In Russian Colonization of Alaska, Andrei Val'terovich Grinëv examines the sociohistorical origins of the former Russian colonies in Alaska, or "Russian America," between 1741 and 1799. Beginning with the Second Kamchatka Expedition of Vitus Ivanovich Bering and Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov's discovery of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands and ending with the formation of the Russian-American Company's monopoly of the Russian colonial endeavor in the Americas, Russian Colonization of Alaska offers a definitive, revisionist examination of Tsarist Russia's foray into the imperial contest in North America. Russian Colonization of Alaska is the first comprehensive study to analyze the origin and evolution of Russian colonization based on research into political economy, history, and ethnography. Grinёv's study elaborates the social, political, spiritual, ideological, personal, and psychological aspects of Russian America. He also accounts for the idiosyncrasies of the natural environment, competition from other North American empires, Alaska Natives, and individual colonial diplomats. The colonization of Alaska, rather than being simply a continuation of the colonization of Siberia by Russians, was instead part of overarching Russian and global history.

A compact, fast-moving social and political history that brings to vivid life the story of Alaska's early days. Its name was not Alaska until we bought it in 1867. Until then it was Russian America. Americans at large are apt to forget that our 49th state, Alaska, was first explored and settled by the Russians. They left a definite mark on the vast Northwest. -- Amazon.

This definitive work, the crown jewel in the distinguished career of Russian America scholar Lydia T. Black, presents a comprehensive overview of the Russian presence in Alaska. Drawing on extensive archival research and employing documents only recently made available to scholars, Black shows how Russian expansion was the culmination of centuries of social and economic change. Black s work challenges the standard perspective on the Russian period in Alaska as a time of unbridled exploitation of Native inhabitants and natural resources. Without glossing over the harsher aspects of the period, Black acknowledges the complexity of relations between Russians and Native peoples. She chronicles the lives of ordinary men and women the merchants and naval officers, laborers and clergy who established Russian outposts in Alaska. These early colonists carried with them the Orthodox faith and the Russian language; their legacy endures in architecture and place names from Baranof Island to the Pribilofs. This deluxe volume features fold-out maps and color illustrations of rare paintings and sketches from Russian, American, Japanese, and European sources many have never before been published. An invaluable source for historians and anthropologists, this accessible volume brings to life a dynamic period in Russian and Alaskan history. A tribute to Black s life as a scholar and educator, "Russians in Alaska" will become a classic in the field."

From 1741 until Alaska was sold to the United States in 1867, the Russian empire claimed territory and peoples in North America. In this book, Ilya Vinkovetsky examines how Russia governed its only overseas colony, illustrating how the colony fit into and diverged from the structures developed in the otherwise contiguous Russian empire. Russian America was effectively transformed from a remote extension of Russia's Siberian frontier penetrated mainly by Siberianized Russians into an ostensibly modern overseas colony operated by Europeanized Russians. Under the rule of the Russian-American Company, the colony was governed on different terms than the rest of the empire, a hybrid of elements carried over from Siberia and imported from rival colonial systems. Its economic, labor, and social organization reflected Russian hopes for Alaska, as well as the numerous limitations, such as its vast territory and pressures from its multiethnic residents, it imposed. This approach was particularly evident in Russian strategies to convert the indigenous peoples of Russian America into loyal subjects of the Russian Empire. Vinkovetsky looks closely at Russian efforts to acculturate the native peoples, including attempts to predispose them to be more open to the Russian political and cultural influence through trade and Russian Orthodox Christianity. Bringing together the history of Russia, the history of colonialism, and the history of contact between native peoples and Europeans on the American frontier, this work highlights how the overseas colony revealed the Russian Empire's adaptability to models of colonialism.

In Russian Colonization of Alaska: Baranov's Era, 1799-1818, Andrei Val'terovich Grinëv examines the sociohistorical origins of the former Russian colonies in Alaska, or "Russian America." The formation of the Russian-American Company and the concentration in the hands of Aleksandr Baranov of all the power in south and southeast Alaska's Russian settlements marked a new stage in the history of Russian America. Expanding and strengthening Russian possessions in the New World as much as possible, Baranov acted in favor of his country before himself, in accordance with the principle "people for the empire, and not the empire for the people." Russian Colonization of Alaska is the first comprehensive study to analyze the origin and evolution of Russian colonization based on research into political economy, history, and ethnography. Grinëv's study elaborates the social, political, spiritual, ideological, personal, and psychological aspects of Russian America, accounting for the idiosyncrasies of the natural environment, competition from other North American empires, and challenges from Alaska Natives and individual colonial diplomats. Rather than being simply a continuation of Russians' colonization of Siberia, the colonization of Alaska was instead part of overarching Russian and global history.

Maritime officers at the head of Russian America -- The hunting-trading activities of the RAC in 1825-40 -- The Russian colonies in the 1840s -- Russian America in the 1850s -- The Russian colonies in the 1860s and the sale of Alaska to the United States.