WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -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.

Detailed explanation-2: -The purchase added 586, 412 sq mi (1, 518, 800 km2) of new territory to the United States for the cost of $7.2 million in 1867. In modern terms, the cost was equivalent to $140 million in 2021 dollars or $0.39 per acre.

Detailed explanation-3: -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.

Detailed explanation-4: -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.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.