What 1867 agreement transferred Russian America to the United States for $7.2 million?

The Alaska Purchase was the 1867 agreement that transferred Russian America to the United States for $7.2 million.

Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the treaty with Russian minister Edouard de Stoeckl. The agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1867, and the U.S. Senate ratified it on April 9. President Andrew Johnson signed the formal treaty, and the transfer ceremony took place on October 18, 1867.

The purchase added about 586,000 square miles of territory to the United States. Critics mocked the deal as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox,” but later gold discoveries and Alaska’s strategic position changed public opinion. Alaska remained a U.S. territory until becoming the 49th state on January 3, 1959. The transfer is distinct from the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, which was bought from France rather than Russia.