Book/Printed Material Certificate of Exchange.

Title

• Certificate of Exchange.

Summary

• On June 20, 1867, U.S. secretary of State William H. Seward and the Russian minister to the United States, Eduard de Stoeckl, exchanged the official instruments of ratification of the Alaska purchase treaty in Washington, D.C. While the Russian government rubber-stamped the tsar's authorization of the treaty, under the terms of the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Senate had to consent to the treaty on the American side. The final exchange of ratified treaties took place approximately three months after the signing of the agreement in late March. This Certificate of Exchange notes that the two ratification texts were checked against each other, and then against the original text of the treaty. The Russian and American governments agreed to minor textual variations in the respective English and French versions of the treaty. Aside from their signatures, Seward and de Stoeckl affixed their respective governmental seals to the certificate. This exchange marked the conclusion of the treaty process, and Alaska became United States territory on October 18, 1867, even though the U.S. House of Representatives still had to appropriate the funds for the purchase. Internal American politics swirling around the impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson delayed the authorization of funding for more than a year, causing irritation in Saint Petersburg and giving rise to complaints from the Russian government. The money ultimately was appropriated and final payment for the Alaska purchase was issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on August 1, 1868.

Names

• Russia Associated Name.
• Seward, William H. (William Henry), 1801-1872, signer.
• Stoeckl, Eduard de, baron Signer.
• United States Associated Name.

Created / Published

• [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1867-06-20.

Headings

• -  Russian Federation
• -  United States of America--Alaska
• -  United States of America--District of Columbia--Washington
• -  1867-06-20
• -  Alaska -- Annexation to the United States
• -  Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, 1818-1881
• -  Constitutional law
• -  Foreign relations
• -  International law
• -  Treaties

Notes

• -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
• -  Original resource at: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• -  Content in English.
• -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

• 1 online resource.

Digital Id

• https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.wdl/wdl.16744

Library of Congress Control Number

• 2021671099

Online Format

• compressed data
• pdf
• image

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/2021671099

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• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record

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