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118-760: Because its monopoly license granted by the British Government forbade any activity besides the fur trade, the HBC created the PSAC to sidestep this issue. The PSAC was formed to produce or manufacture enough agricultural and livestock products to meet the Russian supply demands. In correspondence with British officials, the PSAC was long touted as a means to promote the British position in the Oregon boundary dispute with

236-597: A modus vivendi , a situation that, with few interruptions, lasted for the duration of Russian presence in Alaska.) In 1808, Redoubt Saint Michael was rebuilt as New Archangel and became the capital of Russian America after the previous colonial headquarters were moved from Kodiak . A year later, the RAC began expanding its operations to more abundant sea otter grounds in Northern California , where Fort Ross

354-559: A Lutheran church was planned for the Finnish population of New Archangel, Veniamiov prohibited any Lutheran priests from proselytizing to neighboring Tlingits. Veniamiov faced difficulties in exercising influence over the Tlingit people outside New Archangel, due to their political independence from the RAC leaving them less receptive to Russian cultural influences than Aleuts. A smallpox epidemic spread throughout Alaska in 1835-1837 and

472-737: A Roman Catholic Mission Church in Southern California remains unknown. At Three Saints Bay, Shelekov built a school to teach the natives to read and write Russian , and introduced the first resident missionaries and clergymen who spread the Russian Orthodox faith. This faith (with its liturgies and texts, translated into Aleut at a very early stage) had been informally introduced, in the 1740s–1780s. Some fur traders founded local families or symbolically adopted Aleut trade partners as godchildren to gain their loyalty through this special personal bond. The missionaries soon opposed

590-822: A 1799, by the new Tsar Paul I , which granted the company monopolistic control over trade in the Aleutian Islands and the North America mainland, south to 55° north latitude . The RAC was Russia's first joint stock company , and came under the direct authority of the Ministry of Commerce of Imperial Russia. Siberian merchants based in Irkutsk were initial major stockholders, but soon replaced by Russia's nobility and aristocracy based in Saint Petersburg . The company constructed settlements in what

708-574: A greater or lesser degree (for instance Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or Lord Privy Seal ). The government is sometimes referred to by the metonym " Westminster " or " Whitehall ", as many of its offices are situated there. These metonyms are used especially by members of the Scottish Government , Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to differentiate their government from His Majesty's Government. The United Kingdom

826-421: A house and about 100 acres of land already cleared, but notably these families wouldn't be given legal ownership of the farmsteads. Additional terms offered each interested family "twenty cows, one bull, 500 sheep, eight oxen, six horses and a few hogs," in addition a year's supply of foodstuffs. Despite these considerations, the company never received applicants due to a combination of no advertisement campaigns for

944-482: A member of either House of Parliament. In practice, however, the convention is that ministers must be members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords to be accountable to Parliament. From time to time, prime ministers appoint non-parliamentarians as ministers. In recent years such ministers have been appointed to the House of Lords. The government is required by convention and for practical reasons to maintain

1062-507: A million livestock. The proposal was immediately derided and denied by the HBC governing committee. They feared that if the Oragon Beef and Tallow Company were successful then HBC employees would quit the fur trade to become pastoralists and agriculturalists. While Simpson was favorable to the idea of growing expansive numbers of livestock and farm products, he was decidedly against McLoughlin's proposal of independent operators supplying

1180-412: A new House of Commons, unless the prime minister advises the monarch to dissolve Parliament , in which case an election may be held sooner. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons, usually by possessing a majority of MPs. Under the uncodified British constitution , executive authority lies with

1298-759: A one-hundred-pound (45 kg) bronze church bell was unearthed in an orange grove near Mission San Fernando Rey de España in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California . It has an inscription in the Russian language (translated here): "In the year 1796, in the month of January, this bell was cast on the Island of Kodiak by the blessing of Juvenaly of Alaska , during the sojourn of Alexander Andreyevich Baranov ." How this Russian Orthodox Kodiak church artifact from Kodiak Island in Alaska arrived at

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1416-727: A sealing station on the Farallon Islands off San Francisco. By 1818 Fort Ross had a population of 128, consisting of 26 Russians and of 102 Native Americans. The Russians maintained it until 1841, when they left the region. As of 2015 Fort Ross is a Federal National Historical Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places . It is preserved—restored in California's Fort Ross State Historic Park , about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of San Francisco. Spanish concern about Russian colonial intrusion prompted

1534-604: A substantial grant from the government, the Sovereign Support Grant , and Queen Elizabeth II's inheritance from her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother , was exempt from inheritance tax . In addition to legislative powers, His Majesty's Government has substantial influence over local authorities and other bodies set up by it, through financial powers and grants. Many functions carried out by local authorities, such as paying out housing benefits and council tax benefits, are funded or substantially part-funded by

1652-836: A tributary, Whiteman's Creek. From here they crossed the Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains , by a new route which became known as Whiteman's Pass. From the summit, they traveled southwest down the Cross River to its junction with the Kootenay River . They entered the upper Columbia River basin via Sinclair Pass , near present-day Radium Hot Springs . From there they journeyed south-west down to Lake Pend'Oreille , then on to an old fort known as Spokane House , then to Fort Colvile . When they arrived at Fort Vancouver, they numbered 21 families of 116 people. Despite

1770-424: Is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the king or queen who is the head of state at any given time) does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament. This constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with Magna Carta in 1215. Since

1888-603: Is not vital. A government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the responsible house . The prime minister is held to account during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject. There are also departmental questions when ministers answer questions relating to their specific departmental brief. Unlike PMQs, both

2006-693: Is today Alaska, Hawaii , and California . Beginning in 1743, small associations of fur-traders began to sail from the shores of the Russian Pacific coast to the Aleutian islands . Rather than hunting the marine life themselves, the Sibero-Russian promyshlenniki forced the Aleuts to do the work for them, often by taking hostage family members in exchange for hunted seal-furs. This pattern of colonial exploitation resembled some of

2124-574: The promyshlenniki practices in their expansion into Siberia and the Russian Far East . As word spread of the potential riches in furs, competition among Russian companies increased and a large number of Aleuts were apparently enserfed . As the animal populations declined, the Aleuts, already too dependent on the new barter-economy fostered by the Russian fur-trade, were increasingly coerced into taking greater and greater risks in

2242-453: The Beaver . While on a world tour of company assets, Simpson met the party near Red Deer Hill . Writing in his diary, he gave a description of the settler families: "Each family had two or three carts , together with bands of horses, cattle and dogs. The men and lads traveled in the saddle, while the vehicles, which were covered with awnings against the sun and rain, carried the women and

2360-641: The Aleutian Islands , Hawaii , and Northern California . The Russian-American Company was formed in 1799 with the influence of Nikolay Rezanov for the purpose of hunting sea otters for their fur. The peak population of the Russian colonies was about 4,000 although almost all of these were Aleuts , Tlingits and other Native Alaskans . The number of Russians rarely exceeded 500 at any one time. The Russians established an outpost called Fortress Ross ( Russian : Крѣпость Россъ , Krepost' Ross ) in 1812 near Bodega Bay in Northern California , north of San Francisco Bay . The Fort Ross colony included

2478-668: The Columbia River . In June 1841, the party left Fort Garry with 23 families consisting of 121 people. They followed the Red River north, crossing Lake Winnipeg and traveled in the Saskatchewan River system to Fort Edmonton . From there they were guided by Maskepetoon, a chief of the Wetaskiwin Cree . Maskepetoon would stay with the party until they reached Fort Vancouver, where he sailed home on board

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2596-483: The Greater London Authority disputed. Similarly, the monarch is immune from criminal prosecution and may only be sued with his permission (this is known as sovereign immunity ). The sovereign, by law, is not required to pay income tax, but Queen Elizabeth II voluntarily paid it from 1993 until the end of her reign in 2022, and also paid local rates voluntarily. However, the monarchy also received

2714-697: The Russian-American Company . However, the proposal wasn't accepted by Governor of Russian Colonies in America Pyotr Chistyakov . Nonetheless, Simpson and other officers still considered it a viable option, as historian John Semple Galbraith recounted: If the Hudson's Bay Company could provide the Russians with the supplies they were accustomed to purchase from American ships, one of the supports for American competition in

2832-783: The United States . For years now the British had insisted that the Pacific Northwest be partitioned along the Columbia River , rather than a westward extension of the 49th parallel . This would have left most of modern Washington state under British control, notably the important Puget Sound . Through its company stations, the PSAC would promote settlement by British subjects in this disputed area, although it largely failed in this particular aspect. The primary company operations were centered at Fort Nisqually and Cowlitz Farm in modern Washington state. At Fort Nisqually (near present-day Olympia, Washington ) due to poor soil,

2950-475: The coastal fur trade would be removed. The Alta Californian hide and tallow trade greatly influenced John McLoughlin . In 1832 he proposed that HBC officers and employees in the Columbia Department should create a new joint stock company to purchase several hundred cattle from Alta California . Called "The Oragon Beef & Tallow Company," as McLoughlin told his superiors, it was formed "with

3068-529: The fur trade north of latitude 54°40'N, with the American rights and claims restricted to below that line. This division was repeated in the Treaty of Saint Petersburg , a parallel agreement with the British in 1825 (which also settled most of the border with British North America ). However, the agreements soon went by the wayside, and with the retirement of Alexandr Baranov in 1818, the Russian hold on Alaska

3186-619: The sea otter pelts they brought sparked Russian settlement in Alaska. Due to the distance from central authority in St. Petersburg, and combined with the difficult geography and lack of adequate resources, the next state-sponsored expedition would wait more than two decades until 1766, when captains Pyotr Krenitsyn and Mikhail Levashov embarked for the Aleutian Islands , eventually reaching their destination after initially been wrecked on Bering Island . Between 1774 and 1800 Spain also led several expeditions to Alaska in order to assert its claim over

3304-481: The syncretism of local beliefs with Christianity. Observers noted that while their religious ties were tenuous, before the sale of Alaska there were 400 native converts to Orthodoxy in New Archangel. Tlingit practitioners declined in number after the lapse of Russian rule, until there were only 117 practitioners in 1882 residing in the place, by then renamed as Sitka . By the 1860s, the Russian government

3422-554: The 1760s. The fur trade proved to be a lucrative enterprise, capturing the attention of other European nations. In response to potential competitors, the Russians extended their claims eastward from the Commander Islands to the shores of Alaska. In 1784, with encouragement from Empress Catherine the Great , explorer Grigory Shelekhov founded Russia's first permanent settlement in Alaska at Three Saints Bay . Ten years later,

3540-510: The Americas to their satisfaction, the Russians concluded that their North American colonies were too expensive to retain. Eager to release themselves of the burden, the Russians sold Fort Ross in 1841, and in 1867, after less than a month of negotiations, the United States accepted Emperor Alexander II 's offer to sell Alaska. The Alaska Purchase for $ 7.2 million (equivalent to $ 157 million in 2023) ended Imperial Russia's colonial presence in

3658-803: The Americas. The earliest written accounts indicate that the Eurasian Russians were the first Europeans to reach Alaska. There is an unofficial assumption that Eurasian Slavic navigators reached the coast of Alaska long before the 18th century. In 1648, Semyon Dezhnev sailed from the mouth of the Kolyma River through the Arctic Ocean and around the eastern tip of Asia to the Anadyr River . One legend holds that some of his boats were carried off course and reached Alaska. However, no evidence of settlement survives. Dezhnev's discovery

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3776-709: The British. The Russians believed that in a dispute with Britain, their hard-to-defend region might become a prime target for British aggression from British Columbia , and would be easily captured. So following the Union victory in the American Civil War , Tsar Alexander II instructed the Russian minister to the United States, Eduard de Stoeckl , to enter into negotiations with the United States Secretary of State William H. Seward in

3894-642: The Columbia River, although he had done neither by 1837. While the proposed livestock project languished, the HBC pushed for a renewal of its monopoly licence from the British Government , set to expire in 1841. Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company John Pelly highlighted to Secretary of the Colonies Lord Glenelg the benefits the British Empire had for decades received from the HBC in 1837. In this correspondence he promoted

4012-668: The Columbia might make a living at it still it is my opinion the Hudson's Bay Company will make nothing by it." The Oregon Treaty that was negotiated in between Great Britain and the United States and went into effect in July 1846 upon the exchange of ratifications settled the Oregon question . This treaty had specific provisions regarding the Puget Sound Agricultural Company in Article IV, namely that

4130-537: The Cowlitz Farm annually. While finding many men were reportedly favorable to offered terms, the inability to own the farmland they would till was a contentious issue. Finding many families unwilling to sign provisions, Finlayson felt pressure to get a number of willing emigrants as previously ordered. Without the approval of Simpson, Pelly or the Committee, he announced that the farmers could be able to purchase

4248-511: The Crown, who may use them without having to obtain the consent of Parliament. The prime minister also has weekly meetings with the monarch. What is said in these meetings is strictly private; however, they generally involve government and political matters which the monarch has a "right and a duty" to comment on. Such comments are non-binding however and the King must ultimately abide by decisions of

4366-669: The European Parliament are immune from prosecution in EU states under any circumstance. As a consequence, neither EU bodies nor diplomats have to pay taxes, since it would not be possible to prosecute them for tax evasion. When the UK was a member of the EU, this caused a dispute when the US ambassador to the UK claimed that London's congestion charge was a tax, and not a charge (despite the name), and therefore he did not have to pay it—a claim

4484-611: The French-Canadians by superintendent Jason Lee . However, they utterly failed to convince any farmer to leave the Willamette Valley. The failure to get any Willamette farmers to relocate didn't deter the HBC administration. According to the plans established in September 1839, by 1841 the PSAC would have enough of a material basis to begin sending families from Scotland. The invited families would be each given

4602-474: The HBC became farmers in the Willamette Valley . Their agricultural products were sold to the HBC and continued to use Fort Vancouver as their source of needed supplies and household goods. These men eventually contacted bishop Provencher through McLoughlin and requested priests to be sent. Eventually Provencher selected François Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers as capable for traveling to

4720-487: The HBC formally incorporated the Puget Sound Agricultural Company in 1840. Created to bypass its license to only participate in the fur trade, the PSAC was overseen and staffed with HBC employees. In this way, the PSAC would protect HBC board members and shareholders from accusations and suits resulting from violations of the HBC charter. Besides meeting the new obligations with the Russians,

4838-622: The Orthodox policies "in retrospect proved to be relatively sensitive to indigenous Alaskan cultures." This cultural policy was originally intended to gain the loyalty of the indigenous populations by establishing the authority of Church and State as protectors of over 10,000 inhabitants of Russian America. (The number of ethnic Russian settlers had always been less than the record 812, almost all concentrated in Sitka and Kodiak). Difficulties arose in training Russian priests to attain fluency in any of

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4956-547: The PSAC as "incomparably cheaper" than produced bought from American merchants and being of "the best quality." Despite the PSAC's initial growth, its principal manager, John McLoughlin didn't hold a favorable view of the venture. In a letter written to Douglas prior to the 1838 London meetings, McLoughlin criticized what eventually became the PSAC: "I will take this opportunity to state it is my opinion that, though I think individuals who would devote their attention to raising cattle in

5074-468: The PSAC was conceived to support British claims in the Pacific Northwest . These claims were centered on an area north of the Columbia River but south of the 49th parallel , located within modern Washington state . The PSAC had two stations within this area, Fort Nisqually and Cowlitz Farm . Starting with Étienne Lucier in 1829, a steady number of primarily French-Canadian employees of

5192-722: The Pacific Northwest. These claims were later abandoned at the turn of the 19th century following the aftermath of the Nootka Crisis . Count Nikolay Rumyantsev funded Russia's first naval circumnavigation under the joint command of Adam Johann von Krusenstern and Nikolai Rezanov in 1803–1806, and was instrumental in the outfitting of the voyage of the Riurik 's circumnavigation of 1814–1816, which provided substantial scientific information on Alaska's and California's flora and fauna, and important ethnographic information on Alaskan and Californian (among other) natives. Imperial Russia

5310-664: The Russian American outposts only every two or three years to give provisions. Because of the limited stock of supplies, trading was incidental compared to trapping operations under the Aleutian laborers. This left the Russian outposts dependent upon British and American merchants for sorely needed food and materials; in such a situation Baranov knew that the RAC establishments "could not exist without trading with foreigners." Ties with Americans were particularly advantageous since they could sell furs at Guangzhou , closed to

5428-806: The Russian exploration by Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov . In the early 1720s, Tsar Peter the Great called for another expedition. As a part of the 1733–1743 Second Kamchatka expedition , the Sv. Petr under the Danish-born Russian Vitus Bering and the Sv. Pavel under the Russian Alexei Chirikov set sail from the Kamchatkan port of Petropavlovsk in June 1741. They were soon separated, but each continued sailing east. On July 15, Chirikov sighted land, probably

5546-434: The Russians at Fort Ross; and Mexico established the El Presidio Real de Sonoma or Sonoma Barracks in 1836, with General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo as the Commandant of the Northern Frontier of the Alta California Province. The fort was the northernmost Mexican outpost to halt any further Russian settlement southward. The restored Presidio and mission are in the present-day city of Sonoma, California . In 1920

5664-427: The Russians at the time. The downside was that American hunters and trappers encroached on territory Russians considered theirs. Starting with the destruction of the Phoenix in 1799, several RAC ships sank or were damaged in storms, leaving the RAC outposts with scant resources. On June 24, 1800, an American vessel sailed to Kodiak Island. Baranov negotiated the sale of over 12,000 rubles worth of goods carried on

5782-402: The Russians out of their homes in Sitka, maintaining that the dwellings were needed for the Americans. The Russians complained of rowdiness of and assaults by the American troops. Many Russians returned to Russia, while others migrated to the Pacific Northwest and California . The Soviet Union (USSR) released a series of commemorative coins in 1990 and 1991 to mark the 250th anniversary of

5900-453: The United Kingdom , officially His Majesty's Government , abbreviated to HM Government , is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . The government is led by the prime minister (currently Keir Starmer since 5 July 2024) who selects all the other ministers . The country has had a Labour government since 2024. The prime minister Keir Starmer and his most senior ministers belong to

6018-409: The United States had become a valued customer for furs. Eventually the Russian–American Company entered into an agreement with the Hudson's Bay Company, which gave the British rights to sail through Russian territory. The first Russian colony in Alaska was founded in 1784 by Grigory Shelikhov . Subsequently, Russian explorers and settlers continued to establish trading posts in mainland Alaska, on

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6136-490: The United States would respect PSAC property but had the right to purchase any of the properties. In 1863, Great Britain and the United States agreed to arbitrate the disposition of the PSAC properties in US territory. The PSAC was awarded $ 200,000 in compensation in 1869 for all of its properties south of the Canadian-US border as spelled out in the Oregon Treaty . Meanwhile, the company’s operations had shifted north, including agricultural ventures on Vancouver Island. In 1934

6254-436: The abundance of fur-bearing mammals on Alaska's coast, as stocks had been depleted by overhunting in Siberia . Bering's first voyage was foiled by thick fog and ice, but in 1741 a second voyage by Bering and Aleksei Chirikov made sight of the North American mainland. Bering claimed the Alaskan country for the Russian Empire . Russia later confirmed its rule over the territory with the Ukase of 1799 which established

6372-405: The authorities in New Spain to initiate the upper Las Californias Province settlement, with presidios (forts), pueblos (villages), and the California missions . After declaring their independence in 1821, the Mexicans also asserted themselves in opposition to the Russians: the Mission San Francisco de Solano (Sonoma Mission, 1823) specifically responded to the presence of

6490-468: The beginning of March 1867. At the instigation of Seward the United States Senate approved the purchase, known as the Alaska Purchase , from the Russian Empire . The cost was set at 2 cents an acre, which came to a total of $ 7,200,000 on April 9, 1867. The canceled check is in the present day United States National Archives . After Russian America was sold to the U.S. in 1867, for $ 7.2 million (2 cents per acre, equivalent to $ 156,960,000 in 2023), all

6608-440: The cabinet ministers for the department and junior ministers within the department may answer on behalf of the government, depending on the topic of the question. During debates on legislation proposed by the government, ministers—usually with departmental responsibility for the bill —will lead the debate for the government and respond to points made by MPs or Lords. Committees of both the House of Commons and House of Lords hold

6726-430: The central government. Russian America From 1732 to 1867, the Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas . Russian colonial possessions in the Americas were collectively known as Russian America ( Russian : Русская Америка , romanized :  Russkaya Amerika ; 1799 to 1867). It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States , but also included

6844-411: The charity commissions) are legally more or less independent of the government, and government powers are legally limited to those retained by the Crown under common law or granted and limited by act of Parliament. Both substantive and procedural limitations are enforceable in the courts by judicial review . Nevertheless, magistrates and mayors can still be arrested and put on trial for corruption, and

6962-409: The city of Sitka. As Baranov secured the Russians' settlements in Alaska, the Shelekhov family continued to work among the top leaders to win a monopoly on Alaska's fur trade. In 1799 Shelekhov's son-in-law, Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov , had acquired a monopoly on the American fur trade from Emperor Paul I . Rezanov formed the Russian-American Company . As part of the deal, the Emperor expected

7080-403: The company agreed to again pursue a supply contract with the Russian-American Company , an accord that had been desired by Simpson for a decade. Signed in 1839 with the Russian colonial authorities, the RAC-HBC Agreement gave the HBC the obligation to provide enough provisions to supply the various trading stations of Russian America . Having finally secured this financially important agreement,

7198-570: The company ceased to be listed on the stock exchange. British Government King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The government of

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7316-413: The company to establish new settlements in Alaska and to carry out an expanded colonization program. By 1804, Baranov, now manager of the Russian–American Company, had consolidated the company's hold on fur trade activities in the Americas following his suppression of the Tlingit clan at the Battle of Sitka . The Russians never fully colonized Alaska. For the most part, they clung to the coast and shunned

7434-418: The company. A delegation of Red River men arrived at Fort Vancouver in November 1845 to notify McLoughlin of their disinterest in paying back the money owed to the HBC. As McLoughlin was in the process of leaving the HBC, he apparently didn't press the matter as it wasn't of "compelling importance" to him, as historian John C. Jackson later stated. Dugald MacTavish tried and failed to collect upon these debts in

7552-436: The confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply (by voting through the government's budgets) and to pass primary legislation . By convention, if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a general election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay,

7670-493: The considered, not still not active, livestock and farming operations in the Columbia Department. Once this venture began, Pelly declared, it would maintain "British interests and British influence... as paramount in this interesting part of the Coast of the Pacific." The appeals of Pelly and his cohorts worked, for the HBC received another license in May 1838. The HBC was still only British enterprise allowed to trade with native peoples west of Rupert's Land , but it did not include

7788-436: The curriculum, which included Russian history, literacy, mathematics, and religious studies. A side effect of the missionary strategy was the development of a new and autonomous form of indigenous identity. Many native traditions survived within local "Russian" Orthodox tradition and in the religious life of the villages. Part of this modern indigenous identity is an alphabet and the basis for written literature in nearly all of

7906-425: The deal and successful farmers in Scotland not finding the offered deal worthwhile. The only successful source of early colonists for the PSAC would come from the Red River colony . In November 1839 Sir George Simpson instructed Duncan Finlayson to begin promoting the PSAC to colonists. If the initial movement of settlers from Red River was successful, company officials wanted at least fifteen families arriving at

8024-441: The distant Willamette Valley. In correspondence to HBC officials he requested overland transportation for the two men in 1837. The fur merchants saw this as a useful opportunity to further the still paper PSAC. French-Canadians farmers residing in the Willamette Valley could potentially be induced to relocate to more favorable locations north of the Columbia. The Catholic priests could additionally counter any Methodist influence over

8142-524: The ethnic-linguistic groups in the Southern half of Alaska. Father Ivan Veniaminov (later St. Innocent of Alaska ), famous throughout Russian America, developed an Aleut dictionary for hundreds of language and dialect words based on the Russian alphabet . The most visible trace of the Russian colonial period in contemporary Alaska is the nearly 90 Russian Orthodox parishes with a membership of over 20,000 men, women, and children, almost exclusively indigenous people. These include several Athabascan groups of

8260-409: The exchequer to be a member of the House of Lords was Lord Denman , who served for one month in 1834. The British monarch is the head of state and the sovereign , but not the head of government . The monarch takes little direct part in governing the country and remains neutral in political affairs. However, the authority of the state that is vested in the sovereign, known as the Crown , remains

8378-435: The exploitation of the indigenous populations, and their reports provide evidence of the violence exercised to establish colonial rule in this period. The RAC's monopoly was continued by Emperor Alexander I in 1821, on the condition that the company would financially support missionary efforts. The company board ordered chief manager Arvid Adolf Etholén to build a residency in New Archangel for bishop Veniaminov When

8496-438: The far reaching and extensive plans of Simpson and Pelly, the Red River families didn't act as planned. At Fort Vancouver, fourteen families were relocated to Fort Nisqually , while the remaining seven families were sent to Fort Cowlitz . Within two years however, the families at Fort Nisqually had all left in favor of the Willamette Valley. Crucially, these men held accounts with the HBC and most were in varying levels of debt to

8614-509: The farmlands they would work on around Cowlitz Farm. This new clause came with a major stipulation, as Finlayson later explained to his superiors. The sales would happen only if the Oregon Question was settled with British receiving the northern bank of the Columbia River, rather than a direct continuation of the 49th parallel . James Sinclair was appointed by Finlayson to guide the mostly Métis settler families to Fort Vancouver on

8732-603: The first group of Orthodox Christian missionaries began to arrive, evangelizing thousands of Native Americans, many of whose descendants continue to maintain the religion. By the late 1780s, trade relations had opened with the Tlingits , and in 1799 the Russian-American Company (RAC) was formed in order to monopolize the fur trade, also serving as an imperialist vehicle for the Russification of Alaska Natives . Angered by encroachment on their land and other grievances,

8850-499: The first sighting of and claiming domain over Alaska – Russian America . The commemoration consisted of a silver coin , a platinum coin , and two palladium coins in both years. At the beginning of the 21st century, a resurgence of Russian ultra-nationalism has spurred regret and recrimination over the sale of Alaska to the United States. There are periodic mass media stories in the Russian Federation that Alaska

8968-525: The first two generations (1741–1759 & 1781–1799) of Sibero-Russian promyshlenniki contact, 80 percent of the Aleut population died from Eurasian infectious diseases ; these were by then endemic among Eurasians, but the Aleuts had no immunity against the diseases. Though the Alaskan colony was never very profitable because of the costs of transportation, most Russian traders were determined to keep

9086-496: The following year. During its initial years the company had occasionally had to purchase wheat from other sources to meet the RAC demands. In 1840 John McLoughlin had to purchase 4,000 bushels of wheat from Alta California to supplement produce made by the PSAC. During the 1840s pastoral and agricultural produce shipped to New Archangel annually consistently was 30,000 lbs of beef and from 40,000 to 80,000 lbs of wheat. Governor Arvid Etholén praised wheat produced by

9204-722: The fur merchants and administrators considered future company operations in the Pacific Northwest. Military action by Americans over the Oregon Question appeared to some members assembled as quite likely at the time. This was in no small part due to the legislative work of U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn . In February 1838, he pushed for the dispatch of a naval force to the Columbia, in addition to offering land grants to interest American settlers. Despite some enthusiasm however, Linn's bill didn't pass receive enough votes in Congress to become law. Besides considerations about Americans,

9322-413: The government for exclusive control, but in 1788 Catherine II decided to grant his company a monopoly only over the area it had already occupied. Other traders were free to compete elsewhere. Catherine's decision was issued as the imperial ukase (proclamation) of September 28, 1788. The Shelikhov-Golikov Company formed the basis for the Russian-American Company (RAC). Its charter was laid out in

9440-532: The government has powers to insert commissioners into a local authority to oversee its work, and to issue directives that must be obeyed by the local authority if the local authority is not abiding by its statutory obligations. By contrast, as in European Union (EU) member states, EU officials cannot be prosecuted for any actions carried out in pursuit of their official duties, and foreign country diplomats (though not their employees) and foreign members of

9558-766: The government on the statement. When the government instead chooses to make announcements first outside Parliament, it is often the subject of significant criticism from MPs and the speaker of the House of Commons . The prime minister is based at 10 Downing Street in Westminster , London. Cabinet meetings also take place here. Most government departments have their headquarters nearby in Whitehall . The government's powers include general executive and statutory powers , delegated legislation , and numerous powers of appointment and patronage. However, some powerful officials and bodies, (e.g. HM judges, local authorities , and

9676-485: The government to account, scrutinise its work and examine in detail proposals for legislation. Ministers appear before committees to give evidence and answer questions. Government ministers are also required by convention and the Ministerial Code , when Parliament is sitting, to make major statements regarding government policy or issues of national importance to Parliament. This allows MPs or Lords to question

9794-519: The government. Royal prerogative powers include, but are not limited to, the following: While no formal documents set out the prerogatives, the government published the above list in October 2003 to increase transparency, as some of the powers exercised in the name of the monarch are part of the royal prerogative . However, the complete extent of the royal prerogative powers has never been fully set out, as many of them originated in ancient custom and

9912-664: The highly dangerous waters of the North Pacific to hunt for more otter. As the Shelekhov-Golikov Company of 1783–1799 developed a monopoly, its use of skirmishes and violent incidents turned into systematic violence as a tool of colonial exploitation of the indigenous people. When the Aleutian serfs revolted and won some victories, the promyshlenniki retaliated, killing many and destroying their boats and hunting gear, leaving them no means of survival. The most devastating effects came from disease: during

10030-523: The holdings of the Russian–American Company were liquidated. Following the transfer, many elders of the local Tlingit tribe maintained that " Castle Hill " comprised the only land that Russia was entitled to sell. Other indigenous groups also argued that they had never given up their land; the Americans had encroached on it and taken it over. Native land claims were not fully addressed until

10148-505: The indigenous peoples' relations with the Russians deteriorated. In 1802, Tlingit warriors destroyed several Russian settlements, most notably Redoubt Saint Michael (Old Sitka), leaving New Russia as the only remaining outpost on mainland Alaska. This failed to expel the Russians, who re-established their presence two years later following the Battle of Sitka . (Peace negotiations between the Russians and Native Americans would later establish

10266-456: The interior, very large Yup'ik communities, and quite nearly all of the Aleut and Alutiiq populations. Among the few Tlingit Orthodox parishes, the large group in Juneau adopted Orthodox Christianity only after the Russian colonial period, in an area where there had been no Russian settlers nor missionaries. The widespread and continuing local Russian Orthodox practices are likely the result of

10384-557: The interior. From 1812 to 1841, the Russians operated Fort Ross, California . From 1814 to 1817, Russian Fort Elizabeth was operating in the Kingdom of Hawaii . By the 1830s, the Russian monopoly on trade was weakening. The British Hudson's Bay Company was leased the southern edge of Russian America in 1839 under the RAC-HBC Agreement , establishing Fort Stikine which began siphoning off trade. A company ship visited

10502-609: The land for themselves. In 1784, Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov , who later set up the Russian-American Company that developed into the Alaskan colonial administration, arrived in Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island with two ships, the Three Saints ( Russian : Три Святителя ) and the St. Simon . The Koniag Alaska Natives harassed the Russian party and Shelekhov responded by killing hundreds and taking hostages to enforce

10620-465: The land from the Tlingit , but in 1802, while Baranov was away, Tlingit from a neighboring settlement attacked and destroyed Mikhailovsk. Baranov returned with a Russian warship and razed the Tlingit village. He built the settlement of New Archangel ( Russian : Ново-Архангельск , romanized :  Novo-Arkhangelsk ) on the ruins of Mikhailovsk. It became the capital of Russian America – and later

10738-456: The land they had found. In November, Bering's ship was wrecked on Bering Island . There Bering fell ill and died, and high winds dashed the Sv. Petr to pieces. After the stranded crew wintered on the island, the survivors built a boat from the wreckage and set sail for Russia in August 1742. Bering's crew reached the shore of Kamchatka in 1742, carrying word of the expedition. The high quality of

10856-622: The latter half of the 20th century, with the signing by Congress and leaders of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act . At the height of Russian America, the Russian population had reached 700, compared to 40,000 Aleuts. They and the Creoles , who had been guaranteed the privileges of citizens in the United States, were given the opportunity of becoming citizens within a three-year period, but few decided to exercise that option. General Jefferson C. Davis ordered

10974-571: The location of Fort Vancouver , placed on the northern bank of the Columbia. On his second visit to Fort Vancouver in the 1828 through 1829, George Simpson found the area quite promising for further agricultural ventures. Simpson sent his cousin Lt. AEmilius Simpson on the Cadboro to the Russian American capital of Novoarkhangelsk in 1829 to offer large stockpiles of foodstuffs annually to

11092-543: The medical aid given by Veniamiov created converts to Orthodoxy. Inspired by the same pastoral theology as Bartolomé de las Casas or St. Francis Xavier , the origins of which were in early Christianity's need to adapt to the cultures of Classical antiquity , missionaries in Russian America applied a strategy that placed value on local cultures and encouraged indigenous leadership in parish life and missionary activity. When compared to later Protestant missionaries,

11210-476: The obedience of the rest. Having established his authority on Kodiak Island, Shelekhov founded the second permanent Russian settlement in Alaska (after Unalaska , permanently settled since 1774) on the island's Three Saints Bay. In 1790, Shelekhov, back in Russia, hired Alexander Andreyevich Baranov to manage his Alaskan fur-enterprise. Baranov moved the colony to the northeast end of Kodiak Island, where timber

11328-644: The outpost of Fort Ross in California . Russian Creole settlements were concentrated in Alaska, including the capital, New Archangel ( Novo- Arkhangelsk ), which is now Sitka . Russian expansion eastward began in 1552, and in 1639 Russian explorers reached the Pacific Ocean . In 1725, Emperor Peter the Great ordered navigator Vitus Bering to explore the North Pacific for potential colonization. The Russians were primarily interested in

11446-433: The period of absolute monarchy , or were modified by later constitutional practice. As of 2019, there are around 120 government ministers supported by 560,000 civil servants and other staff working in the 24 ministerial departments and their executive agencies . There are also an additional 20 non-ministerial departments with a range of further responsibilities. In theory, a government minister does not have to be

11564-585: The provisions for trade in Russian America and the Kingdom of Hawaii . Late in 1834, agreeing to Simpson's idea of the HBC directly overseeing these proposed operations, the committee decided to look for a new location for its central depot for operations on the Pacific Coast. Previous outbreaks of disease at Fort Vancouver worried the administrators, who ordered McLoughlin to thoroughly examine Whidbey Island and other potential locations north of

11682-544: The right to engage in commercial farming. However, like the previous license granted in 1821, the British Government stressed to not harass any American merchants in the Pacific Northwest. Throughout the summer and fall of 1838, the HBC held multiple conferences in London. Among those present were George Simpson , John McLoughlin , Governor John Pelly , and other members of the governing committee. Once gathered,

11800-539: The ship, averting "imminent starvation." During his tenure Baranov traded over 2 million rubles worth of furs for American supplies, to the consternation of the board of directors. From 1806 to 1818 Baranov shipped 15 million rubles worth of furs to Russia, only receiving under 3 million rubles in provisions, barely half of the expenses spent solely on the Saint Petersburg company office. The Russo-American Treaty of 1824 recognized exclusive Russian rights to

11918-433: The source of executive power exercised by the government. In addition to explicit statutory authority , the Crown also possesses a body of powers in certain matters collectively known as the royal prerogative . These powers range from the authority to issue or withdraw passports to declarations of war. By long-standing convention, most of these powers are delegated from the sovereign to various ministers or other officers of

12036-474: The southern border of Russian America along the 55th parallel north . The decree also provided monopolistic privileges to the state-sponsored Russian-American Company and established the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska. Russian promyshlenniki (trappers and hunters) quickly developed the maritime fur trade , which instigated several conflicts between the Aleuts and Russians in

12154-666: The sovereign, although this authority is exercised only after receiving the advice of the Privy Council . The prime minister, the House of Lords, the Leader of the Opposition, and the police and military high command serve as members and advisers of the monarch on the Privy Council. In most cases the cabinet exercise power directly as leaders of the government departments , though some Cabinet positions are sinecures to

12272-400: The start of Edward VII 's reign in 1901, by convention, the prime minister has been an elected member of Parliament (MP) and thus answerable to the House of Commons, although there were two weeks in 1963 when Alec Douglas-Home was first a member of the House of Lords and then of neither house. A similar convention applies to the position of chancellor of the exchequer . The last chancellor of

12390-427: The station focused on pastoral operations, including flocks of sheep for wool, cattle herds for beef and cheese manufacturing. Cowlitz Farm was the company's primary center of agricultural production. The company also operated many large farms in the area of Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island . The governing committee and its officers were as a practice in consistent contact with members of the British Government. This

12508-581: The supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet . Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit; they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords . The government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation , and general elections are held every five years (at most) to elect

12626-581: The various Indigenous Alaskan languages. To redress this, Veniaminov opened a seminary for mixed race and native candidates for the Church in 1845. Promising students were sent to additional schools in either Saint Petersburg or Irkutsk , the later city becoming the original seminary's new location in 1858. The Holy Synod instructed for the opening of four missionary schools in 1841, to be located in Amlia , Chiniak , Kenai , and Nushagak . Veniamiov established

12744-579: The view of opening from the Oragon Country an export trade with England and elsewhere in tallow, beef, hides, horns, &c." If the cattle were gathered from Alta California in 1833, McLoughlin projected Fort Vancouver area to have a herd of over 5,000 by 1842. Additionally, he pointed out favorable locations to host these numerous bovines. The valleys of the Willamette , Cowlitz and Columbia were all deemed as appropriate to host upwards of half

12862-436: The west side of Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska. He sent a group of men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to land on the northwestern coast of North America. On roughly July 16, Bering and the crew of Sv. Petr sighted Mount Saint Elias on the Alaskan mainland; they turned westward toward Russia soon afterward. Meanwhile, Chirikov and the Sv. Pavel headed back to Russia in October with news of

12980-526: The young children. As they marched in single file their cavalcade extended above a mile long... The emigrants were all healthy and happy; living with the greatest abundance and enjoying the journey with great relish." Going through Lake Minnewanka , they eventually reached where the Spray and Bow rivers meet. Following the course of the Spray River valley, the intrepid British colonists then trekked along

13098-452: Was a major advantage for the company and gave them important insights into political developments. Simpson and his cohorts knew the general position of the British Government for any potential negotiations with the United States to resolve the Oregon boundary question. The British would continue their previous stance of claiming all territory north of the Columbia River. This policy influenced

13216-412: Was available. The site later developed as what is now the city of Kodiak . Russian colonists took Koniag wives and started families whose surnames continue today, such as Panamaroff, Petrikoff, and Kvasnikoff. In 1795 Baranov, concerned by the sight of non-Russian Europeans trading with the natives in southeast Alaska, established Mikhailovsk six miles (9.7 km) north of present-day Sitka . He bought

13334-569: Was built in 1812. By the middle of the 19th century, profits from Russia's North American colonies were in steep decline. Competition with the British Hudson's Bay Company had brought the sea otter to near extinction, while the population of bears, wolves, and foxes on land was also nearing depletion. Faced with the reality of periodic Native American revolts, the political ramifications of the Crimean War , and unable to fully colonize

13452-546: Was further weakened. When the Russian-American Company's charter was renewed in 1821, it stipulated that the chief managers from then on be naval officers . Most naval officers did not have any experience in the fur trade, so the company suffered. The second charter also tried to cut off all contact with foreigners , especially the competitive Americans. This strategy backfired since the Russian colony had become used to relying on American supply ships, and

13570-551: Was never forwarded to the central government, leaving open the question of whether or not Siberia was connected to North America. The first sighting of the Alaskan coastline was in 1732; this sighting was made by the Russian maritime explorer and navigator Ivan Fedorov from sea near present-day Cape Prince of Wales on the eastern boundary of the Bering Strait opposite Russian Cape Dezhnev . He did not land. The first landfall happened in southern Alaska in 1741 during

13688-524: Was not sold to the United States in the 1867 Alaska Purchase , but only leased for 99 years (= to 1966), or 150 years (= to 2017)—and would be returned to Russia. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine , such statements reappeared in Russian media. Those claims of illegitimacy derive from wrong or misleading interpretations of a policy of the Russian Federation to re-acquire formerly held properties. The Alaska Purchase Treaty clearly states that

13806-465: Was ready to abandon its Russian America colony. Over-hunting had severely reduced the fur-bearing animal population, and competition from the British and Americans exacerbated the situation. This, combined with the difficulties of supplying and protecting such a distant colony, reduced interest in the territory. In addition, Russia was in a difficult financial position and feared losing Russian Alaska without compensation in some future conflict, especially to

13924-489: Was unique among European empires for having no state sponsorship of foreign expeditions or territorial (conquest) settlement. The first state-protected trading company for sponsoring such activities in the Americas was the Shelikhov-Golikov Company of Grigory Shelikhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov . A number of other companies were operating in Russian America during the 1780s. Shelikhov petitioned

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