The Alaska Purchase saw the Russian Empire transfer Alaska to the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867. 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.
The US$7.2 million check used to pay for Alaska (equivalent to $129 million in 2023)
Portrait of William H. Seward, 24th Secretary of State for the United States under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.
The signing of the Alaska Treaty of Cessation on March 30, 1867. Left to right: Robert S. Chew, William H. Seward, William Hunter, Mr. Bodisco, Eduard de Stoeckl, Charles Sumner, and Frederick W. Seward.
Image: Czar's Ratification of the Alaska Purchase Treaty NARA 299810
Russian colonization of North America
From 1732 to 1867, the Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas. Russian colonial possessions in the Americas are collectively known as Russian America. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but also included the outpost of Fort Ross in California, and three forts in Hawaii, including Russian Fort Elizabeth. Russian Creole settlements were concentrated in Alaska, including the capital, New Archangel (Novo-Arkhangelsk), which is now Sitka.
The Bering Strait, where Russia's east coast lies closest to Alaska's west coast. Early Russian colonization occurred well south of the strait, in the Aleutian Islands.
Sibero-Russian promyshlenniki, frontiersmen.
Tlingit Chieftain of Sitka
Aleutian & Russian allied forces defeat the Tlingit tribe at the Battle of Sitka, 1804.
