Excerpt from William H. Seward’s Speech at Sitka, August 12, 1869
This question . . . has been asked by the pioneers of every State and Territory of which the American Union is now composed; and the history of those States and Territories furnishes the complete, conclusive, and satisfactory answer. Emigrants go to every infant State and Territory in obedience to the great natural law that obliges needy men to seek subsistence, and invites adventurous men to seek fortune where it is most easily obtained, and this is always in the new and uncultivated regions. They go . . . because no established and populous State or nation can guarantee subsistence and fortune to all who demand them among its inhabitants.
The guaranties and signs of their coming to Alaska are found in the resources of the Territory . . . and in the condition of society in other parts of the world. . . . Emigrants from our own States, from Europe, and from Asia, will not be slow in finding out that fortunes are to be gained by pursuing here the occupations which have so successfully sustained races of untutored men. Civilization and refinement are making more rapid advances in our day than at any former period. The rising States and nations on this continent, the European nations, and even those of Eastern Asia, have exhausted, or are exhausting, their own forests and mines, and are soon to become largely dependent upon those of the Pacific. The entire region of Oregon, Washington Territory, British Columbia, and Alaska, seem thus destined to become a ship-yard for the supply of all nations. I do not forget on this occasion that British Columbia belongs within a foreign jurisdiction. That circumstance does not materially affect my calculations.
Use the excerpt to answer the question.
With the statement "That circumstance does not materially affect my calculations," Seward dismisses which of the following?
A.
the difficulties of coordinating lumber shipments with foreigners
B.
the long distance between Alaska and the mainland United States
C.
the need to negotiate terms of purchase for both Alaska from Canada
D.
the resistance to the annexation of Alaska as an extension of the United States