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Russian colonization of the Americas

 

 
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Russian colonization of the Americas
 
 
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Russian colonization of the Americas proceeded in several places.

Alaska
Europeans first sighted the Alaskan coast line in 1732; sighting was made by the Russian Ivan Fedorov near Cape Prince of Wales, but he did not land. The first landfall took place in southern Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
 in 1741 during the Russian exploration conducted by Vitus Bering
Vitus Bering

Vitus Jonassen Bering was a Denmark-born navigator in the service of the Russian Navy, a captain-komandor known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich....
 and Aleksei Chirikov
Aleksei Chirikov

Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov was a Russian navigator and Captain who charted some of the Aleutian Islands and was deputy to Vitus Bering during the Great Northern Expedition efforts to Kamchatka and the Pacific....
. The first Russian colony
Colony

In politics and in history, a colony is a Territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies....
 in Alaska was founded in 1784 by Grigory Shelikhov
Grigory Shelikhov

Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov was a Russian seafarer and merchant born in Rylsk.Shelikhov organized commercial trips of the merchant ships to the Kuril Islands and the Aleutian Islands starting from 1775....
.






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Russian colonization of the Americas proceeded in several places.

Alaska


Europeans first sighted the Alaskan coast line in 1732; sighting was made by the Russian Ivan Fedorov near Cape Prince of Wales, but he did not land. The first landfall took place in southern Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
 in 1741 during the Russian exploration conducted by Vitus Bering
Vitus Bering

Vitus Jonassen Bering was a Denmark-born navigator in the service of the Russian Navy, a captain-komandor known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich....
 and Aleksei Chirikov
Aleksei Chirikov

Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov was a Russian navigator and Captain who charted some of the Aleutian Islands and was deputy to Vitus Bering during the Great Northern Expedition efforts to Kamchatka and the Pacific....
. The first Russian colony
Colony

In politics and in history, a colony is a Territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies....
 in Alaska was founded in 1784 by Grigory Shelikhov
Grigory Shelikhov

Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov was a Russian seafarer and merchant born in Rylsk.Shelikhov organized commercial trips of the merchant ships to the Kuril Islands and the Aleutian Islands starting from 1775....
. The Russian-American Company
Russian-American Company

The Russian-American Company was a state-sponsored trading company begun by Grigory Shelikhov and Natalia Shelikhov and Nikolai Rezanov. Chartered by Tsar Paul of Russia in 1799....
 was formed in 1799 with the influence of Nikolay Rezanov for the purpose of hunting sea otter
Otter

Otters are semi-aquatic fish-eating mammals. The otter Rank Lutrinae forms part of the Family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, as well as others....
s for their fur. The peak population of the Russian colonies was about 40,000, although most of these were Aleuts. The Russians also expanded and explored into modern day British Columbia, forming trading outposts and hunting settlements.

The colony was hardly ever profitable, due to transportation costs. At the instigation of Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's United States Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in United States presidential line of succession and United States order of precedence....
 William H. Seward
William H. Seward

William Henry Seward, Sr. was a Governor of New York, United States Senate and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson....
, the U.S. Senate
United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism United States Congress, the lower house being the United States House of Representatives....
 approved the purchase of Alaska
Alaska purchase

The Alaska Purchase by the United States from the Russian Empire occurred in 1867 at the behest of Secretary of State William H. Seward. The territory purchased was 586,412 square miles of the modern state of Alaska....
 from the Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 for 2 cents an acre, totaling $7,200,000 on April 9, 1867.

In modern Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 and its predecessor, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
, there has been speculation in the mass media that Alaska was not sold, but merely leased to the U.S. for 99 or 150 years and has to be returned to Russia. However, the treaty itself is quite clear that it was a complete cession
Cession

Most broadly, cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land borders transferred by treaty....
.

A hundred-pound bell was unearthed in an orange grove near Mission San Fernando Rey de Espaņa
Mission San Fernando Rey de Espaņa

Mission San Fernando Rey de Espa?a was founded on "The Feast of the Birth of Blessed Virgin Mary" , 1797. The settlement is located on the former Rancho Los Encinos in the Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California community of northern Los Angeles, near the site of the first gold discovery in Alta California....
, Southern California, in 1920. It carried the following inscription (translated from Russian
Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
): "In the Year 1796, in the month of January, this bell was cast on the Island of Kodiak by the blessing of Archimandrite Joseph, during the sojourn of Alexandr Baranov
Alexandr Baranov

Alexander Andreyevich Baranov , sometimes spelled Aleksander or Alexandr and Baranof, was born in 1746 in Kargopol, in Saint Petersburg Governorate of the Russian Empire....
." It is not known how this Russian Orthodox artifact from Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak is one of 6 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline....
, made its way to a Roman Catholic mission
Spanish missions in California

The Spanish mission in California comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spain Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to evangelism the Christianity religion among the local Native Americans in the United States....
 in Southern California
Southern California

Southern California, or So Cal, is defined as the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population centers on the cities of Los Angeles, California, San Diego, California, San Bernardino, California, and Riverside, California....
, though its existence provides proof of the Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n diaspora
Diaspora

The term diaspora refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnicity identity who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their Settler territory, and became residents in areas often far removed from the former....
 on the Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim

The Pacific Rim refers to the countries and cities located around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. There are many economic centers around the Pacific Rim, such as Auckland, Busan, Brisbane, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Lima, Los Angeles, California, Manila, Melbourne, Panama City, Portland, Oregon, San Diego, California, San Francisco, Cali...
 and its intertwining with Spanish
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 and Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples....
 cultures.

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia , also called the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, ROCA, or ROCOR) is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church....
 and the Orthodox Church in America
Orthodox Church in America

The Orthodox Church in America is an Autocephaly Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its Primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008....
 can trace activities back to early Russian missionaries. Herman of Alaska
Herman of Alaska

Saint Herman of Alaska was one of the first Eastern Orthodox missionaries to the New World, and is considered by Orthodox Christians to be the patron saint of the Americas....
, Saint Innocent of Alaska and Peter the Aleut
Peter the Aleut

Cungagnaq is venerated as a martyr and saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was a native of Kodiak Island , and is said to have received the Christianity name of Peter when he was baptized into the Eastern Orthodox Church faith by the monks of Herman of Alaska's missionary operating in the north....
 have contributed to the strong Orthodox community in Alaska.

A series of commemorative coins
Commemorative coins of the Soviet Union

Commemorative coins were released in the USSR between 1965 and 1991. Most of them were made of cupronickel, but there were also silver coins, gold coins, palladium coins and platinum coins....
 was released in the USSR in 1990 and 1991 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the discovery of Russian America. It consisted of a silver coin
Silver coin

Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Ancient Greeks. Their silver Greek drachmas were popular trade coins....
, a platinum coin
Platinum coin

Platinum coins are a form of currency. Platinum has an international currency symbol under ISO 4217 of XPT. Platinum bullion coins include the American Platinum Eagle, the Canadian Canadian Gold Maple Leaf#Platinum Maple Leaf, the Australian Platinum Koala and the discontinued Russian Ballet series issued by the Soviet Union and lat...
 and two palladium coin
Palladium coin

Palladium coins are a form of coinage made out of the rare silver-white transition metal palladium. Palladium is internationally recognised as a form of currency under ISO 4217....
s in each year.

Elsewhere in the Americas

Subsequently, Russian explorers and settlers continued to establish trading posts in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and as far south as Fort Ross
Fort Ross, California

Fort Ross is a former Russian establishment in what is now Sonoma County, California in the United States. It was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America between 1812 to 1841....
 in northern California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
. Fort Ross, some 50 miles north of San Francisco, was founded in 1812 and closed in 1841. El Presidio Real de Sonoma
Presidio of Sonoma

El Presidio de Sonoma, or Sonoma Barracks, was a military outpost established in Alta California in 1836. It was built to house troops under General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the Commandant of the Northern Frontier, as part of Mexico's strategy to subdue the Native Americans in the United States of the Sonoma Valley and halt Russian in...
, or Sonoma Barracks, was established at Sonoma, California
Sonoma, California

Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Spanish Colonialism past....
 in 1836 by Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was a Californian military commander, politician, and rancher. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of Mexico, and shaped the transition of California from a Mexican district to an U....
 (the "Commandante-General of the Northern Frontier of Alta California
Alta California

Alta California was formed in 1804 when the Las Californias, then a part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, was divided in two, along a line separating the Franciscan missions in the north from the Dominican Order missions in the south....
") as a part of Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
's strategy to halt Russian incursions into the region.

See also

  • Grigory Shelikhov
    Grigory Shelikhov

    Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov was a Russian seafarer and merchant born in Rylsk.Shelikhov organized commercial trips of the merchant ships to the Kuril Islands and the Aleutian Islands starting from 1775....
  • Alexandr Baranov
    Alexandr Baranov

    Alexander Andreyevich Baranov , sometimes spelled Aleksander or Alexandr and Baranof, was born in 1746 in Kargopol, in Saint Petersburg Governorate of the Russian Empire....
  • Mikhail Tebenkov
  • Johan Hampus Furuhjelm
    Johan Hampus Furuhjelm

    Johan Hampus Furuhjelm, was a Finland-Russian vice-admiral and explorer, commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet, Governor of the Russian Far East, Taganrog and Russian America....
  • Nikolai Rezanov
    Nikolai Rezanov

    Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov was a Russian nobleman and statesman who promoted the project of Russian colonization of Alaska and California. One of the ten barons of Russia, he was the first Russian ambassador to Japan , and participated in Adam Johann von Krusenstern , commanding the expedition himself as far as Kamchatka Peninsula....
  • Battle of Sitka
    Battle of Sitka

    The Battle of Sitka was the last major armed conflict between Europeans and Alaska Natives, and was initiated in response to the destruction of a Russian trading post two years prior....
  • Saint Innocent of Alaska
  • Yevgeniy Tsvetov
  • Kseniya Galper
  • Russian American
    Russian American

    Russian Americans are Hyphenated American whose ancestors were born in Russia. Non-Ethnic group Russians in this group could be Jews, Ukrainians, Armenians, or any other ethnicity who were born and grew up in Russia....
  • List of ships in British Columbia
    List of ships in British Columbia

    The following is a list of vessels notable in the history of the Canada Provinces and territories of Canada of British Columbia, including Spanish, Russian, American and other military vessels and all commercial vessels on inland waters as well as on saltwater routes....
  • History of the west coast of North America
    History of the west coast of North America

    The human history of the west coast of North America is believed to stretch back to the arrival of the earliest people over the Bering Strait, or alternately along a now-submerged coastal plain, through the development of significant pre-Columbian cultures and population densities, to the arrival of the European ethnic groups explorers and...


External links