It was on March 30th, 1867 that the treaty drawn up by the Russian minister to the U.S., Eduard Andreevich Stoeckl,  and his friend, Secretary of State William H. Seward, the night before, was taken before the U.S. Congress. It was signed by both Seward and Stoeckl and presented to that body.

Named the Alaska Treaty of Cessation, authorized the United States to purchase 586,412 square miles of land that would become Alaska. The price paid was $7.2 million in gold, or two cents an acre.

Some would call the purchase “Seward’s Folly,” but most of America looked on the deal favorably because they thought the purchase was the first step in the eventual annexation in Canada.

Russia was eager to sell Alaska to the U.S. because they were seeking funds and also feared losing the land to Britain. The sale would end Russia’s ambitions in North America.

  1867, Alaska, history, purchase, Russia, treaty