<P> Over the winter of 1859--1860 de Stoeckl held meetings with American officials, though he had been instructed not to initiate discussions about the sale of the RAC assets . Communicating primarily with Assistant Secretary of State John Appleton and Senator William M. Gwin, de Stoeckl reported the interest expressed by the Americans in acquiring Russian America . While President James Buchanan kept these hearings informal, preparations were made for further negotiations . Senator Gwin tendered a hypothetical offer of five million dollars for the Russian colony, a figure Gorchakov found far too low . De Stoeckl informed Appleton and Gwin of this, the latter saying that his Congressional colleagues in Oregon and California would support a larger figure . Buchanan's increasingly unpopular presidency forced the matter to be shelved until a new presidential election . With the oncoming American Civil War, de Stoeckl proposed a renewal of the RAC's charter . Two of its ports were to be open to foreign traders and commercial agreements with Peru and Chile to be signed to give "a fresh jolt" to the company . </P> <P> Additionally, the Russian Crown sought to repay money to its landowners after its emancipation reform of 1861 and borrowed 15 million pounds sterling from Rothschilds at 5% annually . When the time came to repay the loan, the Russian government was short of funds . </P> <P> Russia continued to see an opportunity to weaken British power by causing British Columbia, including the Royal Navy base at Esquimalt, to be surrounded or annexed by American territory . Following the Union victory in the civil war, the Tsar instructed the Russian minister to the United States, Eduard de Stoeckl, to re-enter into negotiations with William Seward in the beginning of March 1867 . President Johnson was entangled in negotiations about Reconstruction and Seward had alienated a number of Republicans, so they believed that the purchase would help divert attention from the current domestic matters . The negotiations concluded after an all - night session with the signing of the treaty at 04: 00 on March 30, 1867, with the purchase price set at $7.2 million ($1.8 billion in 2016), or about 2 cents per acre ($4.74 / km). </P> <P> The notion that the purchase was unpopular among Americans is, a scholar wrote 120 years later, "one of the strongest historical myths in American history . It persists despite conclusive evidence to the contrary, and the efforts of the best historians to dispel it", likely in part because it fits American and Alaskan writers' view of the territory as distinct and filled with self - reliant pioneers . American public opinion was not universally positive; to some the purchase was known as "Seward's folly", or "Seward's icebox ." Newspaper editorials contended that taxpayer money had been wasted on a "Polar bear garden". Nonetheless, most newspaper editors argued that the U.S. would probably derive great economic benefits from the purchase; friendship with Russia was important; and it would facilitate the acquisition of British Columbia . Forty - five percent of newspapers endorsing the purchase cited the increased potential for annexing British Columbia in their support . W.H. Dall in 1872 wrote that "...there can be no doubt that the feelings of a majority of the citizens of the United States are in favor of it ..." while referring to purchasing the territories of Russia in America . A review of dozens of newspapers of the day reveals general support for the purchase, especially in California and most of the 48 major newspapers supported the purchase at the time . </P>

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