Critique of American Public Opinion and the Purchase of Russian America by Richard E. Welch, Jr

In American Public Opinion and the Purchase of Russian America, Richard E. Welch, Jr. attempts to bring to light how the majority of Americans felt about the purchase of Alaska. By backing his claims up with multitudinous amounts of newspaper quotations, Welch repeats his point again and again. But even he knows the limitations of his argument and acknowledges that listing a bunch of newspapers opinions does not completely satisfy his argument.
As a student, I enjoyed much of the historical aspect of Welch’s article. I felt it honestly attempted to portray the controversy surrounding the purchase of Alaska. What I did not like so much was the quotation hogwash. If one could choke on too man quotations they surely would with t...