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The Alaska Purchase was the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire by the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867 (equivalent to $129 million in 2023) [1].On May 15 of that year, the United States Senate ratified a bilateral treaty that had been signed on March 30, and American sovereignty became legally effective across the territory on October 18.
At the instigation of U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, the United States Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia for US$7.2 million on August 1, 1867 (equivalent to approximately $157M in 2023). This purchase was popularly known in the U.S. as "Seward's Folly", "Seward's Icebox," or "Andrew Johnson's Polar Bear Garden", and ...
Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million, and 92 years later, it became the 49th state. ... purchase "Seward's Folly," named for then-Secretary of State William Seward ...
Public opinion in the United States was generally positive, though some criticized the purchase as "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox". However, the resources of Alaska would soon show that this was a wise transaction. Alaska celebrates the purchase each year on the last Monday of March, which is known as Seward's Day.
William Henry Seward (/ ˈ s uː ər d /; [1] May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as the fourteenth governor of New York and as a United States senator.
In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from a debt-ridden Imperial Russia for $7.2 million – about two cents an acre. [7] The deal was lampooned by fellow politicians and by the public as "Seward's folly", "Seward's icebox" and "Walrussia."
Note 3] Under U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, during the administration of President Andrew Johnson, the Alaska purchase was made on March 29, 1867. The huge territory, with 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of coastline, was initially referred to by many skeptics as "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Ice Box."
Seward's Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Alaska. This holiday falls on the last Monday in March and commemorates the signing of the Alaska Purchase treaty on March 30, 1867. [ 1 ] It is named for then- Secretary of State William H. Seward , who negotiated the purchase from Russia .