Alaskan History 2: Russian Alaska

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. Vitus Bering, with Aleksei Chirikov, was commissioned in 1741 by the Russian Tsar Peter the Great to explore the northwest coast of Alaska. Bering, though, was not Russian. What was his nationality? Dutch Swedish Danish Portuguese

2. The first European settlement in Alaska was founded in about 1784 by Grigory Shelikhov at Three Saints Bay. What is the general area of this settlement called today? Sitka Prince of Wales Island Kodiak Island Kayak Island

3. In 1799, the Russian American Company was formed under a charter by Tsar Paul I to organize and secure Russian interests in Alaska. Which of the following was probably the most compelling reason for the action? to prevent the exploitation of fur seals and otters to formalize the power of Alexander Baranov over the region to prevent or reduce the killing and enslavement of the local Aleut peoples to control competing interests from rival companies of Russia and to prevent competition from other countries

4. In 1802, the Russian settlement of Mikhailovsk was attacked and held by Tlingit forces. Alexander Baranov retook the location two years later and established a fortress community named Novo-Arkhangelsk nearby. What is the current name of the city located in the general area of these two sites? Anchorage Juneau Sitka Ketchikan

5. Before Baranov's retirement in 1818, Russian control over Alaska had begun to weaken. In 1812, the Russian American Company was forced to sign an agreement allowing another nation rights to the fur trade below latitude 55° north. What was the nation? China Britain the United States France

6. In addition, a private company established a trade stronghold in 1833, further weakening Russian control. What is the name of the company which, still in existence today, has the distinction of being the oldest commercial corporation in North America? the American Fur Company the North West Company the Plymouth Company the Hudson's Bay Company

7. Russian Decline: Which of the following things did NOT happen from 1840-1860? The Tlingits continued successful military campaigns against Russian settlements. The holdings of the Russian Alaska Company were liquidated. Naval officers of the Russian American Company established schools and hospitals for the Aleuts. A dictionary of the Aleut language was developed by a Russian.

8. Overhunting and growing competition had made the fur trade much less profitable for Russia in Alaska by the 1860s. In what war just prior to this decade had Russia been involved which also helped exacerbate their economic misfortunes enough to cause them to sell Alaska in 1867? French invasion by Napoleon Russo-Turkish War the Crimean War Russo-Swedish War

9. Which groups of native tribes formally sued in US federal court over the sale of Alaska to the US? Tlingit and Haida Athabascan and Tsimshian Aleut and Inuit Koniag and Sugpiaq

10. In which of the following communities of Alaska is the Russian culture still dominant through the influence of the "Old Believers"? Palmer Ninilchik Nikolaevsk Homer