The History of The Russian Northwest
he Russian empire had long been composed of a mix of divers
ethnic and cultural groups. Among these are the Germans. Though
initially welcomed, tensions soon grew after being invited to settle
large regions of the Russian empire by Catherine the Great in 1763,
the ethnic Germans had never integrated well into the greater
Russian community. Frequent ethnic and sectarian tensions had
fomented unrest within this community as well as others. By 1811 and
the wide spread distribution of the "letters from Texas" of Friedrich Ernst
have reached the sizable ethnic German community within the Russian
empire. The Czar's realm was wide, and included claims within the new
world. Russian Czar Paul I had signed a decree providing a 20 year charter
for the Russian-American Company (RAC). Founded on July 8, 1799 at Irkutsk, Siberia,
The RAC was grant a monopoly to exploit the new world holdings of the Czar.
RAC's first governor of Russian America and chief manager,
Alexander Andreevich Baranov, was a man of great energy and quickly establishes
a series of town, forts and trading posts. He establish numerous treaties with
the natives to supple both meat and fur to the Russian trade company.
In 1814 John Quincy Adams headed a commission including Albert Gallatin, James Bayard, Jonathan Russell, and Henry Clay, to negotiate a Peace Treaty with the British to end the hostilities, now known as "The War of 1812". The site selected for the negotiations was Gothenburg, Sweden. This proved convenient for both the British commission and the Czar, Alexander I, of Russia. The Czar was anxious to mediate between the warring nations to gain status with both and to gain future trade concessions and potential territorial considerations. The Britain and the major powers of Europe were too consumed by they believed to be the final stages of the war with Napoleon I to be fully invested in the current negotiations. The British had developed a trust in the Russians as the ally which was able to turn the tide of the French juggernaut. This trust would prove to have been misplaced as Czar Alexander was slyly working behind the seances to assure particular gain for Russia out of any resulting treaties. Once Napoleon I signed his first abdication on April 6, 1814, movement toward a settlement of the hostilities with the Yanks came rapidly. In May Czar Alexander arrived in London as a part of the celebrations of victory over the French.
