Everything about The Russian-american Company totally explained
The
Russian-American Company was a semi-official colonial
trading company started by
Grigory Shelikhov and
Nikolai Rezanov and chartered by
Tsar Paul I in
1799.
The 20-year revolving charter granted the company monopoly over trade in
Russian America, which included the
Aleutian Islands,
Alaska, and the territory down to 55° N latitude. A second charter, in
1821, extended its domain to 51° N latitude. Under the charter, one-third of all profits were to go to the emperor.
Under
Alexandr Baranov, who governed the region between
1790 and
1818, a permanent settlement was established in
1804 at Novo-Arkhangelsk (today's
Sitka, Alaska), and a thriving fur trade was organized.
The company constructed forts in what is today Alaska and
California.
Fort Ross, on the California coast just north of
San Francisco, was the southernmost outpost of Russian America, and is now reconstructed and an open air museum.
Russian Fort Elizabeth was built in Hawaii by an agent of the company.
But from the
1820s onwards the profits from the fur trade began to decline. Already in
1818 the Russian government had taken control of the Russian-American Company from the merchants who held the charter. The explorer and government official
Ferdinand Petrovich von Wrangel, who had been administrator of Russian government interests in Russian America a decade before, was the first president of the company during the government period. The company ceased its commercial activities in
1867, when the
Alaska Purchase transferred control of Alaska to the
United States and the commercial interests of the Russian American Company were sold to Hutchinson, Kohl & Company of
San Francisco, California who then renamed their company to the
Alaska Commercial Company.
Governors of the Russian American Company
Below is a list of the governors/general managers of the Russian-American Company. Many of their names occur as place names in
Southeast Alaska. Note that the English spelling of the names varies between sources.
| # |
Name |
Term |
| 1 |
Alexandr Andreyevich Baranov (1747 — 1819) |
1799 — January 11, 1818 |
| 2 |
Leonty Andrianovich Gagemeister (1780 — 1833) |
January 11, 1818 — October 24, 1818 |
| 3 |
Semyon Ivanovich Yanovsky |
October 24, 1818 — September 15, 1820 |
| 4 |
Matvey Ivanovich Muravyev (1784 — 1826) |
September 15, 1820 — October 14, 1825 |
| 5 |
Pyotr Igorovich Chistyakov (1790 — 1862) |
October 14, 1825 — June 1, 1830 |
| 6 |
Baron Ferdinand Petrovich von Wrangel (1797 — 1870) |
June 1, 1830 — October 29, 1835 |
| 7 |
Ivan Antonovich Kupreianov (1800 — 1857) |
October 29, 1835 — May 25, 1840 |
| 8 |
Adolf Karlovich Etolin (1798 — 1876) |
May 25, 1840 — July 9, 1845 |
| 9 |
Mikhail Dmitriyevich Tebenkov (1802 — 1872) |
July 9, 1845 — October 14, 1850 |
| 10 |
Nikolay Yakovlevich Rozenberg (d. 1857) |
October 14, 1850 — March 31, 1853 |
| 11 |
Aleksandr Ilich Rudakov |
March 31, 1853 — April 22, 1854 |
| 12 |
Stepan Vasiliyevich Voyevodsky (d. 1884) |
April 22, 1854 — June 22, 1859 |
| 13 |
Ivan Vasiliyevich Furugelm (1821 — 1909) |
June 22, 1859 — December 2, 1863 |
| 14 |
Prince Dmitri Petrovich Maksutov (1832 — 1889) |
December 2, 1863 — October 18, 1867 |
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