The United States agreed to pay Russia $7.2 million for Alaska in 1867.
Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the treaty with Russian diplomat Eduard de Stoeckl. The agreement was signed on March 30, 1867, and the Senate ratified it on May 15. American sovereignty became effective at the transfer ceremony in Sitka on October 18, 1867.
The price amounted to about two cents per acre. Critics mocked the deal as “Seward’s Folly” and “Seward’s Icebox,” believing the territory was remote and economically unimportant. Later discoveries of gold, oil, and other resources changed how many Americans viewed the purchase.
Russia had established a colonial presence in parts of Alaska but found the territory difficult to defend and administer, especially after the Crimean War. The purchase added about 586,412 square miles to the United States. Alaska became a state in 1959.