On 30 March 1867, the United States agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million, a deal negotiated by US Secretary of State William H Seward.
The acquisition, amounting to roughly two cents per acre, was initially mocked as "Seward’s Folly," but it later proved to be a strategic and economic triumph.
Alaska’s vast natural resources, including gold, oil, and fisheries, would become invaluable to the US, transforming the territory into a key economic and geopolitical asset.
