Nov 01, 2016 - Sale 2428

Sale 2428 - Lot 148

Price Realized: $ 2,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES EMPEROR ALEXANDER II OF RUSSIA JOHNSON, ANDREW. Partly-printed Document Signed, as President, authorizing the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to "the envelope of my letter to the Emperor of Russia." 1 page, 4to, with integral blank; minor loss to left edge, scattered remnants of prior mounting, folds. (MRS) Washington, 23 September 1868

Additional Details

The Alaska Purchase Treaty, negotiated in 1867 by Secretary of State William H. Seward on behalf of the U.S. with the Russian Emperor's minister, was known at the time as "Seward's Folly" by many who thought the purchase an unnecessary use of taxpayer money. On August 1, 1868, after much debate on the matter and disruption caused by the Johnson impeachment trial, the U.S. issued a treasury warrant to Russia in payment for the Alaska Territory.