Alaska Purchase

The cheque that was used to pay for the Alaska territory: $7.2 million U.S. dollars at the time are about $121 million U.S. dollars in 2015.

Alaska was originally part of the Russian Empire. In 1867, the Russian Empire sold the territory to the United States. This is known as the Alaska Purchase.

Alaska Purchase Media

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  Russia and the United States, c. 1866

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  Territorial expansion of the United States; Alaska Purchase in purple

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  Portrait of William H. Seward, 24th Secretary of State for the United States under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

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  Signing of the Alaska Treaty (1867)