"from Russia to the United States, which took place on October 19, 1867. The date is by the Gregorian calendar, which came into effect in Alaska the following day to replace the Julian calendar used by the Russians (the Julian calendar in the 19th century was 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar). Alaska Day is a holiday for all state workers. Alaska Purchase The Alaska Purchase () was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, by a treaty ratified by the United States Senate, and signed by President Andrew Johnson. Russia wanted to"
"a decreasing population in the 1840s, ultimately rebounded. Financial difficulties in Russia, the desire to keep Alaska out of British hands, and the low profits of trade with Alaskan settlements all contributed to Russia's willingness to sell its possessions in North America. At the instigation of U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, the United States Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 on August 1, 1867. This purchase was popularly known in the U.S. as ""Seward's Folly"", ""Seward's Icebox,"" or ""Andrew Johnson's Polar Bear Garden"", and was unpopular among some people at the time. Later discovery of"
"Alaska Purchase The Alaska Purchase () was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, by a treaty ratified by the United States Senate, and signed by President Andrew Johnson. Russia wanted to sell its Alaskan territory, due to the difficulty of living there, apparent lack of natural resources (gold was later discovered in 1896), and fearing that it might be easily seized by the United Kingdom in case of war between the two countries. Russia's primary activities in the territory had been fur trade and missionary work among the Native Alaskans. The land"
"of the rest of the United States. On March 30, 1867, the U.S. purchased the territory from the Russians for $7.2 million ($118 million in today's dollars). The transfer ceremony was completed in Sitka on October 18 of that same year where Russian soldiers handed over the territory to the United States Army. Critics at the time decried the purchase as ""Seward's Folly"", reasoning that there was no natural resources in the new territory and no one can be bothered to live in such a cold, icy climate. Although the development and settlement of Alaska grew slow, the discovery of"
"to the prosecution of the Crimean War and, after the fall of Sevastopol, to negotiations for peace led by his trusted counsellor, Prince Alexander Gorchakov. The country had been exhausted and humiliated by the war. Bribe-taking, theft and corruption were rampant. Encouraged by public opinion, Alexander began a period of radical reforms, including an attempt not to depend on landed aristocracy controlling the poor, an effort to develop Russia's natural resources, and to reform all branches of the administration. In 1867 he sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million (equivalent to roughly $200 million in current dollars) after"
"for the United States. By 1867, the Russian government saw its North American colony (today Alaska) as a financial liability, and feared eventually losing control of the territory to encroaching American settlers. Russian minister Eduard de Stoeckl was instructed to sell Alaska to the United States. De Stoeckl did so deftly, getting Seward to raise his offer from $5 million (coincidentally, the minimum that Russia had instructed de Stoeckl to accept) to $7 million, and then getting $200,000 added by raising various objections. This sum of $7.2 million is equivalent to $ in present-day terms. On March 30, 1867, de"
"to a total of $7,200,000 on 9 April 1867. The canceled check is in the present day United States National Archives. In present-day Russian Federation and its predecessor the Soviet Union (USSR) there are periodic mass media stories that Alaska was not sold to the United States in the 1867 Alaska Purchase, but only leased for 99 years (= to 1966), or 150 years (= to 2017)—and will be returned to Russia. However, the Alaska Purchase Treaty is absolutely clear that the agreement was for a complete Russian cession of the territory. The Soviet Union (USSR) released a series of"
"retain. Eager to release themselves of the burden, the Russians sold Fort Ross in 1842, and in 1867, after less than a month of negotiations, the United States accepted Emperor Alexander II's offer to sell Alaska. The purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million ended Imperial Russia's colonial presence in the Americas. Many indigenous peoples protested the sale, arguing that they were the rightful owners of the land and that Russia had no right to sell Alaska. Europeans first sighted the Alaskan coastline in 1732; this sighting was made by the Russian maritime explorer and navigator Ivan Fedorov from sea near"
"after hostilities ended. Therefore, the Russian emperor, Alexander II, decided to sell Alaska. In 1859 the Russians first offered to sell the territory to the British, which turned down the offer on the grounds that such acquisition would overstretch Britain's resources in maintaining Canada and other British colonies outside North America. Then the Russians negotiated with the United States regarding the sale of Alaska, hoping that its presence in the region would offset the plans of Russia's greatest regional rival, the United Kingdom. The deal was finalized on March 30, 1867, when the U.S. purchased Alaska for $7.2 million, ending"
"States Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 on April 9, 1867, and the United States flag was raised on October 18 of that same year (now called Alaska Day). Coincident with the ownership change, the de facto International Date Line was moved westward, and Alaska changed from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, for residents, Friday, October 6, 1867 was followed by Friday, October 18, 1867; two Fridays in a row because of the date line shift. On the morning of October 18, 1867, arrived at Sitka with Russian Commissioner Captain Alexis Pestchouroff and"
"in a dispute with Britain, their hard-to-defend region might become a prime target for British aggression from British Columbia, and would be easily captured. So following the Union victory in the American Civil War, Tsar Alexander II instructed the Russian minister to the United States, Eduard de Stoeckl, to enter into negotiations with the United States Secretary of State William H. Seward in the beginning of March 1867. At the instigation of Seward the United States Senate approved the purchase, known as the Alaska Purchase, from the Russian Empire. The cost was set at 2 cents an acre, which came"
"The Russians never fully colonized Alaska, and the colony was never very profitable. Evidence of Russian settlement in names and churches survive throughout southeast Alaska. On March 30, 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire for the sum of $7.2 million. It was not until October of that year that the commissioners arrived in Sitka and the formal transfer was arranged. The formal flag-raising took place at Fort Sitka on October 18, 1867. The original ceremony included 250 uniformed U.S. soldiers, who marched to the governor's house at ""Castle Hill"". Here the Russian troops lowered the Russian"
"government was ready to abandon its Russian America colony. Zealous overhunting had severely reduced the fur-bearing animal population, and competition from the British and Americans exacerbated the situation. This, combined with the difficulties of supplying and protecting such a distant colony, reduced interest in the territory. After Russian America was sold to the U.S. in 1867, for $7.2 million (2 cents per acre, totalling $114,657,180.85 in today's USD), all the holdings of the Russian–American Company were liquidated. Following the transfer, many elders of the local Tlingit tribe maintained that ""Castle Hill"" comprised the only land that Russia was entitled to"
"from Seattle, Washington through British Columbia, Russian America (Alaska) and Siberia - an early attempt to link East-West communications. It failed and never operated. After the Crimean War (1853-1856) Russia felt concern that the British would seize Russian America if a war broke out, strengthening the British in the north Pacific. To avoid this and to raise money, Russia offered in 1859 to sell the territory. In 1867 the United States purchased the whole of Russian America (Alaska) in the Alaska Purchase. All the Russian administrators and military left Alaska but some missionaries stayed on because they had converted many"
"a colony; others saw no need to pay for land that they expected the country to obtain through manifest destiny. Historian Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer summarized the minority opinion of some American newspaper editors who opposed the purchase: The transfer ceremony took place in Sitka on October 18, 1867. Russian and American soldiers paraded in front of the governor's house; the Russian flag was lowered and the American flag raised amid peals of artillery. A description of the events was published in Finland six years later, written by a blacksmith named T. Ahllund, who had been recruited to work in Sitka"
"Russian–American Telegraph The Russian–American Telegraph, also known as the Western Union Telegraph Expedition and the Collins Overland Telegraph, was a $3,000,000 (equivalent to $ in present-day terms) undertaking by the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1865–1867, to lay an electric telegraph line from San Francisco, California to Moscow, Russia. The route was intended to travel from California via Oregon, Washington Territory, the Colony of British Columbia and Russian America, under the Bering Sea and across Siberia to Moscow, where lines would communicate with the rest of Europe. It was proposed as an alternate to long, deep underwater cables in the"
"returns, in 1808 slightly less than half of the 2,300,000 rubles of expense were covered. Starting in 1797 with its forerunner the United American Company to 1821 the RAC collected the following inventory of furs, worth in total 16 million rubles: 1.3 million foxes of several species, 72,894 sea otters, 59,530 river otters, 34,546 beavers, 30,950 sables, 17,298 wolverines, 14,969 fur seals along with smaller numbers of lynx, wolf, sea lion, walrus and bears. In 1828, Emperor Alexander I ordered that the RAC begin to supply the Russian settlements on the Kamchatka Peninsula, such as Petropavlovsk, with salt. The company"
"began modernization of its military and coastal defenses. In 1852, on learning of American plans to send Commodore Matthew Perry in an attempt to open Japan for foreign trade, the Russian government revived Putyatin’s proposal, which received support from Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia. The expedition included several notable Sinologists and a number of scientists and engineers, as well as the noted author Ivan Goncharov, and the ""Pallada"" under the command of Ivan Unkovsky was selected as the flagship. After many mishaps, Putyatin signed three treaties between 1855 and 1858 by which Russia established diplomatic and commercial relations with"
"part of the economy. The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for 7.2 million U.S. dollars at approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km). The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name ""Alaska"" () was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the Alaska Peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut-language idiom, which figuratively refers to the mainland. Literally, it means ""object to which"
"educated their children. The Russian-American Company operated from 1799 through the mid-1800s. It used Dutch Harbor in the transport of goods, mainly seal and sea otter fur. In 1867 Russia sold Alaska to the United States. Fur was the main export in Alaska after the United States took control. Hutchinson, Kohl, & Company of San Francisco took over the assets of the Russian America Company in 1867, but it sold out in 1868 to the Alaska Commercial Company. A decline in the sea otter population slowed trade in 1895. The year 1897 brought a crowd of potential prospectors looking to"
"to $ today). In the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, the United States purchased a strip of land along the Mexico–United States border for $10 million (equivalent to $ in present-day terms), now in New Mexico and Arizona. The territory was also bought as Americans were passing through the land west to California. After the American Mexican War, over the dispute of border claims, American bought the land to prevent future conflict. Few historians would argue the territory was intended for a southern transcontinental railroad. ""Alaska Purchase"" from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million (2 cents per acre) on March 30,"
"high transportation costs and declining animal population. After it was purchased by the United States in 1867, the majority of the Russian settlers went back to Russia, but some resettled in southern Alaska and California. Included in these were the first miners and merchants of the California gold rush. The first massive wave of immigration from all areas of Europe to the United States took place in the late 19th century, following the 1862 enactment of the Homestead Act. Although some immigration took place earlier – the most notable example being Ivan Turchaninov, who immigrated in 1856 and became a"
"Bay. The Russian-American Company built a redoubt (trading post) at Nushagak Point across the river from present-day Dillingham in 1818. Named ""Alexandrovski"" after the czar, the post attracted fur traders from as far as the Kuskokwim River, the Alaska Peninsula and Cook Inlet. In 1837, a Russian Orthodox mission was built at Nushagak, but the post status was later downgraded in favor of other Russian-American Company posts in the Kuskokwim. In 1881, after the Alaska Purchase by the United States, the United States Signal Corps built a weather station at Nushagak. The Arctic Packing Company built the first cannery in"
"Stoeckl did so deftly, getting Seward to raise his offer from $5 million (coincidentally, the minimum that Russia had instructed de Stoeckl to accept) to $7 million, and then getting $200,000 added by raising various objections. This sum of $7.2 million is equivalent to $ in present-day terms. On March 30, 1867, de Stoeckl and Seward signed the treaty, working quickly as the Senate was about to adjourn. Johnson and Seward took the signed document to the President's Room in the Capitol, only to be told there was no time to deal with the matter before adjournment. The President summoned"
"Politkofsky (steam tug) Politkofsky was a small Russian-built Imperial Russian Navy sidewheel gunboat that patrolled the Alaskan Panhandle in the 1860s. ""Politkofsky"" was built of yellow cedar in Russian America at New Archangel (now Sitka, Alaska), in the 1850s and was in length and of 152 tons displacement. She had early copper boilers and a crosshead steam engine taken from the Imperial Russian Navy ship ""Imperator Nikolai I"". When Tsar Alexander II of Russia sold Russian Alaska to the United States in 1867, ""Politkofsky"" was included in the deal. The gunboat was then sold into civilian service as a tugboat."
"and it was found that the route was one third cheaper and eight days shorter. The Yakutsk-Ayan Track was rebuilt in 1852 at a cost of 20,000 rubles. When Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky became the first Siberian governor to use the Okhotsk track he was appalled by its condition and proposed to move the Siberian Flotilla fleet to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. All this became irrelevant with the Amur Annexation in 1860 when everything was moved south. Russian America was sold to the United States in 1867 and from 1870 Okhotsk was supplied from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur. The population of Okhotsk declined from 1,660 in 1839 to"
"a reminder of their defeat at ""Shís'gi Noow"". The Kiks.ádi supplied the Russians with food and otter pelts, while the colonists introduced the Tlingit to the various aspects of Russian culture and the Russian Orthodox Church. Occasional acts of Tlingit aggression continued until 1858, with one significant uprising (though quickly quelled) occurring in 1855. In 1867 Russian America was sold to the U.S. After that, all the holdings of the Russian–American Company's holdings were liquidated. Following the transfer, many elders of the local Tlingit tribe maintained that ""Castle Hill"" comprised the only land that Russia was entitled to sell. Native"
"1867, Russia sold its last remaining possessions to the United States of America for $7.2 million ($ in today's terms). The earliest written accounts indicate that the first Europeans to reach Alaska came from Russia. In 1648 Semyon Dezhnev sailed from the mouth of the Kolyma River through the Arctic Ocean and around the eastern tip of Asia to the Anadyr River. One legend holds that some of his boats were carried off course and reached Alaska. However, no evidence of settlement survives. Dezhnev's discovery was never forwarded to the central government, leaving open the question of whether or not"
"sold his interest to W.A.C. Smith. In 1867 Fitch (again) and Joe Davis (Fitch's relation by marriage) became the owners. This partnership did not last long. The two fought, and ""Fitch made the imprint of the butt of a Colt .44 under Davis' left eye"" (HT Diamondjubilee edition). Davis left town for the gold fields, and Fitch sold the Standard to John G. Howell in 1868. The Russian River Flag In the fall of 1868 John G. Howell was a passenger on the stagecoach running between Petaluma and Healdsburg. He immediately liked the Healdsburg area, and in November 1868 bought"
"boundary dispute, to present-day Alaska. The United States Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 (US$ in 2019) on April 9, 1867. Wyoming Territory was formed from portions of Dakota, Idaho, and Utah Territories, corresponding to the present-day borders of Wyoming. Idaho Territory then corresponds to present day Idaho, and Utah Territory to present-day Utah. The Mexican state of Hidalgo was split from the state of México. The Mexican state of Morelos was split from the state of México. The United Kingdom ceded most of its remaining land in North America to Canada, with Rupert's Land and"
"and the United States, and was permitted to start negotiations on December 22; however on December 23, the major Ansei Tokai earthquake shook Japan and surroundings. A 7-meter-high tsunami destroyed much of Shimoda including Putiatin's ships, with exception of ""Diana"", which was badly damaged and sank soon afterwards at nearby Heda. The Russian delegation now found itself stranded in Japan. Negotiations continued, resulting in the Treaty of Shimoda on February 7, 1855, which opened the ports of Hakodate, Nagasaki and Shimoda to Russian vessels, permitted limited trading and the residence of a Russian consul, and fixed the border of Japan"
"on the Pacific coast. After the transition to American control, following the purchase of Alaska from Russia by the United States in 1867, the influence of other Protestant religions increased, and Saint-Peter's-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church was consecrated as ""the Cathedral of Alaska"" in 1900. Sitka was the site of the transfer ceremony for the Alaska purchase on October 18, 1867. Russia was going through economic and political turmoil after it lost the Crimean War to Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire in 1856 and decided it wanted to sell Alaska before it was taken over by Britain. Russia offered to sell"
"to 45°50′ N latitude, revised by 1822 to 51° N latitude. This border was challenged by both Great Britain and the United States, which ultimately resulted in the Russo-American Treaty of 1824 and the Russo-British Treaty of 1825. These established 54°40′ as the ostensible southward limit of Russian interests. The only attempt by the Russians to enforce the ukase of 1821 was the seizure of the U.S. brig ""Pearl"" in 1822, by the Russian sloop ""Apollon"". The ""Pearl"", a vessel of the maritime fur trade, was sailing from Boston, Massachusetts to New Archangel/Sitka. When the U.S. government protested, the Russians"