When Alaska was sold to the United States, was it also offered to Canada, its geographical neighbour?

triviapaul

No, for the very simple reason that Canada didn't exist at the time; the Canadian west coast was part of British North America, in the form of The Colony of British Columbia. Was it offered to the UK then? Heck, no. Envy/fear of Britain's might was widespread in the 1860s. Russia didn't have the means to defend Alaska from a British attack should they decide to take it by force. To make sure that the British wouldn't expand their empire even more, the Russians sold it to the USA while they still could get some money out of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_of_British_Columbia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_British_Columbia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_purchase Apr 08 08, 5:29 AM

author

The purchase of Alaska in 1867 marked the end of Russian efforts to expand trade and settlements to the Pacific coast of North America, and became an important step in the United States rise as a great power in the Asia-Pacific region. Beginning in 1725, when Russian Czar Peter the Great dispatched Vitus Bering to explore the Alaskan coast, Russia had a keen interest in this region, which was rich in natural resources and lightly inhabited. As the United States expanded westward in the early 1800s, Americans soon found themselves in competition with Russian explorers and traders. Moscow, however, lacked the financial resources to support major settlements or a military presence along the Pacific coast of North America and permanent Russian settlers in Alaska never numbered more than four hundred. Defeat in the Crimean War further reduced Russian interest in this region. Russia offered to sell Alaska to the United States in 1859, believing the United States would off-set the designs of Russia's greatest rival in the Pacific, Great Britain. The looming U.S. Civil War delayed the sale, but after the war, Secretary of State William Seward quickly took up a renewed Russian offer and on March 30, 1867, agreed to a proposal from Russian Minister in Washington, Edouard de Stoeckl, to purchase Alaska for $7.2 million. The Senate approved the treaty of purchase on April 9; President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty on May 28, and Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867. This purchase ended Russia's presence in North America and ensured U.S. access to the Pacific northern rim. For three decades after its purchase the United States paid little attention to Alaska, which was governed under military, naval, or Treasury rule or, at times, no visible rule at all. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/gp/17662.htm Apr 08 08, 7:25 PM