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.

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Observed surface forms (9)

Surface form	Occurrences
1867 Alaska Purchase treaty	1
Alaska Purchase from Russia	1
Alaska Purchase of 1867	1
Alaska Purchase treaty	1
Seward's Folly (for the Alaska Purchase)	1
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	1
Treaty of Cession (Alaska Purchase)	1
Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska	1
United States acquisition of Alaska	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical event ⓘ international treaty ⓘ territorial acquisition ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	The Last Frontier ⓘ surface form: Seward’s Folly Seward’s Icebox ⓘ Alaska Purchase ⓘ surface form: 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	US dollar ⓘ surface form: 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 Empire ⓘ surface form: 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	District of Alaska ⓘ surface form: Alaska Territory United States Department of the Interior ⓘ surface form: Department of Alaska District of Alaska ⓘ
tookEffectOn	1867-10-18 ⓘ
transferredTerritory	Alaska ⓘ
ultimateOutcome	statehood of Alaska in 1959 ⓘ
year	1867 ⓘ

Referenced by (16)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Alaska Purchase → alsoKnownAs → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: 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

Seward’s Icebox → appliedToEvent → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

Alaska was economically worthless → associatedWithEvent → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: Alaska Purchase of 1867

District of Alaska → establishedBy → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: Treaty of Cession (Alaska Purchase)

United States territorial expansion → hasPart → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

Alaska was economically worthless → hasTopic → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

Alaska Natives → historicalEvent → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

Seward’s Icebox → linkedEvent → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: 1867 Alaska Purchase treaty

William H. Seward → nickname → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: Seward's Folly (for the Alaska Purchase)

William H. Seward → notableEvent → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

Eduard de Stoeckl → participatedIn → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

Alaska → purchaseName → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

Seward’s Icebox → refersTo → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: United States acquisition of Alaska

William H. Seward → signedTreaty → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska

United States territorial expansion → significantEvent → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: Alaska Purchase treaty

Alaska Statehood Act → territoryPreviouslyAcquiredBy → Alaska Purchase ⓘ

this entity surface form: Alaska Purchase from Russia