Alaska Purchase

E2450

historical event international treaty territorial acquisition

The Alaska Purchase was the 1867 transaction in which the United States bought the Alaska territory from the Russian Empire, significantly expanding U.S. land holdings in North America.

Aliases (9)

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical event → international treaty → territorial acquisition →
alsoKnownAs	Seward’s Folly → Seward’s Icebox → Treaty concerning the Cession of the Russian Possessions in North America by His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias to the United States of America →
areaTransferred	about 1.52 million square kilometers → about 586412 square miles →
buyer	United States of America →
buyerHeadOfState	Andrew Johnson →
continent	North America →
currency	United States dollar →
dateSigned	1867-03-30 →
domesticOppositionInBuyer	criticism in the United States press → skepticism in the United States Congress →
economicSignificance	access to natural resources in Alaska →
initialPublicPerception	widely viewed as a waste of money by many Americans →
languageOfTreaty	English → French → Russian →
laterPerception	recognized as a strategically and economically valuable acquisition →
legalForm	treaty →
locationOfSigning	Washington, D.C. →
motivatedBy	Russian fear of losing Alaska to Britain in a future war → Russian financial difficulties → United States interest in Pacific and Arctic expansion →
negotiatedBy	Eduard de Stoeckl → William H. Seward →
predecessorTerritorialStatus	Russian America →
purchasePrice	7200000 United States dollars →
purchasePricePerAcre	0.02 United States dollars →
ratificationDate	1867-04-09 →
ratificationVote	37–2 in the United States Senate →
ratifiedBy	United States Senate →
resultedIn	expansion of United States territory in North America → transfer of sovereignty over Alaska from Russia to the United States →
seller	Russian Empire →
sellerHeadOfState	Alexander II of Russia →
signedForBuyerBy	William H. Seward →
signedForSellerBy	Eduard de Stoeckl →
strategicSignificance	control of North Pacific approaches →
successorTerritorialStatus	Alaska Territory → Department of Alaska → District of Alaska →
tookEffectOn	1867-10-18 →
transferredTerritory	Alaska →
ultimateOutcome	statehood of Alaska in 1959 →
year	1867 →

Referenced by (16)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Alaska Purchase ("Treaty concerning the Cession of the Russian Possessions in North America by His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias to the United States of America") →	alsoKnownAs
Seward’s Icebox →	appliedToEvent
Alaska was economically worthless ("Alaska Purchase of 1867") →	associatedWithEvent
District of Alaska ("Treaty of Cession (Alaska Purchase)") →	establishedBy
United States territorial expansion →	hasPart
Alaska was economically worthless →	hasTopic
Alaska Natives →	historicalEvent
Seward’s Icebox ("1867 Alaska Purchase treaty") →	linkedEvent
William H. Seward ("Seward's Folly (for the Alaska Purchase)") →	nickname
William H. Seward →	notableEvent
Eduard de Stoeckl →	participatedIn
Alaska →	purchaseName
Seward’s Icebox ("United States acquisition of Alaska") →	refersTo
William H. Seward ("Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska") →	signedTreaty
United States territorial expansion ("Alaska Purchase treaty") →	significantEvent
Alaska Statehood Act ("Alaska Purchase from Russia") →	territoryPreviouslyAcquiredBy