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Quiz about Alaskan History 2 Russian Alaska

Alaskan History 2: Russian Alaska Quiz

With as interesting a history as any state in the union, Alaska began its road to statehood with its official "discovery" by the Russians.

A multiple-choice quiz by chikal98. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
chikal98

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
251,928

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
611

Awards
Top 10% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

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? Hint

Dutch

Swedish

Danish

Portuguese

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Question 2 of 10

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? Hint

Kodiak Island

Kayak Island

Prince of Wales Island

Sitka

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Question 3 of 10

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? Hint

to control competing interests from rival companies of Russia and to prevent competition from other countries

to prevent or reduce the killing and enslavement of the local Aleut peoples

to prevent the exploitation of fur seals and otters

to formalize the power of Alexander Baranov over the region

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Question 4 of 10

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? Hint

Juneau

Anchorage

Ketchikan

Sitka

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Question 5 of 10

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? Hint

Britain

the United States

France

China

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Question 6 of 10

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? Hint

the American Fur Company

the North West Company

the Plymouth Company

the Hudson's Bay Company

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Question 7 of 10

7. Russian Decline: Which of the following things did NOT happen from 1840-1860? Hint

The holdings of the Russian Alaska Company were liquidated.

Naval officers of the Russian American Company established schools and hospitals for the Aleuts.

The Tlingits continued successful military campaigns against Russian settlements.

A dictionary of the Aleut language was developed by a Russian.

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Question 8 of 10

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? Hint

Russo-Turkish War

the Crimean War

Russo-Swedish War

French invasion by Napoleon

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Question 9 of 10

9. Which groups of native tribes formally sued in US federal court over the sale of Alaska to the US? Hint

Aleut and Inuit

Koniag and Sugpiaq

Athabascan and Tsimshian

Tlingit and Haida

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Question 10 of 10

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

Nikolaevsk

Homer

Ninilchik

Palmer

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Danish

This was the first reliable information brought to the European continent about Alaska. Bering died of an illness, probably scurvy, while shipwrecked on "Bering Island" in Kamchatka, just across the "Bering Sea" from Alaska.

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?

Answer: Kodiak Island

After Shelikhov and his party put down resistance and established control of the island, they built the first school to teach Russian to the natives and introduced the Russian Orthodox Church.

Answer: to control competing interests from rival companies of Russia and to prevent competition from other countries

Exploitation of the fur resource and the indigenous peoples of the region continued in the more organized Russian-controlled Alaska. The founders of the Russian American Company were Grigory Shelikhov and, principally, Nikolai Rezanov. Baranov's personal role in the formalization of the company's power isn't clear, though he was the chief manager (governor of Alaska) from its conception until 1818.

Answer: Sitka

The reclamation is known as the Battle of Sitka. The area was, of course, controlled by the Tlingits before the Russians arrived. Baranov arranged purchase of the settlement from the Tlingits. That it was fair market value is doubtful but impossible to know.

In this specific incident, it took a marine and land campaign by Baranov's forces to retake the future capital of Russian America in 1804. It was then officially regarded as Novo-Arkhangelsk (New Archangel) by the Russian American Company in reference to Baranov's birthplace in Russia.

The new site became the capital in 1808.

Answer: the United States

Previous close trade relations with the US, including reliance on their supply ships for transport of goods, allowed American fur trappers and traders to encroach on the southern areas of Alaska. Britain also had great influence in the area, France had by 1818 ceased to be a powerful trade force in Americas, and, though the Chinese bought many furs from the region, they had no real physical presence in Alaska.

Answer: the Hudson's Bay Company

The American Fur Company (US) and the North West Company of Canada were strong competitors of the Hudson's Bay Company of Britain on the Eastern seaboard, but their influence didn't go as far northwest as Alaska. The Plymouth Company, also British, dealt in joint stocks.

7. Russian Decline: Which of the following things did NOT happen from 1840-1860?

Answer: The holdings of the Russian Alaska Company were liquidated.

The holdings weren't liquidated until after Alaska was sold to the US in 1867. As Russian interests in the region declined, native interests rose, however slightly. The Tlingits were never conquered and fought back well into the 50s. Some significant improvements were also made in the Russian's treatment of indigenous peoples, most notably to the long abused Aleuts.

The dictionary of their language was developed by Father Ivan Veniaminov.

Answer: the Crimean War

Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. The last of many wars with the Swedes took place in the late 18th century, and their final war (pre 1914) with the Turks took place a decade after the sale of Alaska. During the Crimean War, Imperial Russia took on France, the UK, and the Ottoman Empire.

The conflict sapped Russian economic resources and made defending a mostly unprofitable territory in North America unfeasible.

9. Which groups of native tribes formally sued in US federal court over the sale of Alaska to the US?

Answer: Tlingit and Haida

The Tlingits and Haidas claimed that the Russians hadn't paid them for their land, so it wasn't theirs to sell. A federal court agreed and arranged some compensation be paid.

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

Answer: Nikolaevsk

Most Russians currently living in Alaska are not descendants of the settlers of Russian America. Ironically, many or most of the Russian Old Believers, an offshoot of the Russian Orthodox Church dating back several centuries, came to Alaska by way of South America where they found they couldn't survive financially.

The fishing industry proved a more lucrative occupation and the community, along with a few others like it, survives in Alaska to this day. Ninilchik began as a retirement community for pensioners of the Russian American Company in the mid-1800s, but any "dominant" Russian influence is long past.

Source: Author chikal98

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