The Brief History Of Alaska

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

business, plus competition from the Americans, Canadians, and the British also made it hard to earn a profit. In addition, animals with fur were becoming more and more scarce, due to over-hunting. In 1824 and 1825, two separate treaties were signed by Russia, one dealing with Britain and the another dealing with America. In these treaties Russia recognized latitude 54 degrees 40' as the southern boundary of Russian territory in America. Russia also gave Britain and the United States of America trading rights along Alaska's Pacific coast.
By the 1850s, the Russian-American Company was no longer interested in trade, mainly due to the fact that the Russian government had taken over a large part of the company's affairs. After the Crimean War (1853-1856), Russia wanted to sell Alaska and U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to purchase Alaska for $7,200,000 (About 2 cents per acre). On March 30, 1867, he signed the Treaty of Cession of Russian America to the United ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE: