Seward’s Day in Alaska

The Alaska Purchase was the United States’ acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire by a treaty ratified by the United States Senate.

Seward’s Day commemorates the signing of the treaty by which the United States bought Alaska from Russia, signed on March 30, 1867.

Russia wanted to sell its Alaskan territory, fearing that it might be seized if war broke out with the United Kingdom. Russia’s primary activities in the territory had been fur trade and missionary work among the Native Alaskans. The land added 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 km2) of new territory to the United States.

Reactions to the purchase in the United States were mostly positive. Seward and many other Americans believed that Asia would become an important market for the country’s products, and expected that Alaska would serve as a base for American merchant ships. Some opponents called it "Seward’s Folly" (after Secretary of State William Henry Seward), while many others praised the move for weakening both Britain and Russia as rivals to American commercial expansion in the Pacific region.

Originally organized as the Department of Alaska, the area was renamed the District of Alaska and the Alaska Territory before becoming the modern state of Alaska upon being admitted to the Union as a state in 1959.

Seward is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was named after William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. According to 2014 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 2,528.

Source: wikipedia.org | alaska.gov

In 2026 Seward’s Day in Alaska in USA falls on March 30.