Which 1867 agreement transferred Alaska from Russia to the United States?

The Alaska Purchase was the 1867 agreement that transferred Alaska from Russia to the United States.

Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the deal with the Russian minister Eduard de Stoeckl. The United States agreed to pay Russia $7.2 million, or about 2 cents per acre, and the treaty was signed on March 30, 1867.

The formal transfer ceremony took place at Sitka on October 18, 1867. American critics mocked the purchase as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox,” believing the territory was too remote and unproductive to be valuable.

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