The statement that doesn't describe the importance of the Alaskan Purchase is the one that says that the land lacks of valuable raw materials.
In 1867, US Secretary of State William H. Seward carried out the purchase of Alaska from Russia for US $ 7.2 million. The lack of cash from Russia (in a complicated financial situation) and the fear of losing territory in some future conflict with their British rivals, urged Tsar Alexander II to sell the territory to the United States after the failure in the Crimean War . The purchase became effective on October 18, 1867, today remembered as Alaska Day. Although the purchase was harshly criticized at the time of its occurrence, popularly known to Americans as the "Seward Madness," "Seward's Fridge," or "Andrew Johnson's Polar Bear Park," since it seemed unwise to spend so much money on such a remote region. But finally it was seen as an advantageous business thanks to the discovery of gold in Yukon as well as oil. In the 1890s, the territories of Alaska and the Yukon suffered an exploitation of their mines due to the gold rush, known as the Klondike gold rush, the name of the main deposit, and they continued to be exploited even though the gold reserves declined.
