In the history of mankind, territories were rejected not only as a result of conquests or the appearance of unidentified troops, but also as a result of a trade deal with land. Still, it is somehow safer with a check.
Indians sell Manhattan to Dutch
In 1609, the Dutch opened Manhattan, and after a couple of decades, Fort New Amsterdam (future New York) was built on the island.
To protect the property of the settlers, the governor of New Holland, Peter Minuit, in 1626 bought the island from the Indian tribe of Manhatta for variegated jewelry, knives, axes and clothing, the total value of which was then equal to 60 guilders (the amount today is equivalent to 500-700 American dollars).
It would seem that stupid savages - sold the island for trinkets? But no! There is a version that the Dutch bought the island from the Canarsi Indians, who lived not in Manhattan, but on the site of present-day Brooklyn. That is, the Indians sold the island that did not belong to them. Not a bad deal, admit it.
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Swedes sell the Baltics to Russians
In 1721, the devastating Northern War, which had lasted since 1700, ended. Russian troops captured the Baltics, Finland, and attempted to assassinate Sweden. Nevertheless, the Peace of Nystad turned out to be not very beneficial for Russia: Peter I returned Finland to Sweden, and bought the Baltic states for a considerable sum.
Where does such an attraction of unheard-of generosity come from? The fact is that Russia was exhausted in this war no less than Sweden. In addition, under the influence of British diplomacy against Russia, a coalition of European states was organized, England even managed to promise the Swedes military and financial assistance. So victory in the face of hostility from half of Europe did not seem so certain. That is why the terms of the peace treaty turned out to be unprofitable: Finland was returned, and the Baltic states were bought, calling it "compensation" for decency.
The French sell Louisiana to the Americans
Since the 17th century, the French have been developing vast lands from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes and from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. Actually, its name - Louisiana - this territory received in honor of the French king Louis XVI. Then Louisiana belonged to the Spaniards, until Napoleon forced them to return these lands to the French, and … literally three weeks later he sold them to the United States.
Initially, the US intended to buy only New Orleans and the surrounding area, but suddenly Napoleon offered them all of Louisiana. The French emperor understood that Great Britain or the United States could easily seize the almost defenseless Louisiana, and decided to get at least some money for it.
As a result, Louisiana was sold for $ 15 million. The final amount of the deal for the United States, including interest on the loan, was more than $ 23 million. The total area sold was twice the size of the United States itself.
Russians sell Fort Ross (California) to Mexican businessman
In 1812, the Russians founded Fort Ross in California, Spain, to supply Alaska with food. The Russians, in the best traditions of the European colonialists, bought the land from the Indians for three blankets, three pairs of pants, two axes, three hoes and several strings of beads.
Throughout its existence, the colony was unprofitable. And after the agreement between the Russians and the British on the regular supply of food from Canada to Alaska at fixed prices, the need for supplies from Fort Ross disappeared altogether.
In 1839 the Russians decided to sell the useless fortress. The British were not interested in the proposal, and Mexico (the successor of Spain on these lands) considered the territory its own and looked forward to the fact that the Russians would simply abandon the colony. Finally, in 1841, Fort Ross was sold to a Mexican businessman, the Swiss Sutter, for 42,857 silver rubles. According to the testimony of the Russians, Sutter never paid 37.5 thousand rubles. Although recent research has shown that the entire debt was paid off by 1849.
Russians "sell" Alaska to Americans
The history of Alaska has long been covered with various myths. The most important of which is that the Russian Empire sold Alaska to the USA! In fact, Emperor Alexander II leased Alaska to the Americans for 99 years. It was not possible to return Alaska, equipped over the years, for a number of reasons. First, after the 1917 revolution, Soviet Russia renounced all obligations of the Russian Empire. Secondly, the Alaska lease was lost or destroyed. In 1966, the USSR was never able to present anything from an American, although negotiations on this topic did take place.
There is also evidence according to which the United States in the course of these negotiations presented the USSR with a gigantic amount of compensation for the cities and infrastructure built in Alaska.
So, Alaska was leased in 1867, during the reign of Alexander II (and not at all Catherine II, as the Lube group claims), for 7 million 200 thousand dollars. The initiator was the Russian side, the Americans still had to be persuaded by bribing the congressmen.
The situation prior to the lease of Alaska was as follows. On the one hand, Russian America, unprofitable, poorly protected and barely supplied half the world (there was no direct route through Russia), Russian America could barely make ends meet. On the other hand, the active expansion of Russia in Central Asia has just begun with the further prospect of access to the southern seas, strategically more important than the frozen territories at the edge of the world.
The Russian government correctly assessed the situation and optimized the territory of the empire. Not having sufficient forces to defend and supply Alaska, they decided to surrender it to the friendly United States (then there was the peak of Russian-American friendship, not like now).
The Americans quickly found gold in the leased territories. The Russian government even before the sale knew about the presence of gold placers in Alaska, but carefully concealed it: if hostile Great Britain found out about this, it was possible to lose Alaska for free. Therefore, the Russian Emperor reasonably hastened to get rid of Alaska for money than to give it away to enemies for free.
By the way, the proceeds from the sale of Russian America went to the construction of railways in central Russia.
Danes sell Virgin Islands to Americans
In the 17th century, Denmark established colonies in the Caribbean, on the Virgin Islands. The Danes traded in rum and slaves, and one of the islands became a pirate base. But after the ban on the slave trade and the fall in sugar prices fourfold, the colonies became unprofitable.
In 1865, Lincoln offered to sell the islands to the Danes. But while they were thinking about and holding a referendum (at which, by the way, the majority of the population of the islands spoke in favor of selling the colony to the United States), the new president, Grant, refused the deal.
In 1915, there was a threat of German occupation of the Danish West Indies, and the USA again offered Denmark to sell the islands. And again it was decided to hold a referendum. As a result, 64.2% of Danes approved the deal (among the inhabitants of the islands, 99.8% voted in favor of the deal). So the Danes sold the Virgin Islands to the United States for $ 25 million, or DKK 87 million, which equaled Denmark's half-year budget.