In Alaska, the Americans foresaw a potential for gold, fur and fisheries, as well as more trade with China and Japan. The Americans worried that England might try to establish a presence in the territory, and the acquisition of Alaska – it was believed – would help the U.S. become a Pacific power.
Defeat in the Crimean War further reduced Russian interest in this region. Russia offered to sell Alaska to the United States in 1859, believing the United States would off-set the designs of Russia's greatest rival in the Pacific, Great Britain.
There are two main reasons. First, Canada wasn't its own country in 1867. Second, Great Britain controlled the Canadian colonies. Russia did not want to sell Alaska to its rival.
Without the U.S. purchase there was general agreement Alaska could have been contested between the Russian and British empires. Had the Russians maintained control, during the Cold War Alaska might have functioned as a Soviet nuclear base, further raising tensions with the U.S.
Edouard de Stoeckl, Russian minister to the United States, negotiated for the Russians. On March 30, 1867, the two parties agreed that the United States would pay Russia $7.2 million for the territory of Alaska. For less that 2 cents an acre, the United States acquired nearly 600,000 square miles.
On March 30, 1867, the United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million. The Treaty with Russia was negotiated and signed by Secretary of State William Seward and Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl.
Before the Russians, the land belonged to the indigenous tribes who had inhabited the land for thousands of years. These were the Yupik and the Inupiat.
Some historians regard the transaction as a short-sighted blunder by Czar Alexander II, giving up Alaska's rich natural resources, particularly its oil and gas, for $7.2 million - about $125 million (£100 million) in today's money.
Annexation was never a very popular choice. Many Canadians were loyal to the Crown and Great Britain, especially the descendants of the United Empire Loyalists. French Canadians worried about being an even smaller minority in a larger union, and were concerned about American anti-Catholicism.
Alaska has high wages, good job opportunities, an abundance of nature and incredibly friendly people. However, Alaska also has long cold winters, a high cost of living and is very isolated. Ultimately it comes down to you as an individual to assess how you would handle the challenges of living in Alaska.
Alaska is the 49th state of the United States. However, it was a part of Russia till 1867. 154 years ago, Russia had to sell Alaska to America at a meagre price of $7.2 million. But now, the estimated GDP of Alaska is estimated to be around $50 billion.
Great Britain had shown sustained interest in obtaining Alaska as an addition to its territory in British North America (Canada), and had potentially threatened it during the Crimean War (1853-56) after attacking the Kamchatka Peninsula.
In 1909, Alaska and Hawaii, although they would not become states until nearly fifty years later, were already under American sovereignty. Alaska's purchase from Russia was negotiated by Secretary of State William H. Seward in 1867 and Hawaii was annexed in 1898.
The narrowest distance between Alaska and Russia is only 55 miles, separated only by the Bering Strait. Thus Alaska is closer to Russia than the United States. What is this? Also located in the Bering Strait are two small islands: Big Diomede and Little Diomede.
Though mocked by some at the time, the 1867 purchase of Alaska came to be regarded as a masterful deal. The treaty enlarged the United States by 586,000 square miles, an area more than twice the size of Texas, all for the bargain price of around two cents an acre.
How much do you get paid to live in Alaska, though? In the past, citizens have qualified for up to $1,600 for simply living in Alaska, and in 2022 the amount was $3,284. All you have to do to receive this grant is to remain in the state for an entire dividend year!
On October 18, 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States government. As a result, the federal government owned the Alaska Territory, approximately 373 million acres - about one-fifth the size of the rest of the U.S.
For starters, the colony was no longer profitable after the sea otter population was decimated. Then there was the fact that Alaska was difficult to defend and Russia was short on cash due to the costs of the war in Crimea.
The Senate, along with most of the American population, was very skeptical about the wisdom of Seward's purchase. It was mocked as Seward's Folly, Seward's Icebox, and Seward's Polar Bear Garden. What do we want with a territory covered with “glaciers, icebergs, bears and walruses?” asked one critic.
Petroleum. Alaska's proved crude oil reserves—about 3.2 billion barrels at the beginning of 2022—are the fourth-largest in the nation. Alaska was among the top five oil-producing states for many years.
Seward, was the assistant secretary of state at the time and witnessed his father deciding what the new possession would be called after he struck a deal with the Russians, according to an article titled, “What's In The Name 'Alaska? ' written by Jay Stauter of Seward for The Anchorage Times on May 16, 1966.
Alaska is still a massive state
But when you look at most two dimensional maps, Alaska actually looks much larger than that. In the case of many map projections, Alaska appears to be more than half the size of the lower 48 states, when in reality the continental US is 4.7 times as large.
From Three Saints Bay, the Alaskan mainland was explored, and other fur-trade centers were established. In 1786, Shelikhov returned to Russia and in 1790 dispatched Aleksandr Baranov to manage his affairs in Alaska. Baranov established the Russian American Company and in 1799 was granted a monopoly over Alaska.
In the late imperial period, Russian historiography was dominated by the self-colonization school. From history textbooks, its ideas found their way into encyclopedias. Russian historians wrote detailed accounts of Russia's takeover of the Crimea, Finland, Ukraine, Poland, and other lands.