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211. Baskakov E. G. Documents of the Russian-American Company in the US National Archives / E. G. Baskakov, V. V. Ievlev, V. F. Kokhov // History of the USSR. – 1963. – No. 5. – P. 212-216. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
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212. Beloglazova S. B. Health care problems in Russian America / S. B. Beloglazova // Russian America, 1799-1867: materials of the international. conf. "To the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Russian-American Company 1799-1999." Moscow, 6-10 September 1999 – M., 1999. – P. 240-252. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
About the functioning of the European-style healthcare system created by the Russians in Alaska and the adaptation of the indigenous population to it. The publication summarizes the available information on the topic and introduces new data into scientific circulation based on materials from RAC reports of the 1840s – early 1860s.
213. Blinov S.A. Count N.P. Rumyantsev and Russian America / S.A. Blinov, V.M. Pasetsky // Russian America, 1799-1867: materials of the international. conf. "To the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Russian-American Company 1799-1999." Moscow, 6-10 September 1999 – M., 1999. – P. 183-196. – Bibliography sublinearly note The role of the Minister of Commerce Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev (1754-1826) in organizing round-the-world trips sea expeditions
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
and research, the formation of the Russian-American company.
214. Bolkhovitinov N. N. Decembrists and America / N. N. Bolkhovitinov // Questions of history. – 1974. – No. 4. – P. 91-104. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
Incl. about the practical activities of the Decembrists D.I. Zavalishin and K.F. Ryleev in the Russian-American company.
215. Bolkhovitinov N. N. To the 200th anniversary of the Russian-American company: (some research results) / N. N. Bolkhovitinov // Russian America, 1799-1867: materials of the international. conf. "To the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Russian-American Company 1799-1999." Moscow, 6-10 September 1999 – M., 1999. – P. 6-23. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
216. Voronov Yu. P. Economic management of Siberia. Historical parallels / Yu. P. Voronov \\ IVF. – 2011. – No. 10. – P. 130-151. – Bibliography sublinearly note
From the contents: Russian-American company. – pp. 130-144.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
217. Dmitrishin B. Administrative apparatus of the Russian-American company, 1798-1867 / Basil Dmitrishin; lane from English A. Petrova // American Yearbook. 1993. – M., 1994. – P. 96-115. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Report on international conference Americanists in Moscow, held in March 1991.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
218. Ermolaev A. N. Main board of the Russian-American company: composition, functions, relationships with the government, 1799-1871 / A. N. Ermolaev // American Yearbook. 2003. – M., 2005. – P. 271-292. – Bibliography sublinearly note
A Russian-American company as a special trade and administrative organization that combined management and commercial functions.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
219. Zyryanova M. Yu. On the history of the formation of the Russian-American company / M. Yu. Zyryanova // Russian America, 1799-1867: materials of the international. conf. "To the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Russian-American Company 1799-1999." Moscow, 6-10 September 1999 – M., 1999. – P. 160-172. – Bibliography sublinearly note
On the role of Irkutsk and the Siberian merchants in organizing a monopoly company in the Pacific fur trade.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
219a. Istomin A. A. “Indian” factor in the Californian policy of the Russian-American company at the initial stage of colonization (1807-1821) / A. A. Istomin // History and semiotics of American Indian cultures. – M., 2002. – P.452-464. – Bibliography in note at the end of Art.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
220. Istomin A. A. The beginning of the creation of “common villages” on Kodiak Island in Russian America (1839-1942) / A. A. Istomin // Ethnographic Review. – 1998. – No. 5. – P. 108-123: portrait. – (Ethnicity, society, state). – Bibliography in note at the end of Art.
About an attempt to reform the life of the indigenous people of Fr. Kodiak, undertaken by the Chief Ruler of the Russian-American Company A.K. Etolin.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
221. Istomin A. A. The problem of Antipater Baranov’s participation in the expedition on the “Ilmen” off the Californian coast in 1814-1815. / A. A. Istomin // Russian America, 1799-1867: materials of the international. conf. "To the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Russian-American Company 1799-1999." Moscow, 6-10 September 1999 – M., 1999. – P. 283-292. – Bibliography sublinearly note
The circumstances of the trade and fishing expedition of the Russian-American company on the brig “Ilmen” under the command of J. Eliot de Castro and the participation of A. A. Baranov’s son in it. Based on documents from the Kuskov archive, stored in the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
222. Kashikhin L. S. Review of the fund of K. T. Khlebnikov / L. S. Kashikhin // Soviet archives. – 1974. – No. 4. – P. 85-89. – (Reviews of archival documents). – Bibliography sublinearly note
About the personal archive of the Russian geographer, ethnographer and historian Kirill Timofeevich Khlebnikov (1785-1838), all scientific and official activity which was associated with Russian America and the Russian-American company. The fund is stored in the State Archives of the Perm Region.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
223. Kudrya A.I. Under the Highest Patronage / A. Kudrya // Russian America. – Vologda, 1999. – Issue. 9 (No. 9). – P. 4-6: ill.
Formation of the Russian-American Company, its activities and rulers.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
224. Makarova R.V. On the history of the liquidation of the Russian-American company / R.V. Makarova // Problems of history and ethnography of America: [collection. Art.]. – M., 1979. – P. 264-274. – Bibliography in note at the end of Art.
Economic and foreign policy reasons for the transfer of Russian possessions in America to the United States and the termination of the activities of the Russian-American company.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
225. Miropiev M. A. On the situation of Russian foreigners / M. A. Miropiev. – St. Petersburg. : Synodal typ., 1901. – 515 p.
About the activities of the Russian-American company and the attitude of the administration and industrialists towards the indigenous population - p. 320-333.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
226. Okun S. B. Russian-American company / S. B. Okun; edited by and with a preface. B. D. Grekova. – M.; L.: Sotsekgiz, 1939. – 260 p. : ill., map. – Bibliography sublinearly note
One of the first serious Soviet works on the problem. The author focuses on the role of the state in the colonization of Russian America, considering the Russian-American company “a failed attempt at tsarist expansion on the American continent.”
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
227. Orlik O. V. Decembrists and foreign policy Russia / O. V. Orlik; resp. ed. A. L. Narochnitsky. – M.: Nauka, 1984. – 286 p.
Decembrists and the activities of the Russian-American company. – pp. 204-221.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
228. Petrov A. Yu. Sources on the history of the Russian-American company / A. Yu. Petrov // Veliky Ustyug: local historian. almanac. – Vologda, 2009. – Vol. 5. – P. 5-40. – ( Historical sources). – Bibliography in note: p. 30-33.
Review of documents and publications on the topic. Attached is the text of the “Treaty between Russia and the USA”, Washington, March 18/30, 1867.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
229. Petrov A. Yu. Formation of the Russian-American company / A. Yu. Petrov; resp. ed. N. N. Bolkhovitinov; [Rus. acad. Sciences, Institute general history]. – M.: Nauka, 2000. – 153 p. – Bibliography: p. 136-147.
About financial economic activity fishing cooperatives, the struggle for the fur market in the Pacific North and the reasons for the emergence of the Golikov-Shelikhov monopoly company.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
230. Petrov A. Yu. Russian-American company / A. Yu. Petrov // Economic history Russia from ancient times to 1917: encyclopedia. – M., 2009. – T. 2. – P. 536-541: photo. – Bibliography at the end of Art.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
231. Postnikov A. Count Rumyantsev and the board of the RAC / A. Postnikov // Russian America. – Vologda, 2000. – Issue. 10 (No. 10). – P. 18-20: portrait. – Bibliography sublinearly note
On the organization and financing of northern sea expeditions and the relationship between the leadership of the Russian-American company and N.P. Rumyantsev. The author believes that the rulers of Russian America were against his participation in organizing geographical research on their territory and cites as proof a letter from the Board of the RAC addressed to M. I. Muravyov.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
232. Preobrazhensky A. A. Collection of G. V. Yudin in the State Archive Krasnoyarsk Territory: (short review) / A. A. Preobrazhensky // Archaeographic Yearbook. 1958. – M., 1960. – P. 267-292. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Incl. about the documents of the personal funds of the figures of the Russian-American company - G. I. Shelikhov, A. A. Baranov, M. M. Buldakov. The collections contain epistolary material, instructions, manuals, and general documents.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
233. Preobrazhensky A.A. On the composition of shareholders of the Russian-American company at the beginning of the 19th century. / A. A. Preobrazhensky // Historical notes. – M., 1960. – T. 66. – P. 286-298. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Based on materials from the collection of G.V. Yudin from the State Archive of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The appendix provides a list of shareholders indicating the number of shares.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
234. Sarapultseva V.V. Some features organizational culture CANCER in the works of K. T. Khlebnikov and in the library he collected / V. V. Sarapultsev // Russian America, 1799-1867: materials of the international. conf. "To the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Russian-American Company 1799-1999." Moscow, 6-10 September 1999 – M., 1999. – P. 197-205. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Analysis of Khlebnikov’s works, allowing us to characterize him as a deeply and comprehensively cultural, organized personality.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
235. Sgibnev. Rezanov and Kruzenshtern: an episode from the First Russian circumnavigation / Sgibnev // Ancient and new Russia. – 1877. – T. 1, No. 4. – P. 385-392.
Including the founding of the Russian-American company.
236. Sitnikov L. A. Book in Russian America at the end of the 18th – beginning of the 19th century / L. A. Sitnikov // Book in Russia XVII – early XIX V. Problems of creation and distribution: collection. scientific tr. – L., 1989. – P. 106-115. – Bibliography sublinearly note
About the supply of books to Russian settlements in America, book collections belonging to the Russian-American company, spiritual mission, personal book collections.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
237. Solovyova K. Capital of Russian America / Katerina Solovyova // Architecture of the USSR. – 1991. – No. 2. – P. 96-103: ill. – Bibliography: p. 103 (18 titles).
The history of the foundation, construction and architecture of the city of Novo-Arkhangelsk, the administrative center of the Russian-American company.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
238. Tikhmenev P. Historical review of the formation of the Russian-American company and its actions to the present time. Part 1 / comp. P. Tikhmenev. – St. Petersburg. : Type. Eduard Weimar, 1861. – , V, II, 386 p. : l. kart. + App. 66 p.
Contents : The formation of various companies for the production of fur trade, and the actions of Shelekhov’s company until his death in 1795; The combination of Shelekhov’s companies with other companies and the formation of a Russian-American company from them. The spread of Russian colonies on the northwestern coast of America and the departure, in 1803, by order of the Highest, of an embassy to Japan with an expedition equipped from the company to sail around the world; Some information about the state of the colonies, according to the formation of the Russian-American company, and the actions of Chamberlain Rezanov regarding the review and organization of these colonies entrusted to him by the Highest; Supply and maintenance of colonies, and expeditions equipped by the colonial administration for trade purposes (1806-1821); Trade with California and establishment of the settlement of Ross; The actions of the main board of the company and the state of the colonies, before the expiration of the first privileges of the company; Determination, by conventions with foreign powers, of colonial frontiers and expeditions, equipped by companies from 1821-1841, for the promotion of relations with independent natives and for scientific purposes; Spreading religious education among the natives and improving their life. The state of the colonies in industrial terms and shipbuilding; Supplying the colonies during the second period of the company's existence, and further information regarding the settlement of Ross; The company's status in trade relations and certain government regulations, before the end of the second privilege period.
The history of the creation of the company, the activities of G. I. Shelikhov, N. P. Rezanov, the supply and maintenance of colonies and government expeditions equipped for trading purposes, the establishment of the village of Ross are considered. A separate chapter is devoted to the spread of religious education among the natives and the improvement of their life. Statistical data on the fishing activities and trade of the Russian-American company is provided. The appendices contain the texts of the Act of the American United Company dated August 3, 1798, the Privileges granted to the company by the Highest on July 8, 1799, the Rules of the Russian-American Company and other official documents, as well as the “Map of Russian possessions on the shores of the Eastern Ocean in 1861.” "
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
239. Fedorova S. G. Flag of the Russian-American company / S. G. Fedorova // Veliky Ustyug. – Vologda, 2009. – Vol. 5. – pp. 132-143: ill. – (Russian America). – Bibliography in note at the end of Art.
Research on archival and museum materials from Moscow and St. Petersburg
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
240. The same // From Alaska to Tierra del Fuego: history and ethnography of the countries of America: [collection. Art.]. – M., 1967. – P. 121-129: ill. – Bibliography in note at the end of Art.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
241. Fonyakov I. The Russian-American company is the past. Or the future? / I. Fonyakov // Russian America. – Vologda, 1999. – Issue. 9 (No. 9). – P. 12-13: photo.
About the attempt to recreate the Russian-American company. Based on materials from a conversation with the managers of JSC Russian-American Company Y. Regin and A. I. Mikhailushkin.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
242. Khvastunova G. House at the Blue Bridge / G. Khvastunova // Russian America. – Vologda, 1993. – No. 1. – P. 25: photo.
Residence of the Russian-American company in St. Petersburg.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
*243. Chichagov V. Russian America in the era of the Russian-American Company / V. Chichagov // Azure. – 2002. – No. 11. – P.12-15.
Short story Russian America, 1790-1867.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
244. Shikanova I. S. Leather money of the Russian-American company / I. S. Shikanova // Nature. – 1979. – No. 8. – P. 127-128.
About the company's issuance of private banknotes, the so-called colonial stamps.
245. Shirokiy V.F. From the history of economic activity of the Russian-American company / V.F. Shirokiy // Historical notes. – M., 1942. – Issue. 13. – pp. 207-221. – Bibliography sublinearly note
Characteristics of the Company's fishing activities, critical analysis its financial and economic condition and economic and administrative activities.
Review of microfilms of documentary materials of the Russian-American Company from the fund of the Chief Ruler of the RAC in Alaska, the originals of which are stored in the US National Archives, where they were transferred in accordance with the agreement on the sale of Alaska of March 30, 1867.
246. Shubin V. O. Kuril Russia / V. O. Shubin, O. A. Shubina // Questions of history. – 1985. – No. 5. – P. 184-189. – (Facts, events, people). – Bibliography sublinearly note
The Russian-American Company (Under the highest patronage of His Imperial Majesty, the Russian-American Company, abbreviation RAC) is a semi-state colonial trading company founded and approved by Emperor Paul on July 8 (19), 1799.
Russian-American company: encyclopedic reference
Since the 1940s, Russian commercial development of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean began. The main basis of this process becomes. Local and out-of-town merchants form dozens of different companies here. The Irkutsk people participated in the development of the fur resources of the Pacific Islands. merchants, S. Yugov, in the 2nd half. XVIII – A. Shaposhnikov, Fedor and Mikhail Kiselev, N. Melnikov, M. Sibiryakov, S. Dudorovsky. Large enterprises were owned by the Golikovs, Rylsk merchants, and Yakuts who lived in Kursk. merchant P. Lebedev-Lastochkin and others. In the 1780s, the leading company became the and, which began settling the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. Entrepreneurial activity Shelikhov, his desire to monopolize North America. fisheries have been a concern for a number of IRs. merchants. Shelikhov's death in 1795 made their struggle easier. In 1797, it was created in Irkutsk commercial company led by N.P. Mylnikov, which united the capital and fishing property of local merchants. Ch. their competitors were the company of Shelikhov’s heirs. In conditions where competition has intensified in the fishing areas and for whales. market with Euro-Amer. entrepreneurs, Paul I approved the creation of Amer. connection company. After 2 years it was renamed Ross.-Amer. By decree of July 8, 1799, the government accepted her under its protection and granted privileges for 20 years. Of the 20 shareholders who signed the connecting act, 15 represented Irkutsk. merchants. Ch. The company's board was located in Irkutsk, among its directors (D. N. Mylnikov, Ya. N. Mylnikov, S. A. Startsev, M. M. Buldakov), the first three were Irkutsk residents. They soon managed to completely remove Buldakov from business. However, using their connections at court, primarily thanks to the help, Shelikhov’s heirs managed to achieve a transfer to 1800 ch. board in St. Petersburg. The Mylnikovs were removed from the directorate. Only one of the company's offices remains in Irkutsk. A decade later, only 2 Irkutsk residents remained among the largest shareholders - the Michurin family (258 shares) and S. A. Startsev (112 shares). About 2 dozen more townspeople had from 10 to 50 shares. Several places connected with the company’s activities have been preserved in Irkutsk. From the beginning XIX Irk. The office was located in the room. house on Spasskaya street. (now stands in this place).
All R. XIX Russian-Amer. the company goes into decline. And although it formally continued to exist until 1881 and even paid dividends until 1888, its real power ceased in 1867 after the sale of Alaska. In 1993, on the Irk company office building. department of Ross. a memorial plaque was installed at the Cultural Foundation.
Irkutsk Historical and local history dictionary. - Irkutsk: Sib. book, 2011
Russian-American Company - a trade association for the development of Russian America
Name
Historians and American historians insist that the correct name of the company is the Russian-American Company. This is confirmed by archival data and, most importantly, reflects the essence of the company. The company was completely Russian, there was never any American capital in it, and the goals and objectives of the company met exclusively Russian interests.
Founding history
From the very beginning, the state took the development of the New World into its own hands, which became possible mainly thanks to Peter’s reforms and the creation modern fleet. The emperor himself was at the origins of the First Kamchatka Expedition, led by V.Y. Bering, designed to explore the Pacific North and find the western shores of America. Russian military sailors fulfilled the government's task: during the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions (1728, 1741-1742), as well as the voyages of navigator I. Fedorov and surveyor M. Gvozdev (1732), outstanding achievements were made geographical discoveries in the Bering Strait area, the Alaskan coast was discovered from 55° to 60° N. and the Aleutian Island chain. True, the payment for these discoveries was high: during the largest - the 2nd Kamchatka expedition - a third of its participants died (including V.Y. Bering), and government expenses amounted to an astronomical amount of 360,659 rubles. Therefore, the government was dissatisfied with the results of the expedition and for a long time lost interest in new campaigns in the Pacific North, transferring the initiative in this matter to private individuals - Siberian merchants and industrialists, who actively began to develop the fur-rich Aleutian Islands.
Increasingly longer voyages to the shores of the eastern Aleutian Islands and Alaska required an increase in crews and displacement of merchant ships. Only the wealthiest merchants could afford to raise funds to organize long-distance expeditions. Therefore, already in the 1760s. There is a trend towards concentration and centralization of merchant capital, which became especially evident towards the end of the 1780s. This trend was reinforced by intense competition for limited fur resources. By this time, only two large merchant companies were able to gain a foothold in Alaska: Shelikhova-Golikova and Lebedeva-Lastochkina, between whose representatives there was almost continuous rivalry. It ended in 1798, when the Lebedevites were forced to leave America ingloriously. Thus, already by 1799, when the RAC was formalized, the hegemony of a conglomerate of companies owned by the heirs of G. I. Shelikhov (d. in 1795) and his former partner I. L. Golikov had actually formed in Russian America, that is almost complete trade and fishing monopoly. The formation of the RAC only legally consolidated the actual situation.
The famous entrepreneur and organizer of the fur trade G.I., who founded the first permanent settlement on Kodiak Island in 1784, returned to Russia and made a proposal to grant his company significant privileges. Shelikhov's project provided for protection from the arbitrariness of the local Okhotsk and Kamchatka administration by transferring his company under the patronage of the Governor-General of the Irkutsk province, sending a military team, specialists, exiled settlers and missionaries to American settlements, authorizing the purchase of slaves from native leaders in America and their resettlement in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands, as well as permission to trade with the countries of the Pacific Rim and India. To implement these large-scale plans, Shelikhov asked the treasury for financial assistance in the amount of 500 thousand rubles. and insisted on a ban on foreigners engaging in trade and fishing activities within the emerging Russian America.
In the central government, plans to unite merchant companies into a single organization were developed according to at least since 1780, when the secretary of the Commerce Collegium M.D. Chulkov submitted to the Prosecutor General Prince A.A. Vyazemsky a corresponding carefully developed project, according to which the established company would receive a 30-year monopoly on fishing and trade in the entire Pacific North. Although Chulkov’s project did not receive support due to persistent hostility to the monopolies of Catherine II, it obviously became known to G. I. Shelikhov and I. L. Golikov and influenced their future plans and activities.
Unlike previous merchant associations, the Shelikhov-Golikov company was established in 1781 not for one “voyage”, but for ten years, and its goal was not just the extraction of furs in the New World, but the establishment of permanent settlements there. At the same time, the partners sought direct patronage of the Irkutsk governors both over their company and over the colonies founded in America.
The Commission on Commerce, Navigation and Trade on the Pacific Ocean in March 1788 petitioned the Empress to provide the Shelikhov-Golikov company with the benefits it requested and state aid, including granting it a trade and fishing monopoly both in areas already developed by the company and in territories newly opened by it for a period of up to 20 years. However, Catherine II sharply rejected the petition of zealous merchants and the petitions of the highest government authorities.
After the death of the Empress and the accession of Paul I to the throne, the process of establishing a monopoly on fur trade and trade in the New World went by leaps and bounds. Thus, already in 1796, a number of Irkutsk merchants came up with a proposal to unite merchant companies for trade in the region Kuril Islands and Japan, and in 1797, as a result of the merger of merchant capitals, the beginning of the creation of a single monopoly company in the Pacific North was laid, where the heirs of G.I. Shelikhov and, first of all, his son-in-law Rezanov soon began to play a leading role.
The formation of the RAC was a unique phenomenon in the history of Russia at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. The company's charter was largely copied from foreign monopoly trade associations, primarily French. A number of clarifications should be made here. If we talk about the uniqueness of the RAC, it consisted primarily in the combination of trade and fishing functions with the functions of government administration: the state temporarily delegated a significant part of its powers to the company. On the other hand, there was nothing phenomenal in the appearance of Cancer - already in the 1750s. the first monopolies appear in Russia trade organizations- Temernikovskaya, Persian and Central Asian. All of them were joint stock companies, and a number of provisions in the constituent documents of the first of them were very similar to some points of the rules and privileges of the RAC (including later additions and innovations). The RAC arose not only under the influence of foreign analogues such as the British East India Company, but largely thanks to the experience that already existed in Russia of creating similar organizations. At the same time, the state, monopolizing the activities of the RAC, sought to keep merchant capital and initiative under its control, as well as to take part in appropriating monopoly excess profits through tax redistribution without unnecessary costs on its part.
Governing body
The Russian-American Company (RAC), which finally took shape in the summer of 1799, served as a tool for the development and colonization of the New World. It was the result of a peculiar symbiosis of the interests of domestic entrepreneurs and the tsarist bureaucracy. Initially, RAC arose as a monopoly association of several companies, mainly Siberian merchants. The leading role in it was played by the Irkutsk merchant of the 1st guild Nikolai Prokofievich Mylnikov and his sons Dmitry and Yakov, as well as the heirs of the famous Kursk merchant Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov - his widow Natalya Alekseevna, companion Ivan Illarionovich (Larionovich) Golikov and sons-in-law - a rich merchant and chief -secretary Governing Senate, actual state councilor and chamberlain Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov. The latter, being close to the imperial court, soon became the unofficial head and intercessor of the company before the royal government. It was at his insistence that the Main Board of the RAC was transferred in 1801 from St. Petersburg, and the company itself acquired the features of a semi-state monopoly when the emperor himself, members of the reigning family and a number of major dignitaries became its shareholders. Initially, the RAC still retained the features of a merchant association, since representatives of large commercial capital were at the helm of its management. The highest management elite of the company included directors who were on the Main Board of the company (GP RAK) in St. Petersburg, as well as the main rulers (managers) of the Russian colonies in America.
The first chief ruler of Russian America became in 1802 a native of the city of Kargopol, an eminent merchant, who from 1790 led the most significant company G.I. Shelikhov in America. Energetic and unyielding, he managed to implement many of the projects of his patron, who died untimely in 1795. At the same time, Baranov was not only the first chief ruler, but also the only representative of the merchant class in this responsible position. In 1802, simultaneously with the title of chief ruler of the Russian colonies, he received the rank of collegiate adviser, and in 1806 - the Order of St. Anne, 2nd degree, that is, he was incorporated into the bureaucratic hierarchy of the empire and acquired the right to hereditary nobility.
Baranov’s successors, sent to replace him by the Main Board of the RAC at his numerous requests, also belonged to the bureaucratic class.
On August 25, 1816, a special council under the Main Board of the company decided to appoint head colonial administration Lieutenant Commander L.A. Gagemeister. From that time on, the post of chief ruler of Russian America began to be filled exclusively by officers of the Navy, usually with the rank of captain of the 1st or 2nd rank.
Appointed in 1854 as the main ruler, Captain 1st Rank Stepan Vasilyevich Voevodsky was promoted to rear admiral by the Tsar in August 1856 for his skillful leadership of the colonies entrusted to him during the harsh years Crimean War. It was possible to avoid the ruin of Russian America by the Anglo-French squadron thanks to the dexterity of the Main Board of the RAC, which managed to conclude a separate neutrality pact with the British Hudson's Bay Company on the eve of the war.
The natural dependence of the colonies on the naval officers who commanded the RAC ships received its logical conclusion in the transfer to them of the entire executive power in Russian America almost 20 years after the formation of the Russian-American Company.
As a result of naval officers coming to power in the colonies, many of the rights of merchant freemen were eliminated, and the situation of both Russians and especially local residents, including Aleuts and Creoles who were in the service of the company, improved. However, serious shortcomings soon emerged. Naval officers were appointed by the rulers of the colonies for short periods of time and viewed their stay in America as a temporary phenomenon. Although they were knowledgeable, honest and respectable people, as a rule, they were not very well versed in commerce, and the economic affairs of the company after Baranov's change left much to be desired.
The coming to power of naval officers in the colonies was only the beginning of a qualitative degeneration of the highest leadership elite of the RAC. The foundations for this were laid when the Main Board was transferred from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg, which made it possible to concentrate big number shares of the RAC in the hands of the capital's officials, officers and royal dignitaries, who by the end of the 1810s began to actively influence the decisions made by the general meeting of shareholders - supreme body companies. Despite the transfer of the Main Board from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg, large blocks of shares of the RAC continued to be in the hands of the Siberian merchants.
The influence of the court nobility and bureaucracy was felt to a greater extent during the establishment of a special temporary committee in 1804 (in 1813 it was transformed into an officially current council) of the three shareholders of the RAC to resolve political issues that were not made public. Moreover, one of the members of this body was not elected, but was appointed without fail from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first members of the “political” committee were prominent government figures - the then maritime minister Admiral N. S. Mordvinov, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Count P. A. Stroganov and representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Privy Councilor I. A. Weidemeyer.
When the company was founded in 1799, it was planned that its Main Board should consist of two directors, but already in 1800 their number increased to four. They were elected at the general meeting of RAC shareholders who had voting rights (that is, who owned at least 10 shares). Only persons who owned at least 25 shares were eligible to be elected to the post of director. Since initially each share was worth more than 1,000 rubles, it is natural that only very wealthy people could join the company’s management. The power of the directors was very significant, and ordinary shareholders could not interfere in their activities and challenge orders: for this it was necessary to organize a general meeting of shareholders, which was quite a difficult task.
In less than 70 years of management of Russian America by the Russian-American Company, the composition of its leadership elite has undergone very significant changes. If initially the leadership of the RAC in the colonies and in the metropolis consisted exclusively of merchants, albeit closely associated with government agencies(and in Russia it could not have been otherwise), then already 20 years after the founding of the RAC, power in the colonies passed into the hands of naval officers. Almost 15 years later, only their deputies begin to be recruited from them. A little more than 10 years pass, and the merchants finally lose control over the Main Board, and a decade later they completely disappear from the directors of the RAC. This evolution was actually a reflection of the transformation of the company itself, which during this period had made its way from a merchant organization under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance to State Department for the management of overseas territories in the form of a kind of branch of the Maritime Ministry.
From the mid-1840s. The top management apparatus of the Russian-American company is finally turning into a specific semi-state structure. It was the military-bureaucratic monopoly that best corresponded to the prevailing situation in the empire social order. This system reached its apogee by the middle of the 19th century. and, having largely exhausted the internal reserves of its development, began to quickly lose ground in post-reform Russia. Neither the RAC as a whole, nor its managerial elite wanted and were unable to take into account the trends of the new capitalist era, did not have time to adapt to new realities, transferring the economy of Russian America to “capitalist rails”, which entailed a deterioration in the financial position of the company in the 1860s . Thus, the process of nationalization and bureaucratization of the highest managerial elite of the RAC was one of the indirect reasons for the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867 and the subsequent liquidation of the Russian-American Company itself, which has not yet been properly reflected in the pages of domestic and foreign historiography.
With the assistance of the Russian government, the company organized 25 expeditions in 1804-1840, including 15 around the world ([I.F. Krusenstern, Yu.F. Lisyansky, etc.).
Embassies to Japan
The name of the Russian-American Company is associated with the first attempts in the history of Russia to establish trade and economic relations with Japan. Japan at the beginning of the 19th century. was a closed country, the actual power in which belonged to the feudal Tokugawa family, known for its uncompromising policy towards foreigners. According to the decrees of the shogunate, no one except the Dutch had the right to trade in Japan. However, even Dutch trade, for which the port of Nagasaki was allocated, was strictly controlled by shogunal officials. History knows many examples of attempts by Western states to establish trade and political contacts with Tokugawa Japan, but they all ended in failure. In a similar situation of “closed doors” from Japan, the Russian-American Company decided to send its expedition there to open new markets for industrial goods. It is possible that another main task facing the RAC was the signing of an agreement under which it was hoped to supply Japanese goods to the Far Eastern regions of the Russian Empire. RAC leaders saw this as a more convenient way to provide food for one of the strategically important regions countries.
On July 29, 1802, the main board of the RAC turned to Alexander I to obtain permission to send the first Russian round-the-world expedition from Kronstadt, with the goal of delivering supplies and materials necessary for shipbuilding to its Pacific possessions. The main goal was to establish trade with China and Japan, and then expand the scope of its activities to neighboring countries. For this, the company asked to be provided with experienced officers and clerks, as well as a sum of money in the amount of 250 thousand rubles.
Alexander I approved the proposal on the same day. I.F. Kruzenshtern was appointed head of the expedition, and captain-lieutenant Yu.F. Lisyansky became his assistant. Historians have at their disposal a note to the Tsar from the Minister of Commerce N.P. Rumyantsev “On trade with Japan.” " Nature itself, placing Russia adjacent to Japan and bringing both empires together by sea, gives us advantages and convenience in trade over all trading powers, for which now our merchants, it seems, expect only one approval from the government".
On the day of the expedition's departure, Alexander I personally visited the ships of the Neva and Nadezhda companies, which emphasized the importance attached to the embassy. The expedition ended in 1805, when the Nadezhda left Japanese shores, unable to overcome the desire of Japanese officials to maintain the country's closed status. However, there were also a number positive points. For example, the expedition participants were able to collect for the Academy of Sciences a collection of samples of Japanese flora and fauna, handicrafts, clothing, and utensils, which gave a powerful impetus to the scientific study of Japan in our country. In addition, the expedition contributed to the acquaintance of two neighboring peoples, paved the way for their further rapprochement and the signing of the Shimoda Treaty on the start of trade in 1856.
Russians in Hawaii
In 1816, Dr. Schaeffer, an employee of the Russian-American Company, arrived on the island of Kauai on a mission to rescue the captured Bering ship and, on his personal initiative, obtained the signing of a petition for a protectorate by the ruler of the island of Kaumualii, a vassal of the monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Kamehameha I. Subsequently, the emperor refused to ratify the treaty . Schaeffer managed to build three fortresses on the island, the ruins of one of which - the Elizabethan - have survived to this day.
However, already in 1817, Schaeffer was forced to leave the island due to the aggressive actions of American entrepreneurs and sailors, whose side was taken by Kaumualii, who received information about Schaeffer’s real powers.
Fort Ross
The era of Russian presence in California began on August 30, 1812. On this day, an employee of the Russian-American Company, Ivan Kuskov, and his employees (25 Russians and 80 Indians) raised the RAC flag at the coordinates 38° 33" N and 123° 15' E.
The final decision to begin construction of a Russian settlement in California was made by the chief ruler of Russian America, Alexander Baranov, at the end of 1811. Before this, he twice sent research expeditions to find a suitable place. The expedition was led by the aforementioned Ivan Kuskov, who devoted almost fifteen years of his life to the creation and development of Russian California. His choice fell on the high shore of a small bay north of Bodega Bay, 15 miles above the Slavyanka River (modern Russian River) and 70 miles north of San Francisco.
Selling Alaska
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 of some interest to 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 Maritime 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 47.4 dollars per hectare). And only on April 7 (19) the leadership of the RAC was notified of the accomplished fact.
Company flag
The flag of the Russian American Company was approved by Alexander I in 1806. This was the first special flag granted by the Russian government to a private company. The proposal to create such a flag was made by Minister Rumyantsev, who devoted Special attention The company and personally financed several scientific expeditions. The flag was presented to the Main Board of the company in St. Petersburg on September 19, 1806. The company was instructed to use the flag as a serf and naval flag.
The RAC flag had three stripes: a red lower stripe, a middle blue stripe, and a wider white upper stripe. On the white stripe was a double-headed eagle holding in its talons a ribbon with the inscription “Russian American Company”. On the eagle's chest was a red shield with the image of St. George on a white horse, looking to the left.
From 1818 to 1831, the Company employed a specially hired professional artist who painted flags and emblems.
List of chairmen of the board of directors of RAC
Main Rulers of the Russian-American Company
| № | Name | Start of term | End of term |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexander Andreevich Baranov (1746-1819) | July 9, 1799 | January 11, 1818 |
| 2 | Leonty Andrianovich Gagemeister (1780-1833) | January 11, 1818 | October 24, 1818 |
| 3 | Semyon Ivanovich Yanovsky (1788-1876) | October 24, 1818 | September 15, 1820 |
| 4 | Matvey Ivanovich Muravyov (1784-1826) | September 15, 1820 | October 14, 1825 |
| 5 | Pyotr Egorovich Chistyakov (1790-1862) | October 14, 1825 | June 1, 1830 |
| 6 | Baron Ferdinand Petrovich Wrangel (1797-1870) | June 1, 1830 | October 29, 1835 |
| 7 | Ivan Antonovich Kupreyanov (1800-1857) | October 29, 1835 | May 25, 1840 |
| 8 | Adolf Karlovich Etolin (1798-1876) | May 25, 1840 | July 9, 1845 |
| 9 | Mikhail Dmitrievich Tebenkov (1802-1872) | July 9, 1845 | October 14, 1850 |
| 10 | Nikolai Yakovlevich Rosenberg (1807-1857) | October 14, 1850 | March 31, 1853 |
| 11 | Alexander Ilyich Rudakov (1817-1875) | March 31, 1853 | April 22, 1854 |
| 12 | Stepan Vasilievich Voevodsky (1805-1884) | April 22, 1854 | June 22, 1859 |
The site's observer studied the history of the Russian-American company, which was engaged in fur trade in Alaska, founded a settlement in California and built several fortresses in the Hawaiian Islands.
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The Russian-American company is one of the most extraordinary enterprises in history Russian Empire and the world in general. Founded at a time when other countries were seizing colonies, it transferred an impressive part of North America. However, where foreign entrepreneurs achieved success, the Russians were forced to retreat. Historians are still discussing the reasons why the undoubtedly successful undertaking ended the way it did.
Creation of the Russian-American company
The Russian-American Company began with the expedition of Mikhail Gvozdev, who discovered Alaska in 1732, but mapped only part of it. Its success was developed by the famous navigator Vitus Bering, who established that open land is a peninsula, and also discovered the Commander and Kuril Islands.
Merchants became interested in the wealth of the region, and expeditions began. They came here for the fur of beavers, arctic foxes, foxes and other animals. Until the beginning of the 19th century, more than 100 voyages were made, and the total value of the furs brought was about 8 million rubles.
The expeditions, although commercially successful, remained a costly and dangerous undertaking. Usually merchants pooled together to create small company, and after receiving the goods they divided it and dispersed. This happened for a long time until the merchant Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov became interested in this trade.
He sent several expeditions to the region and visited it himself more than once - in particular on the island of Unalaska. Shelikhov thought about creating a semi-state company that would receive a monopoly on trade in the region and would establish settlements here.
In 1784, Shelikhov created the first settlement on Kodiak Island, and after returning he presented a project to the Commerce Collegium. He proposed to provide total privileges to Russian merchants and prohibit foreigners from operating in the territory of the so-called Russian America. The idea was carefully considered, but Catherine II did not agree with it.
The merchants did not despair and began to conquer the region without privileges. In 1791, Grigory Shelikhov and his companion Golikov founded the North-Eastern Company. Shelikhov died in 1795, but left behind a stable company, the capital of which was a colony on Kodiak Island. In 1796, Dudnikov, together with several other merchants, founded the Irkutsk Commercial Company.
These two companies merged in 1797 - this is how the American Mylnikov, Shelikhov and Golikov Company appeared. A year later the name changed to the United American Company. It included about 20 merchants, who divided among themselves 724 shares worth 1,000 rubles each.
Paul I, who recently ascended the throne, supported the initiative. In 1799, a royal decree was officially signed on the creation of the Russian-American Company, which received the right to monopoly trade in the Pacific North. Its charter was finalized - including stipulating that only owners of 10 or more shares can vote at large meetings. The board of directors consisted of those who owned more than 25 shares. The position of the first director of the company was taken by the merchant Buldakov.
Main role At first, Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, one of the emperor’s close associates, played a role in the development of the company - the initiative of the merchants was supported largely due to his influence. The board of directors also included the Mylnikov brothers and Semyon Startsev.
There is information that Rezanov was dissatisfied with the remoteness of the central office, which was located in Irkutsk. A struggle began on the board of directors, in which Buldakov won, and the company’s office moved to St. Petersburg.
First decade of the 19th century
At the time of the company’s founding, Russian America consisted of several scattered colonies centered on Kodiak Island, where there was a settlement called Pavlovskaya Harbor. There weren't many Russian settlers. They had their own fleet of nine ships, the largest of which was the 22-gun Phoenix. The ships were not in the best condition, but the main problem was the insufficiently professional crew.
The merchants used the Indians for the procurement of hides and supplies, as well as for construction. They were driven to these works at gunpoint. There is often information that the oppressed local residents sometimes did not even have food, and they ate tree bark. They often tried to organize uprisings, but this ended sadly for the rebels. At the beginning of the 1820s, the situation would change: merchants would understand that such an approach would rather harm them.
The company’s activities in the North Pacific region were then handled by Grigory Shelikhov. Baranov is especially known for using local tribes to fight against competitors, pitting them against workers of other companies. When the Russian-American company was founded, Alexander Andreevich became irreplaceable person, who understood not only the conduct of business, but also the relations between tribes.
Through his efforts, several colonial possessions of Russian America were created, parts of Alaska and nearby islands were explored. It was he who founded the Mikhailovsky Fortress on the island of Sitka in 1799, knowing that England and France would also try to subjugate the fur trade.
The Russian artel was in Sitka even before Baranov arrived, but did not achieve much success. Alexander Andreevich began to build a fort and a trading post, as well as negotiate with local tribes - the Tlingit. He tried to win over the Indian leaders with gifts, but this did not always work.
Baranov's departure. Company in the 1820s–1830s
In 1818, Baranov was removed from his post. Over 28 years in Alaska, he practically built Russian America and earned more than 16 million rubles, but not all of his actions brought success. For example, it was Baranov, at the direction of the board of directors, who introduced the local currency - marks. This was supposed to provide the company with control over economic relations in the region, but the effect turned out to be the opposite. Few people needed stamps, and vodka became the new currency, which led to drunkenness among both Russians and Indians.
The fight against alcoholism will be an important part of the work of every new ruler. With the penetration of the Americans and the Hudson's Bay Company into the region, they and the Russians will prohibit the exchange of goods for vodka.
The new main ruler was Leonty Gagemeister, a naval officer with the rank of lieutenant commander. After him, choosing the head of the company from career naval officers will become a tradition.
WriteThe section reveals issues related to the structure, shareholders, capital, rules and privileges, economic efficiency and the nature (degree of “nationalization”) of the Russian-American company.
On July 8 (19), 1799, by decree of Emperor Paul I, the Russian-American Company (abbreviated as RAC) was created, at the same time the “rules” and “privileges” of the company were approved for a period of 20 years. Its creation was a natural outcome in the region, where numerous pioneers, merchants and fishermen went. However, the personal participation of the chamberlain of the imperial court, Count N.P., was also required. Rezanov, who was G.P.’s son-in-law. Shelikhov and N.A. Shelikhova. It was he who, at the first stage of the RAC’s activities, became its, as they would now say, “lobbyist”, at the same time his function was designated by the word “correspondent”.
The company was headed by the Main Board (GP RAK), which consisted of several directors, the senior of whom was the so-called first director. The office building was originally located in Irkutsk. The first leading director (who held this post for more than 20 years) was M.M. Buldakov. In 1801, the RAC State Enterprise moved from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg, where it occupied a luxurious mansion on the Moika embankment. This move (accomplished at the insistence of N.P. Rezanov), on the one hand, brought the company closer to the government elite and the court and facilitated the adoption of important decisions for RAC at state level, on the other hand, made it difficult to make decisions quickly (correspondence to the Irkutsk or Okhotsk offices could take months, and sometimes even years).
The company's proximity to the court and its special status were consolidated in 1802, when Emperor Alexander I became one of the company's shareholders; The Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna also became a shareholder of the RAC. Many government officials holding high positions also purchased shares.
For a long time, only one list of company shareholders was known. There was also insufficient information about the shareholders themselves. Thanks to A.Yu. Petrov managed to identify lists of the end of the 18th century, the end of 1823, June 1825, a list compiled no later than 1835. However, the remaining lists of shareholders have not yet been discovered, unfortunately.
Throughout the history of the RAC, its status allowed it to avoid competition from other Russian merchants in the region, in other words, it was a real monopoly company, and the largest in the empire. However, the monopoly was constantly forced to fight with foreign competitors: “Boston shipbuilders” (or simply “Bostonians,” i.e., American entrepreneurs from New England), as well as English merchants. They sought to trade freely with the Indians and, which especially did not suit the Russians, could supply the Indians with firearms, gunpowder, and ammunition. On the other hand, the main ruler of the Republic of Armenia (starting with the first ruler A.A. Baranov and during the reign of his followers) was forced to enter into economic relations with foreigners, since the settlements needed to purchase the necessary food. In addition, Russian settlers and foreign merchants organized mutually beneficial joint fishing for sea animals.
Important subjects regarding CANCER studied in historiography are:
· discussion around the effectiveness of its activities, the specifics of functioning at different stages of development,
· issues of management structure, share capital and shareholder composition,
· problems of transition from private companies, which were based on a share system, to an order where the basis was share capital (which was new for Russia at that time),
· problems of profitability and losses of the company, the degree of “nationalization” of the RAC (in other words: its “nature”),
· mechanisms for selling goods on domestic and foreign markets.
A specialist in the field of studying the Russian-American Company (RAC) is Dr. historical sciences, leading researcher at the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.Yu. Petrov. Over the past ten years, he has published a series of articles, as well as two monographs on the formation of the RAC and its financial and economic development in 1799–1867. Petrov’s works make it possible to carry out a comprehensive study of the economic activities of the Russian-American company in the domestic and foreign markets. They fill the gap in knowledge about business relations RAC with foreigners, and primarily with representatives of the UK, USA and China, using balance sheet data and other financial documents. Petrov was able to identify in the archives almost all of the company’s balance sheets that other researchers could not find, and those balance sheets that could not be found were “reconstructed” by the author using various kinds of financial documents.
In this regard, it should be noted that working with balances is not easy. The point of view of the Soviet historian S.B. has been established in historiography. Okun that “the balance sheets compiled by the board were a complete falsification...”. The perch sinned that
State Enterprise RAC did not write off depreciation of property, and primarily ships; and the amounts spent on their repairs, on the contrary, were attributed to assets. Thus, the Company’s assets were significantly overstated, the author believed. The stock price was artificially maintained at an inflated level relative to the par value (500 rubles). At the same time, Okun drew attention to the fact that the need for capital was systematically covered by government subsidies and loans. V.F., who studied the financial documentation of the RAC, also wrote about government subsidies. Wide. This point of view was generally shared by N.N. Bolkhovitinov.
Modern researchers identify three stages in the activities of the RAC. Traditionally, the first stage is considered successful, although not without serious difficulties, and dates back to the first decade of the 19th century. Period 1799–1825 corresponds to the time of the first Charter of the RAC, and is conventionally called the “heyday” of Russian America. Then the greatest successes were achieved in the activities of the Russians, new settlements arose, crafts and business connections with foreigners, RAC paid dividends to its shareholders. Main actors in the history of the Republic of Armenia during this period there were: N.P., Rezanov, A.A. Baranov, I.A. Kuskov, K. Khlebnikov. During this period of time, the activities of the RAC were actively supported by high officials in the northern capital: Count N.P. Rumyantsev and member of the State Council Admiral N.S. Mordvinov.
A.Yu. Petrov notes that the period 1802–1805. was very difficult, and the years 1808–1810 were also difficult. Difficulties financial plan were that the company's accounting was not maintained correctly, the value of the issued shares (which replaced the previous shares) was overstated. However, RAC shares were not listed on the stock exchange and were not subject to free trading. That is why it was extremely difficult to estimate their real value.
In Russian America itself, erroneous decisions of the RAC State Enterprise and the colonial administration led to significant financial losses: improper drying of the skins of sea animals in baths (which caused them to dry out excessively and spoil), the loss of the Phoenix ship (losses are estimated at up to 1,400 thousand rubles) . In 1818, the so-called “marks” (money substitutes) of the RAC were introduced and an artificial reduction in wages for fishermen began to 300 rubles per year (although food rations were also included with the salary). This policy led to a decrease in employee motivation to work for the company.
Despite the noted errors and miscalculations, in general A.Yu. Petrov concludes that thanks to the efforts of the RAC State Enterprise, accountants and personally A.A. Baranov, the activities of the RAC in Russian America were carried out successfully until 1820.
The second stage in the activities of the RAC is associated with the adoption in 1821 of the new “Rules and Privileges of the RAC”, or the new Charter of the company. The second Charter of the RAC covers the period from 1821 to 1840. During this period of time, the RAC not only demonstrated profitability, but also managed to become the organizer of a number of Russian expeditions around the world. Since 1827, the company has issued a steady number of shares - 7484. If in the first decade large shareholders predominated, in the second stage of activity the number of shareholders increased at the expense of medium holders; and in order to make a decision at the general meeting of the RAC, the votes of both were needed. At this time, the shareholders of the RAC were private individuals from different classes, spiritual and secular institutions, and high-ranking dignitaries. Since 1835, regular transactions with the company's securities began to be made on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange.
During this period, a clear failure of the RAC State Enterprise was the prohibition of trade with foreigners on the Pacific coast of Russia, the Aleutian Islands and the northwestern part of America. The reason for this was a decree issued by Alexander I in 1821, since it was believed that American ships, trading with local residents, reduced the profits of the RAC (and its royal shareholder), distributed among the natives firearms. As a result of the ban on trade with foreigners, the income of the RAC immediately began to decline. Now the RAC was forced to rely only on its own strength to provide for its distant possessions: food to supply Alaska and goods for trade with the natives were planned to be delivered without the participation of Okhotsk and only “around the world.” We were talking about expensive voyages around the world. The first of them, under the leadership of Krusenstern and Lisyansky, took place in 1803-1806.
Such voyages around the world continued later; in total, more than 50 of them were organized by the RAC State Enterprise, despite the fact that the Russian government equipped over 30 expeditions. Food and industrial goods were delivered to Russian America on ships owned by the company itself; on ships of the Imperial Navy; on chartered foreign ships and even on whalers of the Russian-Finnish Whale Company. Until the 1850s the crews of the RAC ships consisted mainly of military sailors, and after the purchase of the RAC State Enterprise of new ships: “Emperor Nicholas I” (1850), “Tsesarevich” (1851), “Sitkha” (1852), “Kamchatka” (1853) of the clipper “Tsaritsa” "(1858) - began to recruit teams from civilians(officers of the merchant marine fleet).
However, the vast distances invariably led to delays in the delivery of required supplies and goods. The picture was worsened by the decline in the population of commercial animals (due to its extermination and the ineffectiveness of measures taken to preserve it), and the lack of agreements with Spain on joint fishing for sea otters in California. In the second half of the 1820s–1830s. managed to rectify the situation: by lifting the ban on trade with foreigners in 1824 and an agreement with the American Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1839, according to which the RAC leased part of its vast lands to the HBC, and in return received regular food supplies for its colonies . As a result, the financial and economic activities of the RAC “even improved” by the end of the second period, believes A.Yu. Petrov.
At the third stage of the RAC's activities in 1841–1867. a new Charter of the company was adopted, and the upper limit of the period was the sale of Alaska and the liquidation of the RAC itself as unnecessary.
In discussing the activities of the RAC during this period, discussions raise questions about the degree of efficiency of the RAC's activities (unprofitability or, on the contrary, the profitability of the company) and the inevitability of the sale of Alaska. According to A.Yu. Petrov, the position of RAC was stable, the value of shares on the stock exchange was constantly growing, profits were generally maintained, income did not decrease, and if they decreased, it was not so significant. Moreover, the shift in the RAC's trading interest from the fur trade to tea (especially from the 1850s onwards, tea supplies began to play an increasingly important role in income) led to the stability of the RAC's income. The transfer of commercial interest to the tea market was apparently caused by the fact that in 1842–1862. fur production decreased. Despite the fact that the RAC took measures to protect the population most valuable species marine game animals, these events could not change the current trend.
Since the early 1860s. The question of extending the RAC's monopoly privileges again became acute. Management and high-ranking shareholders tried to secure new preferences for themselves and maintain a monopoly in profitable areas of trade. However, their desires found opposition in the person of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, who advocated for the transformation of the RAC into a simple joint-stock company. Despite the conclusions about the effectiveness of the RAC at the last stage of its existence, A.Yu. Petrov gives interesting calculations. Thus, in 1862, the assets of the RAC suddenly decreased by 20% (1,118,295 rubles 49 kopecks in absolute figures), and the share price fell to 135 rubles in 1865. However, already in 1867 the share price rose again to 275 rubles, which seems completely illogical and requires explanation. A.Yu. Petrov explains that such fluctuations occurred “due to a reduction in accounts receivable” (that is, payment of the company’s debts). The author does not explain why the price of RAC shares dropped significantly and then suddenly doubled. The possible reason given in the conclusion (low stock exchange activity “everywhere in the world”) seems superficial. This suggests that everything was not so rosy in the financial and economic situation of RAC, and a significant debt load was one of the signs of a significant crisis within the company.
The company actively borrowed from the state (the Soviet historian S.B. Okun emphasized this), and at a preferential interest rate. Not only monopoly privileges, but also significant loans (and the appetites of the RAC State Enterprise grew) displeased the Grand Duke and his like-minded people: in fact, a situation arose when the state financed a joint-stock company.
Another controversial issue is question about the nature of the Russian-American company itself . It's about about the degree of “nationalization” of the RAC.
Soviet historian S.B. Okun insisted that RAC was a state-owned enterprise, from the very first day of its existence it was under state control and carried out a government task. The government controlled the RAC through special bodies: the Provisional Committee and the Special Council.
In modern historiography, this point of view is shared by A.V. Grinev. He claims that the RAC was “a kind of offshoot of the state apparatus.” This is precisely why the author explains the ease with which the RAC received preferential government loans. Analyzing the final stage of the Company’s existence (1840–1867), Grinev notes the completion of the final evolution of the RAC itself: from private to “state”. Simultaneously with the extension of monopoly privileges, the government proposed to develop a new charter, which was approved by the tsar and adopted in 1844. Grinev emphasizes: “The main thing was the significantly greater “nationalization” of the company, its final transformation into an actual appendage of the administrative apparatus of the empire for managing overseas colonies.” And even the status of the main ruler of Russian America, notes Grinev, was clearly defined in this document: he was prescribed many different responsibilities; in fact, he was equivalent to a civil governor, although he managed the affairs of a formally independent trading company.
Grinev’s position marked the beginning of the process of clarifying information related to determining the nature of RAC in modern historiography. Kemerovo historian A.N. criticized this concept. Ermolaev. He studied in detail the composition of the Main Board of RAC, the very structure of the company, its connection with government agencies, stages of development of cancer control. Besides practical significance These studies, Ermolaev’s contribution to the discussion about the nature of cancer is important. Ermolaev comes to the conclusion that at the first stage (before 1821) RAC was a private company and its interests might not coincide with the interests of the empire. The main ruler of Russian America was generally an independent person. The autonomy of the RAC itself was also preserved (despite the fact that it was either under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of Finance).
After 1821, the new charter of the RAC laid the foundations for changing the position of the main ruler, who was obliged to monitor compliance with the laws of the Russian Empire in the colony. However, a significant amount of his independence remained. New forms of government control in relation to RAC emerged, and a system of double responsibility for the company’s actions was formed. Special bodies in the structure of the RAC cannot be a sign of nationalization of the company. Thus, the Temporary Committee (with the participation of government officials and representatives of the RAC) was created not as a controlling body, but as an advisory one to resolve just one issue (A.A. Baranov’s report on improving the situation of Russian America). It lasted for one day and was never going to happen again.
By the mid-1840s. Various government officials predominated within the RAC, and government oversight also increased. However, the main board of the company had its own interests and often went against the will of the government. In particular, in the 1860s. it categorically insisted on the extension of monopoly rights and their expansion. As a result, the colonies were sold to the United States, the author concludes.
By the way, the third charter of the RAC itself was developed during 1840–1844, which was studied by A.N. Ermolaev. The author notes that this process was not easy and required a significant number of compromises in the bureaucracy: “... there was no consensus in the Russian government regarding the extension of the company’s privileges. Not all departments of the empire were unconditionally in favor of preserving the company in the form in which it was.” At the same time, A.N. Ermolaev wrote about the preparation of a new edition of the charter by a special body approved by the meeting of shareholders of the RAC: “The requested privileges indicate that the company’s management sought to give its organization an even greater state character” (Ermolaev A.N. Development and adoption of the third charter of the Russian-American company in 1840–1844 // Bulletin of Novosibirsk state university. Series: History, philology. – 2010. – T.10. – No. 1. P. 99-100).
Position of A.N. Ermolaev supports A.Yu. Petrov. In his opinion, the RAC was private from the very beginning of its history, managing the colonial territories of the Russian Empire. The author’s main argument is that the company received almost no support from the state (despite frequent requests from the RAC State Enterprise), although part of the “lost benefits” was returned to the RAC after the sale of Alaska by the government.
IN foreign literature the opposite opinion prevailed. J. Gibson, who considers the participation of imperial officials and naval officers in the management of the company and colonies to be the determining factor. B. Dmitrishin, E.A.P. Crownhard-Vaughan and T. Vaughan emphasize the original state status of the company. In a separate work devoted to the management apparatus of the RAC, B. Dmitrishin insists that the company from the moment of its creation became an “agent of the Russian government.”
Despite all the debatability of the issue of the nature of the Russian-American company, the following can be noted. Formally, the company has been private throughout its history. However, in reality, it was a kind of offshoot of the state apparatus; its employees received state awards. That is why RAC easily obtained preferential government loans worth hundreds of thousands of rubles. In 1803, she was given a special flag, repeating the national colors, with a double-headed royal eagle. In general, the interests of the RAC and the government in this region coincided.
And even if there were discrepancies, RAC never came into conflict with state power, following government orders.
Questions and assignments for students’ independent work
1. Give a description of the effectiveness of the RAC during the period of validity of 1, 2, 3 privileges.
2. What points of view are presented in historiography on the issue of the degree of nationalization of the RAC? Present and justify your own point of view on this issue.
3. Where in the 19th century. was the main office of the RAC located and why?
4. For what purposes were Russian round-the-world expeditions equipped in the first half of the 19th century?
It’s hard for many to believe now, but the territory of the largest US state, Alaska, once belonged to Russia. The history of the development and loss by Russia of the only overseas colony in its history in the mass creation is still shrouded in a veil of legends, speculation and rumors. Here literally everything is mixed up in a heap: and that it was allegedly sold during the reign of the German woman on the throne of Catherine II, alien to Russian interests, or even not sold at all, but leased to the Americans for 100 years. To dot the i's, let's first figure out how and where it all began.
And the Russian history of the development of American possessions began precisely during the reign of Mother Catherine, who received the nickname the Great in history. At the end of the 18th century, on July 19, 1799, in Siberian Irkutsk, by decree of her son Emperor Paul I, the colonial trading Russian-American Company (RAC) was created. By this time, domestic merchants and industrialists had already founded a series of Russian trading posts and settlements on the Alaskan coast and nearby islands, actively participated in the sea beaver (sea otter) fishery, whose fur at that time was the most valuable in the world, and established mutually beneficial trade with local Indians and Eskimos . With the help of the RAC, or rather, through it, the empire began to build management of its overseas territories. The origins of the company were two prominent pioneers in the development of Alaska - Russian industrialist Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov and diplomat and traveler Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov. The first, together with other Russian merchants, organized the North-Eastern Company in the early 80s, which was engaged in a profitable fur trade in the Aleutian Islands and off the coast of North America. It was this trading company that transformed by 1799 into the Russian-American Company, which became Russian history a unique case of a successful public-private partnership to develop vast but sparsely populated Alaskan territories.
Shelikhov’s company was led by the enterprising merchant Alexander Andreevich Baranov from the beginning of the 90s, and with the formation of the RAC, he became its manager for the next two decades. Baranov, who surprised many with his unselfishness, thanks to his tireless energy and outstanding managerial abilities, actively contributed to economic development new Russian northern region - Alaska. By the way, in the entire history of Russian America he turned out to be the most effective manager in in the best sense this word, having served the cause of Russia’s exploration of the New World for almost three decades. During his reign, RAC's profitability reached a fantastic 700–1100% per year. Shelikhov himself did not live several years to see the establishment of the Russian-American Company, but his son-in-law Rezanov played a significant role in its formation. Under the new ruler of Russia, Paul I, who made public administration much in defiance of his unloved and unloving mother, Rezanov managed to transform the assets of Shelikhov’s North-Eastern Company into the Russian-American Company. Moreover, he opened a branch in the capital of the empire and even involved members of the imperial Romanov dynasty in the activities of the RAC, who became its shareholders.
From its founding until Russia's sale of Alaska to the North American United States in 1867, the Russian-American Company was the Russian Empire's monopoly "contractor" in the management of all North American possessions. The successful economic development of the only Russian overseas colony allowed the RAC to form a unique cultural-historical and spiritual-religious phenomenon of Russian America, individual particles of which have been preserved on its territory to this day.
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