount of time Seward had he was able to negotiate price, draw up the treaty and pass it through congress, Seward persevered in the negotiations. In the end many things can define the American Spirit like intuition and perseverance. Then through certain events or people those ideas of American Spirit can be expressed. Through the intuition of one and the perseverance of many the Alaska Purchase has become an example of American Spirit. From the anticipation of new resources like oil, gold, plus the resources that were already know at the time, timber, fish and furs, intuition is shown through the expansion of the economy after their acquisition. Plus the increase from trade with Asia is reflected in the economy after gaining new pit stops to make the trip more profitable. Again America’s economy grows because of it and Seward’s intuition is shown. Next settling this new frontier wasn't easy, its climate and terrain provided plenty of challenges but through the mind set of Manifest Destiny these new American settlers persevered; along with William Seward whose determination eventually led him to persevere in his tight time restriction. Through intuition and perseverance the Alaska Purchase is a good example of the American Spirit.