Russian-American Company
The Russian-American Company ( RAK ), also known as the Russian-American Trade Company or Russian-American Company , was a semi-state trade company of the Russian Empire in the 19th century.
history
The Russian-American Company was founded in 1799 as a monopoly company through the ukase of the Russian Emperor Paul I. It was the end of a concentration of many trading companies that began in 1745 and before the merger of three trading companies, mainly fur hunts on the Kuril Islands , the Aleutian Islands and along the Operated by coastal Alaska . Natalja Alexejewna Schelichowa , the wife of the businessman Grigori Ivanovich Schelichow, who died in 1795, asserted herself as the strongest shareholder . With the help of her son-in-law and confidante at the imperial court, Nikolai Petrovich Resanov, she had her other son-in-law M. Buldakow as chairman of the board.
The Russo-American Company initially had a trading monopoly in Russian America for twenty years , which at that time included the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and territories on the North American mainland down to the 55th parallel, the approximate landing point of Tschirikow in 1741 during the 2nd Bering Expedition . This trade monopoly could be renewed every 20 years. In this way, following the example of the monopoly society of other colonial states, competition was eliminated and the Russian goals in Russian America could be advanced more smoothly. The shareholders of the company, which also included members of the imperial family, were able to achieve considerable profits after a short time. The first extension of the trade monopoly, beginning in 1821, extended the area down to the 51st parallel. Under this trade monopoly, a third of the profits went to the Russian Empire. An expansion to the Hawaiian Islands, however, failed as early as 1817. During this time, the Russian fort was built on Kaua'i .
From the 1820s onwards, profits from the fur trade dwindled, particularly due to the extensive extermination of the sea otter . When Alaska was sold to the USA in 1867 ( Alaska Purchase ), the commercial end for the Russian-American Company came , although the company formally continued to exist until January 1, 1882; its assets were sold to San Francisco- based Hutchinson, Kohl & Company , which renamed the Alaska Commercial Company .
Governors
List of Governors of the Russian-American Company:
| # | governor | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexander Andrejewitsch Baranow (1746–1819) | 1799 | January 11, 1818 |
| 2 | Ludwig von Hagemeister | January 11, 1818 | October 24, 1818 |
| 3 | Semyon Ivanovich Janowski | October 24, 1818 | September 15, 1820 |
| 4th | Matwei Ivanovich Muravyov (1784-1826) | September 15, 1820 | October 14, 1825 |
| 5 | Pyotr Jegorowitsch Tschistjakow (1790–1862) | October 14, 1825 | June 1, 1830 |
| 6th | Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel (1797–1870) | June 1, 1830 | October 29, 1835 |
| 7th | Ivan Antonowitsch Kuprejanow (1800-1857) | October 29, 1835 | May 25, 1840 |
| 8th | Adolf Karlowitsch Etolin (1798–1876) | May 25, 1840 | July 9, 1845 |
| 9 | Mikhail Dmitrijewitsch Tebenkow (1802–1872) | July 9, 1845 | October 14, 1850 |
| 10 | Nikola Jakowlewitsch Rosenberg († 1857) | October 14, 1850 | March 31, 1853 |
| 11 | Alexander Ilyich Rudakov | March 31, 1853 | April 22, 1854 |
| 12 | Stepan Wassiljewitsch Wojewodski († 1884) | April 22, 1854 | June 22, 1859 |
| 13 | Johan Hampus Furuhjelm (1821–1909) | June 22, 1859 | December 2, 1863 |
| 14th | Prince Dmitri Petrovich Maksutow (1832-1889) | December 2, 1863 | October 18, 1867 |
literature
- Ilya Vinkovetsky: Russian America. An Overseas Colony of a Continental Empire, 1804-1867. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-539128-2 ( review ).
- Hans Pilder: The Russian-American Trading Company until 1825 (= Eastern European Research. 3, ZDB -ID 528064-3 ). Göschen, Berlin et al. 1914.
- Peter Littke: From the tsar's eagle to the stars and stripes. The history of Russian Alaska. Magnus, Essen 2003, ISBN 3-88400-019-5 .
- Peter Littke: Benedikt Cramer, Director of the Russian-American Company [1] .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Richard A. Pierce (ed.): Russia's Hawaiian Adventure, 1815-1817. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 1965.