Stoeckl offered to promote the sale by talking to some of his friends in the Senate and House, but Seward insisted on secrecy until the cabinet was agreed. They discussed the price. Petersburg; if the reply came within six days, the treaty could be signed and confirmed by the Senate before its adjournment.

President Andrew Johnson

Purchase of Alaska. But Seward had wanted to buy Alaska for a long time. Alaska is so large that the addition of this land would increase the size of the U.S. by nearly 20 percent.

The Alaska boundary dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom, which then controlled Canada’s foreign relations. The dispute had existed between the Russian Empire and Britain since 1821, and was inherited by the United States as a consequence of the Alaska Purchase in 1867.

Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867, through a treaty ratified by the United States Senate. Russia had established a presence in North America during the first half of the 18th century, but few Russians ever settled in Alaska.

America chooses to imperialism during this time for economic benefits. Economic benefits include cheap labor, control over the market, and natural resources. These imperial countries would extract the raw materials and natural resources from the smaller country and send them to their home country to then make a profit.

As Alaska had nearly 586,400 square miles, the cost was only about two cents per acre. Alaska ultimately proved to be rich in natural resources of timber, coal, copper, gold, and oil as well as salmon and furs.

The Alaska Purchase gave the United States a land mass of 586,412 square miles, an area about twice the size of Texas. But it came at a time when the United States had just ended the Civil War, and it had an abundance of underpopulated land.

On October 18, 1867, the U.S. formally takes possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre. Negotiations between Seward (1801-1872) and the Russian minister to the U.S., Eduard de Stoeckl, began in March 1867.

Today Alaska is one of the richest U.S. states thanks to its abundance of natural resources, such as petroleum, gold and fish, as well as its vast expanse of pristine wilderness and strategic location as a window on Russia and gateway to the Arctic.

Kotzebue

The Top 10 Most Dangerous Animals in Alaska

• #8 Stellar Sea Lions.
• #7 Wolverines.
• #6 Walrus.
• #5 Black Bear.
• #4 Wolves.
• #3 Grizzly Bear.
• #2 Moose. It’s easy to think of Bullwinkle and write moose off as innocuous, gentle creatures wandering aimlessly through the woods.
• #1 Polar Bears. Arguably the king, and certainly largest, of the bear family is the Polar Bear.

Alaska has always been considered to be outside the lions’ range, but with mountain lion populations increasing in many western states and Canada, that could change. Although it’s unlikely a breeding population is established in Alaska, there’s evidence the cats are making forays into the state.

Not in nature. Alligators can’t survive in such a cold climate. The only alligators in Alaska would have been imported from a warmer place as pets.