Senator Sumner, also the Republican majority leader, was at first reticent about the purchase, but he warmed to it quickly and delivered an impassioned three-hour speech in support of the treaty’s ratification. One of his arguments, as well as a major one used by Seward, was that its ratification was a significant sign of Russian-American friendship—not just to Russia but, perhaps more important, to the European powers. Just as Russia was seeking a friend, so too was the United States. Seward was well aware that much of Europe, particularly Great Britain, had not been judiciously neutral
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