On October 18, 1867, the US agreed to buy Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. During the treaty signing, the Russian Minister to the US, Edouard de Stoeckl, and the US Secretary of State, William Seward, negotiated the deal that saw the handover of Alaska to the US government.

While it offset the designs of Great Britain in the Pacific, it also helped to elevate the US as a great power in the Asia Pacific region.

The Treaty for the Purchase of Alaska marked the end of Russia's trading and settlement expansion efforts to the Pacific coast of North America. And at the same time, it disrupted Great Britain's organization in the region.

At the start of the 1800s, the US competed with Russian explorers and traders for Alaska, which was rich in natural resources, and was lightly inhabited. And although Russia had a keen interest in the region, St. Petersburg lacked the resources to support a significant military presence and settlements along the Pacific coast. In addition, permanent Russian settlers were no more than four hundred. Worse still, the Russians lost during the Crimean War and, as a result, further lost interest in the territory of Alaska.