Russian-American Company facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Russian-American Company

Russian-American Company flag, 1806 design
Native name	Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американская Компания
Former type	Joint-stock company
Industry	Fur trade
Fate	Alaska Purchase (1867)
Successor	Alaska Commercial Company
Founded	8 July 1799 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Founder	Nikolai Rezanov Grigory Shelikhov
Defunct	1881
Headquarters	Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Key people	Alexander Andreyevich Baranov

The Russian-American Company (RAC) was a special trading company created by the Russian Emperor Paul I in 1799. Its main goal was to set up new towns in Russian America (which is now Alaska), trade with the native people, and expand Russia's presence in North America.

This company was Russia's first joint-stock company, meaning it was owned by many shareholders. It was directly controlled by the Russian government's Ministry of Commerce. A powerful official named Count Nikolay Rumyantsev had a big influence on the company's early years. In 1801, the company's main office moved from Irkutsk to Saint Petersburg. Soon, wealthy nobles and aristocrats replaced the original merchant shareholders.

Count Rumyantsev also helped fund Russia's first trip around the world by ship from 1803 to 1806. Later, he supported another voyage that gathered important scientific information about plants and animals in Alaska and California. It also collected details about the native people living there.

Company's Beginnings

In 1799, the Russian government appointed an official, Nikolai Rezanov, to oversee the company. This role soon grew into a three-person board of directors. Two directors were chosen by the shareholders, and one was appointed by the government. These directors had to send reports directly to the Tsar (the Russian emperor). They also chose a Chief Manager to run the company's forts and trading posts in North America.

Alexander Andreyevich Baranov was the first Chief Manager. During his time, he started important settlements like Pavlovskaya (now Kodiak, Alaska) and New Archangel (now Sitka, Alaska). These places became key bases for the company's operations. After Baranov, the Chief Manager was always an officer from the Imperial Russian Navy.

The 1799 law gave the company a special right to control all trade in Russian America. This area was first defined as south of 55° N latitude. Later, Tsar Alexander I tried to expand this claim further south. However, both Great Britain and the United States disagreed. This led to agreements in 1824 and 1825, which set the southern border of Russian interests at 54°40′ N latitude.

Under Baranov's leadership (1790-1818), a permanent settlement was built in 1804 at "Novo-Arkhangelsk" (New Archangel, today's Sitka, Alaska). The company also set up a successful sea trade. Many Alutiiq and Aleut men from the Kodiak and Aleutian Islands were recruited to work for the company. They were skilled sea otter hunters. The company sometimes struggled to find enough experienced sailors for its ships because many Russian sailors worked for the Imperial Navy. To help, the government ordered the Navy to send officers to work for the company.

The Russian-American Company's main town at New Archangel (today's Sitka, Alaska) in 1837

The Russian-American Company wanted to trade with China, but Russian merchants were not allowed in the port of Guangzhou. The company funded a trip around the world from 1803 to 1806 to try and open trade with China. While they did sell some goods there, they didn't get special trading rights. Because of this, the company had to ship its furs to the Russian port of Okhotsk. From there, it took over a year for the furs to travel by land to other trading centers. Most furs were traded in Kyakhta for Chinese goods like cotton, porcelain, and tea.

The company also built Fort Elizabeth in Hawaii. This was part of an attempt by a company agent, Georg Anton Schäffer, to gain control of the islands. This event is known as the Schäffer affair.

Dealing with American Traders

In its early years, the Russian-American Company worried about American ships trading in nearby coastal areas. Especially concerning was the sale of firearms to native people. From 1808 to 1810, Russian officials asked the United States government to stop this trade, but nothing was done.

An American fur trader named John Jacob Astor offered a plan that could help both his company and the Russian-American Company. He offered to supply Russian stations and transport furs to China. In return, he promised not to sell firearms to Alaskan natives. The two companies signed a four-year agreement in 1812. However, the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States ended Astor's operations on the Pacific coast.

Expanding Beyond Alaska

The Russian-American Company also became interested in other parts of North America, especially Alta California (part of present-day California). They also looked at Baja California and the Oregon Country.

Pacific Northwest Efforts

The company tried to establish a settlement near the Columbia River, but bad weather made it too difficult.

Another company ship, the Nikolai, was sent to the Oregon Country in 1808 to find a place for a Russian post. The ship was wrecked in a storm north of the Quillayute River. The crew had to flee into the forest and faced conflicts with local native groups. Most of the crew eventually became "willing slaves" to the Makah people, hoping to be freed when another European ship arrived. An American captain later bought the crew and took them to New Archangel.

California Explorations

The Russian-American Company began trapping furs in California in 1803. They hired American ships and used skilled native hunters, mainly Aleuts, from Kodiak Island. These hunters used traditional boats called iqyax (kayaks). They caught sea otters along the Baja California peninsula. Between 1805 and 1812, over 22,000 furs were collected this way.

In 1806, Nikolai Rezanov traveled to Alta California to buy supplies for the company's posts, which often lacked food. He tried to negotiate with Spanish officials, but they were not allowed to trade with foreigners. Rezanov returned without a supply agreement. However, he learned that there were many sea otters to hunt and few Spanish military posts north of San Francisco Bay. This encouraged the company to plan a settlement in California.

Fort Ross Settlement

Fort Ross was built in 1812 on the coast of California, in what is now Sonoma County. It was the southernmost outpost of the Russian-American Company. The company also operated other posts nearby, including Port Rumyantsev at Bodega Bay. Even though this land was claimed by Spain (and later Mexico), the company and the Russian government argued that their claim was legitimate. Fort Ross was sold in 1841. Today, it is an open-air museum, and one original building, the Rotchev House, still stands.

Later Years of the Company

In 1818, the Russian government took full control of the Russian-American Company from its original merchant owners. Starting in the 1820s, the company's profits began to drop because there were fewer fur-bearing animals.

The company was also ordered to supply salt to Russian settlements on the Kamchatka Peninsula. They had difficulty finding cheap salt in Hawaii and California, so they looked to Baja California.

By the 1840s, a group of five naval officers from the Imperial Russian Navy replaced the company's governing board.

During the Crimean War (1853-1856), the company worried that British forces might attack their Alaskan settlements. They made an agreement with the Hudson's Bay Company (a British fur trading company) to keep peace between their operations. Both the British and Russian governments agreed to this, but they still allowed naval ships to block and seize enemy vessels.

The company built a whaling station in the Sea of Okhotsk in 1862, which operated for a few years before being sold.

The Russian-American Company faced challenges like having staff who weren't always skilled enough to manage such a large organization. The company stopped its trading activities in 1881. In 1867, when the Alaska Purchase transferred control of Alaska to the United States, the Russian-American Company's business interests were sold to an American company, which later became the Alaska Commercial Company.

Russian-American Company Flag

Flag of the Russian-American Company 1835

From 1799 to 1806, the company used the regular Russian commercial flag. However, on October 10, 1806, Tsar Alexander I approved a special flag just for the Russian-American Company. This flag had three stripes: a red one at the bottom, a blue one in the middle, and a wider white stripe at the top. On the white stripe, it had the Russian state symbol, which was a two-headed eagle. Below the eagle, there was a ribbon with the words "Russo-American Company."

Over time, there were some small changes to the flag's design. These flags flew over the company's lands in California until 1842 and over Alaska until October 18, 1867, when Alaska was sold to the United States. The flag continued to represent the company until it closed down its Russian operations in 1881.

Company Leaders (Chief Managers)

Below is a list of the main leaders (also called chief managers or governors) of the Russian-American Company. Many places in Southeast Alaska are named after them. These leaders were in charge of the company's business in Russian America. Alexander Andreyevich Baranov was the first and served the longest. After him, leaders were chosen from the Imperial Russian Navy and usually served for five years.

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office
1		Alexander Andreyevich Baranov (1747–1819)	July 9, 1799 – January 11, 1818
2		Captain Ludwig von Hagemeister (1780–1833)	January 11, 1818 – October 24, 1818
3		Lieutenant Semyon Ivanovich Yanovsky (1788–1876)	October 24, 1818 – September 15, 1820
4		Lieutenant Matvey Ivanovich Muravyev (1784–1826)	September 15, 1820 – October 14, 1825
5		Pyotr Yegorovich 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 Kupreyanov (1800–1857)	October 29, 1835 – May 25, 1840
8		Arvid Adolf Etholén (1798–1876)	May 25, 1840 – July 9, 1845
9		Vice Admiral Mikhail Dmitrievich Tebenkov (1802–1872)	July 9, 1845 – October 14, 1850
10		Captain Nikolay Yakovlevich Rosenberg (1807–1857)	October 14, 1850 – March 31, 1853
11		Aleksandr Ilich Rudakov (1817–1875)	March 31, 1853 – April 22, 1854
12		Captain Stepan Vasiliyevich Voyevodsky (1805–1884)	April 22, 1854 – June 22, 1859
13		Captain Johan Hampus Furuhjelm (1821–1909)	June 22, 1859 – December 2, 1863
14		Prince Dmitri Petrovich Maksutov (1832–1889)	December 2, 1863 – October 18, 1867

Company Settlements

The Russian-American Company established many settlements.

In Alaska

• Unalaska – 1774
• Three Saints Bay – 1784
• Fort St. George in Kasilof – 1786
• Fort Nikolaevskaia in Kenai – 1787
• St. Paul – 1788
• Pavlovskaya – 1791
• Fort Saints Constantine and Helen on Nuchek Island – 1793
• Fort on Hinchinbrook Island – 1793
• New Russia near present-day Yakutat – 1795
• Redoubt St. Archangel Michael near Sitka – 1799
• New Archangel – 1804
• Fort (New) Alexandrovsk at Bristol Bay – 1819
• Redoubt St. Michael – 1833
• Nulato – 1834
• Redoubt St. Dionysius in present-day Wrangell – 1834
• Pokrovskaya Mission – 1837
• Kolmakov Redoubt – 1844

Outside Alaska

• Fort Ross near Healdsburg, California – 1812
• Fort Elizabeth near Waimea, Hawaii – 1817
• Fort Alexander near Hanalei, Hawaii – 1817
• Fort Barclay-de-Tolly near Hanalei, Hawaii – 1817

Company Ships

At first, all the company's ships were built in Russia. But over time, they bought more than 30 ships from other countries like England, the United States, Germany, and Finland. By the time Alaska was sold in 1867, most of the company's ships were foreign-built.

See also

In Spanish: Compañía ruso-americana para niños