Many Europeans of different nationalities explored and settled the lands of North America. Although the first to reach its shores were, apparently, the Normans or Irish monks, we dedicate this series of articles to the 500th anniversary of the expedition of Christopher Columbus. We know a lot about the Spanish colonization of Florida and the American Southwest. The stories of French explorers in eastern Canada and the Mississippi Valley and English settlers on the Atlantic coast are also widely known. But the extent of Russian settlement in the New World may surprise many Americans. The Russians, having begun the fur trade in Alaska under Catherine II, began to develop the Pacific coast and almost reached the places where San Francisco now lies. The authors of the article published here talk about this little-known period of Russian and American history. It was first published in the catalog of the exhibition “Russian America: The Forgotten Land,” organized jointly by the Washington State Historical Society and the Anchorage Museum of Art and History, Alaska. The exhibition has already been shown in Tacoma, Washington, Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska, and Oakland, California.
In early 1992, it will open in the US capital at the Library of Congress.
Russian America
BARBARA SWEETLAND SMITH AND REDMOND BARNETT
The claims of the Russian Empire to the natural resources of the American Northwest surprised many countries around the world. Russia was not a maritime power and expanded its possessions at the expense of the territories of its closest neighbors. Having captured Siberia and reached the Pacific Ocean in 1639, Russia did not advance further for almost a hundred years. Peter I, not for nothing called the Great, foresaw enormous potential for his state in the islands to the east and the mainland of North America. Alarmed by the decline in the fur trade, which brought large profits in trade with China, Peter I in 1725 took the first steps that later led to the struggle for the development of North America.
Few Americans, or even Russians, are well acquainted with the history of the northwestern region of the United States, where the Russian Empire was opposed by England, Spain, France and America itself. Tourists visiting Alaska admire not only its nature, but also its Orthodox
churches in villages inhabited almost exclusively by Native Americans: Aleuts, Eskimos and Tlingit. Tourists try to correctly pronounce the exotic Russian names of local villages, heights and bays. They seem to be discovering Russian America.
The first Russians to penetrate America were fearless hunters who were interested exclusively in fur hunting. Fulfilling the plan of Peter I, Vitus Bering in 1728 set off to explore the waters between Russia and America. The first expedition was unsuccessful, although Bering passed the strait that now bears his name. In 1741, Bering and his former assistant, Captain-Commander Alexei Chirikov, separately reached the west coast of North America. Chirikov returned to Siberia, and news of islands abounding in fur-bearing animals sparked a real rush for “soft gold.” At first, enterprising industrialists organized reconnaissance expeditions to nearby islands. Then, taking things on a broader scale, they began to move further east and reached such remote islands as Unalaska and Kodiak. For 30 years, no one disturbed the industrialists, with the exception of occasional visits from Spanish, French and English ships.
Watercolor drawing by Mikhail Tikhanov, who depicted the inhabitants of Fr. Sitka (1818). The anthropological details of the drawing have been highly appreciated by modern scientists.
In 1762, Catherine II ascended the throne. She decided to establish control over the distant and occasional Russian settlements in America, and in 1764, at her behest, the first official expedition was organized to map and determine the limits of Russian possessions. Soon, Russian sailors began to travel around the world, which helped strengthen their prestige and further development of the northwestern shores of the American continent.
This period in the history of Russian America is most often associated with the names of Grigory Shelikhov and Alexander Baranov. In 1788, the Siberian merchant Shelikhov vainly asked Catherine II to grant his company monopoly rights to the fur trade on the northwestern coast of America. The Tsarina, a supporter of free trade, decisively rejected his request, but nevertheless rewarded Shelikhov and his partner Golikov for their outstanding contribution to the expansion of Russian possessions to Kodiak Island. In 1799, under Emperor Paul I, Catherine's son, Shelikhov's company was transformed into the Russian-American Company and received monopoly rights, but Shelikhov himself did not live to see this moment.
Thanks to Shelikhov’s energy and foresight, the foundation of Russian possessions was laid in these new lands. The first permanent Russian settlement appeared on Kodiak Island. Shelikhov also headed the first agricultural colony “Glory to Russia” (now Yakutat). The settlement plans he drew up included smooth streets, schools, libraries, and parks. He left behind projects for the forts Afognak and Kenai, testifying to his excellent knowledge of geometry. At the same time, Shelikhov was not a government official. He remained a merchant, industrialist, and entrepreneur operating with the permission of the government.
Shelikhov's main achievement was the founding of a trading company and permanent settlements in North America. He also had a happy idea: to appoint a merchant from Kargopol, 43-year-old Alexander Baranov, as chief manager on Kodiak Island. Baranov was on the verge of bankruptcy when Shelikhov took him as his assistant, recognizing exceptional qualities in this short, blond man: enterprise, perseverance, firmness. And he was not mistaken. Baranov faithfully served Shelikhov and then the Russian-American Company from 1790 to 1818, until he retired at the age of 71. During his lifetime, legends circulated about him: he inspired respect and fear in the people around him. Even the strictest government auditors were amazed at his dedication, energy and dedication.
During Baranov's tenure as ruler of Russian America, Russia's possessions expanded to the south and east. In 1790, when Baranov arrived there, Shelikhov had only three settlements east of the Aleutian Islands: on Kodiak, Afognak and the Kenai Peninsula (Fort Alexandrovsk). And in 1818, when he was leaving. The Russian-American company reached such distant places as Prince William Sound, the Alexander Archipelago and even Northern California, where he founded Fort Ross. From Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands to the shores of North America and even the Hawaiian Islands, Baranov was known as the master of Russian America. He moved the company's main office first to St. Paul on Kodiak Island, and then, from 1808, to the new center of Russian America Novoarkhangelsk (now Sitka) among the Tlingit settlements. Baranov took care of the development of all kinds of auxiliary economic sectors: he built shipyards, forges, woodworking and brick factories. He developed an educational program for local children, Creoles whose fathers were Russian and mothers from the indigenous population. Children were prepared for service in the company, teaching them crafts and navigation. The program remained in force throughout the company's existence. Many Creole teenagers were sent to study further in Irkutsk or St. Petersburg.
Baranov's leadership of the Russian-American Company was distinguished by ingenuity, dynamism, and sometimes harshness towards the indigenous population. Baranov's violent activities, which attracted complaints, eventually became the subject of a government investigation. In 1818, Baranov resigned and left his post.
After Baranov left, new orders emerged in Russian America. Shelikhov conceived Russian America, Baranov realized it. Over the next 49 years of the existence of Russian America, control of the Russian settlements passed to the imperial fleet. Since 1818, all the rulers of the Russian-American Company were naval officers. Although the company was a commercial enterprise, it always carried out government tasks. State authorities did not consider it right for such a territory to be ruled by merchants; Therefore, from the beginning of the 19th century, the company's board began to include officials.
This period in the history of Russian America is educational in nature. The harsh measures associated with the discovery, retention and settlement of new lands were replaced by a period of improvement. Adventurism and all kinds of abuses of Baranov’s times gave way to the prudent use of resources. The new naval leadership encouraged a spiritual mission and was concerned with education and public health. Geographic exploration and the strategic placement of trading posts opened up new opportunities in the interior of Alaska, allowing the decline in fur production to be offset by the development of new fisheries. Treaties with Boston Massachusetts merchants and the British Hudson's Bay Company, which operated in Canada, helped improve supplies, which had been difficult to begin with. Russian possessions in California lost their importance and were sold in 1841.
In 1867, a confluence of circumstances prompted Russia to sell its North American possessions to the United States. It is interesting to note that for Russia the economic factor did not play a decisive role. After the decline of the fur trade, the Russian colony managed to improve its affairs by expanding the scope of its activities and monopolizing the import of Chinese tea into Russia. Meanwhile, by 1867 - compared with 1821 and even more so with 1799 - North America had changed a lot. The northwestern regions were no longer a no-man's land. All lands south of the 49th parallel were ceded to the United States. To the east, the British Hudson's Bay Company dominated. Shortly before this, Russia lost the difficult Crimean War, where Great Britain was one of its opponents. In St. Petersburg, supporters of the sale of Alaska also pointed to changes in Russian-Chinese relations. Military actions and treaties provided Russia with the richest lands of the Amur region. All this convinced Tsar Alexander II that the Russian colonies centered in Sitka had lost their importance for Russia in the second half of the 19th century. And Russian America became simply America.
The Russian presence in North America was unique in the history of this continent from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Spain, England and France, having seized new lands, immediately established state control there. The Russians came to America for commercial purposes and to fill a vacuum. The Russian government only monitored the colony in North America, not caring about settling new lands or military control over them, and most importantly, did not use the rich resources as effectively as England or Spain. The maximum number of Russians in Alaska was 823 people, and from 300 to 500 lived there permanently, mainly in Kodiak, Sitka and in villages organized by the colonial authorities.
Compared to other colonizers of North America, the Russians had a much more humane attitude towards the indigenous people. From 1741 to 1867, Russian cartographers, linguists, ethnographers, botanists, teachers, priests and officials lived and worked among the Aleuts, Eskimos, Tlingit and, less commonly, Athapaskan people. For more than a hundred years, the relationship between Russians and natives has changed significantly. The first clashes were bloody and disastrous for the Aleuts. According to some historians, between 1743 and 1800 the Aleuts lost a significant part of their population. But despite such a sad beginning, the Russians left a good memory of themselves, which caused bewilderment among the Americans who came here.
This attitude is explained by the official policy of the Russian-American company. Its charter of 1821 prohibited the exploitation of the local population and provided for frequent checks on this requirement. Alaska Natives received an education and could count on advancement in the Russian service. Explorer and hydrographer A. Kashevarov, of Aleuto-Russian origin, retired with the rank of captain 1st rank. Many natives became shipbuilders, carpenters, teachers, paramedics, blacksmiths, icon painters, and researchers, having been educated in Russian educational institutions. In local schools, teaching was conducted in Russian and local languages. The Orthodox Church attracted many, and its missionaries included Alaska Natives. The Orthodox heritage has survived to this day and is currently supported by such church figures as Bishop Gregory and 35 priests, half of whom are Aleuts, Eskimos and Tlingit. In the villages of Alaska, Russian rituals and customs are still observed. Residents, speaking local languages, insert many Russian words; Russian names and surnames are very common among the local population.
Thus, Russian America is still felt in the language, culture and way of life of Alaskans. But for most Americans it is a forgotten legacy, almost extinguished during the Cold War. The border with Russia retreated into the Bering Strait in 1867, and much of what the Russians contributed to American science, education, culture, and cartography was forgotten even by many Alaskans. But now new bridges are being built across the Bering Strait between both countries, agreements on trade and cultural exchange are increasingly being concluded, and more and more relatives are visiting each other. People meet again, but not as strangers, but as old friends.
Pages 14-15, Alaska Slate Library, Juneau. Pages 16-17, top left-Lydia T. Black, UnAlaska Church of the Holy Ascension of Our Lord; Anchorage Museum of History and Art; top center-University of Alaska, Fairbanks; bottom center-University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Washington State Historical Society; Sitka National Historical Park; top right, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Page 18, Anchorage Museum of History and Art; University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Page 19. top-Anchorage Museum of History and Art; University of Alaska, Fairbanks; center-Alaska State Library, Juneau; Anchorage Museum of History and Art; bottom-Alaska State Library, Juneau. Page 20. (c) N. B. Miller, University of Washington Libraries. Seattle; Alaska State Library, Juneau; Washington State Historical Society. Page 21, Kenneth E. White; Russian American Company.
On October 18, 1867, Alaska, formerly part of the Russian Empire, was officially transferred to the United States of America. The protocol on the transfer of Alaska was signed on board the American sloop of war Ossipee; on the Russian side it was signed by a special government commissioner, Captain 2nd Rank Alexey Alekseevich Peschurov. The transfer of Alaska, better known then as “Russian America,” was carried out within the framework of an agreement concluded with the United States of America on the sale to the United States of Russian-owned territories in the northwest of the American continent.
Let us recall that back in the 18th century, the territory of modern Alaska began to be actively developed by Russian explorers. In 1732, Alaska was discovered by a Russian expedition on the boat “St. Gabriel" under the command of Mikhail Gvozdev and Ivan Fedorov. Nine years later, in 1741, the Aleutian Islands and the coast of Alaska were explored by Bering on the packet boat St. Peter and Chirikov on the packet boat St. Paul. However, the full development of the North American coast by Russian colonists began only in the 70s of the 18th century, when the first Russian settlement was founded on Unalaska. In 1784, the galliots “Three Saints”, “St. Simeon" and "St. Mikhail,” who were part of the expedition under the command of Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov. Russian colonists who arrived on galliots built a settlement - Pavlovskaya Harbor, and entered into relationships with local aborigines, trying to convert the latter to Orthodoxy and, thereby, strengthen Russian influence in these places.
Blessing of the Aleuts for fishing. Artist Vladimir Latyntsev
In 1783, the American Orthodox Diocese was founded, marking the beginning of a new era in the colonization of the North American coast. In particular, in 1793, the famous Orthodox mission of Archimandrite Joasaph (Bolotov), consisting of 5 monks of the Valaam Monastery, arrived on Kodiak Island. The mission's activities consisted of establishing Orthodoxy among the indigenous population of Kodiak Island. In 1796, the Kodiak Vicariate was established as part of the Irkutsk diocese, headed by Joasaph (Bolotov). On April 10, 1799, Archimandrite Joasaph was consecrated bishop by Bishop Benjamin of Irkutsk and Nechinsk, after which he went back to Kodiak Island. However, the fate of 38-year-old father Joasaph was tragic. The Phoenix ship, on which the bishop and his assistants were sailing, sank in the Sea of Okhotsk. All people on board died. After this, plans to establish an American diocese were suspended for a long time.
The Russian state did not refuse to further assert its political and economic presence in Alaska. Measures aimed at developing new lands became especially intensified after the accession of Emperor Paul I to the throne. The most important role in the development of Alaska was played by Russian merchants, who were most interested in fur fishing and trade in the area of Japan and the Kuril Islands. In 1797, preparations began for the creation of a single monopoly company that could take control of trade and fishing in the Alaska region. On July 19, 1799, the Russian-American Company (hereinafter referred to as RAC) was officially established.
The uniqueness of the Russian-American Company lay in the fact that it was, in fact, the only true colonial monopoly company in the Russian Empire, which modeled its activities on foreign trading companies. Not only did the RAC have monopoly rights to trade and fishing functions on the coast of North America, but it also had administrative powers that were delegated to it by the Russian state. Although back in the 1750s, four decades before the emergence of the Russian-American Company, the first trade monopolies had already appeared in the Russian Empire - Persian, Central Asian and Temernikov, it was the Russian-American Company in the fullest sense that represented a classic colonial administrative and trading organization. The company's activities satisfied the interests of both large entrepreneurs and the Russian state.
In 1801, the company's board was transferred from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg, which inevitably resulted in a significant increase in the status and capabilities of the company. A huge contribution to this move was made by the actual state councilor Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, the son-in-law of the merchant and traveler Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov. Rezanov achieved not only the relocation of the company to the capital of the empire, but also the entry into the ranks of shareholders of members of the imperial family and the emperor himself. Gradually, the Russian-American Company actually turned into a state institution, for the management of which, since 1816, exclusively officers of the Russian navy were appointed. It was believed that they would be better able to manage and maintain order in the distant overseas territories of Russian America. At the same time, although the efficiency of the political and administrative sphere after the transition to the practice of appointing naval officers as company leaders increased noticeably, the trade and economic affairs of the Russian-American Company were not successful.
The entire Russian development of Alaska was connected with the activities of the Russian-American company in the 19th century. Initially, the capital of Russian America remained the city of Kodiak, also known as Pavlovskaya Harbor, located on Kodiak Island, approximately 90 km from the coast of Alaska. It was here that the residence of Alexander Andreevich Baranov, the first head of the Russian-American Company and the first chief ruler of Russian America in 1790-1819, was located. By the way, Baranov’s house, built at the end of the 18th century, has survived to this day - in the now American city of Kodiak, where it is the oldest monument of Russian architecture. Currently, the Baranov House in Kodiak houses a museum, which was included in the National Register of Historic Places in the United States in 1966.
Back in 1799, on the shores of the ice-free Sitka Bay, the Mikhailovskaya Fortress was founded, around which the village of Novo-Arkhangelsk arose. In 1804 (according to other sources - in 1808) Novo-Arkhangelsk became the capital of Russian America, which was included first in the Siberian General Government, and then, after its division, in the East Siberian General Government. Twenty years after its founding, in 1819, more than 200 Russians and about 1,000 Indians lived in Novo-Arkhangelsk. An elementary school, a church, as well as a ship repair yard, an arsenal, workshops and workshops were opened in the village. The main activity of local residents, which provided the economic basis for the existence of the village, was hunting sea otters. The valuable furs, which the natives were forced to extract, were sold.
Naturally, life in the farthest reaches of the Russian Empire was difficult. Novo-Arkhangelsk depended on supplies of food, equipment, and ammunition from the “mainland”. But since ships rarely came to the port, the townspeople had to save money and live in spartan conditions. In the early 1840s. Naval officer Lavrenty Alekseevich Zagoskin visited Novo-Arkhangelsk, who then published a valuable book “Pedestrian inventory of Russian possessions in America, produced by Lieutenant Lavrenty Zagoskin in 1842, 1843 and 1844. with a Mercartor map engraved on copper.” He noted that in the city, which was considered the capital of Russian America, there were no streets, no squares, no courtyards. Novo-Arkhangelsk by that time consisted of about a hundred wooden houses. The governor's two-story residence was also made of wood. Of course, for a strong enemy, the fortifications of Novo-Arkhangelsk did not pose any threat - a normally armed ship could not only destroy the fortifications, but also burn the entire town.
However, until the second half of the 19th century, Russian America managed to avoid tense relations with the neighboring British possessions in Canada. There were no other serious opponents near the borders of Russian possessions in Alaska. At the same time, during the period of exploration of Alaska, the Russians came into conflict with the local natives - the Tlingits. This conflict went down in history as the Russian-Indian War or the Russian-Tlingit War of 1802-1805. In May 1802, an uprising of the Tlingit Indians began, seeking to liberate their territories from Russian colonists. In June 1802, a detachment of 600 Tlingits led by the leader Katlian attacked the St. Michael's Fortress, which at the time of the attack contained only 15 people. The Indians also destroyed a small detachment of Vasily Kochesov, returning from fishing, and also attacked a larger Sitka party of 165 people and completely defeated it. About twenty Russians, captured by the Indians, were saved from imminent death by the British from the brig Unicorn, commanded by Captain Henry Barber. Thus, the Indians took control of the island of Sitka, and the Russian-American company lost 24 Russians and about 200 Aleuts killed in battle.
However, in 1804, the main ruler of Russian America, Baranov, took revenge for the defeat two years ago. He set out to conquer Sitka with a detachment of 150 Russians and 500-900 Aleuts. In September 1804, Baranov’s detachment approached Sitka, after which the ships “Ermak”, “Alexander”, “Ekaterina” and “Rostislav” began shelling the wooden fort built by the Indians. The Tlingits put up fierce resistance; during the battle, Alexander Baranov himself was wounded in the arm. However, the artillery of the Russian ships did its job - in the end, the Indians were forced to retreat from the fortress, losing about thirty people dead. So Sitka again found itself in the hands of Russian colonists, who began to restore the fortress and build an urban settlement. Novo-Arkhangelsk was revived, becoming the new capital of Russian America instead of Kodiak. However, the Tlingit Indians continued periodic attacks against the Russian colonists for many years. The last conflicts with Indians were recorded in the 1850s, shortly before the transfer of Alaska to the United States of America.
In the middle of the 19th century. Among some Russian officials close to the imperial court, the opinion is beginning to spread that Alaska is more of a burden for the empire than an economically profitable territory. In 1853, Count Nikolai Nikolaevich Muravyov-Amursky, who then held the post of East Siberian Governor-General, raised the question of the possibility of selling Alaska to the United States of America. According to Count Muravyov-Amursky, the remoteness of Russian possessions in Alaska from the main Russian territory, on the one hand, and the spread of railway transport, on the other hand, will lead to the inevitable development of Alaskan lands by the United States of America. Muravyov-Amursky believed that Russia would have to cede Alaska to the United States sooner or later. In addition, Russian leaders were concerned about the possibility of the British seizing Alaska. The fact is that from the south and east, Russian possessions in North America bordered on vast Canadian lands belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, and in fact to the British Empire. Considering that the political relations between the Russian Empire and Great Britain by this time were very tense, fears about the possibility of a British invasion of Russian possessions in Alaska were well founded.
When the Crimean War began, Great Britain tried to organize an amphibious landing in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Accordingly, the likelihood of an invasion of British troops into Russian America sharply increased. The empire would hardly have been able to provide significant support to the few settlers in Alaska. In this situation, the United States, which itself feared the occupation of Alaska by Great Britain, offered to buy the possessions and property of the Russian-American Company for a period of three years for 7 million 600 thousand dollars. The leadership of the Russian-American Company agreed with this proposal and even signed an agreement with the American-Russian Trading Company in San Francisco, but soon they managed to reach an agreement with the British Hudson's Bay Company, which excluded the possibility of an armed conflict in Alaska. Therefore, the first agreement on the temporary sale of Russian possessions in America to the United States never came into force.
Meanwhile, the Russian leadership continued to discuss the possibility of selling Russian America to the United States. So, in 1857, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich expressed this idea to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire, Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov. The head of the diplomatic department supported this idea, but it was decided to temporarily postpone consideration of the issue of selling Alaska. On December 16, 1866, a special meeting was held, which was attended by Emperor Alexander II himself, the initiator of the idea of selling Alaska, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, the ministers of finance and the naval ministry, and the Russian envoy in Washington, Baron Eduard Stekl. At this meeting, the decision was made to sell Alaska to the United States of America. After consultations with representatives of the American leadership, the parties came to a common denominator. It was decided to cede Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million.
On March 30, 1867, an agreement was signed in Washington between the Russian Empire and the United States of America. On May 3, 1867, the agreement was signed by Emperor Alexander II. According to the agreement, the entire Alaska Peninsula, the Alexander Archipelago, the Aleutian Islands with Attu Island, the Near Islands, Rat Islands, Lisya Islands, Andreyanovsky Islands, Shumagina Island, Trinity Island, Umnak Island, Unimak Island, Kodiak Island, Chirikova Island, Afognak Island, and other smaller islands were transferred to the United States; Islands in the Bering Sea: St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nunivak and the Pribilof Islands - St. George and St. Paul. Along with the territory, all property located in Russian possessions in Alaska and the islands was transferred to the United States of America.
By the middle of the 19th century, Russia had every reason to strengthen its presence in America by taking possession of California. Having left the coveted lands, the Russians opened a direct path to their settlement by the Americans.
Help Alaska
The winter of 1805-1806 for Russian colonists in Alaska turned out to be cold and hungry. In order to somehow support the settlers, the leadership of the Russian-American Company (RAC) purchased the ship Juno loaded with food from the American merchant John Wolf and sent it to Novoarkhangelsk (now Sitka). However, there was not enough food until spring.
To help Juno, they gave the newly built tender Avos, and on two ships the Russian expedition sailed to the warm shores of California to replenish food supplies.
The expedition was headed by the Tsar's chamberlain Nikolai Rezanov. After an unsuccessful diplomatic mission to Japan, he sought to prove himself in a difficult enterprise from the best side.
The goals of the expedition were not limited to one-time assistance to those in need in Alaska: they were aimed at establishing strong trade relations with California, which belonged to the Spanish Crown. The task was complicated by the fact that Spain, being an ally of Napoleonic France, was by no means eager to establish contacts with representatives of the Russian Empire.
Exhausting patriotism
Showing his extraordinary diplomatic talents and personal charm, Rezanov managed to win over the Spanish authorities, but questions about the supply of food did not move forward. And then love intervened in big politics.
At a reception with the commandant of the San Francisco fortress, Jose Arguello, Rezanov meets his 15-year-old daughter Concepcion (Conchita). After a short conversation, sympathies arise between the 42-year-old commander and the young beauty, which very quickly develop into strong feelings. Moreover, Conchita agreed to the marriage proposal, despite the prospect of settling permanently in the cold northern country.
Largely thanks to Concepcion, it was possible to come to an agreement with the authorities, and by the summer of 1806, much-needed goods flowed in abundance into the holds of Russian ships. Rezanov promised his beloved to return, and she promised to faithfully wait for him.
However, they were never destined to meet again. The commander fell ill on the way to St. Petersburg and soon died, and Conchita, without waiting for her betrothed, dedicated her service to God. We will never know whether it was true love or whether it was the calculation of a far-sighted politician. However, too much was decided then on the fertile Californian shores.
In his order to the ruler of Russian America, merchant Alexander Baranov, Rezanov wrote that using his experience of trade in California and the consent of local residents, he would try to convey to the government the benefits of such an enterprise. And in his farewell letter he left the following words: “Patriotism forced me to exhaust all my strength with the hope that they would correctly understand and properly appreciate.”
Fort Ross
The efforts of the Russian diplomat were appreciated. What he did not manage to convey to the government, Baranov succeeded. The merchant equips two expeditions led by RAC employee Alexander Kuskov to establish a colony in California. In 1812, the first Russian settlement was founded 80 kilometers north of San Francisco.
Formally, this area belonged to the Spaniards, but it was controlled by Indian tribes, from whom the land was purchased for mere trifles - clothing and tools. But the relationship with the Indians was not limited to this: later, Russian settlers began to actively involve them in economic work in the colony.
Between April and September, a fortress and village were built here, called Fort Ross. For such wild places, the settlement seemed like an unprecedented center of culture and civilization.
A profitable trade exchange gradually developed between the Russians and the Spaniards. The Russians supplied leather, wood, and iron products made in Alaska, receiving furs and wheat in return. The Spaniards also purchased from the colonists several light ships built at the fort's shipyards.
The Russian economy flourished. Cattle breeding took root here, and vineyards and orchards were planted. Windmills built by colonists and imported window glass were a completely new phenomenon for California. Later, systematic weather observations were introduced for the first time in these places.
The fate of the Russian colony
After Kuskov’s death in 1823, the head of the office of the Russian-American Company, Kondraty Ryleev, became concerned about the fate of Fort Ross; in particular, he fussed about the affairs of the fort with influential Russian officials. Ryleev’s plans for “Russian California” went beyond the agricultural land supplying Alaska.
In 1825, Ryleev signed an order of the RAC on the construction of new Russian fortresses in California for the further development of the territories: “Mutual benefits, justice and nature itself require it,” wrote the head of the RAC office. However, Alexander I rejected the company’s offer, advising them to abandon this idea and not leave the colonists “outside the boundaries of the merchant class.”
Count N. S. Mordvinov offers the RAC a compromise option: to buy out serfs from Russian landowners with poor land and resettle them in fertile California. And indeed, soon the possessions of the Russian settlers expanded noticeably and began to reach all the way to the borders of modern Mexico.
But by the mid-1830s, the fur-bearing animal population in California had declined markedly, and Alaska found another source of food supplies - Fort Vancouver. The Russian authorities finally lost interest in the project, and in 1841 Fort Ross was sold to a Mexican citizen of Swiss origin, John Sutter, for 42,857 rubles.
However, a political motive is also found in the loss of “Russian California”. Mexico, which laid claim to these lands, agreed to Russian colonies in California in exchange for recognition from St. Petersburg of its independence from Spain. Nicholas I did not want to spoil relations with the Madrid court. In 1847, the last Russians left California, and in 1849 the time of the “gold rush” began there.
Russian America _ America that we lost...
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was such a Russian region on the world map - RUSSIAN AMERICA, with the capital - Novoarkhangelsk and there were such cities there - Nikolaevsk, Fort Ross, etc. and they spoke Russian in these cities, and the currency was was - ruble. The total area of the region was 1,518,800 km² (For reference: the total area of modern France is 547,000 km²; Germany is 357,021 km², i.e. three Frances or five Germanys lost territory).
There were 2,500 Russian Americans and up to 60,000 Indians and Eskimos. And everyone lived amicably and happily in a world of good neighborliness. No one exterminated anyone or scalped anyone... (I wonder how many Indians and Eskimos remained alive after the loss of the territories of Russian America?)
When you delve into the CORRECT HISTORY, you read the names of those who MADE the History of Russia, you are amazed at their enthusiasm, efforts, great deeds and exploits, and yet for their state, without sparing their belly and, after all, on naked enthusiasm and an innate desire to discover new things , build cities, glorify the Fatherland with great deeds.
And then you read in the names and names of those who sold everything, betrayed, slandered, swindled, cheated, grabbed, as always and all the time - Chubais - Gaidars - Burbulis - Grefs of past centuries... Today's liberal and mediocre "namesakes" to the cause of their ancestors They are also faithful - they don’t build anything, but only rob and ruin.
This is what the “current ones” have built over the past 20 years? Name at least one city that appeared on the map of modern Russia, what territories were developed, where life began to flourish, in what outback, on what edge of the newly discovered Earth?
And another argument surfaces.
Do some of the “serious historians” really want to prove to anyone that Rus' was still in the 8th century AD? lived in swamps and dugouts, and Cyril and Methodius taught everyone to write in Rus' and in Russian?
First of all, these statements are ridiculous in themselves.
And secondly, there is a QUESTION on this score, to which not a single liberal can give an intelligible answer: how did it happen that 1/6 of the Earth’s landmass (or even much more) unexpectedly turned out to be the territory of our state, and most importantly, this Until now, no one questions or disputes that all these vast expanses belong to Russia. But over centuries and centuries (millennia) there have been enough civilizations to snatch away applicants and privatize “Alaska” or two.
Really not?
That's it.
Russian America is the totality of the possessions of the Russian Empire in North America, which included Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, the Alexander Archipelago and settlements on the Pacific coast of the modern USA (Fort Ross).
Summer 1784. The expedition under the command of G. I. Shelikhov (1747-1795) landed on the Aleutian Islands. In 1799, Shelikhov and Rezanov founded the Russian-American Company, the manager of which was A. A. Baranov (1746-1818). The company hunted sea otters and traded their fur, and founded its own settlements and trading posts.
Since 1808, Novo-Arkhangelsk has become the capital of Russian America. In fact, the management of the American territories is carried out by the Russian-American Company, the main headquarters of which was in Irkutsk; Russian America was officially included first in the Siberian General Government, and later (in 1822) in the East Siberian General Government.
The population of all Russian colonies in America reached 40,000 [source not specified 694 days] people, among them the Aleuts predominated.
The southernmost point in America where Russian colonists settled was Fort Ross, 80 km north of San Francisco in California. Further advance to the south was prevented by Spanish and then Mexican colonists.
In 1824, the Russian-American Convention was signed, which fixed the southern border of the Russian Empire’s possessions in Alaska at latitude 54°40’N. The convention also confirmed the holdings of the United States and Great Britain (until 1846) in Oregon.
In 1824, the Anglo-Russian Convention on the delimitation of their possessions in North America (in British Columbia) was signed. Under the terms of the Convention, a border line was established separating the British possessions from the Russian possessions on the west coast of North America adjacent to the Alaska Peninsula so that the border ran along the entire length of the coastline belonging to Russia, from 54° north latitude. to 60° N latitude, at a distance of 10 miles from the edge of the ocean, taking into account all the bends of the coast. Thus, the line of the Russian-British border in this place was not straight (as it was with the border line of Alaska and Yukon), but extremely winding.
In January 1841, Fort Ross was sold to Mexican citizen John Sutter. And in 1867, the United States bought Alaska for $7,200,000.
Map of the territory of Alaska (Russian America), which Russia ceded to the United States.
Russian America is the unofficial name of Russian possessions in the 18th and 19th centuries in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and along the northwestern coast of North America. This name arose as a result of numerous voyages of Russian industrialists and sailors in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, as well as after the founding of Russian settlements there. Russian settlers played a significant role in the exploration and economic development of these lands.
In 1799, the tsarist government granted the right to exploit Russian America to the Russian-American Company for a period of 20 years. Since 1808, Russian diplomacy, on the initiative of this company, has been negotiating with the United States to streamline relations in the northwestern part of North America.
(5) On April 17, 1824, the Convention on Determining the Boundaries of Russian Possessions in North America was signed in St. Petersburg. According to this convention, at 54° 40’ N latitude. a settlement boundary was established, north of which the Americans, and to the south the Russians, pledged not to settle.
In an effort to maintain friendly relations with the United States, Russia also made concessions - navigation along the American coast in the Pacific Ocean was declared open to ships of both countries for 10 years. For the same period, ships of the contracting parties could freely enter bays, bays, harbors and inland waters for the purpose of fishing and trade with the local population.
However, in the future the American government continued its expansionist policy in the North Pacific Ocean - in subsequent years several more Russian-American treaties and conventions were signed, which was the beginning of Russia's gradual withdrawal from the Pacific coast of North America.
Taking advantage of Russia's defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856), which led to a depletion of the treasury and showed the vulnerability of the territories in the Pacific Ocean to the British fleet, the US government began to seek the acquisition of the remaining Russian possessions in North America.
In an effort to strengthen relations with the United States, and in view of the worsening Anglo-Russian contradictions and the bankruptcy of the Russian-American Company, the tsarist government was forced to meet American interests halfway. (18) On March 30, 1867, an agreement was signed in Washington on the sale by Russia of Alaska and the adjacent islands to the United States. Thus, the tsarist policy caused enormous damage to Russia's economic and strategic interests in the Pacific Ocean.
The national debt under Reutern has increased more than under any of his predecessors.
The initiator of the sale of Alaska was the Ministry of Finance, headed by M. H. Reitern, which sent a special note to Emperor Alexander II dated September 16 (28), 1866, which pointed out the need for the strictest savings in public funds and the abandonment of various types of subsidies. In addition, Reitern emphasized that for the normal functioning of the empire, a three-year foreign loan of 15 million rubles was required. in year. Under these conditions, receiving even part of this amount was
definite interest for the government. The sale of Alaska could provide a significant part of this amount, while simultaneously relieving the treasury of burdensome annual subsidies to the RAC in the amount of 200,000 rubles. silver
The government began the practical implementation of this project after the arrival from Washington of the Russian envoy E. A. Stekl, who actively lobbied for the cession of Alaska to the United States. After his meetings with the leader. book Konstantin and Reitern, the latter submitted a note to Chancellor A. M. Gorchakov on December 2(14), 1866, on the feasibility of a deal with the United States.
A similar note was presented to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prince A. M. Gorchakov, and from the Naval Ministry, headed by Vel. book Konstantin.
On December 16 (28), a secret “special meeting” was held, which was attended by Grand Duke. Konstantin, Gorchakov, Reitern, Stekl and Vice Admiral N.K. Krabbe (from the Naval Ministry), led by Emperor Alexander II. It was these people who decided the fate of Russian America. All of them unanimously supported its sale to the United States.
After the supreme authorities of the empire made a final decision on the “Alaskan issue,” Stekl immediately, already in January 1867, left St. Petersburg, and on February 15 arrived in New York. In March, short negotiations began, and the agreement on the cession of Alaska by Russia for 7 million dollars in gold was signed on March 18 (30), 1867 (the territory with an area of 1 million 519 thousand sq. km was sold for 7.2 million dollars in gold, that is , at $0.0474 per hectare). And only on April 7 (19) the leadership of the RAC was notified of the accomplished fact.
