Russian Colonization of North America Codexery

Alaska Purchase

1867 U.S. purchase of Russian America for $7.2 million.

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The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, adding 586,412 square miles of territory.[1][2] Montaigne's account notes the purchase is considered second in importance only to the Louisiana Purchase in American land deals.[3]

Key facts and history

By the 1850s, the sea otter population of 300,000 was nearly extinct, and Russia needed money after the Crimean War.[4][3] Russia feared its hard-to-defend colony would be easily conquered by British forces from Canada.[4] The U.S. Civil War delayed negotiations, but Secretary of State William Seward reopened talks in March 1867.[5][2] The treaty was signed at 04:00 on March 30, 1867, with a purchase price of $7.2 million.[6][2]

Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867.[7][2] The treaty to acquire the territory was approved by the United States Senate with 37 votes in favor and 2 against.[8]

What the cited sources add

Montaigne's article describes that about 700 Russians tried to exert sovereignty over hundreds of thousands of square miles of territory.[3] The U.S. Department of State's account notes that permanent Russian settlers in Alaska never numbered more than four hundred.[2] Montaigne reports that the Russian-driven slaughter of otters nearly extirpated the original population of 300,000.[3] Montaigne's article mentions that critics derided the purchase as "Johnson's polar bear park" and "Walrussia".[3]

Russia made an offer to sell Alaska to the United States in 1859, according to the account from the Office of the Historian, because it thought the U.S. would counteract the plans of Great Britain.[2] For thirty years following the purchase, the Office of the Historian notes, Alaska was administered under military, naval, or Treasury rule, or sometimes with no visible governance at all.[2]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Alaska Purchase" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska", Primary Documents in American History, The Library of Congress, April 25, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2019. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "Purchase of Alaska, 1867", Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. facts only, no text reused. history.state.gov
  3. Montaigne, "Tracing Alaska's Russian Heritage", 2016-07-07. facts only, no text reused. smithsonianmag.com
  4. Wikipedia, "Alaska Purchase" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Golder, "The Purchase of Alaska", The American Historical Review, 1920, p. 411–425 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Alaska Purchase" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Neunherz, ""Hemmed In": Reactions in British Columbia to the Purchase of Russian America", The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 1989, p. 101–111 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Alaska Purchase" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kennedy, "The Big Thing", Harp Week; Seward, Frederick W., Seward at Washington as Senator and Secretary of State. Volume: 3, 1891, p. 348.; "Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska", Library of Congress (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Alaska Purchase" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "State of Alaska 2014 Holiday Calendar" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Alaska Purchase" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875", loc.gov (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Alaska Purchase (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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