The United States paid Russia $7.2 million for Alaska in 1867. The treaty transferred Russia’s North American possessions to the United States for roughly two cents per acre.
Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase on behalf of President Andrew Johnson. The treaty was signed on March 30, 1867, ratified by the U.S. Senate in May, and formally transferred Alaska on October 18.
Many Americans initially mocked the deal as “Seward’s Folly,” but the territory later proved valuable for its fish, minerals, oil, and strategic location. Alaska became the 49th U.S. state in 1959, almost a century after the purchase.