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Russian Colonization of the Americas
*** Shopping-Tip: Russian Colonization of the Americas
{{Alaska History}}
After the discovery of northern
Alaska by
Ivan Fedorov (navigator) Ivan Fedorov in
1732, and the
Aleutian Islands, southern
Alaska, and northwestern shores of
North America in
1741 during the Russian exploration conducted by
Vitus Bering and
Aleksei Chirikov, it took 50 years until the founding of the first Russian
colony in Alaska in
1784 by
Grigory Shelikhov. The
Russian-American Company was formed in
1799 by
Nikolay Rezanov for the purpose of hunting sea
otters for their fur.
Subsequently, Russian explorers and settlers continued to establish trading posts in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands,
British Columbia,
Washington (state) Washington,
Oregon and as far south as
Fort Ross in northern
California. Fort Ross, some 50 miles north of
San Francisco was founded in 1812 and closed in 1841.
The peak population of the Russian colonies was about 40,000, although most of these were
Aleuts.
The colony was never very profitable, because of the costs of transportation. At the instigation of
United States Secretary of State Secretary of State William Seward, the
United States Senate U.S. Senate approved the
Alaska Purchase purchase of Alaska from
Russia for $7,200,000 on
April 9,
1867.
In
1818, Dr. Schäffer, a Russian entrepreneur, occupied
Kauai and negotiated a treaty of protection with the island's governor
Kaumualii, vassal of
King Kamehameha of
Hawaii, but the Russian Tsar refused to ratify the treaty.
In modern Russia and even in its predecessor, the
Soviet Union, there has been speculation in the mass media that Alaska was not, in fact, sold, but was instead leased to the U.S. for 99 or 150 years and has to be returned to Russia. It may be explained in part by the notion that soon after the
1917 revolution in Russia all the secret tsarist international agreements were officially denounced and declared void by the new government.
{{euromericas}}
A hundred-
Pound (weight) pound bell was unearthed in an orange grove near
Mission San Fernando Rey de España in
1920. It carried the following inscription, (translated from
Russian language Russian): "''In the Year
1796, in the month of January, this bell was cast on the Island of Kodiak by the blessing of '''Archimandrite Joaseph''', during the sojourn of
Alexandr Baranov Alexandr Baranov''." It is not known how this
Russian Orthodox artifact from
Kodiak, Alaska made its way to a
Spanish missions in California Catholic mission in
Southern California, though its existence gives proof of the
Russia Russian diaspora on the
Pacific Rim and its intertwining with
Spain Spanish and
Indigenous peoples of the Americas Native American cultures.
The
Orthodox Church in America can trace its activities back to early Russian missionaries. The witness of
Herman of Alaska,
Saint Innocent of Alaska, and
Peter the Aleut has contributed to the continuing strong Orthodox community in Alaska.
A
Commemorative coins of the Soviet Union series of commemorative coins was released in the
USSR in 1990-1991 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the discovery of Russian America. It consisted of a
silver coin, a
platinum coin and four
palladium coins.
See also
*
Grigory Shelikhov
*
Alexandr Baranov
*
Johan Hampus Furuhjelm
*
Nikolai Rezanov
*
Battle of Sitka
*
Saint Innocent of Alaska
External links
-
The Russian-American Treaty of 1867
{{History of Russia}}
Category:Colonization of the Americas
Category:History of Alaska
Category:History of Russia
es:Colonización rusa de las Américas
pl:Rosyjska kolonizacja Ameryki Północnej
ru:РуÑ?Ñ?каÑ? Ð?мерика
sv:Den ryska koloniseringen av Amerika
see
Russian colonization of the Americas
*** Shopping-Tip: Russian Colonization of the Americas
