Alaska Purchase

Also known as Seward's Folly, Alaska Treaty of Cessation, Seward's Icebox, Walrussia

1867 sale of Alaska to the USA by Russia

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In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in a territorial deal that nearly doubled the nation's land area. This acquisition gave the US control of a vast, resource-rich region and expanded American territory across the North American continent.

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The Alaska Purchase was the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire by the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867 (equivalent to $132 million in 2024). On May 15 of that year, the United States Senate ratified a bilateral treaty that had been signed on March 30, and American sovereignty became legally effective across the territory on October 18.

During the first half of the 19th century, Russia had established a colonial presence in parts of North America, but few Russians ever settled in Alaska. Alexander II of Russia, having faced a catastrophic defeat in the Crimean War, began exploring the possibility of selling the state's Alaskan possessions, which, in any future war, would be difficult to defend from the United Kingdom. To this end, William H. Seward, the U.S. secretary of state at the time, entered into negotiations with Russian diplomat Eduard de Stoeckl towards the United States' acquisition of Alaska after the American Civil War. Seward and Steckel agreed to a treaty for the sale on March 30, 1867.