Russian California, 1806-1860

Russian California, 1806-1860 PDF Author: James R. Gibson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 640

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Book Description
The development of the Russian state was marked by a steady growth of population and especially territory. Its colonial expansion was mainly an eastward movement in search of profitable resources, the way west being blocked by other European powers and the way south by other empires (Ottoman and Chinese). The push to the east proceeded rapidly and distantly, being eased not only by the absence of foreign opposition and native disunity but also by Siberia's interwoven river network and the North Pacific's convenient causeway of the Aleutian chain, plus the lure of 'soft gold' (furs) in the form of Siberian sables and Pacific sea otters.

Russian California, 1806-1860

Russian California, 1806-1860 PDF Author: James R. Gibson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 640

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Book Description
The development of the Russian state was marked by a steady growth of population and especially territory. Its colonial expansion was mainly an eastward movement in search of profitable resources, the way west being blocked by other European powers and the way south by other empires (Ottoman and Chinese). The push to the east proceeded rapidly and distantly, being eased not only by the absence of foreign opposition and native disunity but also by Siberia's interwoven river network and the North Pacific's convenient causeway of the Aleutian chain, plus the lure of 'soft gold' (furs) in the form of Siberian sables and Pacific sea otters.

California Through Russian Eyes, 1806–1848

California Through Russian Eyes, 1806–1848 PDF Author:
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806151005
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 774

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Book Description
In the early nineteenth century, Russia established a colony in California that lasted until the Russian-American Company sold Fort Ross and Bodega Bay to John Sutter in 1841. This annotated collection of Russian accounts of Alta California, many of them translated here into English from Russian for the first time, presents richly detailed impressions by visiting Russian mariners, scientists, and Russian-American Company officials regarding the environment, people, economy, and politics of the province. Gathered from Russian archival collections and obscure journals, these testimonies represent a major contribution to the little-known history of Russian America. Well educated and curious, the visiting Russians were acute observers, generous in their appreciation of Hispanic hospitality but outspoken in their criticisms of all they found backward or abhorrent. In the various reports and reminiscences contained within this volume, they make astute observations of both Hispanic and Native inhabitants, describing the Catholic missions with their devout friars and neophyte workers; the corruptible Franciscan missionaries; the sorry plight of mission Indians; the Californios themselves, whose religion, language, dwellings, cuisine, dress, and pastimes were novel to the Russians; the economic and social changes in Alta California following Mexican independence; and the schemes of American traders and settlers to draw the province into the United States. Amplified by James R. Gibson’s informative annotations, and featuring a gallery of elegant color illustrations, this unique volume casts new light on the history of Spanish and Mexican California.

We Shall Be Masters

We Shall Be Masters PDF Author: Chris Miller
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674259335
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
An illuminating account of Russia’s attempts—and failures—to achieve great power status in Asia. Since Peter the Great, Russian leaders have been lured by opportunity to the East. Under the tsars, Russians colonized Alaska, California, and Hawaii. The Trans-Siberian Railway linked Moscow to Vladivostok. And Stalin looked to Asia as a sphere of influence, hospitable to the spread of Soviet Communism. In Asia and the Pacific lay territory, markets, security, and glory. But all these expansionist dreams amounted to little. In We Shall Be Masters, Chris Miller explores why, arguing that Russia’s ambitions have repeatedly outstripped its capacity. With the core of the nation concentrated thousands of miles away in the European borderlands, Russia’s would-be pioneers have always struggled to project power into Asia and to maintain public and elite interest in their far-flung pursuits. Even when the wider population professed faith in Asia’s promise, few Russians were willing to pay the steep price. Among leaders, too, dreams of empire have always been tempered by fears of cost. Most of Russia’s pivots to Asia have therefore been halfhearted and fleeting. Today the Kremlin talks up the importance of “strategic partnership” with Xi Jinping’s China, and Vladimir Putin’s government is at pains to emphasize Russian activities across Eurasia. But while distance is covered with relative ease in the age of air travel and digital communication, the East remains far off in the ways that matter most. Miller finds that Russia’s Asian dreams are still restrained by the country’s firm rooting in Europe.

Russian Colonization of Alaska

Russian Colonization of Alaska PDF Author: Andrei Val’terovich Grinëv
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496222768
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
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.

We Are the Land

We Are the Land PDF Author: Damon B. Akins
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520280504
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
Introduction -- A people of the land, a land for the people : Yuma -- Beach encounters : indigenous people and the age of exploration, 1540-1769 : San Diego -- "Our country before the Fernandino arrived was a forest" : native towns and Spanish missions in colonial California, 1769-1810 : Rome -- Working the land : entrepreneurial Indians and the markets of power, 1811-1849 : Sacramento -- "The white man would spoil everything" : indigenous people and the California gold rush, 1846-1873 : Ukiah -- Working for land: rancherias, reservations, and labor, 1870-1904 : Ishi Wilderness -- Friends and enemies : reframing progress, and fighting for sovereignty, 1905-1928 : Riverside -- Becoming the Indians of California : reorganization and justice, 1928-1954 : Los Angeles -- Reoccupying California : resistance and reclaiming the land, 1953-1985 : Berkeley and the East Bay -- Returning to the land : sovereignty, self-determination and revitalization since -- Conclusion : returns

Russian Colonization of Alaska

Russian Colonization of Alaska PDF Author: Andrei Val'terovich Grinëv
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 149623281X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
In this third volume of Russian Colonization of Alaska, Andrei Val'terovich Grinëv examines the final period in Russian America's history, from naval officers' coming to power in the colonies (1818) to the sale of Alaska to the United States (1867).

Russian California, 1806-1860

Russian California, 1806-1860 PDF Author: James R. Gibson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781472432216
Category : California
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
From dust jacket: "This is a documentary history of Russia's nineteenth-century settlement in California. It contains 492 documents, mostly translated from the Russian for the first time, fully annotated, and with an extensive historical introduction."

California, a Slave State

California, a Slave State PDF Author: Jean Pfaelzer
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300211643
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
The untold history of slavery and resistance in California, from the Spanish missions, indentured Native American ranch hands, Indian boarding schools, Black miners, kidnapped Chinese prostitutes, and convict laborers to victims of modern trafficking"A searing survey of '250 years of human bondage' in what is now the state of California. . . . Readers will be outraged."--Publishers Weekly California owes its origins and sunny prosperity to slavery. Spanish invaders captured Indigenous people to build the chain of Catholic missions. Russian otter hunters shipped Alaska Natives--the first slaves transported into California--and launched a Pacific slave triangle to China. Plantation slaves were marched across the plains for the Gold Rush. San Quentin Prison incubated California's carceral state. Kidnapped Chinese girls were sold in caged brothels in early San Francisco. Indian boarding schools supplied new farms and hotels with unfree child workers. By looking west to California, Jean Pfaelzer upends our understanding of slavery as a North-South struggle and reveals how the enslaved in California fought, fled, and resisted human bondage. In unyielding research and vivid interviews, Pfaelzer exposes how California gorged on slavery, an appetite that persists today in a global trade in human beings lured by promises of jobs but who instead are imprisoned in sweatshops and remote marijuana grows, or sold as nannies and sex workers. Slavery shreds California's utopian brand, rewrites our understanding of the West, and redefines America's uneasy paths to freedom.

Inclusion, Transformation, and Humility in North American Archaeology

Inclusion, Transformation, and Humility in North American Archaeology PDF Author: Seth Mallios
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 180539276X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
In a dynamic near half-century career of insight, engagement, and instruction, Kent G. Lightfoot transformed North American archaeology through his innovative ideas, robust collaborations, thoughtful field projects, and mentoring of numerous students. Authors emphasize the multifarious ways Lightfoot impacted—and continues to impact—approaches to archaeological inquiry, anthropological engagement, indigenous issues, and professionalism. Four primary themes include: negotiations of intercultural entanglements in pluralistic settings; transformations of temporal and spatial archaeological dimensions, as well as theoretical and methodological innovations; engagement with contemporary people and issues; and leading by example with honor, humor, and humility. These reflect the remarkable depth, breadth, and growth in Lightfoot’s career, despite his unwavering stylistic devotion to Hawaiian shirts.

Mexico Through Russian Eyes, 1806-1940

Mexico Through Russian Eyes, 1806-1940 PDF Author: William Harrison Richardson
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822977125
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
In this unique book, William Richardson analyzes the descriptions given of Mexico by an assortment of Russian visitors, from the employees of the Russian-American Company who made their first contacts in the early nineteenth century to the artists, diplomats, and exiles of the twentieth century. He explores the biases they brought with them and the interpretations they relayed back to readers at home. Richardson finds that Russians had a particular empathy for the Mexicans, sharing a perceived similarity in their histories: conquest by a foreign power; a long period of centralized, authoritarian rule; an attempt at liberal reform followed by revolution.