Instruction: What was Seward's Folly?

Response: Seward's Folly was the name given by opponents to the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia by the United States. Secretary of State William Seward negotiated the treaty in secrecy, and critics mocked both him and President Andrew Johnson for the purchase of a "polar bear garden." However, it turned out to be a profitable investment when gold was discovered in Alaska in 1896.