Which 1867 purchase transferred Alaska from the Russian Empire to the United States?

The Alaska Purchase transferred Alaska from the Russian Empire to the United States in 1867.

Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the agreement with Russian minister Eduard de Stoeckl. The United States paid $7.2 million, or about two cents per acre, for the territory. The treaty was signed on March 30, 1867, and the formal transfer ceremony took place at Sitka on October 18, a date now observed as Alaska Day.

Critics mocked the deal as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox,” believing the remote territory had little value. Later discoveries of gold, oil, and other resources helped change public opinion. Alaska became a U.S. territory in 1912 and the 49th state in 1959.

The purchase transferred Russian claims and colonial authority, not an empty wilderness. Alaska Native peoples had lived there for thousands of years and continued to maintain distinct communities, cultures, and political identities.