In the late eighteenth century American  and English ships made frequent stops at the Russian capital of Sitka.The Americans and the English were gaining control of the Pacific Northwest. The Russian American Company realized that Russia would not gain control of the Pacific Northwest coast as it had hoped. The Americans who now were in California and Oregon, saw Alaska as the next marketplace to begin to trade in. The Americans had established a good trade in shipping Alaska's Ice to San Francisco. As Ice was in big demand in California at this time and as this ice trade and the fur trade increased, so did American influence in Alaska. 

Russia had suffered a defeat in the Crimean war, fought between Russia and England. They found their influence weakened and their empire over-extended. The Russians did not want the English to gain control of Alaska. They were worried that they would lose Alaska to the English in another war. So they chose the United States to succeed in taking over control of Alaska. The Russian saw the American as a counter balance again that of the English interest in North American.