On March 30, 1867, the United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million. The Treaty with Russia was negotiated and signed by Secretary of State William Seward and Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl.

Critics of the deal to purchase Alaska called it "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox." Opposition to the purchase of Alaska subsided with the Klondike Gold Strike in 1896. However, the purchase of Alaska in 1867 marked the end of Russian efforts to expand trade and settlements to the Pacific coast of North America, and became an important step in the United States' rise as a great power in the Asia-Pacific region.

To read the complete article, see:
A Treasury Check in the Amount of $7.2 Million for the Purchase of Alaska (www.whitehouse.gov/share/treasury-check-amount-72-million-purchase-alaska)