The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of Alaska by the United States from the Russian Empire in 1867. The U.S. Secretary of State, William H. Seward, negotiated the deal, which cost $7.2 million, or about two cents per acre. This purchase added approximately 586,000 square miles of territory to the United States. Initially, many Americans criticized the purchase, calling it "Seward's Folly" due to the perceived barrenness of the land. However, the discovery of natural resources like gold, oil, and fish later proved the acquisition to be highly beneficial for the U.S. economy and expansion.