The Alaska Purchase

 The Alaska Purchase

The Alaska Purchase was the phenomenon where the United States obtained all of Alaska from the Russian Empire. Alaska was formally committed to the US on October 18, 1867, through a treaty approved by the US senate. Following this process, the Russian Empire handed over the land, but it was worth the effort, as the US gave up a huge sum of money.

Russia had created a residence in North America during the first half of the 18th century. However, not many Russians went to live there. Following the Crimean War, the Russian Tsar came to the idea that he should sell Alaska, due to the fact that it would be very difficult to defend from enemy invasions since there aren’t many people there to defend it, especially in a future war that might occur between the former and it’s archrival, the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the end of the American Civil War, U.S. Secretary State William Seward became involved in negotiations with Russian minister Eduard de Stoeckl for the purchase of Alaska. Seward and Stoeckl agreed to a treaty on March 30, 1867, and the treaty was ratified by the United States Senate by a wide margin.

The purchase added 586,412 square miles or 1,518,800 square kilometers to the land area of the United States, and in comparison, Alaska accounts for more than an eighth of the area of the country now. The cost of the purchase was $7.2 million in USD at the time, which now would be equal to $157 million USD, or 39 cents per acre. Reactions to the purchase in the United States were mostly positive, as many believed possession of Alaska would serve as a base to expand American trade in Asia. Some opponents labeled the purchase as "Seward's Folly", or "Seward's Icebox", as they claimed that the United States had acquired useless land. Nearly all Russian settlers left Alaska in the aftermath of the purchase, so Alaska would remain narrowly populated until the Klondike Gold Rush began in 1896. Originally organized as the Department of Alaska, the area was renamed the District of Alaska in 1884 and the Alaska Territory in 1912 before becoming the modern State of Alaska in 1959.

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Facts:

Many Americans believed that the Senate votes for the Alaska Purchase were secured through bribing.

American expansion into Alaska was slow, it wasn’t until the Klondike gold rush that it became populated.

Alaska is so close to Russia that we can even swim from one end to another.

Now, Alaskan residents are paid to live in Alaska, due to the surplus revenue acquired from Alaska’s resources. 

Currently, the population of Alaska is 734,000, even less than one in four hundredths of the US population. 

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Alaska remained under the U.S. Army control until June 1877, after which it was governed briefly by the Treasury Department and then by various military authorities. Most Russians who had occupied the territory were not permanent residents and had returned to Russia following the sale. Those who remained were given the option of applying for U.S. citizenship within three years, but most eventually left. A civil government was installed in May 1884 after the territory became a district. Alaska was accepted into the union as the 49th state on January 3, 1959.