How much did the United States pay for Alaska in the 1867 Alaska Purchase?

The United States paid $7.2 million for Alaska in the 1867 Alaska Purchase.

The United States and the Russian Empire signed the purchase treaty on March 30, 1867. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the agreement for the United States, while Russia sought to sell a distant possession that it considered difficult to defend in a future conflict.

The Senate ratified the treaty on May 15, and American sovereignty formally took effect on October 18, 1867. The price amounted to roughly two cents per acre, though the purchase was widely mocked at first as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox.”

Later discoveries of gold, oil, and other resources changed perceptions of the acquisition. Alaska became a U.S. territory in 1912 and joined the Union as the 49th state in 1959.