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The "Russian-American Company Under the Supreme Patronage of His Imperial Majesty" ((ロシア語:Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американская Компания)) was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the United American Company. The company was chartered by Tsar Paul I in the Ukase of 1799,〔〔Pierce, Richard A.: ''The Russian-American Company: Correspondence of the Governors; Communications Sent: 1818.〕 and was mainly expected to establish new settlements in Russian America and carry out an expanded colonization program. It was Russia's first joint-stock company, and came under the direct authority of the Ministry of Commerce of Imperial Russia. The Minister of Commerce (later, Minister of Foreign Affairs) Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev was a pivotal influence upon the early Company's affairs. In 1801, the company's headquarters were moved from Irkutsk to Saint Petersburg and the merchants who were initially the major stockholders were soon replaced by Russia's nobility and aristocracy. Count Rumyantsev funded Russia's first naval circumnavigation under the joint command of Adam Johann von Krusenstern and Nikolai Rezanov in 1803-1806, and later funded and directed the voyage of the ''Ryurik'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 others) natives. Bodega Bay, California was initially named "Rumyantsev Bay" () was named in his honour during the Russian-California period (1812–1842) of Fort Ross. ==Early history== The Russian government appointed an official with the title correspondent to maintain oversight of company affairs, the first being Nikolai Rezanov.〔 This role was soon expanded to a three-seat board of directors, with two elected by the stockholders and one appointed by the government.〔Mazour, Anatole G. ''The Russian-American Company: Private or Government Enterprise?'' Pacific Historical Review 13, No. 2 (1944), pp. 168-173.〕〔 Additionally the directors had to send reports of the company's activities directly to the tsar.〔〔 Directly administering the forts, trade stations and outposts from Pavlovskaya and later New Archangel was the Chief Manager. Alexander Andreyevich Baranov was the first chief manager, founding both New Archangel and Pavlovskaya. With the end of his service in 1818, the position was then continuously given to appointees of the Imperial Russian Navy.〔 The Ukase of 1799 (edict or proclamation) granted the company a monopoly over trade in Russian America, defined with a southern border of 55° N latitude. Tsar Alexander I in the Ukase of 1821 asserted its domain to 45°50′ N latitude, revised by 1822 to 51° N latitude. This border was challenged by the British and the United States, which ultimately resulted in the Russo-American Treaty of 1824 and the Russo-British Treaty of 1825 which established 54°40′ as the ostensible southward limit of Russian interests. The only attempt at enforcement of the ukase of 1821 was the seizure of the U.S. brig ''Pearl'' in 1822, by the Russian sloop ''Apollon''. The ''Pearl'', a vessel of the maritime fur trade, was sailing from Boston to Sitka. On a protest from the U.S. government, the vessel was released and compensation paid. A later lease to the Hudson's Bay Company of the southeastern sector of what is now the Alaska Panhandle, as far north as 56° 30' N, followed in 1838 as part of a damages settlement due to treaty violations by the company's governor, Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, in 1833. Under Baranov, who governed the region between 1790 and 1818, a permanent settlement was established in 1804 at "Novo-Arkhangelsk" (New Archangel, today's Sitka, Alaska), and a thriving maritime trade was organized. Alutiiq and Aleut men from the Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands were forcibly conscripted to work for the company in three year periods because they were "among the most sophisticated and effective sea otter hunters in the world."〔Lightfoot, Kent G. ''Russian Colonization: The Implications of Mercantile Colonial Practices in the North Pacific.'' Historical Archaeology 37, No. 4 (2003), pp. 14-28.〕 During its initial years, the company had problems in maintain a pool of skilled crewmen for its ships. The limited number of Russian men proficient in naval craft in the Empire usually sought employment in the Imperial Russian Navy. Recruits for naval training by the company were sparse, in part due to the continued practise of serfdom in the Empire.〔 The Imperial government announced in 1802 for the Imperial Navy to send officers for employment in the RAC, half of their pay to come from the company.〔 Russian merchants were restricted from the port of Guangzhou and its valuable markets, something the RAC endeavoured to changed after its creation. The company funded a circumnavigation that lasted from 1803 to 1806 with the goals of expanding Russian navigational knowledge, supply the RAC stations and to open commercial relations with the Qing Empire.〔Sladkovskii, Mikhail I. (History of Economic Relations between Russia and China.'' ) New Brusnwick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. 2008, p. 61.〕 While the expedition was able to sell its wares at the Chinese port, "no noticeable progress" towards securing Russian trading rights was made in the next half century.〔 Due to the closed Chinese ports, furs collected by the RAC had to be shipped to the Russian port of Okhotsk. From there caravans typically spent over a year traveling to Ayan, Irkutsk and the Siberian Route.〔Baltic, Alix. ''The Baltic Connection in Russian America.'' Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, Neue Folge 42, No. 3 (1994), pp. 321-339.〕 The majority of the pelts were traded in Kyakhta, where Chinese trade goods, principally cotton,〔Wheeler, Mary E. ''Empires in Conflict and Cooperation: The "Bostonians" and the Russian-American Company.'' Pacific Historical Review 40, No. 4 (1971), pp. 419-441.〕 porcelain and tea, were traded for.〔 Fort Elizabeth was built in Hawaii by Georg Anton Schäffer, an agent of the company. His actions attempt to overthrow the Kingdom of Hawaii is known as the Schäffer affair. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Russian-American Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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