The Struggle for Oregon in the Last Third of the Eighteenth – First Quarter of the Nineteenth Century

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription Access

Abstract

In the article, the authors examine the circumstances of the rivalry for Oregon in the 1770s and the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Historians of Russian America and those who study early US history have paid little attention to this issue, at a time when it was in Oregon that the rivalry between Britain, Russia, France and the United States for possession of the new colonies was ignited. The Spanish, who established their colonies in America in the six-teenth century, laid claim to the entire west coast. The English paid very close attention to the Oregon coast between 30° and 60° N, starting with the expeditions of James Cook and George Vancouver. The French became interested in the region in 1785–1788 during the ex-pedition of the Comte de Lapérouse. Russia, with its colonies in Alaska and the Aleutian Is-lands, pursued a measured and cautious policy. Spain, confident that the territories belonged to her by the right of discovery, had very limited forces for their development. The principal rivals for Oregon territory in the 1820-s were Great Britain and the United States. The article is draws on the latest archival finds. The authors draw on an extensive, inter alia, recent do-mestic and foreign historiography. The methodology used in writing the article is based on the achievements of modern historical scholarship. The article is the first in a series of intended further publications by the authors on the study of the struggle for Oregon and the US West Coast.

About the authors

Alexandr Yur'evich Petrov

Moscow State Linguistic University

Russian Federation, Moscow

Larisa Mikhaylovna Troitskaya

Institute of World History, RAS

Russian Federation, Moscow

References

  1. Альперович М.С. К предыстории Нутка-зундского кризиса (1789–1790) // Американский ежегодник 1995. М., 1995. С. 181–190.
  2. Болховитинов Н.Н. Н.П. Резанов и первое русское кругосветное плавание 1803–1806 гг. // Новая и новейшая история. 1997. № 3. C. 167–186.
  3. Болховитинов Н.Н. Русская Америка на рубеже 20-х гг. XIX в. (Принятие новых правил и привилегий РАК) // История Русской Америки, 1732–1867. Т. 2. Деятельность Российско-американской компании (1799–1825) / под ред. Н.Н. Болховитинова. М., 1999. С. 303–338.
  4. Болховитинов Н.Н. Русско-американские отношения. 1815–1832. М., 1975.
  5. Внешняя политика России XIX века и начала XX века. Серия вторая. 1815–1830. Т. 4 (12) / отв. ред. А.Л. Нарочницкий. М., 1980.
  6. Гаррисон Дж. Америка: последняя империя. М., 2009.
  7. Гибсон Дж.Р. Пушная торговля на Тихоокеанском севере и отношения с «бостонцами» // История Русской Америки, 1732–1867. Т. 2. Деятельность Российско-американской компании (1799–1825) / под ред. Н.Н. Болховитинова. М., 1999. С. 157–189.
  8. Инаугурационные речи президентов США от Джорджа Вашингтона до Джорджа Буша 1789–2001 гг. с историческим комментарием / общ. ред и комментарий Э.А. Иваняна. М., 2001.
  9. Куницын А.А. Кризис в заливе Нутка 1790 г.: англо-испанское противостояние // Известия АлтГУ. Исторические науки и археология. 2019. № 5 (109). С. 64–68.
  10. Пасецкий В.М. Русские проекты поисков северо-западного морского прохода // От Аляски до Огненной Земли. История и этнография стран Америки / отв. ред. И.Р. Григулевич. М., 1967. С. 95–106.
  11. Россия и Испания на северо-западе Америки во второй половине XVIII в. (по материалам испанских архивов): монография в документах. Рязань, 2020.
  12. Россия и США: становление отношений, 1765–1815: сб. документов / сост. Н.Н. Башкина, Н.Н. Болховитинов, Дж.Х. Браун и др. М., 1980.
  13. Согрин В.В. Энциклопедия истории США. М., 2018.
  14. Трояновская М.О. Дискуссии по вопросам внешней политики США (1775–1823). М., 2010.
  15. Ambrose St.E. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West. New York, 1996.
  16. Annals to Congress, 16th Congress. 2nd Session. House of Repr. P. 945–950 // URL: https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId-llac&fileName-037/llac037.db&recNum-213 (access date: 21.02.2023).
  17. Bailey Th.A. A Diplomatic History of the American People. 7th ed. New York, 1964.
  18. Barragy T.J. The Trading Age, 1792–1844 // Oregon Historical Quarterly. 1975. Vol. LXXVI. Sept. P. 197–224.
  19. Bemis S.F. John Quincy Adams and the Foundation of American Foreign Policy. New York, 1949.
  20. Benton T. Thirty Years’ View: or, A History of the Working of the American Government for Thirty Years from 1820 to 1850… Vol. 1. New York, 1854.
  21. Brauer K.J. The United States and British Imperial Expansion, 1815–60 // Diplomatic History. 1988. Vol. 12. № 1. P. 19–37.
  22. Coglianо F.D. Emperor of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson’s Foreign Policy. New Haven (Conn.); London, 2014.
  23. Diplomatic Correspondence of the Unites States: Canadian Relations, 1784–1860. Vol. 1 / ed. W.R. Manning. Washington (D.C.), 1942.
  24. Dmyrtyshyn B. N.P. Rezanov’s Inspection Tour of Russian Colonies in the North Pacific and His Visit to San Francisco, March 25 – May 10, 1806 // Русская Америка, 1799–1867: материалы Междунар. конф. «К 200-летию образования Российско-американской компании 1799–1999». Москва, 6–10 сент. 1999 г. (Russkaja Amerika, 1799–1867: materialy mezhdunar. konf. “K 200-letiju obrazovanija Rossijsko-amerikanskoj kompanii 1799–1999”. Moskva, 6–10 sent. 1999 g.) [Russian America, 1799–1867: Proceedings of International Conference “To Commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Formation of the Russian-American Company 1799–1867”. Moscow, September 6–10, 1999]. Moskow, 1999. S. 45–69.
  25. Dodds G.B. The American Northwest. A History of Oregon and Washington. Arlington Heights (Ill.), 1986.
  26. Examination of the Russian Claims to the North West America // The North American Review. 1822. Vol. 15. № 37. P. 370–401, 490
  27. Francis D. Battle for the West: Fur Traders and the Birth of Western Canada. Edmonton, 1982.
  28. Galbraith J.S. The Hudson’s Bay Company as an Imperial Factor 1821–1869. Berkeley (Calif.), 1957.
  29. Gibson J.R. Farming the Frontier: The Agricultural Opening of the Oregon Country, 1786–1846. Seatlle; London, 1985.
  30. Holman F.V. Some Important Results form the Expedition of John Jacob Astor to, and from the Oregon County // The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society. 1911. Vol. XII. № 3. P. 206–219.
  31. Howay F.W. John Kendrick and His Sons // The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society. 1922. Vol. XXIII. № 4. P. 277–302.
  32. Hinde W. George Canning. London, 1973.
  33. Innis H.A. The Fur Trade in Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Economic History. Rev. ed. Toronto; London, 1956. (1st ed. 1930).
  34. Karamansky T.J. Fur Trade and Exploration. Opening the Far Northwest, 1821–1852. Norman (Okla.), 1983.
  35. Kelley R. The Shaping of the American Past. Englewood Cliffs (N.J.), 1978.
  36. Long’s Expedition // The North American Review. 1823. Vol. 16. № 39. P. 242–269. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25109182 (access date: 11.02.2023).
  37. Manning W.R. The Nootka Sound Controversy // Annual Report of the American Historical Association for Year 1904. Washington (D.C.) 1905. P. 279–478.
  38. Merk F. Albert Gallatin and the Oregon Problem: A Study in Anglo-American Diplomacy. Cambridge (Mass.), 1950.
  39. Mills L. The Real Significance of the Nootka Sound Incident // The Canadian Historical Review. New Ser. 1925. Vol. VI. № 2. P. 110–122.
  40. Mockford J. Before Lewis and Clark, Lt. Broughton’s River of Names: The Columbia River Exploration of 1792 // Oregon Historical Quarterly. 2005. Vol. 106. № 4. P. 542–567.
  41. Porter K.W. John Jacob Astor. Business Man. Vol. 1. Cambridge (Mass.), 1931.
  42. Rush R. A Residence at the Court of London. London, 1833.
  43. Some Official Correspondence of George Canning. Vol. 2 / ed. E.J. Stapleton. New York, 1970 (1st ed. London, 1887).
  44. Stark P. Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire. A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival. New York, 2014.
  45. To Siberia and Russian America: Three Centuries of Russian Eastward Expansion. A Documentary Record. Vol. 3. The Russian-American Colonies, 1798–1867: A Documentary Record / eds and transl. by B. Dmytryshyn, E.A.P. Crownhart-Vaughan, Th. Vaughan. Portland (Ore.), 1989.
  46. The Diary of John Quincy Adams, 1794–1845. American Political, Social and Intellectual Life from Washington to Polk / ed. A. Nevins. New York, et al., 1929.
  47. The Record of American Diplomacy. Documents and Readings in the History of American Foreign Policy / ed. R.J. Bartlett. 3d ed. rev. New York, 1954. (1st ed. 1947).

Copyright (c) 2023 Russian Academy of Sciences

This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies