Check for the Purchase of Alaska (1868) (2024)

FAQs

What was the check for the purchase of Alaska 1868? ›

The check for $7.2 million was made payable to the Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl, who negotiated the deal for the Russians. The transcript included below is for the Treaty of Cession, signed by Tzar Alexander II, which formally concluded the agreement for the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

The treaty — setting the price at $7.2 million, or about $125 million today — was negotiated and signed by Eduard de Stoeckl, Russia's minister to the United States, and William H. Seward, the American secretary of state.

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.

The Senate approved the treaty of purchase on April 9; President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty on May 28, and Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867. This purchase ended Russia's presence in North America and ensured U.S. access to the Pacific northern rim.

Cancelled check in the amount of $7.2 million, for the purchase of Alaska, issued August 1, 1868; Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury; Record Group 217; National Archives. With this check, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.

Russia wanted to sell its Alaska territory, which was remote and difficult to defend, to the U.S. rather than risk losing it in battle with a rival such as Great Britain. Negotiations between Seward (1801-1872) and the Russian minister to the U.S., Eduard de Stoeckl, began in March 1867.

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.

$7,200,000 in 1867 is worth $147,582,000 today

The dollar had an average inflation rate of 1.95% per year between 1867 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 1,949.75%.

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.

But his name is also forever linked to a decision back that brought Alaska into the fold as a United States territory, at a bargain price: The cost for Alaska in 1867 was $7.2 million, which is about $113 million in 2017 dollars.

Was the Alaska purchase a good deal? ›

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.

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.

The dispute had existed between the Russian Empire and Britain since 1821, and was inherited by the United States as a consequence of the Alaska Purchase in 1867. The final resolution favored the American position, as Canada did not get an all-Canadian outlet from the Yukon gold fields to the sea.

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.

"Боже, Царя храни!" ("God Save the Tsar!") After first landing in Alaska in 1741, Vitus Bering claimed the Alaskan country for the Russian Empire. Russia later confirmed its rule over the territory with the Ukase of 1799 which established the southern border of Russian America along the 55th parallel north.

On March 30, 1867, the United States and Russia came to an agreement on the purchase of the northern territory of Alaska. Given the abundance of natural resources and the geographical location, the transaction is considered by many as one of the biggest mistakes in Russia's policy.

The Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is a dividend paid to Alaska residents that have lived within the state for a full calendar year (January 1 – December 31), and intend to remain an Alaska resident indefinitely.

ABC has canceled the drama series “Alaska Daily,” “Big Sky,” and “The Company You Keep,” Variety has learned.

ALASKA: From Eskimo word "alakshak”, meaning peninsula; also said to mean "great lands." ARIZONA: Many authorities attribute the meaning to a word meaning arid zone or desert.

Initially, the dispute existed between the UK and the Russian Empire. However, the United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867 thus inheriting the dispute with the UK. The final resolution clearly favored the US, which is why Alaska is part of the US today.

What was Alaska before it was a state? ›

What was their sovereign status before that? ALASKA was a Russian colony from 1744 until the USA bought it in 1867 for $7,200,000. It was made a state in 1959. Hawaii was a kingdom until 1893 and became a republic in 1894.

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.

Alaska's present-day economy is based on oil production, fishing, federal and state (both civilian and military) expenditures, research and development, and tourism.

By the 1850s, Russian interest in Alaska began to wane as a consequence of changing economic prospects and geopolitical concerns. The fur trade in sea otter pelts, which had been profitable in Russian America for more than a century, slumped for both ecological and commercial reasons.

Value of $1,000,000,000 from 1800 to 2023

$1,000,000,000 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $24,076,428,571.43 today, an increase of $23,076,428,571.43 over 223 years.

$1,000,000 in 1850 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $38,892,692.31 today, an increase of $37,892,692.31 over 173 years.

$1 in 1859 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $36.55 today, an increase of $35.55 over 164 years.

Alaskan Russian, known locally as Old Russian, is a dialect of Russian, influenced by Eskimo–Aleut languages, spoken by Alaskan Creoles. Today it is prevalent on Kodiak Island and in Ninilchik (Kenai Peninsula), Alaska; it has been isolated from other varieties of Russian for over a century.

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 Kingdom of Hawaiʻi was sovereign from 1810 until 1893, when resident American and European capitalists and landholders overthrew the monarchy. Hawaiʻi was an independent republic from 1894 until August 12, 1898, when it officially became a U.S. territory. Hawaiʻi was admitted as a U.S. state on August 21, 1959.

Why was Alaska called Seward's Folly? ›

Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. Critics attacked Seward for the secrecy surrounding the deal, which came to be known as “Seward's folly.” The press mocked his willingness to spend so much on “Seward's icebox” and Andrew Johnson's “polar bear garden.”

The easy answer is that Alaska is big and sparsely populated, access to many places is difficult and it's far from places where goods are manufactured. Shipping is, therefore, expensive, and it drives up the costs of everything from gasoline to lumber to finished consumer goods. Hence, everything is more expensive.

Getting an even sweeter deal than the Louisiana Territory, the United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for a fire sale price of 2 cents per acre.

Alaska has also large deposits of oil, gas, and rare earth minerals. Some 13 percent of the world's untapped oil reserves and 30 percent of the world's undiscovered gas reside in the U.S. state. [2] Since 1959, Alaska has produced $180 billion worth of oil, or 85 percent of the state budget.

On March 29, 1867, Stoeckl and Seward completed the draft of a treaty ceding Russian North America to the United States, and the treaty was signed early the following day. The price—$7.2 million—amounted to about two cents per acre.

Seward had a broad vision of commercial expansion of the United States, particularly in China and the Pacific, and as early as 1864 he had suggested to the Russian government that talks about Alaska "would be beneficial to us, and by no means unprofitable to Russia."

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 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.

The largest state admitted to the Union, Alaska became the 49th state in 1959 and is located in the northwest region of North America. Acquired by the United States in 1867, the territory was dubbed “Seward's Folly” after the U.S. secretary of state who arranged to purchase the land from Russia.

The Ultimate Road Trip

Driving to Alaska through Canada offers unparalleled scenery, national parks to explore, activities for every level of adventurer, and opportunities to learn about Canada and Alaska's Indigenous cultures.

Do you need a passport to go to Alaska? ›

U.S. citizens flying between another state and Alaska do not need a passport. However, those driving through Canada or traveling on a ferry or cruise ship with stops in Canada are required to carry one.

'Can you drive to Alaska from the United States? ' is a common question among travel enthusiasts. As someone who has driven there and back, I can say that it's totally possible. In fact, people from all across the US except Hawaii can drive to this beautiful state through the Alaska Highway.

Where in Russia does Bering Air fly to? Bering Air flies from Alaska to Provideniya, Anadyr, Magadan and Petropavlovsk.

Lawrence Island—a larger Alaskan island in the Bering Sea, southwest of the Diomedes—you can see the Russian mainland, about 37 miles away.

Is it possible to cross from Alaska to Russia legally? Yes, but not via the Bering Strait. It is possible to depart from Alaska outside of a port of call (a community that has customs and immigration processing facilities), but you must arrive in an official port in Russia.

Pindos. Russian-speakers may use the term "Pindos" or "Pendos" (rus: Пиндос) as a derogatory ethnic slur for Americans.

The Russians established an outpost called Fortress Ross (Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, or Krepostʹ Ross) in 1812 near Bodega Bay in Northern California, north of San Francisco Bay. The Fort Ross colony included a sealing station on the Farallon Islands off San Francisco.

Seward signs a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7 million. Despite the bargain price of roughly two cents an acre, the Alaskan purchase was ridiculed in Congress and in the press as “Seward's Folly,” “Seward's icebox,” and President Andrew Johnson's “polar bear garden.”

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.

Who was was responsible for the purchase of Alaska? ›

It's been called “Seward's Folly,” but it could just as well be known as “Sumner's Project.” As history books tell the story, in 1867 Secretary of State William Seward secretly negotiated with Russian officials to purchase the Alaskan territory for $7.2 million, putting Alaska on the road toward statehood in 1959.

Because the land was located so far north, it was considered virtually unusable and uninhabitable. Because of these factors, Alaska was not seen as a worthwhile purchase for the United States and was thus considered a foolish endeavor, hence the Seward's Folly definition.

How did time prove that the purchase of Alaska was not an act of folly? Alaska is rich in timber, minerals, and oil. What were the most dramatic changes in Hawaiian population between 1853 and 1920?

Skeptics had dubbed the purchase of Alaska "Seward's Folly," but the former Secretary of State was vindicated when a major gold deposit was discovered in the Yukon in 1896, and Alaska became the gateway to the Klondike gold fields. The strategic importance of Alaska was finally recognized in World War II.

In today's popular culture, Seward is best known for his association with Abraham Lincoln. But his name is also forever linked to a decision back that brought Alaska into the fold as a United States territory, at a bargain price: The cost for Alaska in 1867 was $7.2 million, which is about $113 million in 2017 dollars.

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.

Indeed, the purchase of Alaska generated great enthusiasm for and increased the momentum of Canadian expansion westward to the Pacific. It therefore helped to preserve the British North American west for Canada rather than destine it as American territory.