Alaska Was Once Russia — Here’s Why That Changed

Here’s the cleaned-up and corrected version of that transcript so it reads smoothly but keeps her meaning intact:

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Alaska used to be part of Russia — but why did Russia sell it to the United States for $7.2 million (about $150 million today)?

Before Alaska was known for its gold and oil, it was famous for its sea otters — specifically their pelts, which were warm, waterproof, and luxurious. Sea otters were actually the main reason Russians went to Alaska in the first place. As trading posts popped up around Alaska, so did Orthodox chapels, many of which still stand today.

By the 19th century, there weren’t many sea otters left, and it became economically costly to maintain such distant outposts. Russia also saw the United States as a potential ally against Britain and hoped to strengthen ties by handing over the territory to a friendly power.

Tsar Alexander II needed funds to develop Russia’s internal regions rather than maintain a faraway colony. Still, many Americans at the time didn’t take the purchase seriously. To them, Alaska seemed like a frozen wasteland, and they even nicknamed it “Seward’s Icebox.” It took some convincing to get Americans on board with the deal.

The payment was made in gold. There’s a rumor that some of the gold sank in a shipwreck on its way to Russia, but historians don’t believe that’s true.

As a Russian-American, I find it fascinating that there are still communities in Alaska that speak Russian today. In the village of Nikolaevsk, for example, you’ll find Russian-speaking families and church services in Old Church Slavonic. Some Alaskans even have surnames like Fyodorov — it doesn’t get much more Russian than that.

So you see, Russia and the United States are very close — literally.

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Do you want me to also polish it into a short social-media-friendly script so it sounds punchier for video? That would make it flow even better for an audience.